All summer long we’ve been trying to build a little suspense about the “Summer Song of 2010” derby. It’s been a little difficult with Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” declared the winner in the consumer press even before Memorial Day.  And for the Adult Top 40 PDs and MDs who were asked to name their song of summer 2010 this week, the choice was almost unanimous. In fact, one of the few possible competitors for “California Gurls” was the Summer Song of 2009!

If ubiquity and mass-appeal are what transforms a summer hit into “the” summer hit, Perry’s all-ages appeal was oft-cited, even for programmers whose purview starts at age 25.

“I think we all have to agree that every time we hear Katy Perry when we are old and grey we will remember the summer of 2010. No getting around that,” says WAJI (Majic 95.1) Fort Wayne, Ind., PD Barb Richards. “The song resonated with all ages, which just makes it a monster. When you’ve got the kids singing it with mom, it becomes I remember when you were 13 that summer and we did ‘this’ to ‘California Gurls.’”

And they may not be the kind of memories that Richards had in mind, but for some PDs, those stories exist already. "I was playing X-Box Live and some teenage-sounding guy was singing that song the whole time we were killing zombies," says KMXP (Mix 96.9) Phoenix PD Ron Price.

“Research was just ridiculous across the board with all of our audience factions and demos. Hell, I didn’t even get sick of it until recently,” says KLCA (Alice 96.5) Reno, Nev., PD Beej.

“Hands down, no questions asked, unanimous consent song of the summer is Katy Perry. I’m not even sure there’s a song that comes close. Hooks, tempo, personality, singalong, star power—it’s the total package,” says WZPL Indianapolis PD Scott Sands.

“Katy Perry, Katy Perry, Katy Perry. All Katy, all the time,” says KSTP-FM (KS95) Minneapolis PD Leighton Peck. He did however allow, “Actually, Nickelback’s ‘This Afternoon’ has been good, too.” His APD/MD Jill Roen elaborates a little: “Katy Perry had to be the Summer Song of 2010 for KS95, Adult Top 40, and pretty much everyone else, too. Completely catchy melody, fun and fluffy lyrics—what more could you want from a summer song? We even produced our own version of ‘Minnesota Gurls’ that was pretty popular.”

“Released at the perfect time—late spring—and stayed power all summer long,” says WMTX (Mix 100.7) Tampa, Fla., OM Doug Hamand.

And, of course, anybody actually from California had to put their hands up for the West Coast. “Being smack dab in the middle of the Golden State, there’s no way Fresno’s Summer Song of 2010 could be anything else but Katy! All the calls, the downloads, the requests confirm Californians love ‘California Gurls,’” says newly arrived KALZ (Alice 96.7) Fresno, Calif., PD Steve Weed.

If any song challenged Perry, it was the format’s biggest record of the last year—still going in most places. “It kind of turned into the song of the spring, and then continued into the song of the summer because it never went away, but I’d pick Train, ‘Hey Soul Sister,’” says KHMX (Mix 96.5) Houston PD Mark Adams. But he also allows that you could “certainly make a case” for Perry.

“Honestly, it really is Katy Perry’s ‘California Gurls,’ especially in Southern California. But a song that did give it a run for the money is ‘Hey Soul Sister,’ it never went away, is still testing through the roof. The downloads on this song were ridiculous and everyone seems to love it, no matter how long it’s been in power rotation. There’s still no burn,” says Charese Fruge, PD of KSCF San Diego and KMXB Las Vegas.

“Only ‘Hey Soul Sister,’ which got a second life in TV spots came close, and it wasn’t that close,” says KYKY/KEZK St. Louis PD Mark Edwards. And KYKY MD Jen Myers adds, “We played it maybe 100 spins more than Katy this summer, but we added it back last September.”

Then there’s Citadel VP of programming Scott Shannon whose initial response to our query was, “The biggest songs of our summer: ‘Hey Soul Sister’ and ‘I Gotta Feeling.’” Asked if the Black Eyed Peas’ “Summer Song of 2009” was really dominating this summer, too, Shannon noted that it kept testing, but ultimately threw his support to ‘California Gurls’ as well. For Shannon’s WPLJ New York OM Tony Mascaro there was no question—he cited Perry right away.

Nickelback’s “This Afternoon,” which looked in the pre-Perry spring that it might repeat Kid Rock’s long path from album cut to summer song contender got a number of mentions but no outright votes. WTSS (Star 102.5) Buffalo, N.Y., PD Brian DeMay called it “the only other song that could compete with Katy. In Buffalo, especially, it’s hard to argue with a  song about partying in the backyard with your friends and some brewskies. But Katy is still tops.”

Finally,our biggest pocket of dissent came not from some "always eccentric" market, but from Omaha, Neb., where KSRZ (104 Star) PD Kurt Owens says, “I think for Star, the biggest song of the summer was Lady Antebellum’s ‘Need You Now.’” And KQKQ (Q98.5) PD Nevin Dane cites "a couple of great songs other than Katy Perry: Laroux's "Bulletproof," Mike Posner's "Cooler Than Me," Neon Trees' "Animal" and "Hey Soul Sister." ("Really didn't hit its peak until the beginning/middle of summer.")

Here are our other PD and MD responses:

Bob Neumann, PD, WRMF West Palm Beach, Fla.: “No doubt, it is ‘California Girls’ for several reasons.  The song embodies the essence of summertime.  Girls in daisy dukes and bikini tops and sex on the beach.  Overall, it’s a fun, uptempo song you don’t have to think too hard about.  If I wasn’t living in South Florida, I’d say it makes you roll down the windows and crank it up.  So, how about ‘it makes you crank the AC and the radio volume to eleven.’ And, oh yeah, it’s a research smash!  If they had led with ‘Teenage Dream,’ I would have said the same thing.”

Jeff Pierce, OM, WERZ Portsmouth, N.H., "Here on the Seacoast of New Hampshire, Katy Perry is the summer song of 2010 because, let's face it, when you are talking about going to the beach and summer fun, you are talking Katy Perry."

Cat Thomas, PD, KAMX (Mix 94.7) Austin, Texas: “‘California Gurls’ to me was by far the Summer Song of 2010. It had everything that makes for a perfect summer song –sunshine, the beach, pretty ‘gurls,’ driving around in the Jeep, awesome hook, danceable, fun!”

Dylan Sprague, PD, KALC (Alice 105.9) Denver: “Katy Perry for sure!”

Mary Ellen Kachinske, PD, WTMX Chicago: “I think the obvious answer is Katy Perry, and I still love that on the radio, but my other favorite is Bruno Mars, that just makes me happy.”

Ron Harrell, PD, WDVD Detroit: "Any pop song getting airplay on six stations in the market, not including the Canadian signals, has to be the winner. However, local boy Mike Posner is arguably a strong second [to Katy] for this market."

Jesse Addy, APD/MD WDVD: "Other than Katy, which has already become the 'nobody is on the dance floor' bailout song for wedding DJs, I'm not sure there has been a summer song specific to Adult Top 40 …  Honestly, for WDVD, the song that still makes people turn up the radio and jack up that Mscore is Kid Rock's 'All Summer Long.' He's our homeboy and it's a song that so vividly tells the experience of growing up in Michigan. The same will ring true in the summer of 2011."

Sonia Jimenez, APD/MD, KZZO (Now 100.5) Sacramento, Calif.: "Of course Katy Perry snuck in and became the summer hit. I think Enrique Iglesias' 'I Like It' could have had the title had it popped earlier."

Dave McKay, PD, WPST Philadelphia: “’California Gurls’ has got to be the song of the summer. It’s been a power for weeks and it has been a favorite with both the young end and upper end of our demo.”

Kent Phillips, PD, KPLZ (Star 101.5) Seattle: “Katy Perry is the deal, no contest.”

Neal Sharpe, PD, WLNK (The Link) Charlotte, N.C.: “Katy is the song of the summer. There’s no debate here.”

Jason Griffin, MD, KBIG (My 104.3) Los Angeles: “I would have to say without a doubt it was ‘California Gurls.’”

Scott Alexander, APD/MD, WZPT (Star 100.7) Pittsburgh: "When you hear ['California Gurls'], you will think of the summer of 2010. The signature song of the season and probably the year. A very distant second in the summer category, 'This Afternoon' by Nickelback, because it placed us in and around the pool and 'recreational' libations."

Chad Rufer, PD, WINK Fort Myers, Fla.: “Sorry, gotta go the Katy Perry route. Completely summarized both summer fun and where most Hot AC stations are at—in a pop position able to play songs with a beat that appeal to adult females.”

Tony Lorino, PD, KKSN (Gen-X Radio) Kansas City, but newly arrived from WMYX Milwaukee: “No there is no other song. Period. But ‘Break Your Heart’ by Taio Cruz was a surprise Adult Top 40 performer for us at WMYX right as I left. I don’t think a lot of Hot AC PDs expected to be playing Taio Cruz or B.O.B. this year, but if that’s what the audience wants, the smart ones among us are doing what we’re supposed to.”

Dave Popovich, PD, WQAL (Q104) Cleveland: “Katy Perry is the easy, undeniable champ for the summer. The summer of 2010 has be known as the summer the format finally transitioned from rock hits  to pop hits by artists like Lady Gaga, Kesha, B.O.B., Jason Derullo and Mike Posner.”