Written by Boston-based student Tom Jameson, the song became popular in the local music scene after the band promoted their demo to deejays in the area.

This song celebrates the ending of an academic year at high school and enjoying the summertime activities, including swimming, dancing, and romancing, telling the other students to join in the summertime fun, as a "free for all".

The band was formed by Boston University student Tom Jameson and his sister Serena, who then recruited friends Jeannie Roy and Arthur Blair to join.

Serena recalled the writing process:[1] I remember being upstairs while my grandmother lay resting on the couch downstairs.

When he was satisfied that he had written the words and music exactly as he wanted them to be, he asked Jeannie and me if we would sing it.At Tom's insistence, the group practiced incessantly for weeks until he was satisfied that the band had perfected the arrangement.

It was credited to Tom Jameson and manager Sherm Feller; though Feller did not contribute to the song's composition, it was common practice for managers of the time to receive writing credits and publishing rights.

The bouncy doo wop novelty ... surely provided inspiration for later novelty groups like the Village People and Sha Na Na to perform songs in the same campy style.

"[7] The song notably appeared in the 1978 movie Fingers, where Harvey Keitel's character remarks: "Do you believe this?