Summer Madness (instrumental)
1974 song by Kool & the Gang
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Summer Madness" is an instrumental song by American R&B band Kool & the Gang, released on their 1974 album Light of Worlds. It reached number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 36 on the Hot Soul Singles charts.[3] It has subsequently become one of the most sampled R&B compositions of all time, and was re-released and reissued as a CD and cassette single by Epic Records in 1996.[4][5] As of 2018, over 145 recordings had sampled it.[5]
| "Summer Madness" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Side two of US single "Spirit of the Boogie" | ||||
| Single by Kool & The Gang | ||||
| from the album Light of Worlds | ||||
| A-side | "Spirit of the Boogie" (Nor. Am.) | |||
| Released | September 1975 | |||
| Recorded | 1974 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:16 | |||
| Label | De-Lite | |||
| Songwriters | Robert "Spike" Mickens, Alton Taylor, Kool & the Gang | |||
| Kool & The Gang singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Audio video | ||||
| "Summer Madness" on YouTube | ||||
Composition
The song's most recognizable aural signature is the 4-octave ascent from F♯3 to F♯7 on an ARP 2600 played by Ronald Bell.[6]
In popular culture
"Summer Madness" has been used in various media, and has been prominently used as a sample in many pieces of hip-hop music since the 1980s.[2] Notable uses of the song in media include:
- It appears in the background of a scene in the 1976 film Rocky.[7]
- The track was sampled in the 1996 song "A Girl Like You", as performed by Aaliyah and Treach, from the former's second album One in a Million.[8]
- It appears in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the in-game "Fever 105" radio station.[9]
- It is used in a 2006 Nike shoe commercial featuring LeBron James.[10][11]
- It appears in the first season second episode "Hooper" of the 2021 Netflix series Last Chance U: Basketball.[12]
- American psychedelic band Khruangbin covered the track on their 2020 remix album Late Night Tales: Khruangbin.[13]
Charts
| Chart (1975) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100[14] | 35 |
| US Cashbox Top 100[15] | 27 |
| US Record World Singles Chart[16] | 34 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[17] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
|
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||