"Summer Madness" is an instrumental tune that was released in 1974 by Kool & the Gang on their 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. In the early summer of 1996, Epic Records, a division of Sony Music, reissued and re-released the song as a CD and cassette single. [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 1974 | |||
| Recorded | 1974 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 4:16 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Kool & the Gang, Alton Taylor | |||
| Kool & The Gang singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Uses edit
"Summer Madness" has been used in various media:
- It appears in the 1976 film Rocky.[6]
- It was featured in most season 1 episodes of the 1996-2004 Nickelodeon animated television series Hey Arnold!, created by Craig Bartlett, with additional music by Jim Lang.
- It is prominently sampled in the Grammy-winning 1991 single "Summertime" by American hip hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince from their fourth studio album, Homebase.
- 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.[7]
- In a 2006 Nike shoe commercial featuring LeBron James' "The LeBrons".
- It appears in the 2002 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, on the in-game radio station Fever 105. It also appears on the Fever 105 soundtrack CD, in addition to the game's first trailer.[8]
- It is sampled in the second part of "Kno Ya Wrong" by Schoolboy Q and Lance Skiiwalker, which was featured in Grand Theft Auto 5 and Grand Theft Auto Online
- It is sampled in the song "Summer 2020" by American R&B singer Jhene Aiko, on the deluxe version of Chilombo.
- It appears in the first season second episode "Hooper" of the 2021 Netflix series Last Chance U: Basketball.
- It was sampled by Lizzo in her track "Naked" for her fourth studio album Special.
- Khruangbin covered the track on their Late Night Tales: Khruangbin album.
Charts edit
| Chart (1975) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Hot 100[9] | 35 |
| US Cashbox Top 100[10] | 27 |
| US Record World Singles Chart[11] | 34 |
References edit
- ^ Gorton, TJ (July 30, 2018). "BeatCaffeine's 100 Best Jazz-Funk Songs". BeatCaffeine. Archived from the original on August 25, 2018. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
- ^ a b Pitchfork Staff (August 22, 2016). "The 200 Best Songs of the 1970s". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
It's eight minutes of breezy instrumental synth-soul has been stretched, chopped, and looped countless times.
- ^ "Breaks With Tradition: Kool & The Gang's "Summer Madness"". September 17, 2018.
- ^ "Summer Madness by Kool & the Gang – Songfacts". www.songfacts.com.
- ^ a b "Five Hip Hop Tracks That Sampled Kool & The Gang's Summer Madness". future-classic-music.
- ^ "Kool and the Gang – History". Kool and the Gang Official Site. Red Light Management. Archived from the original on December 9, 2015. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
- ^ "The 25 Best Aaliyah Songs". Complex. August 27, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
- ^ "Various – Grand Theft Auto Vice City O.S.T - Volume 6 : Fever 105". Discogs.
- ^ "Kool & the Gang: Hot 100". Billboard.
- ^ "Cash Box Chart Entries 1970-1979" (PDF). popmusichistory. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ "Record World Singles Chart: July 5, 1975" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on September 22, 2023. Retrieved October 5, 2023.