Summer Madness (instrumental)

"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	Jazz-funk [1] R&B [2]
Length	4:16
Label	De-Lite
Songwriter(s)	Robert "Spike" Mickens, Alton Taylor, Kool & the Gang
Kool & The Gang singles chronology
"Spirit of the Boogie" (1975) "Summer Madness" (1974) "Caribbean Festival" (1975)

"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]

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 is used in a 2006 Nike shoe commercial featuring LeBron James. ^{[9] [10]}
• It appears in the first season second episode "Hooper" of the 2021 Netflix series Last Chance U: Basketball . ^[11]
• American psychedelic band Khruangbin covered the track on their 2020 remix album Late Night Tales: Khruangbin . ^[12]

Charts

Chart (1975)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot 100 [13]	35
US Cashbox Top 100 [14]	27
US Record World Singles Chart [15]	34

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [16]	Gold	500,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. 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.
2. Patrin, Nate (September 17, 2018). "Breaks With Tradition: "Summer Madness"". Stereogum . Retrieved November 21, 2024.
3. "Breaks With Tradition: Kool & The Gang's "Summer Madness"". September 17, 2018.
4. "Summer Madness by Kool & the Gang – Songfacts". www.songfacts.com.
5. "Five Hip Hop Tracks That Sampled Kool & The Gang's Summer Madness". future-classic-music.
6. Cox, Arnie.  Music and Embodied Cognition: Listening, Moving, Feeling, and Thinking . United States, Indiana University Press, 2016. 55.
7. "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.
8. "The 25 Best Aaliyah Songs". Complex. August 27, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2022.
9. Schroeder, Audra (June 25, 2021). "Audio clip from a 2006 LeBron James Nike commercial has TikTok thinking". The Daily Dot . Retrieved November 21, 2024.
10. "Nike - The LeBrons Poolside". SplendAd. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
11. Hough, Quinn (March 11, 2021). "Every Song In Last Chance U: Basketball Season 1". Screen Rant. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
12. Kreps, Daniel (October 28, 2020). "Hear Khruangbin Cover Kool and the Gang's 'Summer Madness' for 'Late Night Tales' Mix". Rolling Stone . Retrieved November 1, 2020.
13. "Kool & the Gang: Hot 100". Billboard.
14. "Cash Box Chart Entries 1970-1979" (PDF). popmusichistory. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
15. "Record World Singles Chart: July 5, 1975" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on September 22, 2023. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
16. "American single certifications – Kool & the Gang – Summer Madness". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved December 9, 2024.