Summer Madness

Album: Light of Worlds (1974)
Charted: 35
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Released as the B-side to the hit "Higher Plane," this Kool instrumental tapped into the spiritual vibe of the album and provided inspiration for hundreds of future R&B and hip-hop songs that would sample it.
  • A few notable uses of the song: DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince in "Summertime" (1991), Ice Cube in "You Know How We Do It" (1993), Adina Howard in "Freak Like Me" (1995), Aaliyah in "A Girl Like You" (1996), Mary J. Blige in "Message in Our Music" (2003), Tinashe in "Wrong" (2015).
  • Two years after its release, this was used during a quiet scene in Rocky, where Sylvester Stallone feeds his fish - but it was enough to get Kool & the Gang jumping out of their seats in the theater. "Nobody had told us," Gang staff member Cleveland Brown remembered to Billboard. "We were watching this movie about a white boxer. When it came to the scene where Stallone dropped the needle on the record, and 'Summer Madness' started playing, I can tell you we got pretty loud in the theater."
  • This was used in the 2001 John Singleton film Baby Boy, starring Tyrese Gibson, and in the 2004 Chris Stokes film You Got Served, starring the members of boy band B2K.

Comments: 1

  • AnonymousTimeless
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

Richard Marx

Richard MarxSongwriter Interviews

Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Yoko Ono

Yoko OnoSongwriter Interviews

At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennittSongwriter Interviews

The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.