Song of the Day 6/20: Kool and the Gang, “Summer Madness”
For roughly 90% of the human population, this will be the longest day of 2025, marking the start of astronomical summer. The atmosphere above Delaware will drive home the point next week, when temperatures are expected to tickle 100° with humidity to make it feel worse.
When it’s that hot, you want something that will cool you off. Despite its title, this instrumental deserves a spot on your laid-back soundtrack. Ronald Bell’s synth might sound dated, but he was among the first to play it as an instrument instead of a novelty back when the song was released on their 1974 LP “Light of Worlds.”
It got more notice the next year as the B-side to “Spirit of the Boogie,” one of the band’s nine No. 1 soul singles. It would have gotten an even bigger boost when Sylvester Stallone used it as background music in a scene in the original “Rocky,” except neither the song nor the band made the credits.
“Nobody had told us,” longtime band associate Cleveland Brown told 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.”
The song really made its mark in the age of hip-hop: It’s been sampled on nearly 150 other records, very recognizably in Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s “Summertime.”
Here’s the scene from “Rocky,” where Stallone comes home and puts on the record before feeding his turtles, Cuff and Link.
