Summer Madness
These synth hooks flood the track like some Kubrickian elevator filled with deliciously alien tones taking your mids and highs to the limit.
The synth in “Summer Madness” floods the track like the doors opening on some Kubrickian elevator filled with deliciously alien tones taking your mids and highs to the limit. ThatARP 2600 shimmer is the main character. It curls upward and outward, slightly off-center, bathing the stereo image in hair-raising mids and highs. Each note lingers just long enough for the reverb to bloom.
There’s no urgency here, just tension and patience. There are no sharp edges, only gradients. It's a slow jam. Synth hooks emerge and vanish like heat mirages, while cymbals sizzle faintly at the margins. A sleepy dream-like groove is barely there, yet it’s enough to move the track forward. This surreal soundscape would feel as comfortable on a Pink Floyd or Alan Parsons record as it is on a funk album.
Originally released on Kool & The Gang’s 1974 album Light of Worlds, the track charted modestly at #35 on the Billboard Hot 100, but there are levels to this game. “Summer Madness” is one of the most sampled R&B instrumentals of all time. Over 145 recordings had used it as source material. It’s been re-released, reissued, and covered endlessly, notably by Khruangbin in 2020. You’ve heard it in Rocky, Nike commercials, and Netflix dramas.
On a good system, the track becomes a room filling vapor bath. The stereo field stretches wide and deep. The electric piano cuts through the mix straight into my lizard brain. There’s mind-bending subtlety in the decay and texture of each note, especially in the keyboard and cymbal work. “Summer Madness” is a hypnotic exercise in craftsmanship and a favorite of mine for showcasing a hi-fi system’s handling of mids and highs.
Listen for:
The ascending ARP 2600 synth line at 0:38.
Data
Song: Summertime Madness
Album: Light of Worlds
Artist: Kool & The Gang
Genre: Funk/Soul
Year: 1973
Length: 4:18
