Though their fame wavered, much of their influence has come retrospectively and they’ve typically had a very friendly working relationship with those wishing to sample their tracks. To revisit Kendrick Lamar (I know, any excuse), Ronald Isley provided the guest vocal for a track on his most recent album and Ernie Isley features on the seemingly endless roster of Joss Stone collaborators (seriously, she’s worked with every motherfucker). They’re still touring today, even though two of the original Isleys are no long with us and frequently collaborate with other big name artists. They hit it big in the early 70s with two breakout albums in quick succession ( 3 + 3 and The Heat is On) and since then their popularity has fluctuated as they’ve moved between different styles and scenes. In fact, success eluded them for almost 20 years (barring a few early hit singles) as they meandered between different labels and lineup changes. Sure, ‘Summer Breeze’ has been sampled pretty widely (most notably by the late genius Japanese producer Nujabes) and ‘That Lady’ recently made a masterful, unforgettable appearance in Kendrick Lamar’s self-respect affirming anthem – ‘i’, but once you start looking beyond that, it becomes even easier to understand just how much playful inventiveness went into their music. Since forming in 1954 they haven’t so much followed trends as redefined them and whilst they had an insane compliment of hits and gold records under to their name, sample culture regards them in a very different light.

The famous track is, of course, only one isolated example of Ronald Isley’s incredible voice and the blistering, endlessly eclectic 61 year (and counting) career the band has had.

Anything less will sound like you’re beating a cat to death with a slightly smaller cat. ‘Summer Breeze’ is a quintessential feel-good song, but also one that you should never, ever attempt to sing unless you are actually making a serious, laudible attempt to cover it. To this day I can’t figure out how they chose the track-listing for that CD. I remember a compilation album we used to play in the car during long trips which featured the track, nestled right in between ‘Macarena’ and ‘The Chicken Dance’. There was plenty of amazing music playing in my family home as I grew up but most of it took a long time to resonate with me. I think I count ‘Summer Breeze’ as one of the earliest examples of a song I really, really loved.

Isley brothers songs used by rappers