Artist
Incredible Bongo Band
Incredible Bongo Band is a funk artist from American formed in 1972. 6 releases are catalogued on Riffiter.
Funk · American · Best funk albums
- 6
- Releases
- 1973–2026
- Active years
- 1972
- Formed
Artist
Incredible Bongo Band is a funk artist from American formed in 1972. 6 releases are catalogued on Riffiter.
Funk · American · Best funk albums
Most popular
Bongo Rock
1973
Unlikely godfathers of hip-hop, the Incredible Bongo Band was a revolving-door group of studio musicians led by bongo player Michael Viner, who by day worked as an executive at the MGM label and ran its short-lived Pride subsidiary. Viner had worked on Bobby Kennedy's ill-fated presidential campaign before entering the music industry as a talent scout and A&R man in Los Angeles. By the early '70s, he was successful enough to start his pet side project the Incredible Bongo Band, taking unused studio time to record percussion-heavy instrumentals and pop covers with African and Latin influences. He placed two songs on the soundtrack of the 1972 B-movie The Thing With Two Heads, released on Pride, and the following year issued the first Incredible Bongo Band full-length, Bongo Rock, which reportedly featured a guest spot by Ringo Starr. Viner's funked-up version of the Shadows' "Apache" went on to become one of hip-hop's earliest breakbeat staples, as first-generation hip-hop DJs Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash came to rely on its percussion breaks to get block parties moving. "Apache" went on to provide the basis for the Sugarhill Gang's hit of the same name, and stands as one of the …
