This week we are looking at the music of Hip Hop most important "fake" band... The Incredible Bongo Band. In the early 70s, recording artist manager Michael Viner began to keep studio musicians late on sessions to record some super funky breaks. These sessions were not sanctioned by the studios they were recorded in, and eventually they were shut down. But before "the man" shut the party down, some classic funk breaks were put to vinyl.
The groups had no real members, as all the songs recorded were done so with the union musicians who happened to be in the studio at the same time Michael was. Therefore, this "band" was dubbed Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band. Many of the groups songs feature funky drum break downs, but few as infamous as the song APACHE!
This track has been sampled more times than I can count. Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J, Nas, Moby, Massive Attack, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Run DMC, KRS-One, and even MC Hammer used this break.
Here are some of my favs...
