Biography
A revolving ensemble of session players known as the Incredible Bongo Band emerged as improbable pioneers in hip-hop, guided principally by bongo specialist Michael Viner—an MGM executive who also oversaw the label’s short-lived Pride imprint—alongside fellow MGM executive Mike Curb and arranger Perry Botkin, Jr. Additional percussion came from Bobby Hall, Jim Gordon, and King Erisson. Viner’s path to music began with work on Bobby Kennedy’s unsuccessful presidential bid, after which he moved into talent scouting and A&R duties in Los Angeles. In the early 1970s he launched the Incredible Bongo Band as a personal diversion, commandeering leftover studio hours to cut percussion-driven instrumentals and reinterpretations of pop material infused with African and Latin elements. Two of these recordings appeared on the soundtrack to the 1972 B-movie The Thing with Two Heads, issued by Pride; the next year the ensemble delivered its debut album, Bongo Rock, which reportedly included a contribution from Ringo Starr. Viner’s reworking of the Arrows’ “Apache 65” quickly became a foundational breakbeat for early hip-hop, with Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash regularly deploying its drum breaks at block parties. The same track later underpinned the Sugarhill Gang’s own hit single of that title and ranks among the most sampled recordings in hip-hop history. The single “Bongo Rock” registered modestly on both the pop and R&B charts and attained a comparable, if smaller-scale, role within hip-hop. In 1974 Viner assembled the follow-up The Return of the Incredible Bongo Band, yet the project soon dissolved: Viner’s growing ambitions included an unfulfilled plan to record with the London Symphony Orchestra, while core drummer Jim Gordon began experiencing serious mental-health problems. Both albums were later combined by the British Strut label into the two-fer Bongo Rock: The Story of the Incredible Bongo Band.