A foundation of hip hop, featuring 'Apache', Kool Her's national anthem of hip-hop. Sampled by Nas, Kanye West, Sugarhill Gang, Jay-Z, Aphex Twin, DJ Shadow to name a few...
Formed by MGM A&R man Michael Viner in 1972 to supplement the soundtrack to the virtually anonymous B-Movie film The Thing With Two Heads, "The IBB" went from a loose studio collective to an instrumental pop covers consortium, interpreting classics of the day in their own inimitable percussive fashion.
B-Movie soundtracks, The Beatles, drummers gone bad, Frank Zappa, Kool Herc... These albums have a remarkable story behind them which is detailed in the extensive sleeve notes found on this re-issue and written by Angus Batey.
The IBB's cover of the track Apache - originally made famous by The Shadows - has become simply legendary in the worlds of hip hop and dance music. The track was a staple of Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash in the 70s as they invented the art of DJing at Bronx block parties, leading to its logical status as one of the most sampled tracks of all time and a hip hop and breakers anthem that has stood the test of time. It is still revered as THE break of all original breaks, with the rhythms of the LP it was first found on helping to coin the term 'breakbeat'.
Apache has been sampled by Missy Elliot, Coldcut, Will Smith, Goldie, Jurassic 5, Moby, Run DMC, Sugarhill Gang, Beastie Boys and Massive Attack among many, many others.
