MENTAL COMBAT

HIP HOP CLASSICS #1
SOUND ON SOUND PRODUCTIONS
- The Incredible Hump.
SALSOUL. 1980. SG-327
A1: The Incredible Hump (8:47)
B1:The Hump (2:55)
B2. Son Of The Hump (3:12)
B3. Return Of The Hump (2:46

I’ve always wondered why this 12” never gets any mention, anywhere. Which is peculiar because this was the crew that Wonder Mike was in before he joined The Sugarhill Gang (Master Gee was in a crew called Phase 2). Big Bad Hank was the only ring in. Instead of 3 emcees, there were 7 of them in this other crew & from what I can work out their names are Daddy Right, Freddie G, Prince, Mr Ikey (I think this is Wonder Mike), The Sire, Keith La Feete & Master Mixer (who also mentions that he is the DJ).

Music provided by one of the in-house musicians at the label, in fact the bass player Gordon Edwards, from the Salsoul Orchestra. The drums are loose & mega-percussive, with a fat bassline typical of the era. About 110bpm. The only major flaw is that a couple of the emcees seem to be too far away from the mic when they appear. Not terribly, but annoying enough. Lyrically they play on the theme of humpology. So it is amusing at times. Seems to be the only production by Ron McBean. The only writing credits are to Dwight Horne & Donovan Lee. The b-side includes a radio edit, drums & an instrumental. I guess it’s pretty rare, because I never see it listed I managed to get my copy from an old Italian disco DJ.

• MP3: SOUND ON SOUND PRODUCTIONS - The Incredible Hump