Hamilton Frederick Bohannon (born March 7, 1942), often credited and known professionally simply as Bohannon, is an American percussionist, band leader, songwriter and record producer, who was one of the leading figures in 1970s disco music.
He was born in Newnan, Georgia, and learned the drums at school. He began playing in local bands, one of which featured guitarist Jimi Hendrix, before graduating from Clark College, Atlanta with a degree in music and secondary education. After a brief period as a schoolteacher, he was recruited in 1964 as drummer in 13-year-old Stevie Wonder's touring band. He moved to Detroit in 1967, where he was employed by Motown as the leader and arranger of Bohannon & The Motown Sound, who provided backing for many of the label's top acts on tour, including Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Four Tops and others.
When Motown moved from Detroit to Los Angeles, Bohannon stayed behind to form his own ensemble, featuring members of local band, The Fabulous Counts and including such musicians as Ray Parker Jr. and Dennis Coffey. He signed in 1972 with the Dakar label run by producer Carl Davis, and released his debut album Stop & Go in early 1973. This was followed by five more albums for the label over the next two years, on which he "perfected his formula of heavy, thudding bass accents and aggressive rhythms". Although several of his tracks were club hits, he had limited chart success. His first hit single, in 1974, was "South African Man", which reached no.78 on the Billboard R&B chart but had more success in the UK, where it reached no.22 on the pop chart. This was followed up in 1975 by "Foot Stompin Music" - his only record to reach the US Hot 100.
A - Foot Stompin´ Music (3:44)
Written-By, Producer, Arranged By, Conductor – Hamilton Bohannon
B - Dance With Your Parno (3:40)
Written-By, Producer, Arranged By, Conductor – Hamilton Bohannon
Genre: Funk, Soul, Disco
Label: Brunswick Records
Catalog# 640063
(P) 1975
