Hamilton Bohannon

Drummer, producer, and songwriter Hamilton Bohannon was born on March 7, 1942 in Newnan, Georgia. He became a pioneering figure in the disco movement of the ‘70s and his records have been sampled by many of hip-hop and rap music’s biggest artists. Bohannon began his career by playing in local bands – Jimi Hendrix was a former bandmate – before joining Stevie Wonder’s band in 1964. He moved to Detroit and became a session drummer and arranger for Motown Records, leading his own band Bohannon & The Motown Sound. The group provided musical backing for many of the label’s greatest artists including the Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, and many others. By 1972, Motown had moved to Los Angeles and Bohannon stayed in Detroit to piece together a new band. He signed to Dakar Records and released his debut album, Stop & Go, in 1973 under the name Bohannon. Over the next few years, he developed his own distinct sound. The 1974 album Keep On Dancin’ featured the song “South African Man”, which gave him his first taste of success. “Foot Stompin’ Music” and “Disco Stomp”, both from the 1975 album Insides Out, brought him to the attention of fans of the then-burgeoning disco movement. By 1977, he had signed with Mercury Records and released a series of pioneering disco albums including On My Way (1977) and Summertime Groove (1978), which included the influential hit “Let’s Start the Dance”. An extremely prolific artist, Bohannon released six albums on Mercury in three years, leaving the label in 1980 once the disco craze had faded away. He released a further six albums before taking a hiatus after 1983’s The Bohannon Drive. Bohannon returned in 1989 with Here Comes Bohannon but that remains his final studio release. Hamilton Bohannon died on April 24, 2020, at the age of 78.

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