The Bongos, who spearheaded Hoboken, New Jersey’s vibrant indie-pop scene in the 1980s, featured vocalist, lead guitarist and principal songwriter Richard Barone, who went on to have a distinguished career as a songwriter, producer, arranger and solo musician. (Don’t miss his Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s, a 2016 collection of covers with such guests as Dion and John Sebastian, available here.) Also in the group were guitarist and vocalist James Mastro, who has worked with Patti Smith, Television’s Richard Lloyd and Mott the Hoople’s Ian Hunter; bassist Rob Norris, who has backed David Johansen and the Band’s Garth Hudson; and powerhouse drummer Frank Giannini.
Accompanied by percussionist Steve Scales, who played with the B-52s and with Talking Heads on their Stop Making Sense tour, the Bongos recorded the newly released The Shroud of Touring: Live in 1985 for RCA at Tradewinds, a club on the Jersey Shore. However, the label never issued it, and the group broke up a few years later. (Eight of its tracks did finally show up on a digital release in 2023; the other seven have never previously appeared in any official format.)
The Bongos in 2016, via their Facebook page
Maybe the split wouldn’t have happened if this frenetic hour-long recording had been made available 40 years ago. Now, at any rate, it has been restored, remastered and mixed from the original 24-track analog tape, revealing gloriously raucous power pop that draws on new wave, psychedelia and British Invasion rock. Its performances exude energy and enthusiasm and, despite their age, they never sound dated.
Among the many highlights are “In the Congo,” which Rolling Stone writer David Fricke describes in his liner notes as “like the Velvet Underground coming over the jungle in 1969”; a cover of Marc Bolan’s “Mambo Sun,” with guitar and percussion that evoke Cream; the popular title cut from the Bongos’ 1983 major label debut, Numbers with Wings; and the fast-paced “Apache Mambo.”
Crank up the volume and prepare to party.
This album, released May 23, 2025, is available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
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