New York Spotlight: The Invictas - The Hump

We return to New York with our regional Battle of the Bands taking us to the Empire State for the 7th straight post.

It's Wednesday, hump day, so we have to travel to Rochester where we spin a fast paced number by a band calling themselves The Invictas. The song is called The Hump and it only clocks in at 2 minutes. Which, according to recent research, is, rather ironically, the average amount of time it takes...to do The Hump. The Invictas were Herb Gross, Dave Hickey, Jim Kohler, and Mark Blumenfeld. This rockin' number was penned by the frontman, Herb Gross and was conceived on a dance floor.

One night in 1963, while playing at Tiny’s Bengel Inn, a couple was dancing provocatively in front of the stage. Herb asked the couple what they were doing. The couple responded “We’re Humping.” A week later, Herb had a dance and song ready for the band called “The Hump". The crowd loved the song and dance. Word got out about The Invictas wild sound and a recording executive by the name of Steve Brodie from Sahara Records turned up to offer them a contract. For the recording session, the band brought about 30 of their friends and several cases of beer into the studio. The band wanted to capture their wild live sound. It worked, “The Hump” became a hit. (The Invictas band website)

The band released their rollicking, beer fueled number on Sahara Records in August of 1966. It was The Invictas third single (of four). They even got a full length album out of Sahara Records! The band is still active today. Not bad you crazy Invictas.

 Until next time, we'll see you On The Flip-Side!