With "Land of 1000 Dances (Naa, Na, Na, Na, Naa)," L.A.'s
Cannibal & the Headhunters had one of the great party hits of the '60s. It hit number 30 on the charts and inspired one of
Wilson Pickett's finest covers. The group never followed it up with any hits, but their album, 1965's
Land of 1000 Dances on Rampart, is a lost classic, one of the strongest you are likely to hear from a mid-'60s "party" band. Backed by musicians borrowed from the cream of the city's Latin groups like
Thee Midniters and
the Premiers, the group runs through a selection of contemporary hits like
the Temptations' "My Girl,"
Junior Walker's "Shotgun," and
the Ad Libs' "The Boy from New York City" and a handful of originals composed by the band and fellow members of the Rampart Records family like Chick Carlton and Larry Tamblyn. The covers are fun and energetic, but the originals like "Strange World," a powerful ballad led by Frankie "Cannibal" Garcia's yearning lead, the stomping brown-eyed soul shouter "Don't Let Her Go," and "The Fat Man," a loose frat rocker with some wild harmonica, demonstrate what an exciting and fun band they were. The only fault with the album is that the group never followed it up. ~ Tim Sendra