The first thing to note here is that this is the OFFICIAL Bump Ball record, not one of those cheap Lithuanian knock-offs.

When I first saw this album I assumed it was some shitty exercise instructional record from the seventies. Close, but not quite:

Bump Ball was either Milton Bradley’s attempt to sell what kids do for free with a balloon, or it was their effort to give kids in 1968 a chance to feel each other up. The idea of the game was to toss the ball into the air, trap it between your partner and yourself, then keep if from hitting the floor as long as possible. Free with every Bump Ball purchase was a 45 of the following song:

Not a horrible cut, right? According to this write up that’s because the song “Bump Ball” is the unholy alliance of James Brown’s horn section, a garage band named The Combinations, here rechristened The Bumpers. The rest of the album is non Bump Ball-related cuts by The Combinations.

And the fellow on the cover? That’s Killer Joe Piro, legendary dance instructor and the man sometimes credited with bringing the mambo to the United States. Cool!

This one is your basic charity shop for a quarter / 15 bucks if sold at a record store capitalizing on the garage band obscurity of The Combinations. As for an actual Bump Ball, one in the original box just sold on an auction site for 30 bucks. Happy hunting.