Frank "Bongolong" Long

Frank "Bongolong" Long

Remember the early days of ratty old vinyl sharity? It was a time when it seemed fewer than 100 people were digging deep in their dusty crates to find rarities and items that slipped through copyright standards, ripped them at as high bitrates as their connection could take, and shared them with the world. These bloggers were celebrities. Visitors never knew what to expect, and even the most rabid record collectors were astonished at the things they could hear.

Most of those sites are gone now, as the creators have invested their time in other projects. Multi-instrumentalist Frank Long was one of those sharity bloggers, and his sharity paradise was known as Bongolong Land.

After the sharity wave crashed on the shore, Long moved on to sharing his own work. He shared his percussion experiments, The Pedro Tapes (1973), around 2007. These were at recorded when he lived with fellow Army Band members while stationed at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro, California. Those tracks still pop up in the mix here and there.

Bongolong has since shared many more selections from his decades of composing, performing with bands, accompanying theater productions, experimenting at home, and a even Long family original Christmas CD. These joys and more can now be found together at bongolongmusic.

Two outstanding collections really stand out, frank and his four track (circa 1980s) and miscellaneous etcetera (1969-2005). These span from drum solos to exotica, show tunes to bellydancing accompaniment, tape collages to rock. These two are fun trips all across the board!

Cheers to Frank Long for letting us peak into the his archives of a life in music!