“Apache” is a song written by Jerry Lordan and first recorded by Bert Whedon. Lordan played the song on ukulele for The Shadows on tour and liked the song and the band released their own version which topped the UK Singles Chart for five weeks in mid-1960. The Shadows guitarist Hank Marvin developed a distinctive echo sound and vibrato. After hearing the Shadows version, Danish guitarist Jørgen Ingmann released a cover of the song in November 1960, which went to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.

The 1973 version by the Incredible Bongo Band has been called “the national anthem of hip hop”. Although this version was not a hit on release, its long percussive break has been used countless times on hip hop and dance tracks since the 1980s. In March 2005, Q magazine ranked “Apache” by the Shadows at number 96 on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. English songwriter and composer Jerry Lordan came up with the tune in the late 1950s. Lordan was inspired to write the song after watching the 1954 American western Apache, saying he “wanted something noble and dramatic, reflecting the courage and ferocity of Massai Indian Apache warrior played by Burt Lancaster”.