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Artist Development: The Business Of Music
In memory of James Brown, the God Father of Soul, the man who
invented Funk, we highlight GoGo, the local Funk music of Washington
DC. GoGo's funk groove, call and response format and audience participation
reflects tthe influence of the hardest working man in showbusiness...
The Abridged
History of Go-Go In The Streets of D.C.
With host William
© Copyright Gridbx 2006
go-go.(noun) - from the Yoruba "agogo" - A vernacular dance music unique
to Washington D.C.. A non stop, live party music in which a pulsing bass
drum beat blends with African rhythms and the sounds of timbales, cowbells,
and conga drums as trumpets, trombones, saxophones and synthesizers belt
out licks from Jazz, Funk and Soul, punctuated by rapped greetings to the
local crews and ongoing dialogue between the dance floor and the band.
In the early 1960s Smokey Robinson popularized the term "Go-Go" with his
hit song "Going to a Go-Go". A "Go-Go" became synonymous with a live music,
dance party. During the mid 70s, at the height of the disco craze, Chuck
Brown created a new named after the Smokey Robinson song.
The Disco era was not a good time for performing musicians. Disco required
only a single DJ, continually spinning records, to keep a crowd on their
feet. Bands were breaking up due to lack of work. Chuck Brown had just left
a Latin band to form his own group. In order to keep his band working he
decided to emulate the non stop Disco format. Chuck kept the Latin percussive
and added a continuous drum beat which kept going even between songs. On
top of this he added African call and response to an urban funk groove along
with his soulful R&B voice. Samuel A. Floyd, author of The Power Of Black
Music writes, "...African American musical tradition is fueled by African
and African-American cultural memory, by Call-Response performances practices,
by performances in fuctional venues (jooks, dance halls, and churches), and
by the participation of its spectators in the performance event by way of
responding to 'calls' through yea-saying and the materiality of hand clapping,
foot patting, and other body movements.... In Black culture, works of music
are truly transactions between human beings and organized sound, and audience
participation is central to their success."
The resulting mix kept the crowds on their feet, and Chuck Brown and the
Soul Searchers working.This is a rare and possibly unique event in music
history. Here we have an entire musical genre, that did not merely evolve
over time, but was invented in a single stroke by an individual. Chuck Brown
and others have since gone on to interpret all kinds of music through the
Go-Go beat.
The late 70s to the middle 80s was the high point of GoGo. The major bands
were Rare Essence, Trouble funk, Chuck Brown and the soul Searchers, Experience
Unlimited (EU) Band, Petworth and the Mighty Peacemakers. They played such
venues as the Panorama Room, the Washington Coliseum, the Atlas Disco, the
DC Armory, the Odyssey, the Maverick Room, Paragon, Byrne Manor, and the
Howard Theater. Even RFK Stadium.
At one point Go-Go was the hottest live music scene around. Some Go-Go bands
could play 4 to 6 times a week within the beltway. A top band such as Rare
Essence could play 3 gigs a night: a early high-school performance, a regular
concert then a pre-dawn gig. Go-Go weathered he early days of Hip Hop. In
1984 the annual Go-Go "Thanksgiving Day Funk Jam" sold 7,000 seats at the
Washington Coliseum. The following week a rap concert sold only 2,000.
During this time period, Go-Go caught the attention of major producers including
Island Record owner Chris Blackwell. Blackwell has broken Raggae into mainstream
music and made Bob Marley a star in the process. A successful tactic of Blackwell
was to gain mass exposure for Reggae by featuring the music in the 1973 hit
film "The Harder They Come". Blackwell hoped to repeat his success by producing
a Go-Go film entitled "Good to Go". "Good to Go" was filmed in DC in 1985
and included Go-Go stars Chuck Brown, Trouble funk and EU.
The upscale publicity firm of Howard Bloom and Associates was hired by Blackwell
to promote the music. A media hype was generated culminating with Nelson
George, then of Billboard, declaring that Go-Go "was ready to go global ".
Unfortunately, this declaration proved to be premature. The movie "Good
To Go" did not turn out to be a hit. In addition, Island Records was unable
to break Go-Go into the airwaves. Go-Go, being a long playing live party
music, was difficult to remix into the 3 minute format required by radio.
These promotional miscalculations coincided with Go-Go becoming unfairly
associated with violence.
Several incidents occurred in the late 80s which linked violence with Go-Go.
In April of 1987 gunmen fired shots into a crowd leaving a Rare Essence show
at the Masonic Temple, wounding 11. In October of the same year there was
a fatal stabbing outside of Celebrity Hall on Georgia Avenue after a Go-Go
show. The Washington Post called it a "Go-Go Slaying". In December several
security guards were shot often ejecting men from Cheryls club on Atlantic
St. SW. The Post called this incident a "Go-Go Club Shooting". In November
of 1988, a bystander was killed by a stray bullet after a Rap and Go-Go show.
The Washington Times quoted the family as saying that Go-Go bands draw drug
dealers.
Politicians, parents and the media responded with a knee jerk reaction to
these tragedies rather then a thoughtful analysis of the problem. Although
there were over 280 homicides in Washington DC in 1988, most involving a
combination of drugs, cars, handguns, liquor and poverty. Policy makers and
social commentators however, became fixated on Go-Go Bands. The city council
went so far as to introduce legislation restricting Go-Go Clubs. The visibility
of Go-Go and the lack of political connections among it's fans, made it easy
to blame Go-Go for the cites problems.
The city of Washington DC had neither
the political or financial will to root out the myriad of social problems.
Rather than confront the real issues of unemployment, an abysmal educational
system, and rampant drugs and guns, city policy makers chose the easy way
out and made Go-Go bands the scapegoat for their failures.
Several promoters cite an ineffectual police response as the cause of violence
at Go-Gos. One anonymous promoter stated " providing security at a Go-Go
requires a special technique, you have to know how to handle a Go-Go crowd,
you can't handle the crowd just any way. Some officers can do it, and some
can't. I've been successful because I hire my own security and use off duty
police officers that I know can do it." Other promoters set up in adjacent
Prince Georges County where an overwhelming presence of officers and stricter
policing seems to prevent most incidents. DC Police officials explain that
policing a Go-Go stretches their thin resources. They also go on to explain
that they are learning how to read and handle the Go-Go crowd.
Accusations of unequal protection from the DC police have been leveled before.
A recent Washington Post article demonstrated that statistically, the rich
sections of Washington received a higher per capita police presence and faster
911 response. In addition, the Georgetown section of Washington DC, home
to prestigious Georgetown University and the site of many disorderly college
bars, receives an overwhelming police presence who move instantly to quell
any disturbance. Georgia Avenue however, the heart of the black business
district is devoid of police after dark.
The amount of violence in Washington
DC has subsided somewhat. Despite the former repression, the Go-Go scene
is coming back. There are probably over 200 Bands of all sizes in the city.
Many of the bands have made the move to PG county. Our conversations with
Go-Go fans indicates that Go-Go provides a necessary release of frustration
and anxieties. Depriving young people of this release is sure to compound
the city's problems. A night of Go-Go dancing is the type of healthy recreation
that city legislators should encourage. With club owners providing adequate
security and the city providing resources for proper policing, the Go-Go
can be a productive event for all concerned.
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