Earlier this week, I came across some amazing live go-go videos from the late 80's and early 90's on YouTube. Growing up near D.C. (I lived an hour away), I can remember as a kid on one particular occasion seeing a flurry of kids in go-go bands playing on every corner, homemade junk percussion in tow and some insanely intense, rich grooves. It's the sub-genre's distinctive rhythms that drive the music into something focused almost purely on the percussive interplay and call-and-response participation; describing the sound is difficult to put into words, but once you hear it, you know what go-go is.
The style has been intensely regional, very rarely breaking through to the mainstream outside of D.C., save for maybe E.U.'s "Da Butt" being used in Spike Lee's School Daze or Amerie's 00's R&B hit (and best pop song of the last decade, in my opinion) "1 Thing." I was a little oblivious to go-go as the 90's and 00's wore on, but looking back and listening/watching these performances, I'm struck by just how intensely gritty and funky these bands were in the genre's prime. Enjoy:
Chuck Brown And The Soul Searchers:
Rare Essence:
Junkyard Band:
Pure Elegance:
Trouble Funk:
And not a video, just audio, but one of my favorite go-go jams from the 90's:
Paul, thanks for the post!
i did want to point out, as a DC resident for over 25 years, you missed out on some other crucial go-go bands such as
Pleasure (one of the few all female Go-Go bands)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llUqlibltM0&feature=related
Proper Utensils
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGZbRzxvgw8&feature=related
*as a DC resident, it was rare you could go anywhere without hearing this jam blasting from cars
North East Groovers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NvipZ1S4-0&feature=related
Also i should point out the harDCore Go-Go double bills, yep that's right Minor Threat / Trouble Funk show is legendary, Fugazi also played with Pleasure and Rare Essence (or was it Junkyard...memory distortion...).
Regardless, hope people dive into this music more.
Enjoy!
Posted by: owltopus | March 23, 2012 at 11:26 AM
Hey,
Thanks! This is by no-means a be-all/end-all go-go post; almost posted North East Groovers too! "The Water" got massive play on the D.C. hip-hop/r&b stations back in the day.
- Paul
Posted by: Paul Haney | March 23, 2012 at 11:55 AM
I could not agree more about the Amerie track. Those drums are some of the most impressively recorded and sequenced kit sounds that I've ever heard. That song hits harder and more uniquely than 99 percent of the rest of the pop universe let alone the cultural wasteland of the early aughts in R&B music. Viva Go-Go.
Posted by: Mark Kostack | March 29, 2012 at 07:59 AM
This station is sooo awesome!
Posted by: Hans | March 31, 2012 at 05:56 PM