Go Go Music

**QUINNY** · January 5th, 2003, 05:05 PM

Never seen this music mentioned on the site (since August at least) so I just wondered what you thought of it. Personally I loved all the Go Go records that I bought back in '84 or thereabouts, but in the same breath I have to say that they were very few indeed. At the time, it was literally here one day and gone the other. It blew in, kissed us passionately so that we fell in love with it and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. I guess the most famous Go Go record was the Ben Liebrand re-mix of Hot Chocolate's 'You Sexy Thing', although whether or not it was billed as a Go Go version I can't remember. That version is the only one that tends to end up on compilations now.
We're talking tracks from the Chocolate City here like:
Little Bennie & The Masters
Trouble Funk
Go Go Lorenzo and a few more that I've forgotten (can someone with a better memory help jog mine?).
All in all I thought it was one of the MOST INFECTIOUS genres of Disco that I ever had the pleasure of spinning. I just wish there had been more.

**Giovanni** · January 5th, 2003, 05:31 PM

I do like that style!!!
I went crazy when I got that first TROBLE FUNK 12".... pump pump pump pump pump me up!!!!!
Almost everythng on JAMTU records is outrageously funky.
CHUCK BROWN & the SOUL SEARCHERS too made some go-go. KURTIS BLOW too released a go go album .... "in the capital of the nation there's a brand new sound invasion....."

**QUINNY** · January 5th, 2003, 05:53 PM

Giovanni: Really glad that I'm not alone on this. Chuck Brown, Curtis Blow.......how could I forget? I'll be very interested to see if this topic gets many replies.
What was the really big Kurtis Blow Go Go 12"?

**K-Bee** · January 5th, 2003, 06:50 PM

Go Go is also a favorite musical genre of mine.
Other artists include:

EU
Redds & The Boys
Mass Extension
Mac Attack
D.C. Scorpio

A great view of the style is offered on the double vinyl album
"washington go go sound attack" (BCM, 1985)
full lenght versions of "who comes to boggie", "It's party Time" "Bustin' Loose" a.o.

**NickNack** · January 5th, 2003, 08:25 PM

OK guys, explain what "go-go" means to you because I am thinking the '60's, girls in cages with short skirts and fringes doing (what else?) the 'Go-Go'. You know what I mean... Smokey, The Miracles, Going to a Go-Go. :D

What did it the term mean in the '80's? Sounds like something I missed or have totally forgotten.

**nrgbeat** · January 5th, 2003, 08:47 PM

I was thinking of Belinda Carlisle. :D

Actually, I do have the Ben Liebrand remix of "You Sexy Thing" but I never knew it was go-go.

I'm familiar with "Bustin Loose" by Chuck Brown and "Da Butt" by E.U. The latter was played on the radio around '89.

I don't think any of these tunes were played in Hi-NRG, Eurodisco, Sleaze circles. Catch my drift...

**QUINNY** · January 6th, 2003, 02:47 AM

Nicky: From what little I know, Go Go was/is a music form that was heard very little outside of Washington DC and was a marriage of Afro/Funk/Latin and goodness knows what else. To me it always sounded like a funky samba. BTW: Do any of the afficionados think Julia & Co - 'Breakin' Down (Funky Samba) was a Go Go record?
Apparently Chuck Brown is considered the 'inventor' of the genre way back (late '60s early '70s) when onnlive gigs, instead of stopping between each track he told his percussionist(s) to keep something going on - hence Go Go I guess.

Was a Go Go the name for early Discos in the US or were they more early '60s lap dancing/burlesque types of joints?

To answer the other reply, Yes, I guess it was never played in Hi Energy/Sleaze discos; but it was incredibly high energy music in a certain way and was definitely sleazy in that most of the stuff I had never went above 115 BPM. It's probably more a case of the rest of the US not caring about Washington's local feelgood dance music. 'Da Butt' was a big hit I believe, but is frowned upon by Go Go addicts rather like Y.M.C.A would be frowned upon by many here.

**K-Bee** · January 6th, 2003, 03:11 AM

For me go go is all about drums & percussion. I wouldn't consider Julia & Company's "Breakin Down (Sugar Samba)"
a go go record.
It's more a straight mid 80's r&b song - if a bit jazzy. Still to much singing and not enough drums.

most go go artists used to do a lot of rapping. Most noticably in Kurtis Blow's "I'm Chillin" & Little Benny % The Masters "Who Come to Boggie"

Whatever happened to Trouble Funk ?? Are they still doin' the biz in the DC area :-?

**QUINNY** · January 6th, 2003, 03:39 AM

Kbee: Glad to hear your take on things. I agree with you about Julia & Co (another much played record in the UK from Washington?; that's the only reason I mentioned it really and what I'd written immediately prior to it.) Yes, Go Go does have lots of percussion but so do samba bands and to my ears the rhythm of Go Go is sorta Samba underneath it all. It's difficult to describe it to anyone who doesn't know it and people here do complain sometimes if a post has no detail.

I think it's fascinating that Washington DC has, what is in effect, a unique music genre that hasn't really spread. Personally, I find that kinda incredible, especially as there are thousands of jocks these days who are constantly searching for something 'new' to play. There's no doubting that once heard, Go Go gets under your skin, although like many musical styles, I don't know if it would be quite so compelling, after say, 6 solid hours of it. Perhaps that's why it's remained only in Washington DC. Who knows?

**jazz_pilgrim** · January 6th, 2003, 07:13 AM

Quinny,

I too was a great fan of Go-Go music in the mid-Eighties and bought quite a few of the records. There was something about the Go-Go rythmns that made the music utterly infectious ...

The Kurtis Blow record I have is a Go-Go version of "The Breaks" - the instrumental is absolutely awesome and has got the best punchiest Go-Go rythmn out of all the records I've got...

I used to love Chuck Brown especially and paid some very silly prices for US import 12-inchers at the time ... "IT AIN'T GOT A THING IF IT AIN'T GOT THE GO-GO SWING " .... being my favourite Chuck Brown record. I aslo loved their version of "Money".

DDEF records put out a lot of good stuff in the UK at the time I recall - including a good compilation LP ...

I even bought a 12-inch by the Style Council who did a Go-Go style remix of "The Lodgers" in around '85... anybody remember that one?

Glad to know that others out there used to like this music ..

DROP DA BOMB!!

**QUINNY** · January 6th, 2003, 07:52 AM

Hey guys, that's 4 of us who've all said more or less the same thing. Loved Go Go music, never saw that much of it, it was absolutely infectious/punchy...........so how come it didn't spread or become better known (especially in the U.S.A?)?
One of life's mysteries, for sure.

**K-Bee** · January 6th, 2003, 11:16 AM

This is a wild guess, but maybe the go go scene never took off outside DC because people mistook it for being Hip-Hop.
It does have certain similarities with it.
Even rap artists like Kurtis Blow did the occasional go go track. I would certainly understand if poeple got confused.

**Leanmean** · January 6th, 2003, 11:37 AM

Hi folks! Merry, Merry and Happy Happy!
I, too, first thought of the 1960's go-go dancers in mini skirts and white go-go boots dancing in cages!!! Then, when I saw QUINNY's message, I thought he meant THE Go-Gos!! Turns out, he means neither... Well, I'm still learning I see!

I had no idea there was a music genre for "Bustin' Loose" and "Da Butt." Speaking of "Da Butt," there is a voice in that song that sounds like the guy from the Ohio Players - the one who growls "Ow girl" in "I Want to Be Free." Is that who it is?

**Giovanni** · January 6th, 2003, 01:12 PM

Go-GO remains one of the most infectious styles in black music. For those who not remember it or never heard of , try to find a couple of vinyl compilations (don't know if on CD) called "Good to GO. Anthology of GO-GO. Vol. 1 & 2" on TDE

**NickNack** · January 6th, 2003, 03:45 PM

Originally Written by QUINNY

Nicky: Was a Go Go the name for early Discos in the US or were they more early '60s lap dancing/burlesque types of joints?

First, thanks to all of you for the info. I must have heard this but maybe not enough for it to click. Or, since I don't keep up with categories, I could have been boppin' around to it and not having a clue.

To Quinny's question: Go-Go would be more 1960's discotheque, not the sleaze haunts for the hounds :roll: . "Go-Go Girls" danced in the clubs in actual cages away from everyone, dressed as Leanmean and I described, shaking anything and everything to, I assume, generate excitement in the room. It was all fun, no touchy-feely crap. These girls weren't licking and sliding up and down poles, they were just dancing, period.

**K-Bee** · January 7th, 2003, 07:15 AM

For all you go go fans out there
check this site out
http://www.tmottgogo.com/mygogo2.html

It's an internet go go portal. Lots of Info

Enjoy

**Forrrce** · July 18th, 2003, 01:33 PM

Just browsed...it's very disappointing how little there was to know about go-go. The only things to round off my picture of the genre would be the legendary drug problem which surrounded the scene and that Maxx Kidd was the entrepreneurial spirit who took full advantage of its short-lived media potential.

The first record I heard in this unusual style was Trouble Funk's 'So Early In The Morning' in 1982, which 'til this day remains my number one go-go track.

I would cite the following as 'honorary' go-go records:

Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers 'If It Ain't Funky' (1974)
Funkadelic 'Super Stupid' (maybe the first?) (1971)
Experience, Unlimited 'Funky Consciousness' (1977)
The Bar-Kays 'Holy Ghost' 12" (1978)
...and the Beyonce track before I get sick of it! :D

There's a book I bought from Amazon but mislaid before I read, called 'The Beat: Go-Go's Fusion Of Funk & Hip-Hop' which was first published in 2001. (I'm still looking for the tell-tale bulge in a record stack that could just be it...)

**markydefad** · July 18th, 2003, 01:46 PM

Duh. When I hear the term "Go-Go" I think of the mid-60's TV shows like "Shindig" & "Hullabaloo" with dancers like Teri Garr & Lada Edmunds Jr. wearing mini shirts and frugging in cages to songs like Smokey Robinson's "Going To A Go-Go".

Then there was the new wavy group The Go-Go's.

I guess I missed this version of "Go-Go" that excited y'all soooo much. :oops:

**paul** · July 18th, 2003, 02:27 PM

Nicky, Marky and some of the rest of you. I don't know if you really missed that much. It seemed more of a regional thing to me. I had a friend from Maryland who was all into it. I sense it was a mid-Atlantic thing. I didn't exactly get excited about it and I can rememeber only two songs in the genre. "Bustin' Loose" was nice and I think came out around '79 or maybe a little later. The other song was "Da Butt." This girl I used to date loved it but I really didn't get into that song.

**Leatherman** · July 18th, 2003, 05:11 PM

The party-harty music from Washington still lives on. There are local websites selling new live CD's by Rare Essence, along with some other newer acts I've not heard of.

Faves that haven't been mentioned already are -

Rare Essence "Body Moves"
Jim Bennet "Bump and Roll"
EU "Sho Nuf Bumpin"
Trouble Funk "Get Down with the Get Down"

Julia and Co had another track out on a Go Go compilation in the late 80's called "Drug Free DC". It was pretty nice, but the lyrics obviously limited it's appeal.

It always annoyed me how in the early/mid 80's the UK soul mafia (Robbie Vincent, Jeff Young, Tond etc) hyped up GoGo as an alternitve to the electro they all hated. It gave the music over exposure it just couldn't sustain as there weren't any cross over hits in Go Go (unless you count Little Benny getting to 35).

**Outsider** · July 18th, 2003, 05:57 PM

I also think of girls in short skirts dancing in cages when I hear the term "go-go". I don't know anything about the type of music you all are talking about. I take it the two aren't related.

:evil:

**paul** · July 18th, 2003, 06:14 PM

Originally Written by Outsider

I also think of girls in short skirts dancing in cages when I hear the term "go-go". I don't know anything about the type of music you all are talking about. I take it the two aren't related.

:evil:

Hmmm well, there were many girls in short skirts winding their hips to the music which is a very good thing. So I guess they are related though perhaps not in the way you meant :D

**QUINNY** · July 19th, 2003, 05:04 PM

Nothing to do with Go-Go music, but just to say that I've listened to Thunderthumbs and The Toetsenman - Freedom A Go-Go a few times this week on a minidisc compilation of mine that I'm revisiting.
That should confuse the hell out of some of ya!!! :lol: :lol:

BTW: I am truly saddened by our U.S. posters lack of adventure when it comes to trying out some Go-Go, although at the same time, I can understand that it possibly wouldn't press any buttons for ya. Hell, I hate Eurodisco, but at least I've heard a fair chunk of it.

**efunk_adelic** · July 19th, 2003, 10:12 PM

I'm still trying to understand why go go music style wasn't hip enough to have hit after hit.... I'm wondering how the dance movements were? If it were mostly popular in DC, maybe somebody will step forward and describe the moves.... :-?

**Forrrce** · July 20th, 2003, 02:19 AM

I think go-go wasn't particulary big because it was too old-fashioned. Even my introduction to the style (the Trouble Funk track I mentioned earlier) sounded incredibly dated as a new record. The music's formula was old school and basic, to say the least - a brass ensemble, guitar, bass, some keys and as much percussion as could be gotten away with - not sweet to the ears of an emerging 'electronic' generation. The rather basic, call-and-response nature of the music wouldn't have appealed to everybody, either.

I would assume that this is why go-go was particularly big in Europe, which seems to house a lot of funk lovers. Maybe America was too busy looking ahead to be listening backwards? I noticed at the time that only one go-go record came from anywhere outside the DC/Maryland/Virginia area, which was a tune by Central Groove on Vanguard - this, I and many believed, was a New York cash-in.

In 1985, Island was the first major to see the potential in the music and signed Max Kidd's mighty D.E.T.T. empire, which mas the most prolific outlet for the genre at the time. Trouble Funk gained a certain notoriety out of the deal and went on to become media dahlings for a while, even managed some very well-attended, high profile gigs. And what about the go-go film, 'Good To Go' - did that stiff in the 'States too?

Unfortunately, the music seemed to disappear up its own behind, getting more synthesised and generally lamer by the minute - the raw edge had pretty much been blunted and so many records started to sound weak and samey. Quelle surprise - go-go then disappeared from view.

Go-go has an irresistable hip-swinging, booty shakin' vibe that is quite unique. The Beyonce track I raved about is a good example of what go-go probably sounds like now when made by the next generation. But if you're unfamiliar with the music itself, 'Crazy In Love' should give you a good idea of what it's about -musically and rhythmically.

By the way, I can think of two go-go dances - the much-lauded 'whop' and the mysterious process of 'getting small' - neither of which I had the privilege to witness. :-?