Ah, no, I meant what I said the first time - go-go WAS funk's last stand (live or otherwise), back in the eighties when it was still fairly current and not some retro move.
Dudes, it is far from 'some retro move' here in dc.
I wasn't saying GO-GO was the retro move, I meant funk itself. But whatever, man.
And the essential Chuck Brown recording (in my opinion anyway) is of course the live 1995 set which has been rereleased again and again with new covers and titles (Go Do Live Swing, Any Other Way To Go, ...)
my mom lives a few minutes away from legends so that's the easiest place for me to catch a show whenever i'm home...but here's the real deal, mostly all go-go shows are in the $20-35 bill which usually turns me off to hit the regular shows. but yet it's still understandable because they gotta get paid and it ain't just 3-5 people in one band ya feel?
my dude reko the domenican cigar smoker is friends with big G [from backyard] aka slim charles [the wire] and that cat is as real as it gets. def a good dude too. backyard is so necessary, try and find "Water Dance" by them. that is still a crankin club hit. a must, point blank.
last summer i did some artwork with a friend for a live CCB show at mt vernon square. and just the open atmosphere like that it gets no better. it's like goin down to zanzibars to see chuck brown. that's go-go at its best.
i see little benny was mentioned up top, dude is excellent with the horn get on that. cj and the uptown [who really knows about 'uptown'? fi-fi boy transplants eff off] crew was a pretty hot group in the late 80's early 90's. of course rare essence, you need that. their mid 90's stuff was their BEST. two words: "overnight scenario", ohh and "make em bounce", "freaks come out at night", "body snatchers". sooo many. al & the kidd is some good ol fashion funkin go-go that you should check out. also TTED allstars early work is def good, y'all should know "knock em out sugar ray". junkyard's "don't sleep on us" is my favorite of theirs and if you can get a hold of it, the cover alone is worth it.
there's so much more i could ramble on about, but if you want more let me know. i'm still wiping the cold from my eyes this morning at work [12am flight back from DC, + all day alcohol affair and on the plane] so i should go walk around for a bit hahahaha. but let me know and i'll drop more ledge for all...
for a lot of yall if you pick up DJ Flexx's Best of DC GOGO vol 1 - 5 I Know vol 1 came out on double vinyl those comps are pretty good introductions to gogo. I don't know what if the other comps came out on vinyl they might have.
i appreciate go go. that go go crankin record is nice and when i went to dc a year ago i came up on a bunch of 12s (my favorite being "the beat" by trouble funk) but only know a select few groups. i was suprised that they were only a few bucks a pop.
does anyone remember that movie "Good to Go?" was that any good?
Any suggestions on where I could find some general info about this style of music.
That book is a great place to start. I'm writing a book that delves into the Funk and Soul music culture that led into go-go, with discussion of many of the same groups. I've also got a website which features go-go groups who released their material on vinyl before 1990: www.dcsoulrecordings.com ......yes it's missing quite a bit but I plan to add complete discographies over the course of this spring. Hope that helps!
PS: Most go-go was released on cassettes rather than vinyl. Cassetes are where it's at if you're a go-go fiend
Cassetes are where it's at if you're a go-go fiend
zactly! double pa tapes for $10...never was there a 1 tape set hahahaha. anyone remember that shop on georgia that sold all of em?
_________: Live at Safari
There was a dude I ran into who had like 6 big green plastic bins with PA tapes, stuff like Rare Essence in '92 at Deno's, or Backyard at some high school gym (or vice versa--you get the idea).Some went back to the early 80s. I told my buddy Marshall (DCDigga out at Memory Lane Records out in District Heights) about 'em and gave him dude's number, but I don't know if he ever followed up. Friends of mine like Marshall and others cut their teeth on those tapes back in the 90s, and wore those things to threads! I have a bunch somewhere that a friend found on the Metro and gave 'em to me.
his name wouldn't happen to have been Dan would it? CDD is the dude right there, living DC legend. he was stayin with my buddy Cory for a hot minute too which was dope. but yeah, i've met Marshall before...cool dude
DC heads will have better knowledge, but I'd say go for: Chuck Brown- We the People 7" Northeast Groovers Backyard Band Junkyard Band Trouble Funk
When my sister was at Howard I used to pick up Go-go 12" whenever I visited her. This was like 87-89.
Shit like...
DC Scorpio - Stone cold hustler & Beam me up scotty Rare Essence Go-Go posse - DC don't stand for Dodge City Hot cold sweat Slimm - it's in the mixx anything I saw on on D.E.T.T. or I hear ya!
cannot view at work...so sorry if these are one you posted i'm about to talk about but,
there use to be a good video of rare essence performing "uh oh" in landover, but i haven't seen it on youtube in about a year maybe. that song is illson. i love sampling that onyx line and throwin it over other go-go joints cause really that song made people go live!
some other good videos are all the clips of the pool parties at the PG sports complex
cannot view at work...so sorry if these are one you posted i'm about to talk about but,
there use to be a good video of rare essence performing "uh oh" in landover, but i haven't seen it on youtube in about a year maybe. that song is illson. i love sampling that onyx line and throwin it over other go-go joints cause really that song made people go live!
some other good videos are all the clips of the pool parties at the PG sports complex
i didn't post any of the pool party ones. they have a couple of those up on youtube but not the ones with the girls sticking soda bottles up in them or anything. they have some of the joints from the ibex with some crazy dancers
I'm surprised at the amount of gogo videos on youtube.
i was feelin good about this whole thread so when i got home this evening i started listenin to some joints and decided [in no particular rhyme or reason] to throw these together for some of those who would like to hear more. first 2, new school mid 90's...last 2, classic...
Are you sure that Chuck Brown live is from 1995? I am sure the one I have is from 88 or something like that - the one with "Family Affair" on it, "Harlem Nocturne" etc?
I know the drummer Ricky Wellman was and he went off to tour with Miles Davis in the last Miles band.
but now the go go sound is getting pretty crossover...
Really? I don't hear that. How so?
that mambo sauce shit to me is a whole different flavor than the "5 in the morning at the pancake house" shit that i remember from way back. not to mention go go being incorporated more into hip hop with people like wale and rich harrison
old school go-go is still pretty slept-on outside DC. about 5 years ago i did a go-go mix for Soul Strut (maybe Raj still has a copy, mine's long gone) that included maybe 40 mins of quality old school go-go, from obvious tracks to obscure stuff. for a minute in the mid-80s go-go was massive in the UK (and in some places in Europe) - some of it got UK issues that are easier to find than the US originals. Stuff like:
Mac Attack - Art of Drums (killer, UK issue on Baad), Effectron - Don't stop that go-go beat (uptempo go-go, UK issue on MDM) Ayre Rayde - Sock it to me Little Benny & Masters - Who comes to boogie (sold over 150k in Europe on Bluebird)
The book that's already been mentioned goes into detail about how major labels got interested in go-go (after missing out on hip hop), gave it a year, didn't know how to sell it and dumped it, and the bands. The Good To Go movie sucked badly but features some killer live performances and a brilliant soundtrack, with different cuts of the tunes to the original TTED releases.
A lot of go-go vinyl from the 80s is weak. It doesn't translate well to record - it's about live performance. There are a few good releases though, mostly on Maxx Kidd's labels or released by the big old school bands (EU, Rare Essence, Trouble Funk etc).
The two UK-issued comps that I really rate are: Go-go Crankin' (Island) - best of the lot, killer selection, some rare stuff that's tough and expensive to turn up on original 12", from Maxx Kidd-related releases. Paradise a go-go (Rhythm King) - pretty obscure comp that covers non-Maxx Kidd and more obscure releases. Includes a couple of killers and tough 12"s so worth digging up.
This discography is pretty comprehensive and covers most of the better known old school stuff, including a load of TTED and DETT issues that just don't turn up outside DC: http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~dub/gogo/analog.html
Some of the old school stuff that's worth finding: AM-FM: I got my eyes on you AM-FM: Hip hop (skable de wop) Junkyard Band: Sardines / The Word Mac Attack: Art of drums Chuck Brown: Bustin' Loose Chuck Brown: Live '87 (killer live set, been issued lots) EU: Somebody's ringing that doorbell Rare Essence: Shoo be doo wop EU: EU Freeze EU: Da Butt (cheesy but great party rocker) Trouble funk: Pump me up, So early in the morning, Drop the bomb, Trouble Funk Express, The Beat, Holly Rock, E flat boogie... most of their early stuff is great. Hot, Cold Sweat: Meet me at the go-go Effectron: Don't stop that go-go beat Little Benny & Masters: Who comes to boogie
Almost all of this gear came out of DC, but there are a couple of oddities from other countries or states, like Code Red's Virginia gone go-go (on Creative Funk) and Icee Hott's 'Holler at me' (from New York, on Manhattan)
If anyone wants to hear some of this, post up here and maybe I can put another mix together to replace the lost go-go mix... your call.
Jamtu (early Trouble Funk and a few others, pretty rare) DETT (more early Trouble Funk) TEDD (early releases are hot, loses it as the 80s go on) Future (early releases real tough to find, killer, not as well distributed as TEDD, later stuff still pretty good)
there were a few other labels that put out go-go, mostly mixed in with all kinds of other 80s stuff so you gotta hear 'em first. lots of one- or two-release DC go-go labels too.
according to that go-go book, the Maxx Kidd labels started out pressing 2000 copies per 12" and repressed as needed, some selling 70-80k or more. this means that one release on TEDD may be crazy rare, and the next release common as hell. there are some really tough to find TEDD 12"s, luckily some of the best sold by the bucketload (Chuck Brown - We Need Money is killer and easy to get a hold of.)
any drummers on here? get your go-go beats together courtesy of Brian 'Brain' Mantia (Primus, new Guns'n'Roses) here:
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
In its heyday, go-go was HUGE in New Orleans. Big Mike references it on the album in my avatar, talking about going to an Uptown block party in '83 with Trouble Funk playing on the decks. Go-go is basically too close to second line funk for NOLA folks not to have picked up on it.
an interesting aspect of the DC scene that gets briefly mentioned in the book is the respect between the hardcore scene and the go-go scene. henry rollins used to check the go-go bands and put out tapes... there's interviews with him somewhere online where he talks about it. likewise, the go-go players respected the hardcore musicians.
What I always loved about go-go was how well it connected all the races. If a white kid could play the go-go drum beat then he got respected. And go-go is very much alive now. I got lots of friends in DC personally keeping it moving.
i guess recently there's someone with almost the exact same cell number as me in DC. so i've been getting called at least once a week from different people (dc, pg county, newark deleware) and they ask for "Tony". so i've been saying "Big Tony from the TF Crew? is this about an interview?" and they get all quiet then say ohh wrong number.
Comments
Was this ever a 12" ??? Here it is live...
I wasn't saying GO-GO was the retro move, I meant funk itself. But whatever, man.
Got it on CD and vinyl. Classic.
Chuck is still that dude......
New Chuck Brown. "The Party Roll"
my dude reko the domenican cigar smoker is friends with big G [from backyard] aka slim charles [the wire] and that cat is as real as it gets. def a good dude too. backyard is so necessary, try and find "Water Dance" by them. that is still a crankin club hit. a must, point blank.
last summer i did some artwork with a friend for a live CCB show at mt vernon square. and just the open atmosphere like that it gets no better. it's like goin down to zanzibars to see chuck brown. that's go-go at its best.
i see little benny was mentioned up top, dude is excellent with the horn get on that. cj and the uptown [who really knows about 'uptown'? fi-fi boy transplants eff off] crew was a pretty hot group in the late 80's early 90's. of course rare essence, you need that. their mid 90's stuff was their BEST. two words: "overnight scenario", ohh and "make em bounce", "freaks come out at night", "body snatchers". sooo many. al & the kidd is some good ol fashion funkin go-go that you should check out. also TTED allstars early work is def good, y'all should know "knock em out sugar ray". junkyard's "don't sleep on us" is my favorite of theirs and if you can get a hold of it, the cover alone is worth it.
there's so much more i could ramble on about, but if you want more let me know. i'm still wiping the cold from my eyes this morning at work [12am flight back from DC, + all day alcohol affair and on the plane] so i should go walk around for a bit hahahaha. but let me know and i'll drop more ledge for all...
Really? I don't hear that. How so?
it's flexx and rane on the M-I-C and you know we put it down for the D-dot-C...[/b]
a wha-wha what's ya name?[/b]
"the gaffffffffler"
a wha-wha where ya from?[/b]
"outside the adams morgan armenian pizza discotheque"
a tell me who's your crew?[/b]
"phil street the thinker, young noz, dirty reko the domenican cigar smoker, and the rest of the hobo clothing posse"
awwwwwww rep ya hood like it's all good![/b]
also, that "bring da beat back" by mike sky is a pretty great comp for you non-residents
THE BEST. I love this song!
does anyone remember that movie "Good to Go?" was that any good?
That book is a great place to start. I'm writing a book that delves into the Funk and Soul music culture that led into go-go, with discussion of many of the same groups. I've also got a website which features go-go groups who released their material on vinyl before 1990: www.dcsoulrecordings.com ......yes it's missing quite a bit but I plan to add complete discographies over the course of this spring. Hope that helps!
PS: Most go-go was released on cassettes rather than vinyl. Cassetes are where it's at if you're a go-go fiend
zactly! double pa tapes for $10...never was there a 1 tape set hahahaha. anyone remember that shop on georgia that sold all of em?
_________: Live at Safari
There was a dude I ran into who had like 6 big green plastic bins with PA tapes, stuff like Rare Essence in '92 at Deno's, or Backyard at some high school gym (or vice versa--you get the idea).Some went back to the early 80s. I told my buddy Marshall (DCDigga out at Memory Lane Records out in District Heights) about 'em and gave him dude's number, but I don't know if he ever followed up. Friends of mine like Marshall and others cut their teeth on those tapes back in the 90s, and wore those things to threads! I have a bunch somewhere that a friend found on the Metro and gave 'em to me.
When my sister was at Howard I used to pick up Go-go 12" whenever I visited her. This was like 87-89.
Shit like...
DC Scorpio - Stone cold hustler & Beam me up scotty
Rare Essence
Go-Go posse - DC don't stand for Dodge City
Hot cold sweat
Slimm - it's in the mixx
anything I saw on on D.E.T.T. or I hear ya!
there use to be a good video of rare essence performing "uh oh" in landover, but i haven't seen it on youtube in about a year maybe. that song is illson. i love sampling that onyx line and throwin it over other go-go joints cause really that song made people go live!
some other good videos are all the clips of the pool parties at the PG sports complex
i didn't post any of the pool party ones. they have a couple of those up on youtube but not the ones with the girls sticking soda bottles up in them or anything. they have some of the joints from the ibex with some crazy dancers
I'm surprised at the amount of gogo videos on youtube.
Stackswell - A Crankin 26 Minutes
enjoy(?)
I know the drummer Ricky Wellman was
that mambo sauce shit to me is a whole different flavor than the "5 in the morning at the pancake house" shit that i remember from way back. not to mention go go being incorporated more into hip hop with people like wale and rich harrison
YUP thats totally what i said!!!
This here be that REAL SCHITT! Overnight Scenario! THis joint was so hot in DC when they dropped it that Jay-Z bit! Believe that.
Mac Attack - Art of Drums (killer, UK issue on Baad),
Effectron - Don't stop that go-go beat (uptempo go-go, UK issue on MDM)
Ayre Rayde - Sock it to me
Little Benny & Masters - Who comes to boogie (sold over 150k in Europe on Bluebird)
The book that's already been mentioned goes into detail about how major labels got interested in go-go (after missing out on hip hop), gave it a year, didn't know how to sell it and dumped it, and the bands. The Good To Go movie sucked badly but features some killer live performances and a brilliant soundtrack, with different cuts of the tunes to the original TTED releases.
A lot of go-go vinyl from the 80s is weak. It doesn't translate well to record - it's about live performance. There are a few good releases though, mostly on Maxx Kidd's labels or released by the big old school bands (EU, Rare Essence, Trouble Funk etc).
The two UK-issued comps that I really rate are:
Go-go Crankin' (Island) - best of the lot, killer selection, some rare stuff that's tough and expensive to turn up on original 12", from Maxx Kidd-related releases.
Paradise a go-go (Rhythm King) - pretty obscure comp that covers non-Maxx Kidd and more obscure releases. Includes a couple of killers and tough 12"s so worth digging up.
This discography is pretty comprehensive and covers most of the better known old school stuff, including a load of TTED and DETT issues that just don't turn up outside DC:
http://www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/~dub/gogo/analog.html
Some of the old school stuff that's worth finding:
AM-FM: I got my eyes on you
AM-FM: Hip hop (skable de wop)
Junkyard Band: Sardines / The Word
Mac Attack: Art of drums
Chuck Brown: Bustin' Loose
Chuck Brown: Live '87 (killer live set, been issued lots)
EU: Somebody's ringing that doorbell
Rare Essence: Shoo be doo wop
EU: EU Freeze
EU: Da Butt (cheesy but great party rocker)
Trouble funk: Pump me up, So early in the morning, Drop the bomb, Trouble Funk Express, The Beat, Holly Rock, E flat boogie... most of their early stuff is great.
Hot, Cold Sweat: Meet me at the go-go
Effectron: Don't stop that go-go beat
Little Benny & Masters: Who comes to boogie
Almost all of this gear came out of DC, but there are a couple of oddities from other countries or states, like Code Red's Virginia gone go-go (on Creative Funk) and Icee Hott's 'Holler at me' (from New York, on Manhattan)
If anyone wants to hear some of this, post up here and maybe I can put another mix together to replace the lost go-go mix... your call.
Jamtu (early Trouble Funk and a few others, pretty rare)
DETT (more early Trouble Funk)
TEDD (early releases are hot, loses it as the 80s go on)
Future (early releases real tough to find, killer, not as well distributed as TEDD, later stuff still pretty good)
there were a few other labels that put out go-go, mostly mixed in with all kinds of other 80s stuff so you gotta hear 'em first. lots of one- or two-release DC go-go labels too.
according to that go-go book, the Maxx Kidd labels started out pressing 2000 copies per 12" and repressed as needed, some selling 70-80k or more. this means that one release on TEDD may be crazy rare, and the next release common as hell. there are some really tough to find TEDD 12"s, luckily some of the best sold by the bucketload (Chuck Brown - We Need Money is killer and easy to get a hold of.)
any drummers on here? get your go-go beats together courtesy of Brian 'Brain' Mantia (Primus, new Guns'n'Roses) here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA9A5xtPlgE
http://www.jayquan.com/trouble.htm
i guess recently there's someone with almost the exact same cell number as me in DC. so i've been getting called at least once a week from different people (dc, pg county, newark deleware) and they ask for "Tony". so i've been saying "Big Tony from the TF Crew? is this about an interview?" and they get all quiet then say ohh wrong number.