![]() ![]() The Disco bubble was months away from going pop but the end was in sight. Then a hit may have spawned imitators but in February of 1979 record labels were terrified of fads and novelty records. Usually the thing that causes a musical land grab is a hit. Their emphasis was less on Top 40 songs and almost entirely on that “part,” at the time referred to as ‘the beat.’ Another young group that would expand on that idea was Trouble Funk (more on them later as well). One of the first bands to take that “part” and expand it was started in a Congress Heights’ basement by the name of Rare Essence (whom we’ll discuss later). (who had the Jazz/Soul album … Free Yourself out at the time) adjusted to playing more of that “part” as well. The audience preferred the parts that were played IN BETWEEN the songs, so Brown played that part longer, and Go-Go was born (also like Hip-Hop, it didn’t have a name). Noticing that in between songs the dance floor would clear out, Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers decided to continue to play between songs.Īnd this is where the comparison of Hip-Hop reigns true. He was a year off of Salt of The Earth (the album that “Ashley’s Roachclip” was on). Chuck Brown was one of many Top 40 Cabaret bands. The only place that Rap and Go-Go are aligned is their years of public emergence.Īs with most things dealing with our people, we have to rely on oral history which places the first years of Go-Go in and around 1975. and Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers were already accomplished musicians with albums under their belt (Never forget, the Break beat “Ashley’s Roachclip” was a Soul Searchers song). When Go-Go first started, groups like E.U. Go-Go is a music created by bands - groups of eight to nine individuals - playing instruments. ![]() Outside of the fact that the music was shaped by the demands of the audience, not much else is the same. G enerally speaking, I hate the comparisons between Rap music and Go-Go. How did Go-Go survive where other scenes didn’t? Why did the music fail to die? And what can we learn from Washington D.C.’s homegrown music? Record labels felt that they could do the same with Go-Go. So slowly but surely, original Rap was chiseled down to what we have today. But the energy and the spirit were there. The labels send in scouts that scoop up every and any band they can find, package it, promote it to holy hell, make it a fad, and then POOF, the scene is either gone or it morphs into an easy to package product.Īs we talked about here, Rap in it’s original context is mostly unknown and rarely listened to because it was indigestable. When the music industry becomes involved, from Athens to Seattle, it usually spells disaster. That ‘next big thing’ appeared to be another musical scene that emerged in the mid to late 70s. In the mid-80s record labels were in search of the ‘the next big thing.’ Although Disco had appeared to be a fad (it really just morphed into something else) Reggae, Punk, & Rap had endured and had begun to bring a decent financial return. In that regard, former clubs and arenas that could have been landmarks, become lofts or retail stores.īig business in the music industry translates into bands, record labels, and music scenes submitting to and being controlled by the Big Three ( Universal, Sony, & Warner). In the mid-80s Go-Go was poised to be the next ‘big thing’ but it never happened…thankfullyīig business in urban development takes the form of Gentrification. The Record Labels Descended On DC to Devour Go-Go…and Go-Go Won
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