A Very Fond Farewell to Chuck Brown, The Originator and Eternal Master of D.C. Go-Go! By Tom Kipp

Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers never really broke Nationwide, though “Bustin’ Loose” (#1 R&B, #34 Pop) briefly snuck into the Billboard Top 40 in early-1979, but he was something on the order of James Brown AND George Clinton for his beloved District of Columbia, and he leaves behind some of the most remarkable Funk records of all-time, particularly one of my great faves, which goes unmentioned in the two loving tributes below, “Back it on Up (Show Yuh Right)”, which must’ve come out in 1985:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YtUXO0L1qA

And of course the immortal “We Need Some Money”, from 1984:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HssTYrncSTY&feature=related

When I first spent significant time in D.C., during August 1985 and again that Christmas, shortly after my folks had moved to Northern Virginia from Northern New Mexico, I was thrilled to learn that you could hear Go-Go—which I’d only just discovered out in Montana via the seminal Island Records compilation called GO GO CRANKIN’— every afternoon on WOL 1450 AM, though reception could be pretty iffy once you got out past The Pentagon, alas.

The lengthy “roll calls”, as they were known, would sweep you away, with a DJ named “JJ” in particular adding his own reverb effects to everything and segueing one local hit after another (by Chuck Brown, Trouble Funk, Experienced Unlimited (aka E.U.), Slim, Redds and the Boys, Hot Cold Sweat, and numerous others) into unique, daily MEGA-MEDLEYS!

For a long minute in 1986-87 it looked as if Go-Go might break through on the level of Reggae or early Rap, with a feature film devoted to its Washington, D.C. milieu (GOOD TO GO) and then a giant hit (#1 R&B, #35 Pop) called “Da Butt” by E.U., courtesy of Spike Lee’s 2^nd feature, SCHOOL DAZE.

Alas, Go-Go Mania wasn’t to be, and so the genre returned to its roots in neighborhood clubs around D.C. and didn’t sweat what might have been all that much.

One of my favorite aspects of Chuck Brown’s records was the near-constant interplay with his saxophone player, Leroy, who was the perfect foil for Chuck’s warm, jivin’ persona, and the final piece in the percussive puzzle of his master’s grand musical invention!

“Bustin’ Loose” itself is as fine an example of said interaction as you could want (“Leroy…gimme some o’ that HORN!”)—

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwHi10qX8u8&feature=related

Below are two great, celebratory pieces of Chuck Brown press that came my way earlier this morning.

R.I.P. Mister Chuck!

– Tom Kipp

Brown’s beat booms from speakers across city the night ‘D.C. lost its president’

Chuck Brown, ‘Godfather of go-go’, dies aged 75 – Singer famous for 1979 hit Bustin’ Loose was a Hugely influential figure on the Washington DC music scene