Preview: Chuck Brown's Birthday Party @ 9:30 Club

D.C. has been the homebase for its share of musical luminaries. Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye, and Bad Brains come to mind for their efforts in their respective genres.
Right in this mix should be the man called the “Godfather of Go-Go,” Chuck Brown. For non-native Washingtonians, go-go is likely foreign and only experienced during the urban radio stations’ “go-go hours” or Brown’s D.C. Lottery commercials. However, go-go is D.C.’s music, Chuck Brown is D.C.’s musician, and in order to fully engross one’s self in local culture, a live Chuck Brown performance is requisite.

Go-go is a derivative of funk where a great deal of emphasis is placed on the rhythm and the use of percussion. Supplementing the rhythm is often a horn section. Although go-go hasn’t seen great popularity outside of D.C., there was a brief period of time in the late 1980s where go-go broke through the Beltway, most notably with songs such as E.U.’s “Da Butt” (featured in the Spike Lee film School Daze) and Kid N’ Play’s “Rollin’ With Kid N’ Play.”

Brown got his start as a guitarist with Jerry Butler and The Earls of Rhythm in the mid-1960s. After a stint with the group Los Latinos, he spent time in the 1970s laying down what would be go-go’s groundwork. This period saw the 1978 release of his biggest hit to-date, “Bustin’ Loose.” Working with the Soul Searchers, “Bustin’ Loose” featured the percussive and horn elements that would become synonymous with Brown’s sound as well as that of go-go.