Go-go is a subgenre of funk which originated in the Washington, D.C. area during the mid- to late-1970s. A handful of bands contributed to the early evolution of the genre, but singer/guitarist Chuck Brown is credited with having developed most of the hallmarks of the style.The most important part of the go-go beat is the bass/snare pattern, essentially the beat is characterized by a syncopated, dotted rhythm which is underscored most dramatically by the bass drum and snare drum, and the hi-hat… and is ornamented by the other percussion instruments, especially by the conga drums, timbale, and hand-held cowbells. Another important attribute in go-go is call-and-response with the crowd in concert.
Go-go is a musical movement that can largely be traced back to just one person, Chuck Brown. Brown was a fixture on the Washington music scene with his band the Soul Searchers as far back as 1966. By the mid-1970s he had developed a laid-back, rhythm-heavy style of funk, performed with one song blending into the next.In 1976, James Funk, a young DJ who spun at clubs in between Soul Searchers sets, was inspired to start a band—called Rare Essence that played the same kind of music. Experience Unlimited (a.k.a. E.U.) was a band more influenced by rock that started out in 1970. After witnessing Rare Essence in the late-1970s, they modified their style to incorporate the go-go beat. Trouble Funk had its roots in a 1960s Top 40 cover band called Trouble Band. At some point they changed their name and in the late-1970s, after seeing the light at a gig they played with Chuck Brown, they, too, adopted the go-go beat.
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Trouble Funk - Drop The Bomb (82 ^ 93mb)
Miles off the radar of popular music during the early '80s, Trouble Funk energized their D.C. home with the sound of go-go music, an uproarious blend of swinging, up-tempo '70s funk and a '60s-style horn section. The band formed in 1978, and the lineup coalesced around drummer Emmet Nixon, percussionists Mack Carey and Timothius Davis, guitarist Chester Davis, bassist Tony Fisher, trombone players Gerald and Robert Reed, trumpeter Taylor Reed, keyboard player James Avery, and saxophonist David Rudd. Trouble Funk earned a loyal fan base for their notoriously can't-miss live act, a raw, party friendly version of dance and funk with few songs but plenty of extensive jams organized around audience-friendly vocal tags and call-out hooks.
The first go-go record released outside of D.C., Trouble Funk's 1982 debut Drop the Bomb appeared on Sugar Hill, the same label then championing early hip-hop. (The two styles had very similar origins, in the breakbeat culture of urban block parties.)
Being even more inspired by '70s funk bands like Chic, Cameo, and the Gap Band than either the Sugar Hill Gang or Grandmaster Flash, Trouble Funk and other go-go acts like EU and Chuck Brown used the MC to conduct party-time call-and-response sessions. The band's nasty synth licks, up-front percussion, and sinewy funk guitar lines keep the music pumping throughout, while both the go-go/rap hybrid "Pump Me Up" and Barry White-inspired soul ballad "Don't Try to Use Me" show off the group's musical flexibility.
Though the band's second album, In Times of Trouble, appeared only on the local label D.E.T.T., Trouble Funk earned national distribution with a prescient concert record, 1985's Saturday Night (Live from Washington, D.C.), released through Island. After taking the live act nationwide and even worldwide (they played the 1986 Montreux Jazz Festival), Trouble Funk returned in 1987 with the boundary breaking Trouble Over Here, Trouble Over There, featuring sympathetic heads like Bootsy Collins and Kurtis Blow. It was a bit of a stylistic misstep, however, and Island released the group from its contract. Undeterred, Trouble Funk kept on grooving around the city, playing often, even into the '90s, for nostalgic party goers as well as the musically curious.
01 - Hey Fellas (7:18)
02 - Get On Up (4:50)
03 - Let's Get Hot (4:38)
04 - Drop The Bomb (6:58)
05 - Pump Me Up (6:34)
06 - Don't Try To Use Me (6:15)
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E.U. - Livin' Large ( 88 ^ 99mb)
E.U., originally known as Experience Unlimited, is one of D.C.'s original go-go bands, but they never scored a pop hit until 1988, when "Da Butt" became a dance sensation, thanks to Spike Lee's School Daze movie. While they didn't record many great albums -- 1989's Livin' Large, which was riding on the success of "Da Butt," came the closest -- each of their records has something that would appeal to hardcore funk fans. But E.U.'s strength was never captured on vinyl -- it was their energetic, groove-oriented live shows that earned them a large following in the '80s, not their records.
But with the smash 1988 single "Da Butt," from the soundtrack of the Spike Lee movie Schoolyard, E.U. proved that go-go could cross over, and this follow-up album was crafted to drive that point home. Overseen by the usual committee of producers (including Marcus Miller), the keyboard-laden Livin' Large is just about as studio slick as go-go can get and still keep its infectious swing. There are also some pretty decent tunes inside the dressed-up arrangements; the remake of the Isley Brothers' "Shake Your Thang," featuring Salt and Pepa, was a deserving hit, and a redone "Da Butt," while slightly inferior to the original, still packs a rump-shaking wallop. Even the slow jamming "Taste of Your Love" and "Don't Turn Around," while having little to do with go-go, are surprisingly nice. After this effort failed to herald a commercial breakthrough, go-go largely went back to Washington D.C. and went about its business, but Livin' Large was a brave and, for the most part, successful attempt to widen the genre's reach.
01 - Buck WIld (4:01)
02 - Livin' Large (6:04)
03 - Shake Your Thang (4:01)
04 - Taste Of Your Love (5:55)
05 - Shaka Zulu (4:13)
06 - Come To The Go-Go (4:53)
07 - Shake It Like A White Girl (3:39)
08 - Da Butt '89 (5:28)
09 - Don't Turn Around (6:21)
10 - Express (4:19)
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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here
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