Chuck Brown died yesterday. Brown, also called the “Godfather of Go Go,” was a Washington, DC legend and a 2010 Grammy Award nominee whose unique mix of funk, soul, jazz and Latin music transcended generations. Sometime during the 1970s, Brown’s style of music, as well as that of a few other local bands in the nation’s capital, came to be called go-go, and a popular line in some circles was — if you don’t know about Go-Go, then you don’t know DC.
Brown, as recognizable by his gold front tooth as for his style of music, was born in 1936. Although he was a Great Depression era baby, originally from Gaston, North Carolina, when he became a master of go-go in the DMV (District, Maryland and Virginia), he captured the hearts of many of the local teenaged offspring of Baby Boomer parents, and some of his tunes won the admiration of Boomer parents as well; even before the rest of the country knew who he was.
From the time my son was about 16, he was a fan of Chuck Brown and The Soul Searchers, but because go-go music sometimes attracted a troublesome crowd, I tried to discourage his attendance at local go-go events.
My concern about the violence associated with go-go was expressed