Chuck Brown Interview from February 2011

Out of respect for the Godfather of Go-go, I’m reposting this article from February 2011.

Listen to Chuck Brown Interview

Godfather of Go-go, Mr. Chuck Brown

Grassroots Media Project radio producers Brenda Hayes and Be Steadwell interviewed Chuck Brown, the Godfather of Go-go, at WPFW a couple of weeks before the Grammy’s.  Mr. Brown was nominated  for the song LOVE  featuring Jill Scott with Marcus Miller in the category Best R&B Performance By a Duo or Group With Vocals.  As no one outside of the DC radius has a proper understanding of Go-go, Chuck Brown did not win.  However, all you Go-go  fans out there will want to hear the Hayes/Steadwell interview of Chuck Brown because as I said, he never lets us down.
Chuck Brown Interview

Thank you Wikipedia for the following information:

Chuck Brown (born August 28, 1936) is a guitarist and singer who is affectionately called “The Godfather of Go-go“. Go-go is a subgenre of funk music developed in and around Washington, D.C. in the mid- and late 1970s. While its musical classification, influences, and origins are debated, Brown is regarded as the fundamental force behind the creation of go-go music.

Brown’s musical career began in the 1960s playing guitar with Jerry Butler and The Earls of Rhythm, joining Los Latinos in 1965. He still performs music today and is commonly known in the Washington, DC area. Brown’s early hits include “I Need Some Money” and “Bustin’ Loose“. “Bustin’ Loose” has been adopted by the Washington Nationals baseball team as its home run celebration song, and was interpolated by Nelly for his 2002 number one hit “Hot in Herre.” Brown also recorded go-go covers of early jazz and blues songs, such as “Go-Go Swing” Duke Ellington’sIt Don’t Mean a Thing If Ain’t Got That Swing“, “Moody’s Mood for Love”, Johnny Mercer’sMidnight Sun“, Louis Jordan’s “Run Joe”, and T-Bone Walker’s “Stormy Monday”.

He has influenced other go-go bands such as Big G and The Backyard Band, Rare Essence, Experience Unlimited (EU), Little Benny and the Masters, and Trouble Funk.

The song “Ashley’s Roachclip” from the Soul Searchers’ 1974 album Salt of the Earth contains a famous drum break, sampled countless times in various other tracks.[1]

In the mid-1990s, he performed the theme music of Fox‘s sitcom The Sinbad Show which later aired on The Family Channel and Disney Channel.

Brown is considered a local legend in Washington, D.C., and has appeared in television advertisements for the Washington Post and other area companies. The D.C. Lottery‘s “Rolling Cash 5” ad campaign features Chuck Brown singing his 2007 song “The Party Roll” in front of various D.C. city landmarks such as Ben’s Chili Bowl.

Brown resides in Waldorf, Maryland. His son, Nekos, was a defensive end/linebacker for the Virginia Tech football team. While his son was in college, Brown scheduled concerts and other appearances around the Hokies home schedule to ensure that he would never miss a game, and became a fixture at Lane Stadium. Following the Virginia Tech massacre, Brown was “absolutely devastated” by the tragedy, and cried every day for two weeks.[2] In shows that followed, Brown would pause for a moment in prayer for the victims and their families before beginning his performance, and dedicated several shows to their memory.

Brown was the subject of the cover article in The Washington Post Magazine on October 4, 2009, entitled Chuck Brown’s Long Dance.[3] He received his first Grammy Award nomination in 2010 for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for “Love” (with Jill Scott and Marcus Miller), from the album We Got This.

Fair Budget Coalition Fights City Hall and WINS!

Don’t tell me you can’t fight city hall.  Yesterday (May 15, 2012) advocates fighting to maintain and improve essential social services in the District of Columbia, packed the city council hearing room as they voted on this year’s fiscal budget.  As a result,  the city council passed the Budget Request Act with $25 million restored to affordable housing programs.  A victory without question but more needs to be done.   The final vote on the budget won’t happen until June 5, 2012.  Between now and then, council members must be convinced to use fiscal reserves and/or raise more revenue to fully fund TANF (Temporary Aid to Needy Families), homeless services, the subsidized child care program and more.  For more information on what programs still need support, which council members need to be lobbied, etc., go to the Fair Budget Coalition’s campaign website Make One City Possible.

For more on what’s at stake should the city continue to cut social services, check out the fabulous video below from the Day in the Strife protest, produced by Laura Gwizdak. I don’t know where the mainstream media was that day. The halls were packed with DC residents actively participating in the political process. Personally and professionally, I call that news.

Pack the Hearing Room & Stop Cuts to the Safety Net

On Thursday May 10, the Fair Budget Coalition sponsored A Day in The Strife, an action at the Wilson Building in protest of Mayor Gray’s proposed cuts to the city’s budget, most of which will once again fall  on the backs of the poor.  For details of what’s in the budget and what’s left out, a good article to read is Kesh Ladduwahetty’s Washington Post article A Tea Party Budget for D.C.  The following video from a Day in the Strife highlights what’s at stake for DC residents who will be directly impacted.

Mother’s Day Monday

Baby_Brigade_Flyer

. . . → Read More: Mother’s Day Monday

A Day In The Strife

Cross-posted from the Fair Budget Coalition Facebook Page When faced with the impossible choices that many DC residents have to make, what would DC Council members choose?  Pay rent or buy groceries?  Buy a metrocard to get to work or school supplies for your kids? Over the last few years the Mayor and DC Council have cut [...] . . . → Read More: A Day In The Strife

Youth Town Hall Budget Meeting

DC Youth We Want To Hear From You! If you are 21 years old or younger and want to share your opinions on what’s happening in your city, then come out & be heard! Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s Youth Town Hall Budget Meeting Saturday, May 5, 2012 | 12:00pm to 1:30pm The Charles Sumner School Museum & [...] . . . → Read More: Youth Town Hall Budget Meeting

Another DC Budget Balanced on the Backs of the Poor?

Sam Ford Interviews Homeless for ABC 7

April 17, 2012, at his Ward 7 budget town hall meeting, Mayor Vince Gray said, “Just so people are clear. We’re not cutting those things. People will tell you anything. Sometimes they even think they’re right. We’re not cutting homeless services, we’re not cutting affordable housing, we’re not cutting Medicaid, we’re not cutting TANF (Temporary [...] . . . → Read More: Another DC Budget Balanced on the Backs of the Poor?

Taking On Mayor Gray’s FY 2013 DCPS Budget

Above Composite by Daniel del Pielago who says,

The April 25, 2012 edition of WPFW’s Latino Media Collective focused on the DC Public School budget for fiscal year 2013. Mayor Vincent Gray is quick to point out that there are no proposed cuts to the DCPS budget, which is true enough. While the amount the city is planning to spend on education has [...] . . . → Read More: Taking On Mayor Gray’s FY 2013 DCPS Budget

Housing Cuts in Mayor’s 2013 Budget Draw Protests Outside Hearing

Kwame Brown at Housing Rally

Crossposted from DC Independent Media Center, Written by Luke Kuhn On the 18th of April, the City Council held hearings on Mayor Gray’s budget, the one with tens of millions in housing cuts and a proposal to infest DC’s road intersections with compined speed/red light cameras. The housing cuts in the proposed budget drew a substantial [...] . . . → Read More: Housing Cuts in Mayor’s 2013 Budget Draw Protests Outside Hearing

Tax Day Delegation

Empower DC's Tax Day Delegation, storming the gates of power at the Wilson Building.

As activists, we love to participate in demonstrations and marches, especially when they’re in a good cause and there are so many good causes.  But it’s also nice to step it up a notch and take specific demands to the people in power.  It’s a quieter, less showy form of activism, but necessary and effective [...] . . . → Read More: Tax Day Delegation