Go-Go -
noun Also written GoGo (
Music ) (Youth Culture) A style of popular music (originating in the
Black communities of Washington DC) characterized by an
energetic soul sound and an incessant funk-style beat, and using a
mixture of acoustic and electronic instruments; a gathering at which
this music is played; also, the street subculture surrounding it. Etymology: Probably a specialized development of
go-go as used of discos, their music, and disco-dancing in the sixties. One of the founders of the subculture, Chuck Brown, claims that the name arose when he asked an audience 'What time is it?' and they shouted back 'Time to
go-go!' History and Usage: Go-go is the Washington equivalent of New York's hip hop; its musical roots are in the late sixties, when the principle of a
continuous beat and the call-and-response style of lyric that characterizes the music were first developed. It remained limited to its Washington audience until the late seventies, when its first big record hits were released, but from the mid eighties onwards was widely promoted outside Washington and became popular in the UK as well. The word
go-go is often used attributively, especially in
go-go music. Go-go is aggressively live, drawing anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000 people a night to
go-gos scattered throughout the city. It is the live performance that defines
go-go and denotes its champions. Washington Post 19 May 1985, section G, p.
4 Chuck
Brown and the Soul Searchers who spearheaded the
Go-Go attack in 1986 play
three nights at The Town & Country Club in
Kentish Town...as
part of the Camden Festival.
Blues & Soul 3-16 Feb. 1987, p. 9
