Purple Charlotte Steppers doing Chuck Baby Line Dance
**** Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases seven YouTube videos of the "Chuck Baby" Soul Line dance. This line dance is always performed to the 2007 Go Go record "Chuck Baby" by Chuck Brown. These videos were published in 2022, 2023, 2016, and 2023.
This post also includes my editorial notes about these videos.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Chuck Brown for his cultural and musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are featured in these videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube.
**** PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
This pancocojams post documents different ways that groups of female and male adult line dancers from various cities in the United States danced to the record "Chuck Baby". These videos also documents the different ways that one or more individuals within those groups performed more than the basic steps of that dance, "putting their own flavor to the mix."'
Most of the video in this post document soul line dancing before the custom of dancers holding and popping fans began or became widespread. Although a few of these videos showed line dancers holding a closed fan while dancing, none of those videos showed any fans being "popped" (i.e. the action and sound that is produced when line dancers flick their wrist, thereby opening up their fan which makes a popping sound). Prior to the now familiar custom of many soul line dancers holding and popping a folding fan while they dance, some soul line dancers held a short (usually) white cloth towel. That towel is used to wipe the sweat of their brow usually at the completion of a dance. Sometimes line dancers wave these towels, but that isn't shown in these particular videos.
I just happened to include videos that featured dancers carrying one of these towels. I didn't purposely choose videos with that feature in advance and wasn't aware of that commonality until I published and then re-watched this post.
****
Video #2, a whistle is heard in the beginning of the dance, but the person blowing the whistle isn't on camera. Soul line dance videos that feature fan popping sometimes also include the sound of one person blowing a whistle to augment the line dance's recorded song.
ADDITIONAL SHOWCASE VIDEOS These videos are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.
SHOWCASE VIDEO #2 - Chuck Baby Line Dance
Freda Terry, Sep 24, 2011
Freda Terry (Chicago's Line Dance Instructor) join Juanita
Collins (North Carolina's Line Dance "Down South Shuffle's Instructor) in
Chapel Hill celebrating Juanita's birthday with a line dancing work shop and
her crew. Had a great time doing
"Chuck Baby" and you can, too. -snip- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVtllEg9UNk
@LDFFTV, Jun 24, 2024 -snip- This is a snippet of attendees of the Bull City Sliders Spring Throwback Party doing the line dance, "Chuck Baby", choreographed by Sharon Holmes to the song, "Chuck Baby" by Chuck Brown https://youtube.com/shorts/MZdrbDZjMbQ?si=_YotOa5taSXPo5mr
****
SHOWCASE VIDEO #5 -Chuck Baby Line Dance, an oldie but a good one
@dinahharvey7763, 2023 "I see instead of them stepping up they're kicking up nice
move." -snip- This comment refers to the fact that there are several choreographies for the "Chuck Baby" line dance. In addition to members of a group or class doing the choreography that is accepted by that group or class, individuals can add their own twist to certain steps or moves as long as they remain on beat and don't get too "extra."
This pancocojams post provides information about & five videos of African American "go go music".
The content of this post is presented for historical, educational, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Special thanks to guitarist & singer Chuck Brown (August 22, 1936 – May 16, 2012 ) who was the undisputed creator of Go Go music. RIP Chuck Brown.
Also, special thanks and RIP to trumpeter Lil Benny [d. May 30, 2010] who was one of the founders of Go Go music.
Thanks also to all the other musicians and vocalists (including the audiences) who are featured in the performances that are highlighted in these selected videos and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
Go-go is a subgenre associated with funk that originated in the Washington, D.C., area during the mid- 1960s to late-1970s. It remains primarily popular in the area as a uniquely regional music style. A great number of bands contributed to the early evolution of the genre, but The Young Senators, Black Heat, and notably singer-guitarist Chuck Brown and The Soul Searchers are credited with having developed most of the hallmarks of the style.
Inspired by artists such as the groups formerly mentioned and Chuck Brown, Go-go is a blend of funk, rhythm and blues, and early hip-hop, with a focus on lo-fi percussion instruments and funk-style jamming in place of dance tracks, although some sampling is used. As such, it is primarily a dance hall music with an emphasis on live audience call and response. Go-go rhythms are also incorporated into street percussion.
Known as the “Godfather of Go-Go,” the performer, singer, guitarist and songwriter [Chuck Brown] developed his commanding brand of funk in the mid-1970s to compete with the dominance of disco.
Like a DJ blending records, Mr. Brown used nonstop percussion to stitch songs together and keep the crowd on the dance floor, resulting in marathon performances that went deep into the night. Mr. Brown said the style got its name because “the music just goes and goes.”
In addition to being go-go’s principal architect, Mr. Brown remained the genre’s most charismatic figure. On stage, his spirited call-and-response routines became a hallmark of the music, reinforcing a sense of community that allowed the scene to thrive. As go-go became a point of pride for black Washingtonians, Mr. Brown became one of the city’s most recognizable figures.
Anthony Harley, 46, a Washington trumpet player better known as Little Benny ... helped define the city's homegrown style of funk music as a member of the Rare Essence go-go band during the 1980s.
.... [Chuck] Brown was the godfather of go-go, but when he went on tour, he left a void in Washington that was filled by younger bands. One of the most important was a group of teenagers including Mr. Harley. Called Rare Essence, it performed up to six times a week at venues in and around Washington, continuing to shape go-go into a style of funk that is still identified with the nation's capital....
In go-go, the groove doesn't stop, and Mr. Harley was known for having the boundless energy it took to continue making music from the beginning of the performance to the end. The Go-Go Hall of Fame inductee was a diminutive man with a powerful voice who led the band's vocals on fast-paced songs and could play two trumpets at once.
Mr. Harley left Rare Essence in the mid-1980s and formed Little Benny and the Masters. Among his most popular songs were "Cat in the Hat" and "Who Comes to Boogie." Later, he played with the go-go band Proper Utensils and reunited several times with original members of Rare Essence.
****
FEATURED VIDEOS
[Four of the five YouTube examples that were initially showcased in this post are no longer available. These examples replace those videos/sound files and are given in no particular order.
Video #1: Go Go Swing - Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers
Wabangi Video, Published on Jul 20, 2012
Go Go Swing - Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers.
Gogo Swing - Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers Live 1986
Arranged by Chuck Brown&the Soul Searchers
****
Video #2: Chuck Brown and KK Donelson
kevj1069, Published on Oct 10, 2014
****
Video #3: Chuck Brown ** Wind Me Up Chuck ** Live
akimmbo, Published on Jun 13, 2015
We got the old school in the house tonight
"Hell, Yeah"
****
Video #4 A tribute to Chuck Brown \ BUSTIN' LOOSE \
Kei Duke, Published on Feb 21, 2015
An Original FUNKBUDOYA Back in 70's SOULTRAIN
****
Video #5: Chuck Brown~ Chocolate City Reunion
Uploaded by PyChip on Jul 7, 2011
Washington DC's Godfather of Go-Go performs at The Chocolate City Reunion July 4th 2011. www.windmeupchuck.com
Among African Americans in the 1970s to date, Washington, D.C.'s nickname was "Chocolate City". D.C. was given that name because so many Black folks lived there. Back in 1970, that city peaked at 71 percent Black. However, "Washington’s black population slipped below 50 percent this year [2011], possibly in February, about 51 years after it gained a majority, according to an estimate by William Frey, the senior demographer at the Brookings Institution… http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/us/18dc.html?pagewanted=all. It will be interesting to see how long D.C. retains the "Chocolate City" nickname in the face of its significantly changing demographics.
Many online articles & blog comments cite the influx of White people from the suburbs back to the city and the resulting cost of property, and the rise of property taxes due to gentrification as the reasons for Washington, D.C.'s decreased Black population. For those interested in that subject, in addition to the article linked above, I highly recommend reading
"On The Rapid Gentrification of DC" by Latoya Peterson, July 19, 2011 http://www.racialicious.com/2011/07/19/on-the-rapid-gentrification-of-dc/
Rather than looking at the causes & consequences of D. C.'s gentrification, this post focuses on "Go Go music" - a sub-genre of African American music that originated in predominately Black Washington D.C. and still remains centered in Washington, D.C. area.
The Beat! was the first book to explore the musical, social, and cultural phenomenon of go-go music. In this new edition, updated by a substantial chapter on the current scene, authors Kip Lornell and Charles C. Stephenson, Jr., place go-go within black popular music made since the middle 1970s--a period during which hip-hop has predominated. This styling reflects the District's African American heritage. Its super-charged drumming and vocal combinations of hip-hop, funk, and soul evolved and still thrive on the streets of Washington, D.C., and in neighboring Prince George's County, making it the most geographically compact form of popular music.
Go-go--the only musical form indigenous to Washington, D.C.--features a highly syncopated, nonstop beat and vocals that are spoken as well as sung. The book chronicles its development and ongoing popularity, focusing on many of its key figures and institutions, including established acts such as Chuck Brown (the Godfather of Go-Go), Experience Unlimited, Rare Essence, and Trouble Funk...
Go-go is a blend of funk, rhythm and blues, and early hip-hop, with a focus on lo-fi percussion instruments and funk-style jamming in place of dance tracks, although some sampling is used. As such, it is primarily a dance hall music with an emphasis on live audience call and response. Go-go rhythms are also incorporated into street percussion...
There is generally little familiarity with go-go music outside of the D.C. Metro area, which includes the District of Columbia and the city's outlying Maryland and Northern Virginia suburbs. Consequently, the relatively little commercial success (by industry standards) go-go bands have enjoyed has largely been a product of the genre's following in this geographic region. Nevertheless, the style continues to evolve.
As to the source of the name "Go Go", the authors of that Wikipedia page indicates that "In the mid-1960s, "go-go" was the word for a music club in the local African American community, as in the common phrase at the time "going to a go-go".
http://gogobeat.com and http://www.dcgogoparadise.com/ are online resources for information about and bookings for go-go bands. go go music. gogobeat.com describes itself as a "Directory of Go-Go Music in Washington DC, MD [Maryland] and VA.[Virginia]". It's my belief that go-go music strongly influenced the creation of two other African American performance styles in that same area, and in a contiguous area during that same mid 1970s period. Those two performance styles are "Stomp and Shake" cheerleading (whose beginnings I've traced to the Virginia and North Carolina areas) and "foot stomping cheers" (whose earliest documented recording is of Washington D.C. schoolgirls in 1976). Both Stomp and Shake cheerleading and foot stomping cheers owe a lot of their performance styles to the African American art of university based Black Greek lettered fraternity & sorority steppin. Numerous predominately Black universities are found in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina areas. And my recollections as a member of a Black Greek lettered sorority and a fan of step shows is that the mid 1970s & early 1980s was when step shows first became prominent on Black campuses and in Black communities. I don't think that it's a coincidence that all of these Black performances arts originated or grew in influence in the same geographical areas and at the same time as go go music. It seems to me that scholarly research of any of the above mentioned African American performance arts should investigate the likely influence of go-go music on the creation & the development of those heavily percussive, crowd participation encouraging art forms.
****
Here are two YouTube examples of Go Go music:
Chuck Brown And The Soul Searchers – Bustin' Loose 1979
TT V-rus 1138, Published on Jun 25, 2016
-snip-
The video entitled "CHUCK BROWN "GOGO SWING,MIDNIGHT SUN,MOODY'S MOOD" @ 930 CLUB" which was initially showcased here is no longer available. Here are three comments from this video's viewer comment thread:
I live in delaware an area that has no idea what go-go music is. Still after all these yrs it's makes me dance..DC/VA stand up for chuck!...ps BET, VH-1, why isn't this getting an award???.
-denji31; 2011
*
@denji31 Chuck has had many awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and things like that. He even has a street named after him on near GA ave in DC. He has gotten tons of recognition.
-CALICOTV301 ; 2011
*
REAL MUSIC AT ITS BEST LIVE INSTRUMENTS REAL TALENT. I WAS STATIONED AT FORT LEE ,VIRGINIA BACK IN THE DAY AND I WAS FORMERLY INTRODUCED TO THE GREAT GO GO SOUND!!!! YOU CAN DANCE AND GROOVE OFF THIS ALL DAY AND NIGHT!!! KEEP GO GO ALIVE!!!
-XMAN4708; 2011
-snip-
Rare Essence Chocolate City Reunion (2011) #2
Uploaded by PyChip on Jul 8, 2011
Rare Essence plays at The Chocolate City Reunion
-snip-
Here's a comment from that video's viewer comment thread:
GO-GO IS STILL ALIVE!!!!!!!!!! Horn Section, Frontline Dance moves, Crowd participation, & most importantly CONGOS!!!! The only thing missing is the $10-$15 shows that went a hour & half per set!
(If you were BORN anywhere in the 90's you probrably dont understand what I'm talking about)
-Draydayz ; 2011
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams. Visitor comments are welcome!
Scroll down the page to read comments, to find the comment box, and/or to add comments. If you don’t see the comment box, click on the post’s title to visit that post’s page.
Comments can be posted anonymously or you can use your facebook address or another website address to sign in to comment. However, your address is never shown publicly or given to anyone.
If you aren't sure how to add comments on this blog, follow the instructions found on this page Adding Comments
