Friday Night at the Safari Steakhouse
Safari Steakhouse 9430 Annapolis Road Lanham MD 20706

Familiar Faces
Due to the heavy rain, I arrived a little late, but early enough to get there before Familiar Faces started peforming. Donnell again teased his friend "Big Don Pimp." There were three sets, the first one neo-soul - punctuated by Boolah's kickin' guitar solo in Seals & Crofts' Summer Breeze. Mike Muse complained about "Not getting any mail today because of the Anti-Christ" (it was a federal holiday for Reagan's funeral). A girl asked me to dance, but I begged off because one of my teeth ached, but over time as I got into the music, I ignored the pain. She came by later and got me to dance, unfortunately, she obviously didn't like my dancing 'cause she left shortly to dance with some other guy. The second set had a guest male vocalist and another percussionist subbing for Packy. Another guest sang a few words in Rare Essence's Take Me Out To the Go-Go. The third set as usual, cranked the most of the sets - there was a guest rapper. Unfortunately, several minutes after the performance ended, a couple of fights broke out.

I think all of the guest performances I have witnessed emphasize the communal nature of the performances. It is about having a good time, especially with friends. Friends are recognized beyond the shout-outs during the performance: the band members greet and talk with the friends during breaks.

Note: Another posting on this performance

Thursday at Cranberries
Cranberries, 5740 Silver Hill Rd, Suitland, MD 20747

I arrived at Cranberries a little after 8 PM. Cranberries is an African-American owned upscale restaurant (entrees range from $10.49-$21.49) and bar. I sat in the no-smoking section, where Familiar Faces was set up. They perform at Cranberries every other week and do not perform GoGo there - not all of Familiar Faces was present for that reason.

Familiar Faces
The line up was Mike Muse, D-Floyd, Doc, Pooh, Godfather, and BJ. They peformed the neo-soul and jazz covers (I don't believe there were any originals) that they normally feature in their Jazz sets. I believe I arrived before they started performing. Some of the waitress had an unusual hair style - their black hair was partially dyed red, mostly in their single pony tail - it was vaguely reminiscent of a rooster (at least to me it was). They performed three sets - the restaurant was pretty packed during the first two sets.

At the beginning of the second set, they tried to get a friend, nicknamed "Luigi of the Super Mario Bros." to play on Godfather's keyboard, but after warming up, he decided not to. Mike Muse did offer congratulations to the large wedding party present and noted the passing of Ray Charles.

The last set, as usual, cranked the most. Also, during the set, Mike Muse spoke out about politics in the world today including the current president "Not liking people of my color." "Little Big Harold" sat in on trumpet for a little while, with and without a Harmon mute. At the end, Donnell joned as usual - talking about how they alternate Thursdays with "Little Big Harold", who replied, that's "Mr. Little Big Harold." Donnell also talked about how Jauhar had been wrong about the Lakers that he didn't know about Mr. Miracle (Kobe). Jauhar called him after he thought the Pistons had won, but then after the Lakers won, Donnell called him three minutes later, he never answered, even though Donnell called him one hundred times.

Wednesday at the Takoma Station
Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012

Familiar Faces
Boolah & Bojack weren't present for the first set, but Familiar Faces still held its own. Pooh's drumming and the vocals by Sweet Adia & Mike really hit the beat in the first set. Donnell invited a guest vocalist named Kevin to sing, he was nervous at first and got Donnell to start for him, but he was good once he got warmed up. Donnell insisted he was "Fifteen, just taken to Chuck E. Cheese's." At one point, Kobe Bryant was being shown on ESPN on the TV. Donnell said "That's the most talented basketball player on the planet, Jelly Bean's boy, Kobe. Kobe could take Michael (Jordan) at twenty-five." To this, Mike Muse responded, "Sorry, he forgot his medication today. Maybe Mike Tyson, but not Michael Jordan. Back in the day you were saying the same about Michael towards Dr. J, whose jock will you be on next?" More joning went on back and forth. Donnell went over various announcement of future shows, including a splash party - "This time we'll keep it wholesome. (PA Palace sells X-rated videos of some GoGo pool parties).

At the intermission, I spoke with those members of Familiar Faces that I didn't know the names of. The second set was what really cranked. Ebony was back, I couldn't get her name (until June 24th)- she was wore a Celtics cap that matched her green shirt. She again briefly rapped (during the second set). After they finished performing, Donnell again went on about various people, teasing Cookie (a bleach-blonde) and Michelle, "Last year she couldn't go to pool parties, she was a couple of Reeces Pieces away from..." - Michelle hit him playfully with her purse.

As I walked out, Godfather asked me how I liked the show and suggested I videotape one of their performances.

Non-GoGo: Antibalas at the Black Cat
Instead of attending Familiar Faces' performance at the Safari Steakhouse, I went with my friend Joe to see Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra.
Black Cat 1811 14th St NW, Washington, DC

As the name implies, they are an Afrobeat band. I had missed seeing them when they came by UNC in December, plus this was a record release party for their album to be released on June 8th, Who Is This America?. I counted 13 members of the band (1 trombone player, 2 saxophone players, 2 trumpet players, 2 guitar players, 1 bass player, 1 keyboardist, 2 drummers (drum kit & congas), 1 percussionist, and the lead vocalist/percussionist). They played 2 sets. They made a lot of political statements (which annoyed Joe), but surprisingly they never mentioned their new album. Their first song (don't remember the title), was really laid back, but the 2nd song "Security" and 3rd song really cranked. Joe said they reminded him of the Groove Collective and that "now he knows where the Dead Heads have gone..." (of which Joe is one). Another song in the 2nd set, led by one of the Sax players, really cranked as well. There was a nice girl (a tall curly brunette wearing a white shirt and black slacks) who in a friendly way encouraged me and other guys to dance more rigorously. The only real negative was twice being behind people dancing really vigorously who kept backing up, forcing me to keep backing up. I just listened to the album, which I copped at the performance - it's really good. I like their CDs, but those 3 crankin' tunes aside, I was bored at times - the other songs really didn't hold my attention. Their recordings sustain me more because I am doing other things while listening.

Wednesday at Howard University
The Moorland-Spring Research Center, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059

Today was a productive and fun day. I went down to Howard University and visited the Founders Library's Moorland-Spring Research Center. While I was there, I perused Sia Robinson's 1990 Masters Thesis in Human Communication Studies "A Qualitative Analysis of the Nature and Meaning of Go-Go Music". It should be a good reference tool for shaping my own thesis.

I thought about how people have discussed that due to internet downloading of music, that eventually albums will only be used as promotions for attending concert performances. That's pretty much what PA tapes/CDs are for GoGo bands right now because they don't get royalties on them, just an up-front fee for a copy of the master.

Wednesday at Takoma Station
In the evening, I went to see Familiar Faces at Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012

Familiar Faces
As usual, they started off with their Jazz set, but even that cranked, particularly their rendition of Grover Washington, Jr.'s Mr. Magic - the tune that is supposed to have set the beat for GoGo. Another guy in the audience, Brandon, asked me for details on the band. Donnell razzed GoGo Mickey in the audience, talking about a band he used to belong to, the now-defunct Reality Band (I have some of their PA's, they crank). He said they only played at one place, "The Bus Stop", that any place beyond The Black Hole is Silver Spring. He said GoGo Mickey was only allowed off the porch on Saturdays. He also picked on "Big Pimp Don", saying I know your name is really Donald, to which Don pulled out his license.

As usual, the GoGo set cranked, with GoGo Mickey sitting in for a few songs. They closed with Prince's Purple Rain, with a heavy guitar solo at the end by Clarence "Boolah" Roper, but Donnell picked on his use of effect pedals - "Jimi Hendrix, one pedal, etc." I had looked over the pedals during a break - there are a lot of them in Boolah's set-up.

Sunday: JYB & BYB at the Mad Chef
Mad Chef Cafe, 7929 Central Ave, Capitol Heights, MD 20743

I heard about this upcoming show with the Junkyard Band and the Backyard Band on the PA Palace Board.



Even though Familiar Faces was also performing that night (together with EU and Y2K Band), I decided I wanted to see JYB and BYB together, both because they were major groups and I wanted to compare them to Familiar Faces. Junkyard Band had unveiled a new sound, which they call ASJ (Another Side of Junk), since I went down to UNC. This was my first eighteen and over club rather than the usual twenty-one and over (some people call them "kiddie cabarets").

I arrived at 10 PM, the stated start time. When I went up and asked if they were open yet, the guy must have thought I was a 'Bama, 'cause he said we're closed for eating. I said "I'm here to see Junkyard and Backyard." He said, "My bad." Then he said no, they weren't open yet. I ended up waiting quite a while (over 30 minutes), before they started letting people in. When it was my turn to be carded, this guy also thought I was a 'Bama - he asked me if I knew what was going on and who I was a fan of. The weapon search was tighter than at the airport: belts off, a frisking (by the same first guy I talked to, wearing rubber gloves), a metal detecting wand, taking our shoes off, and our feet frisked. The security guy even threw away (literally, he threw it into the grass) the pen in my pocket as a potential weapon. I went and sat at the table in the middle. One of the fans took it upon himself to ask me if I had ever heard the bands performed - I told him I had seen BYB, not JYB - he was nice about it. They started off with a DJ playing Hip Hop.

Junkyard apparently had some technical problems, delaying their start. They started off with ASJ, and then switched to the GoGo beat. The only people from JYB I could see were the talkers because they sat on speakers way above the crowd - that was because the crowd was so large and it was so dark. I liked JYB's set, but when BYB performed everyone (including me), got more into it.

During the break, some women intentionally came up specifically to dance with me. The fan who had talked with me earlier came up with three women who briefly danced with me. They asked me if I was a manager, and one of them insisted I was a reporter despite my protestes. The heat generated by all of us (the entire crowd that is) dancing caused us all to sweat profusely. It ended shortly before 3 AM when 2 women started fighting. Walking to my car, a girl shouted to me, "You was partying!" I am not good with remembering song titles, but others who attended have posted them here.

It was during this performance that I decided to create this blog.

The JYB performance from this date is available for purchase from various GoGo vendors - I have a copy and enjoy it.

Friday at Safari Steakhouse
Safari Steakhouse, 9430 Annapolis Road Lanham MD 20706

I had a big headache on Thursday, so I missed their performance at Cranberries. This was a convenient drive shortly off the beltway, although I had to stop for gas. I arrived plenty early, and got a table facing the middle of the bandstand. This was another event to celebrate Donnell's birthday.

Familiar Faces
Milton "Go-Go Mickey" Freeman sat in on congas for a stretch, and Donnell told a story of how Footz (Quentin Davidson, the late drummer for Rare Essence) brought Go-Go Mickey to Rare Essence from the now-defunct Ayre Rayde (in Donnell's words, "A bunch of Maryland dudes") to replace Jungle Boogie. Donnell had some more humorous talks; including chiding one of the guys for not coming to the Takoma Station performances because his woman wouldn't let him. He said his friend could borrow his book, called "How to handle it." This was another great performance, lasting until 2:45 AM. There were three sets, with a DJ playing music in between.

Wednesday at Takoma Station
Howard University Library, 500 Howard Place, NW, Washington, DC 20059

I wasn't feeling well on Friday, so I missed the performance at Safari Steakhouse. I had a busy day - I went down to Howard University's Founders Library to try to look at the thesis, but the archives section was closing. I did manage to confirm that they did have the thesis. I think spent time reading Raymond Chandler's "Farewell, My Lovely" to pass the time. At 8 PM, I went over to the Black Cat's box office to get advance tickets for the June 4th Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra show. I took the Metro back, but only got as far as Chinatown-Gallery Place. Red Line trains weren't coming to the station due to some problem, so I left and walked all the way to Metro Center. I caught the next train to Bethesda. I went to my car, changed clothes, and drove over by Takoma Station - it had been a very long day.

Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012

Familiar Faces
Fortunately, I arrived before Familiar Faces started. This time I sat right by the stage (last time I was at the bar). This performance cranked the most of the three so far. Again there were guest vocalists, "Reggae Rae" (Ras Lidj), of whom Donnell said, "I don't what he said, but it sounded good." Ebony said hello when she saw me, and she rapped with the band during one cranking jam. Again, Donnell had humorous speeches. I picked up an advance ticket for Friday's performance. I made a point of going up and saying hello to Adia, as she had chided me on the TMOTTGOGO.com bulletin board for not doing so on last Wednesday. Donnell teased Adia about one of the pictures on the website from her birthday where her mouth was open. He said she asked Nephew to take it down, he refused, then she put up some embarrassing pictures of him, and he took it down right away.

Note: Another fans' response to that performance.

Wednesday at Takoma Station
Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012

Familiar Faces
This was an easy drive and I parked in a residential area nearby. Again, I arrived early (9:30 PM) to get a cheaper cover. I had a cheeseburger dinner and watched Game 7 of the Minnesota-Sacramento series. This crowd was more dressed up than Monday's. A number of people, including one woman in particular named Ebony, were really routing for Minnesota. One guy (Lt. Clark) who came in was immediately friendly to me - he wore an orange collared shirt, and bought me a drink (soda, I don't drink alcohol). He was one of the few people who really danced. The sets in this performance were not as separated as Monday's. This performance was supposed to be for Donnell Floyd's birthday (he said it was actually Monday). Jazz, their sound man, came up to me and said I looked familiar. I told him I was at the Market Lounge on Monday, but he said that's not it, "Am I a musician?" I said no - don't I wish I were! One of the songs they performed for him was Seals & Crofts' Summer Breeze, with Tony Sharpe (a former vocalist for 911) sitting in. For me, the highlight of the evening was their performance of Simon & Garfunkel's Mrs. Robinson to the GoGo beat. I waited after, so I could talk to Donnell Floyd (I got his cell number so we could talk further about my project). I caught that the music is not the only enjoyable part of the performance - Donnell's talks (particularly after the music ends) are very humorous. He said that the guy in the orange shirt, whom he identified as a police lieutenant (Lt. Clark) was GoGo Nate. I read this post on the PA Palace discussion board later that GoGo Nate was a humorous rapper who apparently now sells PA tapes for $5 over by Dunbar High School. The performance was over before 1 AM, and I drove home. The bassist looked familiar to me, and so I looked on the web and recognized him as the leader of Physical Wunders, which I assumed obviously had broken up if he was with FF. However, he subsequently told me after reading this on the blog that it was not true, see for more details.

Monday at Market Lounge: Making contact with FF
Market Lounge, 1309 5th Street NE, Washington, DC 20002

10 PM was the stated start time for Familiar Faces' performance (opening for EU), but I drove early in order to get a chance to talk with the band and to have a cheaper cover. On the way, I noticed that another GoGo venue, Bud's Restaurant and Nightclub was a block away from the Market Lounge. Both Familiar Faces and EU performed at the 9:30 Club concert, so I had seen them before, but this was different. As per the instructed dress code instructions, I wore a collared shirt, slacks, and formal shoes. As I expected, I was the only white person there. Doc was the first band member there. He sat at the bar. When I went to the bar, the bartender (Imani), served me a Coke in the can. I talked with Donnell Floyd, the leader of Familiar Faces. He agreed to work with me on my thesis, and introduced me to Mike Muse and Mark "Godfather" Lawson.

Familiar Faces
Familiar Faces performed two sets - the first set was basically neo-soul (a happy hour set he called it) - no one really danced to that one. Donnell's adult son, Donnell Jr., was in the audience. The second set was straight-out GoGo - they really cranked. I danced as did most people. However, my dancing was interrupted by me getting hit on by a couple of girls, which was unexpected, they asked me questions like whether I had any children. I talked with the girls for a while and danced with one of them including grinding. Later, another girl went to dance with me, and then walked quickly away, as if she had been dared to "dance with the white boy." They guy sitting at the table in front of mine told me I shouldn't take that from her. Donnell announced during the performance that this would be their last performance at the Market Lounge that "They were getting kicked out."

EU
EU performed a couple of neo-soul songs and then straight-out GoGo the rest of the way. The performance ended shortly before 2 AM. Overall, I really enjoyed the performances and wished I had gone to GoGos alone earlier.

The only negative of the night was getting lost on the way home, as I missed the correct turns on more than one circle.

Introduction

Feel free to email me if you have any comments.

Since I don't take copious notes when I go, I will be editing entries as I go as I recall or learn new things. when I first started this blog, I didn't take notes at all.

Although I have graduated from the University of Maryland with an accounting degree, I have always been interested in history, literature, and music. Actually much of what I have learned comes from University libraries, not classes (the music library at Hornbake was one of my favorite spots at the University of Maryland, it has since moved and is now the performing arts library). I keep my alumni association membership active so that I can check out books from University of Maryland libraries. I am the third child with 2 older brothers who had no musical talents, so my parents did not even bother to have me learn an instrument. Thus I can only appreciate music. Every one in my family has had at least some interest in Classical music. The things I like in Classical music are the same as what I like in Funk music: I like a lot of sound, based in rhythm.

Since most of my friends don't listen to the music I listen to, my interest in the Funk came in a round about way. One of my fraternity brothers, Christopher, won free tickets to an Earth, Wind & Fire concert. He took another fraternity brother that I am closer to, Tung, to the concert. Tung instantly became a big EWF fan and he introduced me to R&B. I started buying more and more R&B and finally, when I bought the Best of Bar-Kays (Mercury) Volumes 1 and 2, I wanted to find more of this particular sound. Chris was also a fan of Blaxploitation movies, he had Shaft (I remember watching it when I was 12: it was where I first heard the term "get laid." I had to ask my dad what it meant). He said that the only one who was a bigger badass was Superfly, so I rented that as well. I really liked the Funk soundtrack music to both of those movies, Superfly is my favorite soundtrack of all time. I have the All-Music Guide to Rock and I looked under the styles in it, one of which was Funk. I had earlier bought the Funk Essentials from PolyGram (and together with the Best of Bar-Kays) I knew that this was the style I was looking for. So I was at the music library at the University of Maryland and I looked in the computer under Funk, and found Rickey Vincent's book, Funk: the Music, the People and the Rhythm of the One. And believe you me I used the list of bands in front as a buying guide. It was the book that really inspired me to start reading more and it was where I first heard of DC GoGo. In it, Rickey mentions Mumbo Jumbo by Ishmael Reed as being a novel about the spread of Funk culture across Western civilization. I read that book too and found it to be an excellent metaphor for my own experience. Funk, including GoGo, is my favorite style of music now.

My interest in Blaxploitation movies is intertwined with Funk music, especially since the music in many of those movies is kicking. Just like when I looked up Rickey Vincent's book, I was at the UMBC library one day and I looked up Blaxploitation. There I found Darius James' book, That's Blaxploitation!. After having seen clips of Dolemite, in The Great White Hype, I was at Best Buy one day and saw the Dolemite collection on VHS for $36, which I purchased. After having watched the movies, I saw that in Darius' critique of Rudy's movies mentioned that they follow the Toast tradition. Toasts are Black oral folk (rhymed and typically laced with obscenities) poetry about the Life: mostly pimping, pushing and hustling. Later, while surfing the worldwide web, I found a page devoted to Iceberg Slim, formerly located at http://www.fringeware.com/subcult/Iceberg_Slim.html, now since revised and moved here. (Iceberg Slim's name was also used by a local rapper who appeared on Trouble Funk's Don't Touch That Stereo, I've met him and seen him perform). It mentioned the book The Life: The Lore & Folk Poetry of the Black Hustler (by Dennis Wepman, Ronald Newman and Murray Binderman) as being a book of toasts. I've since also become a fan of novels by Iceberg Slim, Donald Goines, and Chester Himes.

I realized that I wanted to work in music and that just listening to CDs was not enough for me. I had no friends around who had my interests (the few fraternity brothers with similar interested had moved to various places after they graduated). So I decided to go to California for a vacation, that way I could check out LA (so I would know what it was like before I thought about moving there) and visit Rickey Vincent. So when I was at the library at San Francisco State when I was waiting to see RV, I read The Life. The book right next to it on the shelf was Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me by Bruce Jackson, which is another book devoted to Toasts. RV gave me the email address for a Funk discussion group, formerly accessible at funky-music@ai.mit.edu, now here, and talking to that group has gotten me closer to Funk than anything else has. I became so enamored with Funk that I decided I wanted on to work with Funk in the music business. On Rickey's advice, I decided I would specifically try to get a job with Rhino Entertainment, the reissue company. While I worked at Rhino in master use licensing, Kip Lornell contacted me. Kip is a professor at George Washington University. He was co-writing the first book on GoGo (The Beat: Go-Go's Fusion of Funk and Hip-Hop). It was possible that Rhino would release the CD that would accompany the book. After working at Rhino, and transferring to a sister company, Warner Special Products, I left and moved back East because I hated living in Los Angeles.

I'll admit I have a sense of pride about GoGo, given that I am from the Vanilla Suburbs of Chocolate City. I have built up a collection of about 150 commercial and PA CDs (PA = Public Address system, i.e. PA tapes & CDs are copies of soundboard recordings of performances) - honestly, there is only one of them that I haven't liked. I really enjoy the music, it is my favorite genre of music - the polyrhythmic beat really cranks and it is about the only music I dance to. I view it as carrying on the torch for Funk - it is the most vibrant musical tradition going on within Funk, with a number of bands performing weekly in the DC area. I decided to create a web page of links on GoGo to further educate myself on GoGo.

However, not too many of my friends are GoGo fans, and I was unable to convince them to go with me to GoGo clubs. Also, prior to this Summer, I did not want to go alone - I don't like going to concerts by myself. The first GoGo concert I've been to was on August 31st, 2001 at the 9:30 Club, which is normally a rock venue and had a mixed crowd.

I went with my friend Joe, and managed to meet Kip Lornell in person (I recognized him from his picture on the back cover). This performance, which featured EU, Backyard Band, 911 and Chuck Brown with guests, was released as a commercial DVD - Put Your Hands Up! The Tribute Concert to Chuck Brown. 911's performance in particular was the greatest performance I've ever been to. The GoGo performances I've been to and heard recordings of are better than the old school Funk bands still on tour in that have a tendency to do a fair number acapella sing-a-longs of their hit songs. The concert DVD was the first DVD I ever bought.

It took me a while to find myself before I realized I wanted to seek out a career related to folklore. Kip Lornell (together with Simon Bronner) has given me a lot of career guidance. I decided to attend the Masters program in Folklore at the University of North Carolina because of its fieldwork focus and my family in the area. In the Spring 2004 semester, I took a class on Ethnography (a form of observation and collaboration used in order to gain understanding) where I followed the hardcore fans of Cool John Ferguson, an extremely talented multi-genre guitar player. I was not able to understand the spiritual meaning of the music for the fans from my observation and personal experience alone. This lack of understanding lead me to the conclusion that I had to do my thesis on a subject I was really into. I immediately knew that was GoGo. In order not to spread myself thin, I wanted to work with one or both of my two favorite GoGo bands: Trouble Funk and 911 (formed in 2001, consisting largely of veterans of Rare Essence, including still-present members (of 911/Familiar Faces) Donnell Floyd, DP, Bojack, Godfather, BJ, and no-longer members (of 911/Familiar Faces) Darrell "Blue Eye" Arrington and Darrin "X" Frazier, (further Mike Muse went from Rare Essence to another RE-spin-off band called Touch of Essence (which pre-dated 911) to 911/Familiar Faces) as well as most prominently, 2 vocalists from Northeast Groovers: Chris "Rah" Black and Dave "32" Ellis). I contacted a number of people to ask for information and picked up more PA CDs to listen to the distinctions in the sound of the current and older GoGo bands (and of course, because I enjoy the music). Even before coming back up to the DC area, I discovered that Trouble Funk was not currently performing, so my goal was to work with 911. Shortly after the semester ended, I read this post on the PA Palace Bulletin Board that 911 was now called Familiar Faces. On the Take Me Out to the GoGo bulletin board, I found out that a member of the band, Adia Doores, was a poster on the board. I contacted her and discussed my plans with her. She was positive about it and sent me a link to the band's website, which has their entire performance schedule on it.

Familiar Faces
Line up from May 17, 2004 on:

• Lead vocals (male)
  • Mike "Dickie" Muse (-March 12, 2006)
  • Sean "Kal-el" Gross (guitar & percussion as well) (January 25, 2006 - January 1, 2008)
  • Frank "Scooby" Marshall (guitar as well) (Special Guest (January 2, 2008-December 28, 2008)
  • Marquis "Quise" Melvin (January 2, 2008-)
• Lead vocals (female)
  • Adia Doores (-April 9, 2005)
  • Halima Peru (April 13, 2005-January 1, 2008)
  • Damila Adams (January 2, 2008-)
• Backup vocals (male)
  • James Lawson (Godfather's nephew) (December 2004-January 2006)
• Backup vocals (female)
  • TJ (November-December 2006)
• Rapper
  • John "Stinky Dink" Bowman (December 31, 2008-)
• Lead talker, rapper, & Saxophone
  • Donnell "D-Floyd" Floyd
• Vocals & Trumpet
  • Derek "DP" Paige
• Vocals & Trombone
  • Mike "Hardstep" Taylor (April 2007-)
• Each of the members of the frontline tends to play a snare-less tambourine when not singing or playing another instrument.
• Lead guitar
  • Clarence "Boolah" Roper (-June 23rd, 2004)
  • Dwayne Lee (June 26, 2004-January 1, 2008)
  • Wendell Bacon (January 2, 2008-)
• Bass
  • Kenny "Doc" Hughes (-January 1, 2008)
  • Sean Geason (January 2, 2008-)
• First Keyboard
  • Byron "BJ" Jackson (-June 14, 2005)
  • Lorenzo Johnson (June 15, 2005-)
• Second keyboard
  • Mark "Godfather" Lawson
• Drum Kit
  • Duane "Pooh" Payne (-Fall 2004)
  • Jammin' Jeff Warren (Fall 2004-April 12, 2005, January 14, 2007-)
  • Larry "Stomp Dog" Atwater (also Roland SPD-S Sampling Pad) (April 13, 2005-January 13, 2007, filled in (some days per week) June 17, 2007-January 1, 2008)
  • Dwayne Thomas (filled in (some days per week) January or February 2007-June 2007)
• Lead percussion (congas, bongos, timbales, roto-toms, cowbell)
  • Eric "Bojack" Butcher
  • Sam "Smoke" Dews (Fall 2004-)
• Second percussion
  • Vonzae "Packy" Jenkins (He is actually their equipment set-up man)
  • Charlie Allen (-2007)
  • Jacques Vaughn (January 19, 2005-August 9, 2007)
• The cowbell is played by being struck by a drumstick, not rung.

The original personnel for 911 (per a conversation with Donnell on July 5, 2005) was:
Vocals & Saxophone - Donnell "D-Floyd" Floyd
Vocals & Trumpet - Derek "DP" Paige
Vocals - Dave "32" Ellis
Vocals - Fatima Washington
Groove Talker - Bryan "B-Man" Baucum
Guitar - Joel Freeman
Bass - Bobby "B-Smoot" Smoot
Keyboards (Roland XP-60) - Mark "Godfather" Lawson
Sample Boards - Darrin "X" Frazier
Keyboards - Paul "Rootie" Baltimore
Drums - Darryl "Blue Eye" Arrington
Percussion (Congas, Bongos, Timbales, Roto-Toms, Cowbell) - Eric "Bojack" Butcher

For comparison, here is the personnel for the 911 album Blueprint released on June 26, 2001:
Current members - Donnell, DP, Bojack, and Godfather, plus
Vocals - Dave "32" Ellis
Vocals - Chris "Rah" Black (both Rah and 32 left for the Northeast Groovers reunion)
Drums - Darryl "Blue Eye" Arrington
Sample Boards - Darrin "X" Frazier
Keyboards - Paul "Rootie" Baltimore
Bass - Bobby "B-Smoot" Smoot
Guitar - Joel Freeman
Vocals - Tony Richardson
Vocals - Fatima Washington
Percussion - Charlie Allen

The Chuck Brown tribute concert on August 31st, 2001 had virtually the same personnel, except:
BJ on Bass instead of Bobby Smoot
Tony Richardson and Fatima Washington subtracted
Tony Sharpe on Vocals (he is now with Whop-N-Em) You can read about his leaving 911 here.
Boolah on Guitar instead of Joel Freeman

According to the old 911 site, archived on December 27, 2001, the line up was:
Vocals - Tony Sharpe
Vocals - Dave "32" Ellis Sr.
Groove Talker - Bryan "B-Man" Baucum
Saxophone & Vocals - Donnell Floyd
Trumpet - Derek Paige
Guitar - Clarence "Boolah" Roper
Bass - Bobby "B-Smoot" Smoot
Keyboards - Mark "Godfather" Lawson
Keyboards - Darrin "Mr. X" Frazier
Keyboards - Paul "Rootie" Baltimore
Percussion - Eric "Bojack" Butcher
Percussion - Charles "Charlie" Allen

Their discography:
As 911

Blueprint
Put Your Hands Up! The Tribute Concert to Chuck Brown (available on CD or DVD)
A compilation (I found it listed as May 7th 2003 Cada Vez on PA Palace).
November 4th 2001 Tradewinds
May 5th 2002 Metro
August 3rd 2002 Metro
April 27th 2003 Tradewinds
October 30th 2003 Club U

As Familiar Faces

March 31st 2004 Takoma Station (2 CDs)
July 14th 2004 Takoma Station
Evolution (out November 23, 2004)
April 27, 2005 Takoma Station
October 15, 2005 Tradewinds (2 CDs)
March 10, 2006 Icon (2 CDs)
October 9, 2005 Fur (DVD)
July 8, 2006 Tradewinds (2 CDs)
November 22, 2006 Capital Hill Hyatt Regency (DVD)
March 17, 2007 Cranberries (2 CDs)
July 13, 2007 Mirrors (2 CDs)
June 11, 2008 Club Elite (2 CDs)
June 28, 2008 Capital Hill Hyatt Regency (DVD)
November 12, 2008 Club Elite (2 CDs)

I re-read The Beat in its entirety. One of the insights that I understood more in reading it this time was the description of the United House of Prayer for All People's trombone shout bands, since I had worked on an abortive group project with a Durham, NC church of the denomination in the Fall 2003 semester. I also plan to look at an existing thesis on GoGo written in 1990 at Howard University (Sia Robinson's "A Qualitative Analysis of the Nature and Meaning of Go-Go Music"). I do not have a specific thesis hypothesis at this time, but I am fascinated with the current trend in GoGo - having separate neo-soul and GoGo sets with current popular songs being covered (which is not a new trend in GoGo, but the amount of covers being done has increased) and most bands having female singers as well as male.

I decided to create this blog to document my GoGo attendances. Although the fact that I am a Caucasian often being the sole non-African American at these performances does not mean much to me, I still thought it is significant enough to document when I am treated differently because of that.