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

I arrived at about 9:40 PM. I saw FF's manager, Baba, outside in the parking lot talking to Packy. I was a little tired. I hung out in the lounge. It turned about to be really early as Familiar Faces didn't go on until 11 PM. I watched people playing pool, including using the same type of custom pool cues with flashing blue lights. There was a fireplace on in the corner that I had never really noticed before. When it got to be 10:30 PM, I walked over the dance area to wait for them to start up. There were fewer tables in the dance area then there were during the summer.

Familiar Faces
FF didn't actually start performing until 11 PM. During the first set, Mike mentioned giving aid to the Tsunami victims. He also said, "If you won't give to the Tsunami victims, give to your brother. Don't just give to your parson, give to your brother." Crankindrumma from the TMOTT board said hello, and then Marly Marl (also from the TMOTT board) came by. He asked me where my camera was (I didn't bring it) and then posed with his hands on the breasts of Juanita Radden. Donnell had Lysette from Backyard Band come up and sing a song (don't remember which song, but it was a cover). People danced during the first set and Donnell repeatedly said, "Why are you dancing during the happy hour set?"

During the first break, I saw one of the differences because of the larger crowds - band members had to compete with the audience for seats in the lounge. Dwayne and Juanita were discussed Xcalibur - he said their last date there was in September, but I told him it was actually in July (specifically it was July 29th). I said hello to Teago, who actually wore a shirt that didn't have Jimi Hendrix on the front. Crankindrumma hung out with Donnell Jr., RE Angie, and Nita. Godfather introduced me to a guy named Tony, who used to play with Little Benny. He said Tony was trying to go national. Tony said they were in the most recent TMOTTGoGo issue. Other regulars were there, including 6'9. I said hello to Supa Dan. Towards the end of the break, I went over to the bar to get a soda.

I watched the second set from over by the bar. Early in the set, Donnell asked Supa Dan or anyone else to turn off the main fireplace - "It's 100 degrees in here!" I noticed Charlie had taken over the cowbell from Packy. During the set, which cranked, they performed Snoop's Drop It Like It's Hot. Mike sang Happy Birthday to Toya. They started to perform Rare Essence's Marinda, but only played a few bars before going into the second break. During the second set, a fight apparently broke out while a police officer played pool.

Before the third set started, I talked with the guy working the side mixing board (Vincent) asking him why there are two mixing boards. He said his board controls the onstage monitors; the other board controls the big speakers. I danced over by the side mixing board for the whole set. DJ Flava (aka GoGo Rudy) came by and said, "Hi." Michelle came by, and danced directly behind the mixing board. Telly stood over to the left of me. James sang backup during the set, and Jay Gotti guest rapped. Charlie played the timbales and roto-toms throughout most of the set. They did perform Rare Essence's Marinda during this set. Another girl came by and grinded with me during the performance of DIP. She actually asked me if I was having fun - of course! The heat of the crowd was palpable - I sweated a bit. Lysette sang another song during the set, then took off her all red sunglasses and Charlie put them on, hamming it up. BJ took pictures during the set. Donnell went over announcements: "It's just ladies at the Tradewinds, all you need is soft shoes, leave your tennis shoes behind one night, never mind: we've got it covered." He also announced their Ski Party in March and their upcoming performance at Bud's 501 Club on Martin Luther King's Birthday Sunday. I talked with Michelle, she asked about getting a copy of her interview. Donnell advised everyone "When they leave, walk directly to their cars and drive home."

There was an incident outside and the police blocked off one of the exits to the parking lot. When I said goodbye to Donnell, I asked how much of the order of the songs they perform is pre-planned. He said, "None of it." He has hand signals for each song.

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

Despite the rain, it was a great evening. I arrived a little before 10 PM. I went over and talked to Doc. We discussed Gospel GoGo. A number of groups have broken up lately, especially since they don't always perform for pay. Doc said he didn't get the point of what Gospel GoGo bands are trying to accomplish - GoGo music with Gospel words. I said that it is possible they are trying to attract people who wouldn't normally go to church. I told him about a picture one of my fellow folklore students showed in class: a church sign saying "Wal-Mart is not the only place you can save." We also discussed Bass players and Guitar Players. Doc said most of them are crazy, including Jimi Hendrix. (Interestingly, Greg Tate talks about how Hendrix set the image for rock guitarists in Midnight Lightning: Jimi Hendrix and the Black Experience.)

Familiar Faces
The first set was delayed due to technical problems between the guitar and the mixing board. When they started, the line up was: Donnell, DP, Dwayne, Doc, Godfather, Jammin' Jeff and Smoke. It started off instrumentally as usual, and then Adia and Mike started singing. Later, Donnell called Tamara up to sing a song, like last week. To make up for the late start, they performed a really long set: about 90 minutes. BJ arrived a little late. Mike gave props to Marshall Thompson (lead singer of the Chi-Lites) and said he'd be there to see him front row, center on February 18th. Adia sang Destiny's Child's Soldier. At one point, they went over to congratulate a woman who had just gotten a job for Ward 4. Mike sat down at the seat next to her, and Donnell brought his Saxophone to the table as well and they serenaded her. Again, other than the opening songs, it is hard to distinguish between the sets musically now. The GoGo beat clearly dominated most of the first and all of the second set. A guy sitting behind me had a running commentary on their performance. They did an announcement for Tracy's birthday party at Cada Vez. There was a birthday shout out for a different Tracy as well.

Still, the second set was more crankin' than the first set. Again, they performed DIP in the second set, as well as Lap Dance. Donnell mentioned the Miami trip again. Donnell also requested a volunteer male singer for tomorrow's performance at Club U. They will be performing at 12:30 AM, with EU, Y2K, and L!ssen preceding them. Donnell said, "We need someone who can stay up late." Mike added, "Someone who is unemployed." Donnell called the group members together for a quick meeting after the show.

Tuesday at Rehearsal
Private location, Hyattsville, MD

Familiar Faces
I attended rehearsal today. It was both well organized and well attended. When I got there, Donnell, DP, Mike, Adia, Dwayne, Doc, BJ, Jammin' Jeff, Smoke, Donnell's son Donte (spelling?) and Donnell's daughter Destiny were there. The rehearsal space had changed quite a bit - there was new carpet, and new paint. Actually, the most dramatic change to me was the absence of the noise from the one exit door. Nephew and Jauhar arrived after me. They were engaged in practicing. Destiny was a bit of a distraction. After finishing practicing, Donnell discussed strategies for dealing with performance opportunities. They also passed out the weekly pay. I also talked a little with Dwayne, Doc and Donnell as the rehearsal broke up.

New Year's at Safari Steakhouse
Safari Steakhouse, 9430 Annapolis Road Lanham MD 20706


Godfather (only arms visible), Doc, BJ, James (guest vocalist), Darryl "Blue Eye" Arrington (only right hand visible), Mike, Donnell, Smoke, and DP


Doc, Unidentified Man, Godfather, Little Benny, Mike, Donnell, Smoke


DP, Donnell, Scuba Steve Covington, Godfather, Unidentified Man, Smoke, Pooh
All pictures taken by and Copyright – Jordan Rich

Since the flyer showed that the doors opened at 8 PM, an hour earlier than usual, I decided to come at 9:30 PM. I arrived and there was plenty of parking available at that time. I gave my ticket to Nephew. One of the security guards asked I had been at an event at the DC Tunnel, but I've never been there so far. Plenty of party favors were in boxes on a table outside to the right of the front door. I put my stuff on a table - second row, left side. This night there were nine tables in addition to the booths. The tables all had blue tablecloths with red-pink streamers on them. I went over and talked to Doc and Packy, who were the only ones from the band there at the time. Doc said he was there that early because the previous week he had had difficulty getting a parking space. I talked with him about his new bass. He said it was fretless, I told him about how I had just read Jaco Pastorius' biography and how he had turned a fretted bass into a fretless bass. He said that Jaco was crazy, and I agreed (his biography talks about how he was manic-depressive and was in denial of it.) He told me a story about how he had asked the delivery man to deliver it early so Doc's wife wouldn't see it, but he got stuck in traffic. It ended up okay. I left Doc and Packy to their work and went and got the free dinner. Supa Dan said hello while he went around putting out more balloons. DJ Flava (aka GoGo Rudy) came by and said he'd introduce himself to me. I talked with Mike, and asked him how his back was.

The comedian Skiba came on stage. He picked on a number of people, including Chuck Brown, said he smoked marijuana all the time. He also picked on Donnell, making fun of his belt among other things. Donnell and other members of Familiar Faces were still working on setting up their equipment while Skiba performed. A girl named Honey, wearing a yellow shirt, sat next to me. She seemed to be laughing the most at Skiba's jokes. Skiba had a pointed joke about PA tapes: "Forty-five minutes of fighting, fifteen minutes of pocket, and two minutes of we play here every Thursday." Skiba also poked fun at the GoGo pics guy, who I recognized as having worked security at the cookout. Naturally, he picked on me, as "The White Guy".

Familiar Faces
Familiar Faces' opening line up was: Donnell, DP, Doc, Godfather, BJ, Darryl "Blue Eye" Arrington on drums and Packy on congas. Strangely, they had no guitar player all night. One of the tunes they performed during this "Jazz set" was Mile Davis' Tutu (written by Marcus Miller). After, a few instrumental tunes, Adia and then Mike came up and started singing. They also had a guest singer for a song, James Lawson, who had sung on Wednesday as well. Smoke also arrived during the set. When he took over the congas, Packy switched to the cowbell. When Smoke started playing, it became a GoGo set. In both of the first sets I have attended this week; the first set is no longer as musically distinct as it was in the summer. However, I prefer the way it is now with the GoGo beat as opposed to the lighter feel. The first set was not going to be over before midnight, and Donnell made sure to have a time check for midnight. He asked if anyone with a Bulova watch could call out the countdown. At midnight, they asked family to come one stage under the mistletoe, including his son, Donnell Jr. He said that Donnell Jr. was "Only thirteen, only twelve" (actually he's twenty-one). He said that Nephew was way ahead, having already kissed four women under the mistletoe. They then performed Time to Party, one of the songs off their new album, Evolution. I didn't have a copy of Evolution yet so I didn't know the name of the song, but recognized the song from the studio sessions I had attended. Donnell ended the first set by saying, "Skiba, sorry about the test results. If Magic Johnson can make it, you can too..."

During the break, I hung out in the lounge and talked with members of FF. During the break, I saw a number of people getting GoGo pics, including a group of women who posed around Donnell Jr. One of these women was Lisa of the World, whom I recognized from the cookout. I went and watched the second set from next to and behind the right speaker, facing the front line sideways. There was a second soundboard there. The same bunch of women who had posed with Donnell Jr. danced nearby to me, either onstage behind the front line, or in front of me or behind the soundboard. The line up for the second set was different: Duane "Pooh" Payne played drums and Anthony "Little Benny" Harley was an additional vocalist. A girlfriend of Vic's (I think he was working the monitors) made some suggestions to me that I can't print here. FF performed Lap Dance from Evolution, which I didn't recognize as such at the time. For me, the highlight of the second set was Take Me Out to the Go-Go. Little Benny left toward the end of the set. Donnell sang Miss Keta Will You Dance for Me. He also did shout outs to Mo, Sweet Chelle and Lisa of the World.

During the second break, I talked with Pooh. I asked him about the advertising agency gig. He said he didn't have a permanent gig now, but that he would be playing in Atlanta the next couple of weeks.

At the beginning of the third set, Donnell referred to the group of women I mentioned above as the "Solid Gold Dancers." As usual, the third set was the most crankin'. Scuba Steve Covington from Y2K guest rapped. As the set ended, Donnell went to joning. He said to Angie, "I didn't see you at Club U. You missed, a show, you are no longer family." He then started singing a modified version of Family, but with negatives. Keisha came up at the end and had a song request. He gave her the same treatment as Angie. He called out 6'9 as well, saying "I am going to have to call out your name, David Gregory." He said of Doc (as Doc left the stage), "He's from Glebe Road. The n*ggas from Glebe Road are the craziest." Having seen the GoGo pics with Donnell Jr., he started on those women: "Don't you know my son is only thirteen? I will press charges: statutory rape! Shante, there's a police car outside waiting for you; I hope it was worth it!" Donnell also talked about their Saturday shows at Tradewinds, "it's just us and a whole lot of girls. Guys, all you need is shoes..."
Shawn and Shante were there.

After the show, I waited outside as Donnell gave me a copy of Evolution. While I waited, I saw them back up a truck to the front door, and they put all of the speakers into the truck. While I knew the speakers were rented (I had met a guy named Ed at an earlier performance at Safari Steakhouse and he had told me, pointing the large speakers, "those are my speakers."). I didn't know they removed them after every performance. I also talked with GoGo Rudy; he talked about his name change to Flava as being similar to Prince's change to the symbol. I also met and got the phone number from ex-911 member Paul "Rootie" Baltimore.

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

When I arrived at Takoma Station, the layout inside was different. The tables had white tablecloths (previously there were no tablecloths). There was a prior band that was taking their stuff off the stage. I talked with Doc, and then went over to see Donnell. I gave him and Dwayne copies of the DVD-Rs of their performance I filmed. BJ told me he wasn't sure who was singing because Mike's back went out. I teased him by suggesting he sing, but he said he didn't know the words to their repertoire. The attractive waitress recognized me and took my order. Having seen how large their Safari crowd was in November, I asked him if Takoma had similar large crowds. He said no, that their crowds there were not consistently large. Ebony came by and said hello. Doc had a new bass, a yellow fretless one. BJ played it a little before the performance started.

Familiar Faces
The opening line up was: Donnell, DP, Dwayne, Doc, Godfather, BJ, Jammin' Jeff, and Packy on congas. Adia started singing later in the set. Also later in the set, James Lawson was a guest vocalist. Donnell did a shout out to Tamara who was celebrating her birthday. He even had her sing what he called "That man hating song." I believe it was Vivian Green's Emotional Roller Coaster. Ebony guest rapped for a song. Smoke came and took over congas. Donnell told him to take a solo, and he performed a timbales solo. Then, again at Donnell's request, Jeff performed a long involved drum solo. They followed by performing a song that they clearly played to a GoGo beat: a Donnell original, DIP. It has a chorus of "D-i-p" and another of "Let me hear the whoa."

Dwayne played Doc's new bass during the break and even BJ's keyboard.

The second set cranked. Donnell did a shout out to another birthday girl, Muffin. Donnell discussed a trip to Miami to shoot a video with Mr. Cheeks. He said, "Adia, you know South Beach is topless?" He also told Nephew he needed a gut-be-gone. He said he was going to bring a couple of Speedos. FF followed that up by performing a Latin tune which I subsequently recognized as Lap Dance from Evolution.

Evolution Release Party at Safari Steakhouse
Safari Steakhouse, 9430 Annapolis Road Lanham MD 20706

They say the third time is the charm. In this case it was definitely true. My third attempt to see Familiar Faces perform during my Thanksgiving vacatio,n and after Evolution was released was successful. I knew from Amazon.com that the release date for Evolution was November 23rd. When I saw that Familiar Faces was to perform on November 24th, along with Anthony Hamilton, I assumed it was their album release party. I arranged to attend, but in my haste I forgot to bring formal shoes with me from North Carolina. The actual event was not the Evolution release party, but the Positive Black Men Coalition's Night of Elegance with DJ Rico & Soul Patrol and broadcast live with Michel Wright & WPGC 95.5. Well, I arrived on time, but due to my lack of proper shoes, they turned me away. (This event was at Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Arlington, VA 22202). To be honest, I was much more disappointed in missing out on Familiar Faces then Anthony Hamilton, whose music I am not familiar with

The following night, there was an All-Star Thanksgiving Jam scheduled, with EU opening for FF with Little Benny, 32, Bog G, Go-Go Mickey and Rah. This event was at Kilis Kafe & Lounge, 2009 8th St NW, Washington, DC 20001. I arrived at around 10 PM, as the flyer indicated everyone who arrived before 10:30 was free. It was very cold out, but they wouldn't let us in yet. Despite the holiday, the garbage men picked up the trash just as I arrived. While I waited in line, I recognized Crankindrumma from the TMOTTGoGo board. I recognized him because of his avatar:

I went over and talked with him. He told me that he's good friends with Donnell Floyd Jr. Eventually, they let us in. Kili's has metal detectors and separate entrances for separate performance areas. It was humorous: while waiting one of the security guys would walk back and forth through the metal detector, setting it off every time. They took Crankindrumma's drum key away as a "potential weapon." When we got up to the performance area on the second floor, everyone sat on seats by the right of the stage (the performer's right, not someone facing the stage). We watched as Sugar Bear arrived. A little while later, Godfather and then later Dwayne Lee arrived. I talked with them both. Also, Googie arrived not too much later. After setting down his stuff, Godfather went over to talk with Googie. He talked to someone else too and came back and said it was cancelled. The promoter then went on stage and formally announced it. It was due to poor attendance.



I am on the left



Smoke on the congas
All pictures taken by and Copyright Eric "Nephew" Floyd Sr.

Familiar Faces
The next night, I went to Safari Steakhouse for the actual Evolution release party. I bought a ticket from Nephew. A number of familiar faces were there, including Kato, Teago, Ray, Crankindrumma, Donnell Jr., and Mama Chelle. It was really packed, much more so than any prior Safari show I had attended. This was my first time seeing Jammin' Jeff Warren on drums and Sam "Smoke" Dews on congas for Familiar Faces. Their first set was different from their regular happy hour sets in that Smoke played congas throughout, giving it a hard edge.

In the break, I saw Teago, he wore a t-shirt with the words "Fallen Warriors" printed on it as well as pictures of Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix. I asked him if he had any shirts that don't have Hendrix on them.

In the second set, crankin' as usual, there was an attractive woman whom I recognized. She was a bartender at the square shaped bar next to the dance area the first few weeks I went to Safari. Since then, she has been there as a customer. During the set, a guy came over, hugging her. He asked me if "She was sexy?" I answered, "Yes." He brought her over so her butt faced me. He said, "Grab a taste", and so I grinded with her.

In the third set there were guest rappers - I couldn't see them due to the crowd, so I don't know who they were. During the third set, a girl came up behind me and started grinding with me. We danced together for a few minutes, and then she walked away. I didn't even see her until after she left. It was a great evening, I am glad I could go, even though I had to drive back to North Carolina the following afternoon.

New Dimension Band at Nanci Raygun, Richmond, VA
Nanci Raygun, 929 West Grace St, Richmond, VA 23220

I originally planned to go see the New Dimension Band on Saturday night in Norfolk.

However, when the latest email mentioned they would be performing in Richmond on Friday, I leaped at the opportunity. My school workload was heavy for the weekend and the ability to drive to Richmond and back the same night was very helpful. I spoke with Rob Sabbakhan to see if I could interview them that night. He said that would be good, but that it would be better for me to see Saturday's show. The Norfolk show was sold out and would feature two other GoGo bands (UCB and Mumbo Sauce Band) as well. Richmond apparently hasn't given NDB the love they deserve.

Sometime after 5 PM, my roommate Julien (from France), and I headed up to Richmond. I missed a turn in the city, but got directions then looked for a parking space. I ended up parking 10 blocks away - it was very cold.

The cover charge was an extremely reasonable $5. Nanci Raygun is a venue that seems to be more oriented to Punk and Metal than GoGo. The piped in music sounded like Death Metal. The decor had some art paintings, but a lot of painted graffiti, even in the bathrooms, both of which had their doors open. The raised stage was to the left of the front door and there were steps for the audience to sit on. In addition, a 15 foot or so bar was on the left side, parallel to the wall - the venue is narrow. Opposite the bar were a number of benches. Beyond the bar were pool tables and then the bathroom. I also noticed that there was an electrical outlet by the pool table - good for me to record the interview. Most of the people in the bar when I arrived a little before 9 PM were Caucasian. DJ Von set up - they set up a wooden board on two sawhorses and put the DJ equipment on there. There was actually more than one person working the turntables. As the band members arrived around 10 PM, I introduced myself to a number of the members. Rob was already there (and wearing a Maryland sweatshirt) but I didn't recognize him since his picture on the NDB website made him look older than he looked in person. In addition to the band members, a number of fans arrived and sat on the steps. When the band members came in, they greeted the fans and also danced to the music. At one point, Rob came over and asked Julien if he was Jordan. I told him I was. He said that they were only going to do a short set and then we could do the interview.

The line up was: four vocalists (Stephone, Danny, Cool, and Brandi), two keyboard players (a Korg X3 and a Korg N364), a drummer on a raised platform, a guitarist, a bass player and two percussionists. Stephone wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans. He drank beer directly out of a pitcher with a straw - he poured some out into other band member's cups. Before they started performing, he said "W. George W. Bush, that's right I voted for Bush. I don't give a f*ck!" The first song was good, but not locked into the groove yet (i.e. congas). Brandi did a vocal solo. The second song did bring in the congas, but occasionally Lee would just dance directly behind the front line. I enjoyed their set, but wished it were longer. I thought it was interesting that Jamal? switched from guitar to keyboards and later bass. Rob also got on stage and directed and talked a little, he did a shout out to me for coming, which was nice.

I then did a joint interview - I thought the joint interview I did of most of Familiar Faces together was highly successful. I audio recorded the interview with a Marantz analog cassette recorder. My roommate and I drove home right after the interview. I worried later in the weekend when the tape wouldn't play in either of my cassette players and I had to manually rewind it. I ended up getting help from John Loy, the audio engineer at the SFC where I work. He transferred it to CD for me and even raised the levels. The interview transcript is below.

Unfortunately, I am not 100% certain of who is speaking from New Dimension Band in every part of the interview. This interview is not 100% verbatim, but is very close.

Me: Okay, all these questions are for everyone to answer really. First I wanted to start off with: where did you learn to play music?

NDB: Most of us would say church.

Danny: Church.

Lee: Picking up an instrument and starting to play it, know what I'm saying homes?

NDB: Playing in the background. It's a gift, it's a given gift. Church background.

Me: And what made you decide to form a GoGo band?

NDB: Go to Rob with that.

Stephone: I am always talking. This is a band, this is New Dimension, now let everybody, everybody knows what's going on, where it's at man.

Derrick: I wasn't, I wasn't here when it first started, know what I'm saying? I'm like one of those members in here but Stephone, Lee, Cool, (unknown name) and Aaron those are the old heads, they are the old heads in the band. They was mostly here before when the band first started. They formed the GoGo band.

NDB: The Question is when New Dimension Band get started, when did you all get started?

Stephone: I can answer that. We got started about 1997. In '97. It really started before that. He's really one of the last of the original (can't hear) members, him and Jr., but Jr. left early. They started off with a band between VCU and Union, got together with some people from Northern Virginia and Richmond that wanted to had a love for GoGo that wanted it start something. It wasn't for money and it wasn't for... it was basically for enjoyment of the music. They had love for the music and they wanted to start it. And I got together, I got with the group `cause I was working at a record store and the drummer played with one of my managers, they used to gig together and I wanted to start my own band and I met Rob in the record store. He said, "He was `too young'", I'm not going to say "He's too old," he said "hH was too young to be in a band", but he was thinking about doing the managerial part. So from there on, we got together, we got together like a puzzle. This is one of my best friends (Lee), we got a barbershop together, (someone else yells "and me!") he's a congo player. And I met him in church; I met the drummer in church. Me and Cool been doing music together for a minute, we brought him in then we brought, he brought Vinnie in. Then Vinnie brought Derrick in. Then we met Eric, he goes to Union, we brought him in. We needed a bass player that sound `cause he's been doing marching band stuff, brought him in, he plays the keys now, he brought Brian (not sure of name). So it's like like a big family, it's all a family. And where Brandi?

Lee: Brandi!

Stephone: Right here, she's our singer, Cool brought, he brought her in. So it's like all a big family connection. It shouldn't even be called New Dimension Band; it should be called New Dimension Family. So you know that's how we're doing today.

Me: Yeah, what was that group hug you were doing before you?

Stephone: Every, before every show we like to have a prayer and just like it's like a game plan game plan huddle, we get together get all our stuff together, motivate everybody and Dirtie (Derrick) says a prayer and we go ahead and roll.

Me: And what do you see as your future, for the band I mean?

Stephone: Somebody else, I'm answering all the questions.

Derrick: You can't look into the future, you've got to go day by day, you know what I'm saying; take one day at a time.

NDB: Hopefully, we become one of the greatest of all time.

Rob: Region, in the region.

Stephone: We're trying GoGo to, we're want to be the band that like... GoGo is a very, it's like a 3-state city type of music.

Rob: Region.

Stephone: Region-wide. He went to UVA, region.

NDB: Laughter.

Stephone: So it's like Maryland, DC and Virginia, Northern Virginia. But a lot of bands want to take it, a couple of bands that took it national. Well we want to, I think every band now in DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia has the same goal, they want to take it nationwide but no one feels it's all about us, like a tradition. That they would be going against the grain to take it national. But in Richmond, we feel we have an edge. A lot of us have a background in music, so we want to be one of, one of the groups to take it national. We don't just, we don't just play GoGo, we can play R&B, like we have singers in the band. We have, we can do a Jazz show with just musicians. You want a Hip Hop show; we can do a Hip Hop show. We also do weddings, Bar Mitzvahs...

NDB: Laughter.

Stephone: Family reunions, gatherings, everything, we can do it all. Everybody in here is a musician, not just in the band, but outside...

Me: So how often do you play?

Stephone: We're playing now at least like two, three times a month, but we're trying to get to... It's hard to play every week, have a regular spot down in Richmond because Richmond is not know for GoGo, but we're trying to bring the closet GoGo lovers out. I think Nanci Raygun can possibly be one of our big spots; we've been play here for a couple of weeks. As far as the playing part, you should talk to our manager.

Rob: We pick our shows kind of carefully, `cause we like to spread them out. We talk about our base here in Richmond, but our reach goes out to all corners of Virginia you know. Try to get up to DC when that's possible. But we pick the shows sparingly. We might only play like three shows a month, but when we do those shows, we want to make them big, so that people can remember those shows. Not just a lot bands back home in DC they're playing three or four times a week, it gets redundant after a while. But that's the advantage of us doing our shows so infrequent that the shows are more meaningful. You know, you get to promote them more.

Me: Yeah, I went to a show at Mayo Island.

Rob: Yeah, that. Was it Mayo Island or Brown's Island?

Me: It was Mayo Island.

Rob: How old was it?

Me: It was Junkyard (Band), Beenie Man, Backyard (Band), and Trouble Funk.

Rob: Yeah, you got a lot of other promoters doing shows, not just in Richmond, central Virginia, but around the area. We land on a few of those shows, but for the most part, New Dimension our forte is not just a band, we enjoying doing our own shows, we put out our own shows. That's one of the reasons why I'm talking about we only play three times a month because we're doing our own shows. We can't do three or four times a week doing our own shows, we'd have to rely on other promoters. There are other promoters doing GoGo, not as much as maybe five years ago, but like the show you mentioned, you know they're still doing them. And we try to get on as many as possible.

Me: So are you and Mumbo Sauce Band the only GoGo bands in Virginia?

Rob: Negative. Right now, I would estimate, you have to include Northern Virginia in it, there are probably a minimum of ten or fifteen. But we're obviously the most known band in Virginia because of our reach like I mentioned. We play all over Virginia, we have more exposure. But there's a band down in Lynchburg, believe it or not, by the name of DIB, Down in the Basement. There's a band out of Woodbridge, First Impression, Stafford-Woodbridge. There's a couple of other bands sprouting up, they've seen the success we've had, the moderate success we've had you know, so they're trying to do their thing. Believe it or not there are a few bands trying to make a name in Virginia.

Me: And so what do DC fans think of you?

Rob: That's a good question. You know the attitude; you're only as good as your last show. A lot of the DC crowd because we don't play that often in DC, they see us down here with the college students, so it's kind of a mixed thing.

NDB: They love us!

Rob: They love us...

Stephone: I got to intervene. Actually a lot of the DC bands, the ones that really count like the top top bands have respect for us because we don't... because in DC a lot of bands mimic other bands, older bands. We don't really mimic a lot of bands in DC and they respect us for that. For not trying to be like other bands, we kind of have our own style. That's why we came up with the name New Dimension; we're actually like a new dimension of GoGo. It's different, we're kind of different. What' they're doing, we try to look at what they're doing over there, we try to do something different instead of the same GoGo sets, you know what I mean.

Rob: I think the key thing is they respect us, but what we're doing, we're doing something that probably some people thought never was possible: we're doing GoGo in this region and having good success at it. But at the same token we have a lot of mixed, negative feelings: people that don't necessarily like GoGo going outside the Beltway. And they're automatically prejudiced: a lot of them haven't even seen us. "Ah, nah, New Dimension, Richmond, no, no, no." But the ones that have actually seen us, like the Richmond college students, once they actually see us, you see their whole perception change. That's the thing I've found interesting over the years with the band down here.

Me: And how often do you all attend performances of other GoGo bands?

NDB: All the time.

NBD: All the time, you got to be a fan of the music. You've got to be a fan of GoGo first, #1. Then we're entertainers with a GoGo band, #2. You always got be a GoGo fan. That's like doing homework and research. That's paying homage to the bands who came before us. Got to be a student of the music, a big fan. You're always a fan.

Me: And a general GoGo question. Do you feel that GoGo serves a purpose other than entertainment?

Lee: Yeah. Definitely, GoGo's like a culture. Like you have Hip Hop, you have Rap. You know Hip Hop's a culture; Rap's a music that comes out of Hip Hop culture. GoGo's a culture. You can see a t-shirt, you can be in Florida and if you see a Madness t-shirt or a HOBO t-shirt, you know where that person got that t-shirt: in DC. You know they go to the GoGo. So you know GoGo it's like a culture, it's got its own slang, its own dance, its own fashion. GoGo' big, it definitely serves a purpose. If it's from DC you can definitely tell, GoGo is a culture. He can co-sign for me, he's from DC. It's more than just entertainment, definitely.

Me: What is it about GoGo that makes it so popular?

Lee: The beat man. `Cause first of all, it's the rhythms it's the beat, it's the closest thing we have to like African music. Plus when you're a young buck, you're growing up, sometimes you can't get into the clubs, you're not old enough, but GoGo's at rec. centers, community centers, all the communities that your parents, people that you go. And you feel safe because it's within the community. So sometimes that's the first time you meet a girl at the GoGo you know and sometimes that sticks with you. And that's how I feel.

Derrick: Especially as a child, I found that a lot of my peers and fans from the DC metropolitan area they like instruments. And when you can get some live instruments together and people just sit there and have fun with it; that's where it starts. And I mean they gave us a chance, they gave me a chance to actually learn and incorporate me having fun with the music.

NDB: Instruments.

Derrick: GoGo music is live music. It's actually live, it's not off of a track, it's not off a record, you know so you not going to sit there and have a scratching. You got a live band, you got feelings and people put all of their emotions into it.

NDB: Synthesizers.

Derrick: GoGo can make you feel happy, GoGo can make you feel sad, and GoGo can make you feel that you want to fight. It just happens and it's all emotions.

Me: And how do you define GoGo?

Derrick: How do I define GoGo: living life.

Lee: Good answer.

Me: What instrumentation do you think a GoGo band should have to be considered a GoGo band?

NDB: Answer that.

Eric: Excuse me a second. (Laughter from the rest of the group.) Deals with drums basically, percussions, so the bass drum, and the Congos, timbales, cowbells (said together with another band member), tambourine bells, xylophones, anything. The whole nine basically... but it starts with the percussion section and that's basically it the percussion, but then you can just add anything you want to, to be creative.

Stephone: He's a music major at Union.

Derrick: I'm a music major at Virginia State University.

Me: Do you think that all music played by GoGo bands is GoGo?

NDB: No.

NDB: No.

Me: Do you think of GoGo as Southern Music?

NDB: No, area. It's metropolitan.

Stephone: It's metropolitan music. If someone would hear you they'd probably want to get you right now. (Laughter) No, but no, It's really like metropolitan music. It's metropolitan: it's Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia, and that's it.

NDB: Mid-Atlantic.

Stephone: Outside of that...

NDB: There is no outside of that.

Stephone: Out of the beltway. Outside of that, they don't really like us. Beyond that, those 3 places that live, eat, sleep...

NDB: East coast, mid-Atlantic.

NDB: And he (Rob) has on a Maryland sweatshirt and he's a UVA graduate, what a sellout!

Me: Plus Maryland's playing UVA in football tomorrow!

NDB: Laughter.

Me: I'm a Maryland grad, so...

NDB: Laughter.

Rob: They've got a game tomorrow, but we've got a show, that's more important.

Me: What do you think has to be done for the tradition of GoGo to be maintained?

NDB: Keep going stepping the game up.

NDB: Personality.

Stephone: Everybody got to step it up; we got to take it to another level. A lot of the bands are mimicking the older bands; got to take it to a new emotion, that's GoGo.

Lee: It's like bands got to come in and try to change the game. It's like they have to have that attitude that they're going to be #1, they're going to be different, and they're going to go kill it every time. And that's the only way to keep it going is to not re-invent the wheel, but take the wheel this next step further. `Cause the wheel's already there, it's been going on for twenty, thirty years. So it's not going to, you know to be too much new, but it's just that coming in that little new form, that new dimension, ha ha, no pun intended.

Stephone: You got it, New Dimension.

Rob: Yeah, a lot of the bands, from (word?) earlier ten or fifteen years, bands kind of get caught up in the you know the problems of just let me have two, three, four shows a week you know in the area. They get so wrapped up in the show aspect they're not really looking at the bigger picture. I think so much more could have been done in the last decade that hasn't been done. You know but it's in part because of that, you know people are just concentrating on the day-to day, how do I get this money for the show, you know, locally. Instead of thinking how well how can I spread this music you know down South or wherever else.

Danny: And I think man, Rob, I think that another aspect of New Dimension from different bands in the DC area: all of us are professionals outside of this. Like we said before, we don't do this for money we are professionals: we got people who are entrepreneurs, people who work for the city, we have teachers, we have college students, people who are well-rounded individuals. So that kind of makes us different, you know. We don't gig every week, we've got jobs, we have mouths to feed. We have followers here, you know kids who I am saying, `cause we do a lot not just for our families, but our communities. (Unknown word) company, a barbershop company, people depend on these people, people depend on me. You know so that's another part of GoGo that you may not see, but we are professional outside of this, for real. So you bring that to the table on the stage, you know that makes us so much different from everybody, because we playing...

NDB: That's what ties it in as GoGo being a culture.

Stephone: Yeah.

NDB: Definitely, because it's an extra sense people don't see, but it's all there though.

Stephone: Yeah, `cause like he's a student, he's a teacher, he's a student, we're entrepreneurs: we have a barbershop together, he works for the city, and he's a student. It's all a bunch of students that people try to do things that.... One thing that our manger often often strives on is a lot of community stuff. Like we do a lot of stuff, we try to do a lot stuff with the community. And like everybody you basically saw here tonight was family. And it gets to the point where really family doesn't even really pay to come see us no more, it's family, they come because they got love for us. You got several people, like there that's HOBO Bo; he's one of our biggest fans...

Rob: He comes all the way from Fredericksburg.

Stephone: Like they come all the way from Fredericksburg to see us, you can't really call them fans. We've don't believe in the fan thing, it's a family. Everybody here is family.

Me: So what do you think about the cover phenomenon? In DC, some of the top groups they just try play...

Rob: L!ssen.

Me: ...what's on the radio.

Stephone: That's what kind of stuff separates us a lot of bands from DC, because we got a lot of people in the band that just don't do GoGo. Like he's a producer, he does a lot of production for Rap, I'm a rapper, he does production, and a couple of other members of the band are rappers and production, like a singer, he also sings, he produces and directs. We strive on... Yeah he's like he does plays, he's an actor. We strive on originality. Like we might, like the Nelly song on the radio for instance the Nelly song if we decided to play that song, we might take the music part, but we would change it in a sense, there would be a center to it, but we would do our own original words or raps and would probably end up with our own original keys and stuff. And just a lot of bands in DC take the covers and repeat the raps... And we're music's universal... is an art, to us it's like we're Hip Hoppers, we started as a Hip Hop band, so that's kind of like biting, you know what I mean?

Me: Yeah.

Stephone: So we, we got to do... you'll never hear us repeat no one else's lyrics, we do our own lyrics. All of them, everything.

NDB: Top to bottom.

Stephone: Yeah, do our own stuff.

Me: And what do you think about the way PA tapes are sold?

Stephone: That's GoGo. That's GoGo. Like a lot of people have as far as in the Rap industry they sell at a lot of mom and pop stores, in the GoGo industry you have you make your CDs and your tapes and sell them in the like places like PA Palace, or ah Take Me Out to the GoGo, a lot of places that (can't tell phrase) he's like a GoGo phenomenon. Big Butch comes to a lot shows and sells tapes. So that's a lot of, that's like our mom and pop stores. You know and people sell I mean its some tapes that are probably selling 100,000 copies, but you would never get... I mean we do barcode sometimes if we do have actual industry CDs like that one out in the studio, but GoGo's really like real underground. So it's like kind of like a secret society in a way.

Me: So often should you put out a commercial...

Stephone: Well, I mean our goal, we try to put one out every once a year or once a two or three years, but a lot of GoGo's really geared to live performance. Because you can get a CD, you can hear it, but you can't a lot of people who don't really know about GoGo have better respect for it when they see it live.

Lee: GoGo's something that you have to experience because it's all about that live aspect. There's a couple of dimensions to GoGo, you can hear it on a tape, you can even see it on a video, but it's nothing like going to a GoGo experiencing yourself with that crowd, being with that crowd in a venue.

NDB: Yeah, you know what I'm saying.

Me: What defines a good performance?

Lee: What defines a good performance? A good performance is all like it's a group effort, everyone puts their group, you know what I'm saying, inputs in. And it's like everyone's their own producer, you know what I'm saying, so when you put your inputs in, and I mean you do your little thing, you play your role, it comes out as one musical form. You know what I'm saying, so it's all a pattern. You put the pattern together and make it fit right and it's going to be a musical sound. You know what I mean, so you get the sound together and you get the rhythm going and it's going to be a party. That's how the music gets formed.

Me: And how do you define Pockets & Sockets?

Lee: Ha, ha. I'm going to tell you man, a pocket, yeah, you know what I mean, a pocket's like a laid back, a two-step thing, you know what I mean. If you want to warm up before you get to the party, you come to the party, you know what I mean, you come in to the hood, and you just want to go to the bar, grab a drink and then warm up, look at the girls, and see the girls in the place, you know what I mean, you lean back, get the two-step going. Then when the socket come on, that when the party come on, that's when the music gets hyped!

Stephone: I'm going to cut you off because he one of our biggest... I told you we don't call them fans, we call them family; he comes all the way from Fredericksburg. We can play in West Bumchuck Louisiana him and his friend will be there. He's a fan of GoGo as a whole. He's a good person to talk to.

HOBO Bo: GoGo is NDB. If it's NDB it's GoGo. GoGo is something where you work hard all day long...

Stephone: Yup.

HOBO Bo: come home and party. Stressed out with your people, go to the GoGo, relieve some stress. You get NDB, you got a party. You got GoGo real, you got NDB.

Stephone: Sure.

HOBO Bo: If it's like that, everything everything. Life is life; live it to the fullest. I'm young, and with NDB you only get it once.

Me: Alright, well that's all of my questions, is there something more you want to say or ask me?

Stephone: Naw, I appreciate you're coming down, I want to shake your hand, I appreciate your coming down...

Me: Yeah, he's he's (Julien) from even farther, he's from France...

Stephone: Oh what's going on man?

Julien: Laughs.

Stephone: Yeah, we appreciate your coming down, and I appreciate your coming down and interviewing us and on behalf of me and the rest of the band we appreciate it and look forward to doing more stuff with you. You come down here and we'll party with you, we'll be there. Alright.

Me: Alright, thanks! I appreciate it.

Stephone: Alright man. (To Julien): What's your name?

Julien: Julien.

Non-GoGo: Pfunk at the Cat's Cradle
Cat's Cradle, 300 East Main St, Carrboro, NC 27510

I went with my roommate Julien to see PFunk. Their tour bus was outside, they had played in Philadelphia the night before. Some of the band members were outside as we waited in line.

George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars
Known personnel there (there probably were more, but I couldn't tell):
Gene "Poo Poo Man" Anderson - Vocals
Danny Bedrosian - Keyboards
Steve Boyd - Vocals
George Clinton - Vocals
Shondra "Sativa" Clinton - Vocals
Bennie Cowan - Trumpet
Lige Curry - Bass, Vocals
Kendra Foster - Vocals
Michael Hampton - Guitar
Robert "P-Nut" Johnson - Vocals
DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight - Guitar
Carlos "Sir Nose" McMurray - Dancer
Billy "Bass" Nelson - Bass
Jerome Rodgers - Keyboards
Gary Shider - Vocals & Rhythm Guitar
Greg Thomas - Saxophone
Frank "Kash" Waddy - Drums
Belita Woods - Vocals

Setlist
1) Frank Kash Waddy intro
2) crowd "We want the Funk"
3) Funkentelechy
4) Bop Gun (Endangered Species)
5) Gamin' On Ya
6) Undisco Kidd
7) Get Off Your Ass and Jam
8) Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)
9) Night Of The Thumpasorous Peoples
10) Get Off Your Ass and Jam
11) Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)
12) Strong guitar jamming
13) Take Your Dead Ass Home! (Say Som'n Nasty) & Get Off Your Ass and Jam choruses
14) Let's Take It To The Stage
15) "P" & "Funk" crowd choruses
16) Ludicrous chant
17) Flashlight
18) Sativa-led Something Stank
19) Sativa-led Hard as Steel
20) Flashlight
21) Bop Gun (Endangered Species)
22) (not just) Knee Deep
23) Scatting
24) Belita Woods-led Sentimental Journey
25) Jamming
26) Up For The Down Stroke
27) Belita Woods-led Jimmy G & the Tackhead's Slingshot
28) Poo Poo Man-led James Brown's Payback
29) Kendra Foster-led Bounce to This
30) America Eats Its Young
31) Maggot Brain
32) Dog Star (Fly On) & Jimi Hendrix's The Wind Cries Mary
33) One Nation Under a Groove
34) I'm Never Gonna Tell It
35) Get Off Your Ass and Jam
36) P-Funk chorus, guitar jamming
37) Atomic Dog
38) Get Off Your Ass and Jam
39) Guitar jamming
40) Jerry Lee Lewis' Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On
41) Red Hot Momma (instrumental)
This was the best P-Funk show I've ever been to. They performed for 4 hours - including lots of the the throwdown Funk I prefer. Also, Kendra Foster is a babe!

After the show, outside, I got Michael Hampton to autograph my PFunk t-shirt.

Wednesday at Takoma Station: Last Entry for the Summer
Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012


Doc, Mike, Pooh, Donnell, Godfather, Donny Ray


Bojack, Mike, Doc, Unidentified Fan, Stinky Dink, Pooh, Unidentified Fan, Donnell (behind two Unidentified Fans)


Michelle's Store
All pictures taken by and Copyright - Jordan Rich

This is my last entry for the Summer. I drove down to North Carolina the day after the show. I arrived early as I was going to interview Michelle. We had not set a specific time to meet, and as my ISP was down, I could not contact her to do so. Packy pointed out a couple of guests to me: Calvin from Physical Wunders and Darrell (spelling?) from Ayre Rayde. I talked with Doc; he told me that he had heard Adia on the radio for the DC auditions for American Idol. She had told me about them earlier, but didn't want the band to know about it, so I was surprised. I talked with her about it; she said it was a miserable experience. She did say there was a lot of networking going on. I asked her how she compared herself with other GoGo female vocalists, she said that she didn't she just did her own thing.

Familiar Faces
The line up for the first set was: Mike, Adia, Donnell, DP, Dwayne, Doc, Godfather, BJ, Pooh, and Packy. Dwayne had some of the nicest playing I've heard from him. I missed portions of the set in order to talk with Michelle. We ended up conducting the interview in her soon to be opening clothing store, which is in the back of the barbershop at 6908, a few doors down from Takoma Station. Her clothing line is TWIRK - it is an acronym: True Wisdom Involves Real Knowledge. She was apprehensive about her interview appearing on BET or some other TV channel.

The transcript of the interview is below:

JR: Other than entertainment, what purpose does GoGo have?

MH: I mean people a have love for music, so I means it's soothing to me. It's been around for years, it's kind of like, how can I put it... other than entertainment? (We took a break while she gathered her thoughts.) It's become I don?t want to say a way of life, but it's like, like some people have a shoe fetish, some people you know like Jazz, some people... I just love GoGo. And people that come out to see GoGo, they really have, they just love the music, they love the music. The community in the Washington DC area is just like GoGoed out. They love GoGo music. We don't look at it just like entertainment. That's almost saying going to the movies or going to a play, that's more like entertainment. But with GoGo, it's almost like a way of life for the Black community; you know what I'm saying, not only for Blacks. But it's been around so many years so I don't look at it as entertainment personally.

JR: What is it about GoGo that makes it so popular?

MH: It's the music, the beats, you know, the percussions, things like that that just, I don't know it just do something to you. I'm sure you can relate from just being here. You know, it's like it gets you in the mood you know and you find yourself bobbing and you might get up? and it just it's the percussions, like the Congos, and the drums, I mean with Familiar Faces it's like the band as a whole 'cause you got BJ on the keyboards, and you got the frontline and you know Donnell's like the "king of crunk", he hypes the party. You know so it's a combination, it's just not like one thing, I mean the percussion is this "boop bop bid da" you hear all that, but for me it's like the whole band itself.

JR: How do you feel about the fact that it is primarily a local phenomenon?

MH: I don't, I don?t agree with that I think it should be taken other places, I mean outside of the District of Columbia, I mean all over the world basically. 'Cause I mean a lot of people don't know of it, they hear about GoGo, but they haven't really heard GoGo, so they just go by what they hear. But when we go, like we went to New York, the people went crazy in New York, they loved it. So I think we can get everybody to like GoGo once they hear it, I mean seeing it live anyway. You can hear it on the radio, but it's nothing like being at a live performance seeing the energy you know, so I think it should be all over the world not just limited to the District of Columbia myself. I think we should be on the Grammies and all that. We should be getting Grammies too, not just rappers and all that, they should have GoGo you know.

JR: Mm hmm.

MH: So you know, one day maybe.

JR: Do you think a group of musicians from outside the DC area could create a GoGo band that would be considered authentic in the area?

MH: Authentic. From outside the area, no. And I only say that because the majority of GoGo comes from DC, the DC area, I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's like we have original GoGo like Rare Essence, you know Trouble Funk, EU, bands like that that's been around since I was a child. You know so they're like original GoGo. But coming from like Atlanta, down South, trying to start a GoGo band, we wouldn't consider that original. 'Cause I mean you can hear the difference, you know it's like, not taking nothing away from them, but you can hear the different, what is the word I am trying to think of, the accent. I mean I don?t think they can do it like we can do it. Not taking nothing away from them, but it ain't nothing like the District of Columbia, that's real.

JR: What do you think about the way PA Tapes are presently sold?

MH: Well, I'm not really familiar with how they're sold to be honest because I don't buy 'em. I mean usually I get a copy of a tape from a band member or something, but I don't buy 'em.

JR: Well the way they are right now is either the band or the venue typically will sell a copy to say PA Palace.

MH: Okay.

JR: All the money they get is just that money from the sales price; there are no royalties or anything like that. And actually there are a number of vendors out there where the probability is that say they bought a copy from PA Palace then they copy it, and they've never paid for it?

MH: Right.

JR: and then they sell it themselves.

MH: I don't think that's fair, you know what I'm saying, to me that's considered illegal, you know you're stealing someone else's music and selling it for your own profit. You know so, and it's definitely not benefiting the band, so I don't agree with that at all. I mean that's not good.

JR: How often should a GoGo band release a commercial album?

MH: A commercial album? I would say at least every six months maybe, because one album? Prime example, EU with Da Butt, that is old, but people love it, I mean we still love it; they play it all over the world. I guess it all depends 'cause with Familiar Faces before they were Familiar Faces they were 911. They have a CD they did like at the Tradewinds with the Rapper's birthday that's off the hook and it's like I'll never get tired of hearing it. So I mean it all depends on what you like, but I think every six months maybe you know give 'em something you know keep 'em coming, keep 'em coming...

JR: How do you define GoGo?

MH: I define GoGo as just like the sound of the city. You know like I said with the percussions, and it's more like a... for me it's relaxing. You know it gets my energy going and at the end of the night I'm just like, man that was cranking, you know I'm just a little excited about it you know I'm looking forward to the next performance. It's more like an inner city groove type thing.

JR: Do you think that all music that's performed by GoGo bands is GoGo?

MH: Well, yes and no. I can say yes 'cause we can play a song like Anita Baker for example where we'll have the percussion background, something that's not in her original song. So it adds a little GoGo twist to it. So to me it?s considered GoGo, but it's just like let's say Jazz with a GoGo twist to it. Because I don't want to take away from the artist, but when it comes from a GoGo band, to me it's GoGo. Regardless of what they're playing, it's considered GoGo to me. With Jazz it's still GoGo Jazz to me if that makes sense.

JR: Mm hmm. Do you think GoGo only be dance music?

MH: No. No, because some of the music that's played in the GoGo, like with Familiar Faces again you can sit down and like bob your head you don?t even have to get up and dance, you can just sit there and bob your head a little bit and relax to it. So no I don't feel like everything they play has to be danced to.

JR: What instrumentation do you think a GoGo band should have at a minimum?

MH: Definitely the percussions, the drums, you know I would say the Congos.

JR: What do you think of some groups not having Congas?

MH: Not having Congos?

JR: Or barely, yeah?

MH: I haven't really heard any without Congos or the percussions...

JR: TCB tends to play their opening song with congas and then not at all the rest of the night.

MH: Really? Well I?ve never seen them perform. They performed for like maybe five minutes down at the Mad Chef at that?s like the first time I?ve ever seen them perform.

JR: They perform for the kiddie cabaret (actually all ages GoGos, but some people call those kiddie cabarets, while other people only use the term kiddie cabaret only to refer to places where adults can take their children with them) crowd.

MH: Did you consider that a performance for the kiddie cabaret crowd?

JR: No, no, no. I'm saying they play for teenagers? is their primary audience. They don?t play for... at twenty-one and over clubs.

MH: I'm surprised that you say they don?t have Congos. Do they have roto-toms?

JR: Yeah, they play on roto-toms and timbales.

MH: Okay, well roto-toms for the younger generation is like the thing. That?s what gets 'em going I don't know if you've heard of beat your feet and all that, but that gets 'em going. Whereas an older band like Familiar Faces, or EU, or can't say... well Rare Essence too? We're older now and that beat box thing is not a big deal anymore like it used to be when we younger. I mean not to me anyway.

JR: What do you see as the future of GoGo?

MH: The future of GoGo? I see us on the Grammies... (Laughing) on the Grammy slots hopefully. I mean I think GoGo should definitely be put on the map other than just the District of Columbia it should be all over the world. When they have Grammies it shouldn't be limited to rap, and pop, and Jazz and things like that, GoGo should definitely be on that ballot.

JR: What do you think has to be done for the tradition of GoGo to be maintained?

MH: That's a good question. I can't... it's like I can't really answer that because I mean a lot of people blame... like violence for example... they tend to blame violence on GoGo. You know blame GoGo... am I saying that right? They're blaming the violence on GoGo, yeah. Where somebody might be killed at a venue where GoGo band's performing at so they blame the band, when actuality it's not the band it could have been a beef that started months ago in somebody's turf over Southeast and they brought it to that venue. You know so I mean it's really hard to say right now. God willing, we will be around forever, but you know we all got to go one time or another.

JR: Mm hmm. I've heard about the chauvinistic attitude towards female GoGo musicians in the past, how do you think it is that they now have a trend of most bands have a female singer?

MH: Really, I've never heard that before. A majority of the bands that I've seen always has had a female singer, so...

JR: Yeah, there's... I've read some interviews of like members of Pleasure who talked about how that they trouble finding people who were willing to train them to play their instruments because they were like well GoGo's a guy thing.

MH: I don't agree that GoGo's a guy thing because Pleasure's a prime example, they was doing it back then you know. Unfortunately, they're not around anymore to my knowledge and I know a couple... well I know one member, she was a good friend of mine, she got killed some years ago. So I haven't heard anything about Pleasure.

JR: I've heard there's a group SOS Band, not the...

MH: I know.

JR: Not the pop band.

MH: Right.

JR: There's an R&B band that just changed (it's name) to Lady Rhythm and that's with Sweet Cherie.

MH: Sweet Cherie, yeah. I haven't heard her band, I have spoken with somebody who's familiar with the band, they were interested in wearing TWIRK so I was excited about that, but I haven't heard them. I've heard she's been on tour, so I haven't a chance to...

JR: Her schedule's on her website.

MH: Okay.

JR: What do you think about the prominence of cover songs over original material?

MH: Me personally, I mean it sounds good when the GoGo bands perform other artists' songs, but it's nothing like original GoGo. You know where you created it and it's yours. You know so I think a lot of GoGo bands should just do their own thing: use their own music, come up with their own lyrics and go from there. That's my personal opinion. I just think they should kind of like do their own GoGo make it original, so it is GoGo and it's their GoGo you know something that they created.

JR: What defines a good performance?

MH: A good performance to me is... well, you can go in there, the music gets you going, you have a nice time, the atmosphere is nice, and you can leave and feel safe that it's going to be okay when you walk out the door. You can go to your car and go home. To me that's a good performance where the band was good, the sound was good, the people partied, and you can walk away saying, I'm looking forward to the next week 'cause they was cranking. That's me.

JR: What do you of all guest performers, including people from the audience such as yourself?

MH: Guest performers, you mean that gets up there... Well of course my performance is always basically when it's over so my performance doesn't count.

JR: Why not?

MH: Well 'cause it doesn't. It's not like it's being recorded... So it's just like a thing after the party with the family...

JR: I?ve recorded some of your performances... (Laughing)

MH: Really? Oh, I didn't know that. To me it's just fun that's my family. Familiar Faces is like my family. So I get up there and I clown with them. But as far as other people, I don't really care for it to be honest, when they have people come up there and rap, it kind of takes away from the band some times you can barely hear they are saying and it's just like "oh gosh, I can't wait until they're done." But I mean I guess that's Donnell's way of giving people a chance to be heard you know and that's a good thing, that?s a good thing.

JR: What do you feel is the connection between the band and the audience?

MH: The band and the audience, I think there's a good connection because with Donnell he makes you feel like part of the family. He'll say your name a ton of times, you know he'll give you a spotlight, let you know I see you here and I appreciate your coming out. So I think the connection is positive because he makes everyone feel like part of the family one way or another. You know so I think that's a good thing, it's positive.

JR: How do you define Pockets & Sockets?

MH: Pockets and sockets is a good question. I hear it but I really can't define what a pocket or a socket is, I just know it sounds good. I don't really know, all of it sounds good to me so I don't know which one is the pocket or the socket.

JR: Did you know there was a previous GoGo group called Familiar Faces?

MH: No.

JR: Yeah, it was Ivan Goff?s group.

MH: Really and it was GoGo?

JR: Yeah, in the 90s, I have a PA from '96.

MH: I knew there a group called Familiar Faces, but I didn't know it was GoGo. I read about it when I was in Atlanta. Actually this group wasn't GoGo.

JR: Yeah, there's been... there was Ivan Goff's group and then there was this other group that has no other connection other than the name.

MH: Right, I think that's the group that I read about when I looked up Familiar Faces. But no, I never knew that.

JR: What do you think about the fact that Donnell teases you so much after performances?

MH: I know it's nothing personal, he's just being Donnell. We're like family so it doesn't bother me at all. I enjoy it for the most part because it's like all eyes are on me... You know, and he doesn't say anything that offends me, he just makes everybody laugh and if it's the joke on me that fine... You know it's cool, that's my family, that's my brother.

JR: They were continuing to tease you even after you had walked out at Club Levels. (Laughing)

MH: Really?

JR: Yeah.

MH: I just think I'm like a celebrity in the GoGo scene, that's how I look at it... You know I support them; I will always support them as long as I can. And for him to tease me or whatever, give me shout outs, whatever, that's just showing me love. I take none of it personally. And if it gets to the point where it's personal, I'll grab my purse again and just go up there and bust him upside his head. Nah, but it's cool, it's nothing personal.

A girl in the audience asked if I was going to film the performance, I told her that was a one-time thing. Donny Ray sat in on vocals, he sang with Mike & Donnell the same song they sang together last time he sat in - probably Atlantic Starr's Send for Me. At the end of the set, Donnell pointed out that Hollywood Breeze, who owned the Metro club was in the audience and "We owe him a great deal because he brought GoGo uptown. I'm not talking about Rare Essence, he is one the one who first had Chuck Brown perform there, I don't remember when that started..." Mike joked, "1958." Donnell continued, "Chuck was mostly playing in Blues joints downtown. We also have the owner of Tradewinds and the owner of Safari Steakhouse in the audience, so that's three Black entrepreneurs here." His friend Ray said, "I own Cherry's." Donnell replied, "Oh lord."

Then they went into the break, I talked with a number of the band members during the break outside.

In the second set, more known GoGo musicians were in the audience, including Darryl "Blue Eye" Arrington and Go-Go Mickey. The second set cranked as usual. Donnell asked Stinky Dink, who was in the audience to sit in on vocals. He declined and walked away, but another (very large) guy in the audience grabbed him and pushed him onto the stage. He then rapped for a couple of songs, including One Track Mind. Donnell mentioned that Stinky Dink performed on a FF's upcoming album, Evolution. Later, Donnell sang Miss Keta Will You Dance for Me (the second time, dance for me is drawn out). DP had an awesome solo with the loudest playing I've heard from him. At around 12:30 AM, Donnell said that to the audience that they had to stop playing, but they did end up performing Take Me Out to the Go-Go, sparked by Godfather as their closing song after that. Donnell acknowledged my collaboration with Familiar Faces during the Summer and that this was my last show I would be at. Donnell said that Fat Kat was bringing Reality Band back together, but that "Their music was nothing but garbage." He said that, "Go-Go Mickey was not allowed off the porch except on Saturdays, and that they only played at the Bus Stop. Everything beyond The Black Hole is Silver Spring. Go-Go Mickey couldn't even drink then, it wasn't until Jungle Boogie got him permission when he was with Ayre Rayde that he could play elsewhere. The only one in that band who could really play was Little Darrell, but look at him now, wearing that disco shirt (Darrell and the woman with him laughed real hard at this)." Fat Kat gathered together the ex-members of Reality Band who were in the audience together in a circle - this included Googie, whom Donnell said, "Played a bad bass (I don't know if Donnell meant this in a positive or negative way)." I didn't know that Googie was a musician as well as a sound man. Donnell continued, "Little Darrell made Go-Go Mickey". Little Darrell insisted the opposite was the case. Finally, the manager of Takoma shouted "Donnell", which was obviously to tell him to stop talking, which he did. Donnell sat down at a booth with Go-Go Mickey. I said good-bye to him, and he told me to call him before I left. I said good bye to a number of the other members of Familiar Faces, and took a picture of the outside of Michelle's store.

Honestly - I got a lot of valuable information for my thesis and really made friends with all of the members of Familiar Faces. I had a really good time as well. I didn't really want to leave, but I had to return to school (University of North Carolina). I will transcribe the interviews and will probably have follow-up questions. This is not the end, just part of the overall process. My collaboration with Familiar Faces far exceeded my expectations. I want to thank: Donnell, Adia, Mike, DP, Boolah, Dwayne, Doc, Godfather, BJ, Pooh, Bojack, Packy, Charlie, Demetrius Owens, Thomas, Alvin, Baba, Michelle, Supa Dan, Tee Bone, Lil Benny, DC, China Boogie and others I have worked with that I may have missed.

Tuesday with Whop-N-Em
Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012

I decided to check out Whop-N-Em before I left for North Carolina. I had heard good things about them, and like their single Sunglasses. I was in for a disappointment, even though I knew ahead of time that it was not GoGo. Before they started performing, Whop played around on the steel drum. There was a new drummer filling in for Ricky Wellman - in hindsight I think he was Jammin' Jeff Warren. There were two keyboard players (one with two keyboards), the drummer, a guitar player (or bass, can't tell the difference visually), two percussionists (the front one had chimes and a cymbal which was different - in hindsight I think he was Jacques Vaughn), and Whop (on vocals and Sax), Tony Blunt, P.O.P. and Tony Sharpe. Tony Blunt went out of his way to say, "This is not GoGo." The vocals were not bad, especially the harmony between Tony Sharpe and Whop. Whop, Tony Blunt, and P.O.P walked around, both in the area that is the dance floor when FF performs and side to side. The problem was that the band would play the same few grooves over and over. There wasn't really any noticeable synchronicity between the vocals and the music. The best playing was by Whop on Sax, because he soloed. It was interesting that Whop & Tony Blunt visually made flapping motions when singing about flying. I made a commitment to stay for the whole first set. The closing song, the highlight to me, was the Temptations' Papa was a Rolling Stone. I was simply too bored to be willing to stay any longer.

Y2K at La Fontaine Bleu
La Fontaine Bleu, 7963 Annapolis Rd, Lanham, MD 20706

I finally got a chance to check out Y2K this Summer. I arrived a little after 8 PM. The buffet chicken was hotter (spicier) than I expected. There were more women than men in the audience. There was a camera set up - I guess they filmed it, but there wasn't anyone actively working the camera. Telando was there, this was part of five different performances in a row we both attended. I don't know the members on sight other than Scuba Steve, so you can read this article for that. There were fifteen band members: three male singers, a female singer - Blue, Steve (Rapper), three keyboard players, a trombone player, a trumpet player, a guitarist, a bass player, a drummer, and two percussionists. The article mentions a Sax player, but I didn't notice one. The horns were on the left, behind the left speakers, then came the keyboards (one of them a double keyboard), drums, and percussion.

They started performing around 9 PM. They started off with Alicia Keys' Diary. After a few slow songs, they really got into it: a dense, horn dominated sound - very different from GoGo I'm used to but I like it. My only criticism is that the sung vocals are a bit too polished for my taste. During the break, Scuba Steve came out and talked with me and introduced me to China Boogie, their manager. Boogie gave me his contact info so that I can discuss interviewing Y2K. The second set was very different in character from the first one. The horns only played in the first song, then not at all.

The second set was more of a percussion-oriented crank. One of the songs they performed was KC & the Sunshine Band's That's The Way (I Like It). Scooby from L!ssen guest rapped for a song. Towards the end of the set, Bojack walked in and waved to me. The lead singer, Dollar Bill, wished everyone "A safe trip home".

When we walked out, Nephew was one of the people handing out flyers (for Familiar Faces of course). I talked with him a little before I drove home.

Saturday at Club Levels
Club Levels, 1960 Montana Av NE, Washington, DC 20500

When I first arrived, Godfather stood outside. I talked with him briefly then headed in. Thomas was there, setting up with his nephews. I watched the end of the overtime of the Redskins preseason game against the Panthers. Donnell arrived: he and Dwayne went to the Prince concert earlier in the evening. Over time, the members of Familiar Faces arrived. I asked Doc how work was (he had to work only a few hours after the end of the Safari performance); he said, "He was still burnt." Godfather and DP asked the staff for permission and then turned off the fan since it was really cold inside. I talked with Mike, saying "The rain wasn't as bad as it was supposed to be." He said, "What are you talking about, it rained all day!" I said, "Yes, but they were talking about 50 mile an hour winds, my parents brought their trash cans inside." A number of regulars arrived: Michelle, Nita and a number of Michelle's family members.

Familiar Faces
The opening line up was: Mike, Adia, Donnell, DP, Dwayne, Doc, Godfather, BJ, and Pooh. They sort of warmed up with some performing while the DJ still played. When the DJ music was cut off, they went abruptly into performing an Adia-led song. Donnell apologized for starting late, saying that "They had technical difficulties." Bojack arrived a little bit into the set. They cranked hard, but the crowd was small. Since both of their previous Club Levels performances I attended had big crowds, I assume that the weather and the Prince concert explained the small crowd. Toward the end of the set, they performed Alicia Keys' Diary and worked on fixing technical difficulties before going back into the crank.

Then they went into the break, with Donnell saying they were switching to "Flava on the wheels of steel. Actually, Flava, what should we call that (laptop) computer you use." DJ Flava (aka GoGo Rudy) responded that he didn't know either. Telando was there as well. I sat back with the band during the break and talked with Godfather.

The second set really cranked. Toward the end, Keta was the only one dancing right in front to the band. They performed a long version of Rare Essence's Take Me Out to The Go-Go, then they closed as usual with Prince's Purple Rain. Then Donnell really went into it, teasing Keta and particularly her sister Michelle: "Look at her (Michelle) sit down." Then he sang the chorus to Morris Albert's Feelings. Michelle laughed. Telando recorded this performance and handed over CD-Rs to Donnell. Then Donnell said, "Sorry Keta, we had a little thing going, but I'm going back to Michelle. I'll sign her to a six-month contract. Now that she makes more money, maybe she can pay for some of our meals together." Michelle went over to Donnell and hit him with a purse. She went over to me and said, "Don't you do it (but didn't tell me what it she was referring to)." The first and second purse-whipping (or her giving him the finger) didn't stop Donnell and Bojack from continuing to tease Michelle, up until she left, including talking about her "dancing on bar stools over at the Eastside." During this, Godfather and BJ played Stevie Wonder's Superstition together on a single keyboard. A guy who worked at Levels named John grabbed one of the conga mics and said that "There was an outstanding warrant in Atlanta for Godfather killing a horse (use your imagination as to how) named Doublemint, it fell out of a parade." John and another employee named Skinny did more joning back and forth. I left together with Donnell. He asked me when I'm going back to school, I told him Thursday.

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


Doc (behind Adia), Adia, Godfather (in back), Mike, Marc Cary (face covered by Donnell's mic), BJ (wearing the black Malclom X t-shirt), Dwayne (behind Donnell), Donnell, Pooh (behind DP), DP


Doc (only arm visible), BJ (behind Doc), Pooh (head partially visible above Doc's arm), Adia, Dwayne, Charlie (behind Dwayne), Bojack, Mike, unidentified fan, Donnell, DP (behind Donnell), unidentified fan, Jay Gotti (behind unidentified fan, only his black and white cap is visible)
All pictures taken by and Copyright - Eric "Nephew" Floyd, Sr.

This is the last performance I will attend at Safari before I go back to school and it was a memorable one. It was also a celebration of Kato Hammond's 39th birthday. When I first arrived, Supa Dan took the covers. He discussed with me how GoGo's changed. He said that, "DC bands now want to be simply known as bands rather than GoGo Bands. They play covers. Only bands that have been playing GoGo for a while, like Familiar Faces, really play GoGo. The new bands have members so young that they've only heard "real GoGo" from tapes and don't play it the same. There's something missing. He said he though Familiar Faces should just do the throw down crankin' GoGo they do so well. I told him some of the reasons that FF members have told me for doing the Happy Hour sets: they think the ideal market is 18-30 year-olds, which is where Rare Essence was succeeding and that there are a limited number of venues for bands to perform the throw down GoGo. Interestingly, Rare Essence's latest release, Live in 2004 (Classics) is more reflective of FF's Happy Hour set than the throw down GoGo. Dan said that bands should do their own promotion. He said that the sound man usually costs $500 and that requires the promoter to get 50 people at $10 a head, and then to pay a band $1500 requires another 150 people. Then if there is bad weather, the promoter may cancel and the band gets nothing. I told him that I would definitely like to talk with him more on the subject. Doc then walked in and I walked in with him as Dan got a phone call.

Packy was the only other person onstage, but Adia sat in a booth. I talked with Doc, and then sat down at a table. I saw a few regulars, but quickly got bored and went into the lounge. Packy played pool. Doc said that he didn't play pool; he had played with someone once and a ball flew off the table and hit the other guy squarely in the chest. Now he doesn't play pool anymore because of that. While we sat there, Scuba Steve from Y2K sat down (waiting to play pool). An NFL preseason game was on TV, Supa Dan played pool and talked about the new pass defense rules (actually the rules are old, they are just being strictly enforced this year). Steve joked, "I know the NFL rules because I'm an NFL official, psych!" He talked with Doc about "Y2K wanting to go national, but that some of the band members feel that they still need to pay their dues as a band. Individually they have all paid their dues, but not collectively. Everyone in the band has been performing many years, most of them twenty years. I have the least experience, but I've been performing for 14 years and I'm 27." I told Doc EU was performing at Jasper's in Largo. Steve also talked about Publicity Band still performing at Safari on Mondays, but that it doesn't have the same personnel as it used to. He said, "that is one band that had all of the musical talent and did nothing with it. They never had a big money-making hit. They just had no real business sense. Even with different people playing percussion, they still have their incredible banging percussion." While we waited, Donnell walked into the lounge with Marc Cary (carrying a keyboard) and a friend of Marc's, Keith Ailer. Donnell asked Steve what happened with L!ssen not showing up with Y2K at Club U the night before (Donnell was there). Shortly afterwards, Donnell called for the band to get ready. I walked in with them and sat down at a table.

Familiar Faces
The line up for the first set was: Mike, Adia, Donnell, DP, Dwayne, Doc, Marc Cary, Godfather, BJ, Pooh and Packy. Donnell acknowledged Mama Chelle who sat at the bar. Marc had his own keyboard, a min-moog in addition to Godfather & BJ's keyboards. Most of the guest performers with FF have subbed on band members' instruments, the only other exception this Summer I can think of is Little Benny brought his own trumpet. The mini-moog definitely added a new dimension - the Jazz set was denser in a positive way. However, the impact was lessened for the other two sets, as it was drowned out. Donnell introduced Marc as being the winner of a Billboard Jazz award a few years ago (actually he was winner of the First Annual 2000 Billboard/BET "Best New Jazz Artist Award"). He also mentioned that while he lives in New York City, he's from DC and is another Ellington alumnus. They opened up with Grover Washington Jr.'s Mr. Magic. Dwayne had a reddish maroon guitar instead of his usual black one. At one point during the Jazz set, Godfather and Marc switched instruments. Donnell responded, "That was good, we need to get Godfather one of those..." Donnell had Marc's friend, Keith, sit in on lead vocals for a song. Dwayne's soloing during the first set was the best I've heard him play. In the middle of the set, Donnell said, "This guy on the end (Doc), who went to a public school, says that guys from Ellington can't count." Later, Doc got on the mic and repeated his belief "that guys from Ellington can't count." They performed Bobby Caldwell's What You Won't Do for Love.

After the first set, I went outside and hung out with Doc, BJ, Pooh and Thomas. Thomas walked with a cane because of his knee pain. Pooh and Doc talked about the long needle the doctors would use to drain Thomas' knee. Doc talked about how he arrived early because he knew it would be packed early for Kato's birthday. Charlie walked up while we were out there. I handed him a consent form, he asked what it was, and the woman standing next to me said, "Your probation papers." Damn that's harsh! The cop who stood outside for security made us go inside because we were a traffic menace.

I told Doc what Supa Dan had told me. He said that he self-promoted for Physical Wunders. He said he would look for higher paying venues in Virginia and would make $3000 a performance for the band. He went on to say that you get sick of all that travel after a while and want to just play in DC. I told Doc about New Dimension Band, a GoGo band based in Richmond, and Mumbo Sauce Band, a GoGo band of DC natives who attend Hampton University. Doc said that they probably have their own niche going. Doc also said that it gets expensive to pay that many musicians. I said that's one of the reasons Funk went into decline, that it takes a lot of musicians. He said that he was a big fan of Cameo and that they no longer had the whole band, but rather only four originals. Larry Blackmon had said in an interview that he couldn't afford to pay them all. I told Doc about a side job, when I was in grad school at the University of Miami, someone told me that Blackmon was in law school in Miami. I said that the Bar-Kays are now really a couple of originals (Larry Dodson and James Alexander) and whomever they hire at that point. Doc said that Rare Earth is the same way.

The second set cranked. During the set, I got up because I heard someone rapping, but didn't recognize the voice, it was Doc. After that song, they performed Simon & Garfunkel's Mrs. Robinson (first time since May 19th). In the next song, Jay Gotti guest rapped. They did a number of shout outs for Kato's birthday. They also performed 50 Cent's In Da Club (tease). During the second set, Michelle walked in, wearing a dress with the words "Take a Number" printed across the chest.

At the break, she had a laugh session with Nita, Nephew, Packy and, for a bit, Donnell. Donnell joked with Michelle about her sisters at Takoma Station on Wednesday. Nephew criticized me for not wearing a belt. I told him I didn't need one. He said you're supposed to wear one anyway. I sat by Doc. When Donnell walked in, Doc scolded him about his mixed signals, shaking his head as if to say no when then turning around when Doc would stop playing because of that. Donnell replied, "Don't be telling how to move." Doc said, "He is just mad because I said the man (edited) from Ellington couldn't count." I told Dwayne what I thought about his soloing. He said that he was using a different guitar; his normal guitar has more effects. He said that he plays better when he can hear himself, that with the Jazz set that is easier to do. People were eating birthday cake and other food. Mike was a messy eater. I told him how I liked their performing Mrs. Robinson again (with the GoGo beat, only the vocal lyrics and melody remain the same). Dwayne asked Kato if he wanted to play in the third set. He declined, saying that he would have practiced first since he doesn't have the chops right now.

In the third set, I talked with Scuba Steve briefly. Mike joked with Kato, talking about his "62nd Birthday" (actually his 39th). Donnell kidded Michelle on the mic about her dress, saying, "There would be a long line of guys (taking a number) if only she would..." During the third set, both Jay Gotti and Scuba Steve guest rapped. Also, a guy named Mark, wearing a Redskins cap guested on the congas (but with Bojack's girlfriend Tasty over by). I had to get his name from Bojack after the performance, as I went to ask him his name directly towards the end of the set, but a girl he was interested in headed out the door, he chased after her and that was all she wrote... The third cranked as usual. It was nice to hear Marc Cary play after hearing so much about him from Donnell. They closed with Prince's Purple Rain, mentioning that he had played at MCI Center the night before. Mike joked that "Jesse Jackson was on guitar." Bojack joned. Supa Dan sang, "I didn't mean to cause you pain" on the mic. Kato introduced me to TMOTT member Marly Marl.

I talked with Supa Dan for a while after the performance. He suggested I come (to Safari) on Sunday to see After Hours Band, one of the type of bands that he had referred to earlier. He also said I should look into the Census as a possible employer, that they do analyses. With my background, I could design my own job there. He had looked to them for data before opening his club. After the performance, I asked BJ about Rahsaan Patterson's music, which I have never heard (although I am a fan of his namesake, Rahsaan Roland Kirk). He said that he had worked with Brandy and Tevin Campbell. BJ and Dwayne talked about upcoming gigs, including working with Marc Cary. Adia talked about about something she didn't want me to write on this blog because Donnell would read it. I told her that actually Donnell doesn't read the blog; his son tells him what is on it. She said, "No, his flunky Nephew reads it and reports back." I later walked over to where Nephew, Donnell, and Kato were talking. I told Nephew that Adia has said, "He's Donnell's flunky." He said, "I am. Do you want to know why she called me that? It's because she had her jacket off and I said with her top, she looked like Janet Jackson's video where she's on the beach." Adia sat down at the booth with Donnell and Nephew repeated, "Doesn't she look like that video?" Kato said, "She's in a video, I'll buy it!" Adia said, "No, a Janet Jackson video, who else but you (Nephew) would know about that video?" I told Kato, "You could buy that video and sell it to Lt. Clark for a lot of money." He said that he wanted the video for himself. I pointed out that Nephew, who wore a Yankees jersey and cap, had a jersey for practically every team, but that I had never seen him wear an Orioles or DC team outfit. Donnell defended him, saying "He really is a Wizards and Redskins fan." Kato later picked up the local real estate flyer and told Adia, "I'll buy this house (the one on the cover), and you and I can live together." She declined. When I went outside, it had started raining again.

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

I went to Best Buy in Rockville to pick up more 8MM film for my scheduled interview with BJ. On my way back, I noticed that the free Rare Essence concert on the Strathmore Hall Lawn was going on despite the rain earlier in the afternoon. I passed up the rare opportunity to see GoGo in Bethesda (I have all 3 PAs performed in Bethesda that I know of: Northeast Groovers 1-7-94 Holton Arms, Backyard Band 11-08-96 Holton Arms, Fatal Attraction 10-24-03 Landon. Edit: I subsequently acquired a 4th: Chuck Brown 7-14-04 Strathmore Hall.) I arrived a little before 9 PM. Thomas stood outside and said hello. Packy was inside, setting up, I talked with him for a little while. I set up for the interview and waiting a few minutes for BJ. At the start, Doc kidded BJ about arriving early, BJ said that it would snow (it had hailed in DC earlier in the day). I conducted the interview.

JR: Other than entertainment, what purpose does GoGo have?

BJ: GoGo is like to me, it's like a culture for DC. You know what I'm saying, like Rap, they consider Rap and Hip Hop to be a culture for real. It's pretty much a culture. A lot of people don't understand GoGo unless they?ve... Well I shouldn't say that, well I grew up in it it's pretty much been everything to me, opened up doors for me so.

JR: What do you think is it about GoGo that makes it so popular?

BJ: The rhythm, you know what I'm saying, the rhythm, it's a unique rhythm. I don't care what kind of song you put over top of GoGo, a GoGo beat. You just distinctively know that, okay this is GoGo. It's got a very distinctive rhythm to it. I think that's pretty much what sets it apart.

JR: What do you feel about the fact that it is primarily a local phenomenon?

BJ: Say it again?

JR: What do you think about the fact that it is primarily local?

BJ: It's a good thing, but I think, I think it should be a world, a worldly thing. It's a lot of people outside of DC starting to pick up on it and use it to their advantage. But I don't know what it is about the artists here that they?re not able to capitalize on it and take it to that next level.

JR: Do you think a group of musicians from outside the DC area could produce a GoGo band that would be considered authentic here?

BJ: I don't think so. I mean given the track record of the people that I that tried...

JR: Like who?

BJ: Well not really a GoGo band per se but people that's done GoGo tracks like Jill Scott, I think a friend of Donnell?s, Marc Cary. I haven't really heard the material that he's done. Who else?

JR: Donnell's discussed how Rich Harrison has put GoGo into hit songs that he?s produced.

BJ: Yeah, right. Yeah, Beyonce, the Usher...

JR: What do you think about the way PA Tapes are presently sold?

BJ: Oh man, it's straight up black market. That's all I can say about that. It's black market. It should be sold just like a record companies sells with bar code and the writers getting their royalties off of it just like any other CD or album that?s sold.

JR: Yeah, that's interesting actually. That's one of the in a way advantages that they have of selling it on the black market right now is because there?s so much cover material...

BJ: Right.

JR: and it would be harder to license the...

BJ: That's true. That is true. But it's only cover material, a lot of it is because that?s what, that?s what people want to hear, but at the end of the day you can always go in the studio and just bang out some originals. There's a lot of groups that just play originals, I think Whop-N-Em is a prime example. The guy Whop and his group, I think they play pretty much all original material if I?m not mistaken.

JR: How often do you think a GoGo band should release a commercial album especially a studio album?

BJ: I would say once a month or once every two years at least, depending on how long the run they can get on the first one, but at least once a month.

JR: How do you define GoGo?

BJ: I haven't thought about that. I don't really, it's just to me like I said I grew up in it since I was little. It's been a like a major influence to me, but all I can say is a an influence, a major influence. I can't really define it. I haven't thought about that, I'll have to think about that one.

JR: Do you think all music performed by GoGo bands is GoGo?

BJ: In some way, shape, or form, yeah. Of course every group has their own interpretation of what GoGo is. It's a lot of younger groups that?s coming up, but obviously they?ve learned from some of the older groups like Trouble, EU, Rare Essence. So they just took their influence and made their own interpretation of what GoGo is... And that's the cool thing about it (last phrase is hard to hear). That's pretty much it.

JR: Do you GoGo can only be dance music?

BJ: Nah, wait a minute, explain that a little bit please...

JR: Okay, when you're hitting the beat, that's music designed to be danced. Do you think there's GoGo that isn't explicitly designed to be danced to?

BJ: You mean more so on the listening side?

JR: Yeah.

BJ: I think so. I think so because me personally I can sit down and listen to Chuck. He has more of a laid back flow with his vocals. So I can listen to Chuck as opposed to always wanting to get up and party. What we do is turn it up a little bit more than Chuck does. Not to say that it's better, it?s just different. I don?t think it's just designed to dance.

JR: What instrumentation should a GoGo band have at a minimum to be considered a GoGo band?

BJ: Definitely drums, Congos. You can get away with drums, and Congos, that?s a whole GoGo band right there for real.

JR: What do you think about of the current trend of some GoGo groups not having congas at all or barely? Like TCB for instance, they'll start off with one conga song and then it's all timbales and toms?

BJ: I mean that's cool 'cause it works for them because they cater to a much younger crowd. Then we do or what I'm used to. But whatever works, whatever works for them.

JR: What do you see as the future of GoGo?

BJ: I don't know. Until we get these politics right, this whole thing, everybody to me... I am going to be honest, there?s a lot of hate in GoGo. That's the sad, that's the downside to it for me. There's a lot of negativity outside of the music. Not so much with this band, but I have just experienced it with other groups out there, and I see it, and I hear about it. Until I think everybody gets that aspect together and pretty much comes together and know where we can really, really take this thing it will just be what it is.

JR: What do you think has to be done for the tradition of GoGo to be maintained?

BJ: I don't know. I think it's got a strong enough hint in this community, at least, just to be. I don?t think it's really going to take much to sustain it or maintain it as long as you?ve got younger cats coming up, wanting to start bands. There's a million bands out there for real, there's a lot of bands that play in the area, there's also a lot of bands that you don?t even hear about, that you wouldn?t even hear about.

JR: How did you learn to play music?

BJ: I was self taught, pretty much. Pretty much taught myself, listening to a lot of music, a lot of different genres of music.

JR: And what age did you start?

BJ: About thirteen, about thirteen. Twenty-some years, twenty-five, twenty-seven years.

JR: What made you decide to join a GoGo band?

BJ: Well, let Donnell tell it: he found me, and recruited me to a band, which he kind of did in a sense. I used to go see Rare Essence like faithfully. Donnell and I were with this other group, this little jazz group that used to play together like on the weekends. I guess they needed a bass player for a week or so, so he told me to come and audition. Back then, that was kind of like a dream to me, I was young.

JR: And what was the name of this band?

BJ: Rare Essence.

JR: No, I mean the jazz band.

BJ: We didn't really have a band, we just got together, jammed around. There really wasn't a name to the band, we didn't have gigs or nothing, just something we did to keep our chops up.

JR: What other GoGo groups and other groups did you belong to before 911?

BJ: Just Rare Essence. I used to play with this group called Icee Hott a long time ago.

Doc: You played in Icee Hott really? (This is not audible on the recording, but I remember it).

BJ: (Laughing). I sure did. GoGo groups, that?s probably it as far as GoGo groups.

JR: What about other groups, non-GoGo groups?

BJ: Other acts... I mean I?ve played on the circuit with Maxwell, I still play with Rahsaan Patterson as of this date, Me'Shell NdegeOcello, Sunshine Anderson, Arrested Development, Pure Soul, that's about it.

JR: Okay. What other side groups do you belong to right now?

BJ: Just basically 911, Rahsaan Patterson and this Gospel group called Heaven Sent (Note: Dwayne Lee and Pooh also belong), we do like just like on weekends. It's Gospel GoGo.

JR: And what's the point of that? Is that just to have another side to your music or...

BJ: Yeah, it keeps me busy, it keeps me mentally active with a lot of different types of songs, yeah...

JR: And is that who required you to learn twenty-eight songs? (This is a reference to a conversation on July 8th).

BJ: No, that was a showcase that I did with this other guy. I forgot I do this showcase from time to time with this guy Don Johnson.

JR: Uh huh.

BJ: He just pretty much put on a showcase for like say seven or eight women. Each woman comes up and does some songs.

JR: And that was the date of the Club Levels show?

BJ: Right, exactly. Exactly, that's why I was late.

JR: Okay. Do you do the opening set, the "Jazz" set as you guys call it as a conscious artistic choice or was it driven by giving the market what it wants?

BJ: Well, if I would have had my way, yeah, it would have been, it would have been that way. But it's a good thing that it came about because we never did anything like that. It's something kind of new for this particular band, not as individuals, but you know collectively. We've never really done a Jazz set. I think it's good for everybody to get to know, musicians to get to know take it as far as Jazz... Jazz you're free to do whatever.... (the last couple of phrases are uncertain as the DJ started playing right at that time and it is really hard to hear).

JR: How do you feel that 911's sound has evolved since you first started?

BJ: It's gotten a lot more mature. In my opinion, it's gotten a lot more mature. The maturity level.

JR: Okay. I've heard about the chauvinistic attitude that there used to exist in GoGo towards female musicians, but now there is a trend of groups having a female vocalist. Why do you think that is?

BJ: Brings a ___ to the group (I believe he's talking about a different element to the group, but not necessarily those words exactly). (I can't hear the second sentence ? Pooh was warming up on drums at this time). It attracts a whole 'nother crowd. Guys will come out and girls will respect it and come out and really hear it. (I can?t hear the sentence in between). Females, they?re not used to having... (I can't hear the finale sentence).

JR: Given the large of size of your band and your support people, that's a lot of people for money to spread around. Is money your primary interest for playing or what?

BJ: Well, no, it's not the primary interest. It's the primary necessity for me because this is, this is all I do. I don't work nine to five, this music thing is it right there. At the end of the day... for my work (difficult to hear due to Pooh?s warming up on drums).

JR: What other styles of music do you incorporate in yours?

BJ: Say it again?

JR: What other styles of music do you incorporate in your music?

BJ: Jazz, R&B, Gospel, GoGo, of course, Rock, whatever.

JR: What defines a good performance?

BJ: I just think it's more of an energy level, what you really put into it. It's not really so much what you're doing technically, or how many chops you got, you're showing the crowd that you are just as into it as they are or more.

JR: What do you think about how some people associate GoGo with fighting and violence?

BJ: Well, there is an association there because I've, I've dealt with that period for a while particularly with some other groups. There is an association, but that's part of the world. You can find fighting and violence with any and everything. That's just for real the world that we live in.

JR: How do you define Pockets & Sockets?

BJ: I don't, you can't define it. It is what it is.

JR: What do you think about the fact that there was an earlier group called Familiar Faces?

BJ: I didn't know that.

JR: Yeah, it was lead by Ivan Goff, it was in the '90s.

BJ: A GoGo group?

JR: Yeah, yeah. What do you think about the name change?

BJ: Familiar Faces?

JR: Yeah, from 911 to Familiar Faces.

BJ: I think it suits the band because they've seen a lot of people from different bands that have came together to form one band. A lot of guys, like myself, came from Rare Essence, so they know us maybe by name? at least one or two of us... Doc, he played with...

JR: Physical Wunders.

BJ: Physical Wunders, right. I was going to say Prophecy, but... yeah, I mean it suits the band. It suits the band definitely.

JR: And is there anything more you wanted to say or to ask me?

BJ: Anything more you wanted to ask me?

JR: No, that's it. Thanks.


BJ on the drums


Packy (barely visible), Doc, Mike, Pooh, Halima, Godfather, Donnell, BJ, Dwayne
All pictures taken by and Copyright - Jordan Rich

During the interview, BJ talked about being in Icee Hott and Doc was surprised. Meanwhile, Doc ate and talked with Telando. After my interview of BJ was over, I asked him about his picture of Doc with the fiberglass bass from 1985. He said that it was from his sister's high school year book. He had looked at the picture and said, "That looks just like Kenny!" I told him that Doc had said that he understood why Sugar Bear sold him the bass, he didn't like the sound. I also told BJ that Doc said he'd like to design his own bass at some point. Doc told me that Telando has thousands of live GoGo tapes that he would record for bands. He never sells them without the band's permission. I told him about how I hung out the night before with my friend G who is friends with Jimi Blake, the producer of the Metro World TV show. G said Jimi has a ton of film footage beyond what aired. Doc told me that BJ was a "baaad (meaning good) bass player." I talked with BJ about his playing the drums, which I filmed earlier at Xcalibur. He said, "I thought that your camera was a still camera." I said, "It's both". I asked BJ who his favorite bass players were; he mentioned around 20+ names. I asked Pooh what the purpose of the rug in the drum was, he said, "It muffles the sound." Halima, the guest vocalist last week, said hello to me and sat down over by me. The guy sitting next to me, whom I recognized as a regular, said, "Hey lightskin," and asked if I was filming again. I said, "No, I'm enjoying myself tonight." I also talked with Demetrius Owens and told him I had seen him on The Odyssey. I asked Doc about how Sugar Bear got his nickname. He said he didn't know, but that Bear's wife was known as "Honey Bear".

Familiar Faces
The line up for the first set was: Mike, Adia, Donnell, DP, Dwayne, Doc, Godfather, BJ, Pooh and Packy. They first performed Grover Washington Jr.'s Mr. Magic, which ended with a fiery drum solo by Pooh. Halima sat in for a couple of songs - Adia was stood by me and had what appeared to be a jealous look on her face as Halima sang. At one point, Mike sang a love song with Donnell on backup vocals. After the song, Mike said, "It's a great love song, you can sing it if you know the lyrics, even if your voice isn't good like Donnell." Donnell said, "See how he's dissing me?" Mike said, "He's being paranoid, I meant that Donnell (pointing to the regular sitting next to me)." Also, during the set, they performed Bobby Caldwell's What You Won't Do for Love. This is the first time they've performed it with Mike, they had performed it with a guest Oda Ray a few weeks ago at Xcalibur. They performed a longer-than-usual first set, over an hour. Donnell ended it with more joning on Quincy Carter, aimed at Don, "The Dallas Cowboys have a quarterback on the pipe. Clarence Carter. I think Rayful must be in the witness protection plan in Texas (I have to agree with a PA Palace poster who but it succinctly - "it doesn't matter how many people he squeals on, he will never see the light of day.") Where was Dexter Manley from? Houston, Texas. I will take bets on any game against the Cowboys, even if they are playing the Silverlake Boys Club." Even the Cowboys fans laughed.

At the break, I talked with Doc. He asked me, "How I as an outsider looking in thought about their first set, that they can be their own worst critics." I was honest: "It's not really my cup of tea. I prefer the throw down crank that Familiar Faces can do when they want. The happy hour set is entertaining, but I'm not really a fan of that music." In fact, that is one of the things I need to ask FF about still - since I don't listen to the originals that they cover, I don't recognize who did them (obviously Bobby Caldwell and Marvin Gaye I do recognize, I just don't follow current music very much). I went outside to talk with Michelle about interviewing her. I said, "I want to interview you from the fan's perspective. I want to get more embarrassing stories from you." Donnell turned around and said, "What?" They went in shortly afterwards and started the second set - one of their best crankers.

Bojack played in this set - I didn't even see him come in. He smiled at a girl in the audience and she came up and stood (and danced) next to him for the rest of the set. They concluded with their traditional closing song, Prince's Purple Rain. After they finished performing, Donnell told Nephew, "Stop talking to my girlfriend. Everything dead!" I talked with Michelle more about setting up an interview. Godfather and BJ went over to the piano and played the Charlie Brown theme. I talked with Doc, and then headed home.

Interview of Godfather at Four Corner Market
Four Corner Market, 6217 Livingston Rd, Oxon Hill, MD 20745



Some of the celebrities who have visited the store, including DJ Kool, Chuck Brown, Andre "Whiteboy" Johnson, Milton "Go-Go Mickey" Freeman, Pure Elegance, LLCoolJ, and former Redskin Larry Bowie
All of the pictures taken by and Copyright - Jordan Rich (obviously the copyright for the individual pictures within the lower picture doesn't belong to me)

Today I interviewed Mark "Godfather" Lawson at his other job, the Four Corner Market. The front window has an advertisement for Mike's site, Rearview2.Com. Brian, son of the owner, opened the store for us and sat in on the interview. The store is not open on Mondays. However, the lights and music attracted a steady stream of people knocking on the locked front door. Brian's brother Sam also stopped in for a little while. I took a few pictures inside the store and then conducted the interview. Brian is also a fan of GoGo, but said he doesn't go out to shows much because of "the haters"; people treat him funny because he's Korean. He has created a couple of fashion lines.

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

I arrived at 8:30 PM, so that I could set up for interviews ahead of time and make sure it was alright with the manager of Safari. I set up in the side lounge. While I was waited, I talked with Packy about interviewing him. He said that I could interview him that night when he was done setting up. He also said his brother, Darryl "Blue Eye" Arrington (the original drummer for 911) would be there tonight and that I should interview him as well. Adia arrived at 9:20, and we conducted the interview. I asked if Packy and Darryl were half-brothers since they have different last names. He said, "no, he's not really my brother, he lived in my neighborhood and looked after me." He also said that Darryl taught him to play the congas. He further expounded that Darryl had played with every major GoGo group except Chuck Brown. Packy and Thomas joked about Packy being Rick James' nephew (Rick James had died of a heart attack earlier in the day). While waiting to interview Packy, I talked with SupaDan, the DJ for Safari. He said that I should interview him, that Safari has had many GoGo bands over various days over years. He liked my question list. There were a few humorous interruptions during my interview of Packy, including Peanut (a fan) and Alvin (an employee of FF) wanting to be interviewed. Packy also said that he is working on a PA at Night Flight of his own band - Unity Band (not to be confused with the early 1990s GoGo band of the same name) and that he was interested in having it promoted online, that I should contact him later in the month. BJ had arrived during my interview of Packy (I was supposed to interview BJ as well, but he arrived late because his car is not running properly and he couldn't get another ride), but too late for me to interview him before Familiar Faces would start performing. I went back to my car to put all of the equipment away. I asked Nephew how to play management, he said, "I'm doing it right now." I asked Donnell if FF was going to continue performing at Xcalibur, given their cancellation the night before. He said they may switch back to Cranberries. I also asked him if the album was done, he said yes and that it sounded great.

Familiar Faces
The line up for the opening set was: Mike, Adia, Donnell, DP, Dwayne, Doc, Godfather, BJ, Darryl Arrington (filling-in for Pooh), and Packy. There was another guy with a red baseball cap on sitting down by the congas. He sat in and rapped with FF. I later asked Doc who the guest rapper was, he said Bryan, the original rapper with 911 (I assume he meant Bryan "B-Man" Baucum). Also later in the set, Chi Ali walked in and around behind the congas, said hello to band members and started playing the congas. In the middle of the set, a group of girls at the table behind me yelled for them to perform 911. Donnell responded: "We're in the middle of our happy hour set. See the collar on my shirt; we're more mature now..." Later on, Bojack arrived and took over, with Packy playing the cowbell until Charlie arrived. At the end of the set, Darryl was still playing and Donnell said, "Blue, stop with that 'Bama sh*t, you've been listening to JuJu too much".

During the break I talked with Doc and Dwayne. Doc told me he had bought Bootsy Collins' anthology, Glory B Da' Funk's on Me!. I told him that my name is in the notes, I worked on that when I worked in master use licensing at Rhino. I told him that I had gotten it autographed by Overton Loyd, the cover artist for it who has done the cover art for many of P-Funk's albums. I also got it autographed by Bootsy himself. I told him I had also had autographed one of the covers for the Funkin' on the 1 box set (by the people at Funk To The Max), which has tracks from Bootsy's band before they were hired by James Brown. He talked about how it was cool that it had "Freak to Freak" from Bootsy's alter-ego, the Sweat Band. I told him that was the first time the track had been released on CD in the US. The whole album had been released in Japan by a Japanese label called P-Vine, a subsidiary of Blues Interactions. P-Vine has released (or reissued on CD) a number of P-Funk (and GoGo) albums that have not been released in the US. The Sweat Band LP was originally released on George Clinton's Uncle Jam label, which went under when Zapp delivered their hit album, Zapp to Warner Brothers instead. I told him about getting the two Headhunters "solo" (without Herbie playing) albums (Survival of the Fittest and Straight from the Gate) from BMG in Japan, they are funky as hell! I also said that Bootsy has another alter-ego, Zillatron. The Zillatron album, Lord of the Harvest has been reissued earlier this year; it was originally released by RykoDisc. (I meant to tell him about the two major online vendors of P-Funk, The Funk Store and Funk To the Max). Doc said he had all of Bootsy's albums, but didn't like the latest (Play with Bootsy, just released in the US in June) with all of the guest stars (Macy Gray, Snoop, etc.). I told him that I really like the album before that, Fresh Outta P University. I asked him how he liked Larry Graham. He said that without Larry that you wouldn't have the boom boom bass that he pioneered (or in Doc's words, "That I don't know anyone else did first"). He did also say he didn't like the "One in a Million You sh*t". Doc told me that he got Blue to start playing drums, switching from the congas. Blue was a member of Physical Wunders and the drummer didn't show up for a gig. Blue didn't want to play the drums, but Doc made him do it. I asked him if he was a salesman at Lexus, he said, "Hell no! I take cars apart and put them back together again. Actually now I supervise people doing it and when they can't figure it out, I do it. People say they never see me with grease on my clothes, that's because I mostly supervise." Dwayne walked in and sat on his hands to warm them up (today was much cooler than the day before). I asked him about his wearing the sunglasses last Friday during the second set. He said, "Godfather gave those to me, I think he found them. So, I put them on." Peanut mentioned something about Boolah; I said he was in a Jazz band with Tony Sharpe (Jazz Visions). I first heard about the new band online a few days before Boolah's last gig with FF. I talked with Doc and Dwayne about Rick James (I am not a big fan of more than a few songs of his, but I do like his production work with the Temptations). I asked if they could perform one of his songs in tribute to him. Doc said he didn't know how to play many of his songs, but Dwayne said, "We can do Bustin Out, follow my lead." I asked Bojack where he got that nickname from, he said his Grandmother gave it to him. Shortly after that the break ended.

The women who had requested 911 earlier stood in front of Donnell. Three of them were celebrating their birthdays. Donnell said repeatedly, "I don't mind you drinking; I just wish you didn't drink so much." Then he said, "Can we get a breathalyzer here?" The first set was good, but as usual, the second was better. Many regulars were there: Kato, Juanita, Michelle, Mama Chelle, the NY girl whom Donnell had noted a while ago for doing the "Harlem Shake" and FF's manager Baba Tutu. They performed two Rick James songs back to back, Bustin' Out and Mary Jane, and then Donnell said, "That's enough Rick James". They had three male guest rappers in the second set, Jay Gotti, Chi Ali and another guy.

I went to my car in the break after the second set, and talked with BJ, Godfather, Thomas and Doc in the parking lot. I joked with BJ that he looks more like Gary Payton than Vince Carter to me, he said, "that's worse." Godfather told me about his store. He said that all of the shirts he wears to performances come from his store. I told Godfather and Doc that Familiar Faces was on the cover of the upcoming print edition of "Take Me Out to the GoGo" (or TMOTT as it is also known).


In the third set, Michael Smith, the drummer from Rare Essence walked in and Donnell acknowledged him on the mic, "that's my man, Michael Smith" (but Smith didn't sit in). Someone joking called out Strange, a reference to Grace Jones' character in Boomerang. At the end of the set, Donnell had the crowd doing the "happy feet".

After the third set (which cranked), I walked out to my car to leave after talking with Donnell (he walked outside with Michael Smith). Mama Chelle said hello, and a girl named March called my name. She ran over to me and hugged me (Mama Chelle said she was drunk), and asked that I post her name. Then another girl named Shonda also said, "Hi, Jordan."

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


Mike, Doc, Halima, Pooh, Donnell, Godfather
Picture taken by and Copyright Jordan Rich
(It is a screen shot from the DVD made from the video footage).

I arrived an hour early to set-up for filming. I had already received permission from Familiar Faces and management at Takoma Station (thanks go out to Mel Floreza, night manager). I found the spot I figured was the best to focus on the band (I had filmed some three minute movies with my Dad's Canon G3 in the same spot earlier). I located an electrical outlet, which barely reached the camera on the tripod. Then, having received permission to hook up the audio input to the mixing board, I talked with Googie. He asked me for cords, I had left them in my car and went and got them. He worked out setting them up, as I was concerned about people tripping over them. I really appreciate Googie's help and patience working with me. As I set it up, a guy behind me asked me about how I became interested in GoGo. He gave me suggestions on how to make money with this, but I told him that's not the purpose behind this. I am filming this to use as reference for my thesis. I am of course providing the band with copies, and I have no say over what they do with their copies. This night was a performance celebrating Cookie of the PBMC's birthday (her actual birthday was Saturday).

I started filming a few seconds after they started performing. In the first set, Demitrius "Demi-Doc" McGhee, a producer for Murder Inc. (formerly a member of the Junkyard Band and Maiesha & the Hiphuggers) sat in for a bit on keyboards. Also, Halima, a female vocalist from Florida, sang a couple of songs: The Roots' You Got Me and Alicia Keys' Diary. This was her first appearance with Familiar Faces, which she later joined (in April 2005). The audio is pretty good except for a persistent little static noise. Also, there is buzzing when none of the instruments are playing. Donnell razed Dallas Cowboy fans about the release of the incumbent starting quarterback, Quincy Carter (whom Donnell referred to as Clarence Carter), for testing positive for cocaine use. I changed the first tape at 59 minutes during Stevie Wonder's Golden Lady in the first set.

Familiar Faces
First Set
Line up: Mike, Adia, Donnell, DP, Doc, Dwayne, Godfather, BJ, Pooh, and Bojack.
Donnell said, "On behalf of my man Jauhar, We're going to have us a good time tonight."
1) Grover Washington Jr.'s Lock It in the Pocket
Donnell said, "We're going to have a good time tonight y'all, we feel good up here."
Donnell said, "Look here y'all, we've got us a special treat in the house tonight, huh. We got my man Demi Doc, yo. Going all around the world writing songs for Ashanti, all around the world writing songs for Ashanti. You better hurry up before I take another solo. Give it up for my man Demi Doc, yo." Demi Doc sat in on Godfather's keyboard
After the end of the song:
Donnell (laughing) said, "This, oh, this is going to be one of those nights. Clarence Carter's on the pipe and Demi-Doc is in the house. We got some Cowboy fans in here? Oh, my goodness. Leon Lett..."
Nephew said, "Michael Irvin."
Donnell said, "Michael Irvin, Clarence Carter. There's not enough people in here yet, I'm going to save you for a few more seconds..."
Donnell said to Halima, "Huh, if you feel it let me know."
Donnell said, "We got my baby Linda Wills in here y'all. Yeah."
Donnell said, "You too... if you feel something. If you feel something other that... you come up here too baby."
Donnell said to Halima, "You feel something on this, you know I've forgotten your name, hold on one second."
Halima sat in
2) Halima & Mike (separately)-led The Roots' You Got Me
Donnell said, "Goddamn y'all," laughing, "Is that it Halima? Did y'all check this out, hold on, y'all check this out. Did you see what she did?"
Mike said, "That's some Anita Baker slash Joe Cocker. I thought a plane was going to land (making fun of her nonverbal arm & hand gestures)."
Donnell said, "One more time with my baby, Halima, y'all."
After Halima's second time sitting in:
Mike, said "Yeah."
Donnell said, "What the hell? All we need is Luther man; all we need is Luther now. That's my baby, Sweet Halima, y'all. Came down here from Miami, that's my part of town right there."
3) Mother's Day - instrumental, Donnell leads with his Soprano Sax
Donnell said, "Now, I'm going to tell you this. This is serious man. Hey Jordan, you make sure you print this right here. Cowboy fans are so petty. My bass player, my bass player just left me hanging in the middle of a song. And when I turned around to see what happened; he said, 'Yeah, don't talk about my Cowboys.' Is that; is that how you all go? Man, it's whatever, it's whatever, Wow! I'm going to go into the next song man because it's too early but, it's too early but... Oh my goodness, the quarterback is on the pipe, was the quarterback on the pipe? In the words of Chris Rock (in New Jack City), that sh*t was calling me man, it was calling me, that sh*t was calling me man, it was calling me, that sh*t was calling me. Somebody wake Billy up."
(Cowboy fans were yelling really loudly the whole time Donnell was talking.)
Donnell said, "I'm not going to take time out to be petty about this, y'all."
4) Adia-led Kindred the Family Soul's Rhythm of Life Donnell said, "Oh, lord have mercy. We're going to do this song for my baby Cookie, y'all. Huh? Fat Kat you in here? You not a Cowboy fan are you, homie?"
Mike said, "That's my man right there."
Donnell said, "My man Demi Doc back up once more. He's been gone from the city; he's been gone all over the country doing songs for Ashanti, my man Demi Doc."
5) Adia-led Alicia Keys' Diary - Donnell said, "Bring it down, bring it down for Halima" - Halima sat in toward the end of the song
Donnell said, "That's my baby Adia, y'all, and my baby sweet Halima. Yes sir, we got some singing women in the city, y'all."
Mike said (in an affected, gay voice), "They don't need them clothes DeeDee, they don't need the jewelries, them womens can sing, you hear what I'm saying honey your ear has to be in your foot, do you know what I mean Miss Cookie?" Then in his regular voice, he said, "Ha ha, yeah!"
Donnell laughed.
6) Mike-led Stevie Wonder's Golden Lady - Mike said, "That's an appropriate song, 'cause we're going to dedicate this to Miss Cookie it's her birthday. I know you're bashful and everything, you know but that's my baby and she is the golden lady."
Donnell said, "She is the golden lady. Linda Wills you know this one right here, uh uh, yeah!"
Donnell said, "Oh, I forgot about that Bojack. We're going to take a break, listen y'all, just in case a lot of you didn't know, the dude Mike from L!ssen is in the hospital fighting for his life. So if you could give that man y'all prayers, he was in a bad car accident a couple of nights ago and he's in critical condition. A couple of nights ago they didn't think he was going to make it to the morning, but he made it. So if you're on your way home or before you go to sleep if you could give that man your prayers. One of the good dudes in that band. One of the best dudes in that band and that's serious, that's my man Mike from L!ssen, man. (He has since made a full recovery).

Hey Googie, these monitors, I don't know what's going on, these monitors keep going out."
Googie said, "The power in the amps."
Donnell said, "The power in the amps. Also, we got a problem with drugs in professional sports y'all. It seems, it seems we have a problem with drugs in professional sports."
A Cowboy fan named Don got up on the mic and said, "Yeah, yeah, let me tell you all something..."
Donnell said, "They tell me Quincy Carter..."
The Cowboy fan said, "Do y'all remember the last time the Redskins beat the Cowboys? Let me tell you a little story, I got a son, he's seven years old, the Redskins beat the Cowboys one time since he's been born and his name is Donnell too. I'd like to mention that."
Donnell laughed.
Don continued, "One time in seven years has the Indians beat the Cowboys, crack or whatever, it don't matter. We can use and we don't lose, that's our motto. Use and don't lose. I'll take a quarterback on crack and ten and six and the playoffs. What about the Skins? They could have given Patrick Ramsey some crack last year and he maybe he would have gotten them a little further. But I'm not going to let Donnell heckle myself here tonight. I'm going to tell you all, my son Donnell, he's seven years old, he only seen the Redskins beat the Indians, the Cowboys one time since he came on this earth."
Donnell said, "Hey, cut him off Googie."
Don replied, "Don't cut me off. Don't shut me up. 'Cause we right back at you. All I'm going to tell you is get ready for Vinnie, he'll be in town September 27th Monday night, Vinnie will be here and get ready. Every quarterback that line up against you, you know we burn you..."
Donnell said, "Hey Googie..."
Don, no longer on the mic, said, "Why you cut me off?"
Donnell said, "Ten for ten, nine for nine, eight for break, y'all."

I did not film the break when the DJ played music. I went over and talked to band members. Juanita, who had sung at Xcalibur last Thursday, said hello. I initially didn't recognize her because her hairdo had changed.

Second Set
Donnell sang, Tyrese's Sweet Lady "Sweet Lady would you be mine, up for a lifetime, when you need me, just call and receive me, sweet lady would you be mine..." during the sound check
Don said, "Happy birthday, Cookie!"
Donnell said, "Hold on, let him get this over with man. Hold on, hold on y'all, let him get this over..."
Don continued, "Cookie, happy birthday baby. We love you baby, for all the tickets you sell us, all the work you put in, all the flyers you make me pass out. We love you baby..."
Donnell said, "You hear that Stan, he said he the street team..."
Laughter.
Don continued, "I'm with you Cookie, you know that. Huh, we love you Cookie, come on..."
Adia said, "We love you."
Don said, "We pass some flyers for you, do whatever, just give us the good rates..."
Adia said, "You knew there was a catch."
Donnell said, "Is that it?"
Don said, "Let's get back to this Dallas Redskins thing. Let's get warmed up, gimme the Blueprint. Gimme the Blueprint, baby. Gimme the Blueprint..."
Donnell said, "Come on Don, I let you do that at the beginning, come on. Listen, I was going to say a whole lot about the drug problem that we're having in professional sports, but I ain't really got enough time man. It seems like everyone in Dallas just want to get high. I'm not sure if my man Rayful ain't in the protective witness program in Texas or something 'cause everybody in the Dallas organization all they want to do is get high. I'm not sure what's going on over there, but the Cowboys are now looking toward forty-three year old Vinnie Testaverde. I'm taking all bets, all the time. Yeah! I don't care if you all play Silver Hill boys club I'm betting, you hear me?"
Mike said, "Dexter Manley should have been with the Cowboys."
Adia said, "Not the boy club..."
Mike said, "He should have been."
Donnell said, "You know what Chris Rock said?"
Adia said, "Tell them one more time."
Donnell said, "The sh*t be calling me man, the sh*t be calling me."
Mike said, "Hollywood Henderson."
Donnell said, "Look here, each and every... Hold on, hold on, hold on. Do we got one more boat ride we're going to do Stan? Is that official yet or do we got to wait? Just in case you all missed the boat ride man, that joint was off the hook. So they added one more, is that right? September, wait a minute, wait a minute."
Someone in the audience yelled, "No, August!"
Adia said, "August 28th."
Donnell said, "August 28th y'all. They done swing one more boat ride in the middle. August 28th, y'all."
Mike said, "Someone said they're having it on a different boat though."
Donnell said, "Same boat, see how people are?"
Mike said, "They said they're having on that boat by the navy yard that never move, that one. That ship by the navy yard that never move..."
Donnell said, "You see how people are?"
Mike said, "Why would they say"
Donnell said, "My man Bud did go on the boat ride y'all, his girl didn't make him baby sit like he had anticipated..."
Mike said, "Got his ass!"
Donnell said, "He was on the boat ride y'all. He was dressed up, had a fresh new pair of Nikes, a fresh new pair of Nikes on... Let's go baby.?
1) Mike-led Javier's How Beautiful You Are - Donnell said, "I'm not sure y'all ready, we're trying to get this thing warmed up" / Donnell-led Brown & White (tease)
2) 6 Minutes percussion solo
3) Mike-led Anthony Hamilton's Since I Seen't You (tease)
4) Donnell chanted "My man Bud come to get down..." (then my man Ray, Linda Wills, Sweet Halima, my man Stan, RE Angie, my man Mike...)
5) Mike-led Anthony Hamilton's Since I Seen't You - nice percussion solo, Donnell said, "Hey Jack, hold it down..."
6) Mike-led Marvin Gaye's I Want You / Donnell chanted "RE Angie..."
7) Adia-led Erykah Badu?s Danger - Donnell chanted, "Hey Linda, if you want to Go, Go", nice percussion
8) Donnell-led "Hey ay, Ho oh, Eya eya" - nice percussion / Donnell-led 911 (tease) / Donnell chanted "Each and every Wednesday night..."
9) Donnell-led Terror Squad's Lean Back - Donnell added, "Washington DC, sh*t happens..."
10) Alternating Donnell-led 911 - not with the complete lyrics, "Lord a mercy... haterade" / "Wait a minute" chants / Donnell-led Family / "Wait a minute" chants
Donnell said, "Something to bring you all back down as you walk out the door."
11) Mike-led Michael Jackson's I Can't Help It
12) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Marinda
Don was singing, "I'm going to make you love me, baby" to Cookie.
13) Donnell-led acapella Family - he couldn't remember all the words.
Donnell said, "Cookie brings 'em out y'all. Crystal (spelling?) was going to beat me up if we didn't play that song. That's not Crystal? I thought it was Crystal; I am sorry Tanyelle (spelling?). That's what it was. Tanyelle, right? Tanyelle was going to beat me up if we didn't play that song."
Donnell said, "Like to thank my man Demi Doc for coming out and getting down y'all. Also, I do want a slice of cake. I'm not sure who y'all think you are playing with..."

In the second set, I changed the second tape at 54 minutes during Terror Squad's Lean Back. For the third tape, I had to move away from the tripod because so many people stood up to dance, blocking the view of the camera. Donnell came over to see that everything was all right. Unfortunately, the worst part about moving the camera was that it lifted the audio cord in the air, twice people tripped over it and the audio cord yanked out - the sound was distorted at those times, and the video went black as I had to find the cord.

I talked with Mike and his girlfriend Monica. She and I talked about my thesis and how I like GoGo. I then conferred with Mark and Adia about interviewing them. Mark talked about what he was drinking. I told a story of how I went to the Brickskeller in DC and the cook offered $100 to anyone who would drink a concoction without telling us what it was first. We all declined. Mark said he used to go to the Brickskeller all the time when he was in college. He went to a conservatory that taught acting, ballet and lighting, but not music.

As I walked to my car afterwards, I saw the 7-11 and thought, if I am thirsty after leaving a performance here, I could get a drink. Donnell must have read my mind, because I heard my name called and Donnell was standing in front of the 7-11 with a drink. We talked briefly and he offered me a ride to my car. I declined because my car was only a couple of blocks away.

Tuesday at Rehearsal
Private location in Hyattsville, MD

Familiar Faces
I attended this week's rehearsal. I wanted to interview those FF members I had not yet interviewed if possible. I also wanted to go over what is permissible from my planned filming of Wednesday's performance at Takoma Station. When I arrived, Donnell had just arrived. There was also a technician who said he was known as Dominique or Mr. Black. Donnell discussed with him what to do to fix up the rehearsal space, possibly for a live recording (they definitely need to get rid of the beeping noise produced by the exit sign first). They also discussed fixing the air conditioning. Mr. Black said it wasn't working at all. I brought a printed list of all of the official releases I have from 911/Familiar Faces, Donnell confirmed that I have everything. In fact, he said, "You may even have more than I do."

Over time Duane Face, Pooh, Dwayne, DP, and Bojack arrived. He said that I started a trend, after I had started to work with them, Marceia Cork had called him (I introduced her to him on Friday), and a graduate student from Howard University. The Howard student, like me, is working on a thesis on GoGo and was coming tonight to interview the band. Mr. Black gave her directions when she called Donnell. Donnell said that Marceia goes to their shows occasionally, including the show at Aqua. I said, "That was May 30th". They (especially Pooh) laughed at my ability to recall the date. I said I wasn't at that show because I was at the Yard Party: Junkyard Band and Backyard Band. Donnell asked, "Yard Party?" Pooh said that they (JYB & BYB) always call it that when they play together. I told them that Junkyard had released their PA from that night. We also discussed Rare Essence's new album, Live in 2004 (recorded at Classics), which had been released that day. I had only gotten a chance to listen to half of it. DP called Dave "32" Ellis, Donnell Jr., since he was imitating Donnell on the album. (Having listened to the whole album and watched the DVD since, I can say he clearly yells "Yeah!" like Donnell on the album).

Since I hadn't interviewed Bojack, I asked him if we could do so. He said, "Yes", and I set up to interview him in the same spot as before. He had a little trouble getting comfortable on the chairs in there, but finally went with one. Bojack's daughter briefly interrupted the interview with a phone call to his cell phone. It was a really good interview - Bojack definitely had a number of insights that were not raised in the previous interviews I have conducted. Towards the end of the interview Pooh walked in and smiled for the camera. Pooh left (the rehearsal space, not just that room) shortly after talking to Bojack, then Bojack left too.

I told Donnell that I had another question I wanted to ask him on tape. DP made a face and joked in an affected voice, "He won't answer any more of your questions." Donnell said, "Sure, in a minute" - after he was done. I missed the Howard student; she came and left during my interview of Bojack. DP left.

Duane, Dwayne and Donnell had a long conversation about musicianship and the local music industry. Donnell talked about how Duane likes to try new sounds. Duane said that next model keyboard up from his (which is a Yamaha Motif6) has a thousand more sounds than this one. Donnell said that rather than spending money to buy a new keyboard, he should get lessons. It is more important to have the chops than the fancy sounding instrument. Donnell told how Duane came to start practicing with the band. I include it here in Duane's words: "Footz (RIP) sister, Tanya, told Donnell something at Ms. Mack's funeral reception. For 2 months Tanya kept telling me to call Donnell. I never would call 'cause I just assumed he wouldn't take me seriously because of my age. After I finally called him, he told me to come to the rehearsal. After the rehearsal, he told me that BJ and Godfather were permanent, but I was still welcome to rehearse with them all I want, and if I wanted to, I could come to the shows. That was in November 2003. Been with them since." They continued to talk about chops (in general). Dwayne talked about how both BJ and Godfather have excellent feel. Dwayne said the Fender Rhodes has the best sound of any keyboard, but that you have to really have the skill to play it well. I told him about Thelonious Moog, a group that recorded Thelonious Monk songs with a Moog. Dwayne said that now, "you can go to Chuck Levin's and buy an instructional DVD to learn to play any instrument." Dwayne talked about his first show with the band (the Market Lounge on Saturday June 26th); he was only given the practice CD that day. After the first set, Doc, Godfather and BJ had asked if he had rehearsed with the band previously because of how well he flowed with the band. Dwayne had told them no, that he just followed this rule of playing, "when in doubt, stay out." Donnell said that if you don't give Godfather a solo every third song, he will take one anyway. Donnell said that while Boolah was a great guitar player, he was really aggressive, which didn't mesh with the rest of the band as well as Dwayne did, partly because Doc is also very aggressive.

L!ssen came up, Donnell talked about the car accident that Michael Thompson had been in. Then they talked about the intra-band dispute with L!ssen. This flowed into a discussion of the successful strategy that L!ssen used to get to where they are. They developed a dedicated fan base of 100 or so fans, and then moved to the 94th Aerosquadron in College Park, MD. They hired the most aggressive promoter in the area Jerry (a 'Bama from New York), and really expanded their fan base, especially with the local University of Maryland students, who would, in Donnell's words, "get a little music." Duane said that was where he first heard of them having big crowds, and that in the crowds the opening few weeks, stars of other GoGo bands would appear in the audience, that probably helped. Donnell felt just the opposite, that the star audience members probably held them back due to the different kind of audience. Donnell talked about how Jerry would hand out flyers to absolutely everyone, even though Club Amazon (their Saturday venue in Laurel) is filled to capacity. Even filled to capacity, Jerry added Y2K Band and a seafood buffet to the fare. Dwayne mentioned that Jerry can be hard to work with. He talked about tactics that his band, MVP, used or considered. One of these was to perform for free in front of a crowd to get notice. He said they did so well opening for other GoGo bands that they would outplay them. The end result was that the headline band would tell the promoter they didn't want MVP to perform with them anymore. Donnell discussed the difficulty of getting band members (in general) to do free shows. Donnell and Dwayne compared how they were paid by Rare Essence and how much that was compared to how much management made, some of this had been discussed by Donnell in an earlier conversation at the studio earlier.

Dwayne and Donnell talked about Dwayne's stint with Redds & the Boys. It was shortly after the release of the movie Good to Go (aka Short Fuse) that Redds descended into drugs. Donnell said Redds was also depressed because someone close to him had died. I told Dwayne that a guy in Italy planned to do reissues of Redds; I should put Dwayne in touch with him. Dwayne said that Redds was really big in Italy.

They then talked about going to see Prince at the MCI Center on August 14th. I said that I saw him at the RBC Center in Raleigh, NC on April 23rd and he was a disappointment, he didn't crank. They handed out copies of the Musicology album, but I hadn't listened to it yet. They said the album was really good (I have listened to it since and it's entertaining, but not all that great in my opinion). I said that when I saw him with Larry Graham and Doug E. Fresh in April 1998 at the Capital Ballroom, that he had cranked, but not now. Donnell suggested maybe it was because Prince had found religion. Donnell said that Prince's best tour was in 1988, the Lovesexy tour. He said that was the tour where Prince admitted using ecstasy. They discussed which of Prince's bands was best. Then they discussed of Sheila E. and her father, Pete Escovedo. Donnell questioned why she didn't use her last name - when she plays with her Dad now, she doesn't put her name on the billing. He had played in Santana.

Donnell said that every time he goes over to Bojack's house, he's playing Escovedo or Tito Puente. Donnell said that when they (FF) made scale, the pay would no longer be equal. After this conversation, I filmed Donnell's response to my question - which was how he went from deciding to leave Rare Essence to creating 911.

Saturday on The Odyssey
The Odyssey, 600 Water St SW, Washington, DC 20024


A crowd shot - DP and Donnell have their backs to the camera. In the crowd - (I am in back), DeeDee, Dave, Nephew among others


Michel Wright
All pictures taken by and Copyright - Byron "BJ" Jackson

The Positive Black Men Coalition sponsored this event. Donnell had told the band members they needed to be there by 11 PM (the boat was scheduled to leave at 12:30 AM). I decided to leave at 11 and arrived at Water St at 11:30 PM. The Odyssey parking lot was full and it ended up taking 40 minutes for me to find a parking space. I seriously worried about the possibility of missing the cruise. I did make it with time to spare. I walked on the gangplank right behind Nephew, DeeDee told the ticket takers he was with the band. I asked Nephew, "What instrument do you play?" He said, "Management." I said, "I've never heard of that instrument." He said, "It's a new instrument, I just made it up."

Familiar Faces
When I got to the stage area, Familiar Faces was already performing. Their line up was: Mike, Adia, Donnell, DP, Dwayne, Doc, Godfather, BJ, Pooh, Bojack and Charlie. I walked past the stage area to the buffet, so I didn't hear the first set very well for a while. After eating, I went to the bathroom to wash up and then spent the rest of the cruise in the stage area. I noticed a number of regulars, among them: Michelle, Nita, Tracy, Demetrius Owens (the percussionist), and Ray. During the first set, I stood behind a support directly behind the end of the dance floor. Donnell had talked on Thursday about how most of the instruments would be those of the regular band for The Odyssey, but obviously Bojack's percussion instruments were his own. At one point, Donnell said, "Head bobbing, head bobbing." The first set was unusual for them - Bojack played throughout, and the second to last song was Rare Essence's Take Me Out to The Go-Go, which is rare for a first set. They closed with Alicia Keys' Diary.

After they went on break, I went over Doc and said, "Your uncle played at Maryland first right?" He said, "You've been doing research?" I said, "No, I am interested in Maryland basketball history. Wilson Washington was supposed to be the key to put Maryland over the top in 1974." He said, "Yeah, he had a falling out with Lefty and transferred, but he still made the NBA." Bojack asked me how the thesis was going, I told him I am almost done with fieldwork, but may have follow-up next Spring. Then I walked over the bar, the wait was rather long, Doc and BJ stood behind me, wondering if they would get served before their break was over. When they finally served me after 15-20 minutes, I made sure all three of us got our orders. Still, right about a minute after they served us, Donnell called the band members back to the stage.

The stage was an enclosed area with barriers above and below. Mike had a conversation with who I assume was his sister, because his response to her was, "I'm going to tell Mom!" Donnell replied by saying, "That's a Parkland thing." Shortly after, a friend of Mike's came up to him, whom Mike said he's known since 1982 at Dunbar (High School). Donnell said, "He was from Parkland and went to Dunbar? Sounds like a lunch money thing. Someone had their hands in his pockets." I went on the dance floor for the second set. Two couples smiled at my dancing (whether or not they liked it or found it humorous, I can't tell). In the middle of the set, Michel Wright of WPGC danced between Mike and Donnell, and then made some announcements. At the end of the set, Donnell called out "Happy Feet" (a dance). Then it ended and Donnell said, "That's some of most 'Bama sh*t I've ever seen." Then he had Bojack play some more - "we may never see Happy Feet again." When they finished, Donnell said, "Whatever happens on The Odyssey stays on The Odyssey. Next you'll be doing the cabbage patch." Donnell said that "Nephew still has one of those 8-Ball Jackets and still wears it occasionally." I had noticed that during the performance a number of people had filmed parts of the performance. One guy had even filmed with his cell phone. On the other side, BJ had been taking pictures with a digital camera during the performance. I asked him after he finished playing if he was taking random pictures, or pictures of beautiful women. He said, "A little of both."

After the performance, I talked a little with Michelle and Anita. Michelle told me about the desserts I missed. Then I saw Cookie for the first time of the night - it was her birthday, hopefully a good one. When I left the boat, the DJ dance party was still going strong. I got lost a little on the drive home. Rabbits must be nocturnal because virtually every night I drive home from a performance, I see rabbits on one of the yards on my street.

Friday at Night Flight
Night Flight Studio, Fort Washington, MD


Donnell recording new vocals
Picture taken by and Copyright - Jordan Rich (Note: Picture artificially brightened by flash, it was darker than it appears.)

Familiar Faces
When I first arrived at 2:45 PM, Scotty was the only one there. Scotty said that Rich is currently working with J-Lo, but she has her own engineer, which is why he is still in town. I asked him about how to spell Cue Recording Studios. He went on to tell me about them - they used to be the premier studio in the area, with Night Flight second. Cue has superior architecture; it has a number of separated studios in a single building (Night Flight is an add-on to a house). Night Flight used to be all analog, Cue went digital before them. Scotty's cousin, Rich Harrison, had used them for years. Cue is more designed for live rock acts. Rich liked the separate studios so he didn't need to worry about being bothered. Night Flight has Pro Tools HD, which Cue does not have. When Scotty became Rich's primary engineer, he decided which studio they used. Scotty talked to Jeff, the owner of Cue, who said he'd buy anything Rich wanted. Scotty insisted on Pro Tools HD, which allows for digital recording with the analog warm feel. Scotty said (to me), "Without HD, you might as well record to analog tape." Jeff declined, so Scotty moved Rich's business to Night Flight. In order to give Rich the privacy he wants (making sure people don't try to ask him to listen to their songs, etc.), Scotty makes sure that when Rich is in the studio; no one who knows him is also scheduled. Scotty said he had recently worked with Mariah Carey and Gwen Stefani - "She's a sweetie." Scotty said that Night Flight is now the premier recording studio in the area, with Cue second. Central was the earliest adopter of audio engineering software, but they've fallen behind. Omega Recording Studios in Rockville is now right behind Cue.

He had gotten a call shortly after I first arrived. He told me about it - a producer wanted to edit tracks in Pro Tools that had been laid down in Logic. Scotty said that it was actually pretty easy, but that Cue had had trouble figuring it out. I told him that the University of Miami has a digital guru, Ken Pohlmann, who has consulted with virtually every major corporation in America. I told him that Miami has a music engineering undergraduate program, but to get into the Masters program, you have to have a bachelors in electrical engineering. Scotty said that he has a bachelors in electrical engineering. He thought he would work as an engineer and do music on the side, but especially after talking with others in the same boat, he found "There was no on the side" (time). So he moved on to music engineering.

Scotty worked on the track Holla At Your Boy. Donnell felt that Mike hadn't quite hit the vocals the way he wanted, so he wanted to decide whether to either electronically "fix" Mike's vocals or go with the earlier recorded Tony Sharpe vocals. There was some weird buzz noise that Scotty worked on getting rid of.

Donnell arrived not too much later. Scotty told him "He (Scotty) had been fifteen minutes late". Donnell said, "What!" Scotty told him, "Stop performing for your man..." and then told me, "Donnell's not usually like this." Donnell immediately ordered lunch from Yum's Carryout. He insisted they have the best spring rolls. He said that even Mr. K's, a Chinese restaurant on K St in DC, "Where you had to wear a jacket or they would provide you with a blazer", didn't have food as good. I told him about my friend Tung's aunt, who used to send him spring rolls when we were roommates - she has three industrial kitchens in her house with enough stored food for six months.

Scotty slowed down the live tracks. Donnell said, "We should call this album '88' because the whole album is 88 beats per minute, the national beat."

It came up in conversation that I had worked at Rhino. Donnell asked me what I did there; I told him "Master use licensing." He said, "So that's why you asked that question." I had asked Donnell about who does the mechanical licensing for their album since there are cover songs on it.

We talked about sports; Scotty said that John Paxson should be fired for releasing Carlos Boozer from his option. I corrected him, that it is Jim, John is with the Chicago Bulls. I told them both about CarlosLoozer.Com.

Donnell re-recorded his own vocals, to replace the old band name 911 with the new one Familiar Faces. When he first went to do it, the speakers suddenly cut off - the system had to re-boot. Scotty called Donnell back in and said, "That's never happened before." The one song in particular that needed the 911/FF change had "Day Day" as the background vocalist. Scotty asked Donnell, "What's up with Day Day?" Donnell said he's nuts and told a story about him that I can't print here.

Donnell talked about Christina Milian doing a movie ("Be Cool", the sequel to "Get Shorty") with John Travolta. He said he had never seen her - I said she's from this area and that I had heard she has pictures on Cutie Central. Scotty said she's from Waldorf. Scotty said that his buddy Lance works in promotions at WPGC, so he gets all kind of invites to movie premieres - Scotty no longer has to pay for movies. Scotty later said that Lance, having gone to a recent Familiar Faces show, said that "It was cool hearing Donnell shout 'Yeah!' in person."

I also told Donnell that Kip Lornell, co-author, with Charles Stephenson of The Beat (so far the only book on GoGo), had forwarded me an email. He said he's met Kip. A woman named Marceia Cork sent the email. She is the leader of a GoGo group called "Marceia Cork Presents Metropolism" and wants to go national. I had emailed her back and she wanted to meet me today (Friday), but I had forgotten to email her back. I said to Donnell that one of the difficulties is that there are "Thousands of groups in every genre trying to go national." He said that (in GoGo), "That's really not true - by their actions, a number of groups in GoGo are not trying to go national. Ghingus is the most marketable person in GoGo, but he is happy where he is." He said Chuck Brown is too old to make it national. "James Funk has the gift of gab, but that's not enough." Little Benny has personality. Sugar Bear, he and Ghingus are the best bets to go National. I pointed out that Big G is on HBO's "The Wire", "That should get him national attention." He said that Big G is doing that and his radio show because Jauhar arranged them after having a discussion with Donnell about this. He said Chuck Brown's I Need Some Money, Trouble Funk's Don't Touch That Stereo, and EU's Da Butt have had success outside the area. I also pointed out Chuck Brown's Busting Loose and he agreed. Also, Donnell said that no live GoGo album has made it outside the area, and no studio GoGo album has made it inside the area. He said Rich Harrison, Chuck Thompson, and Chink Santana have made it outside the area. I realized this was good material and started filming. I pointed out that Me'Shell NdegeOcello and Ginuwine have made it outside the area and specifically came from GoGo groups (Scotty later said that Rich was in a GoGo group as well, a Washington Post article, "Quietly Making Some Noise" by Chris Richards on October 9th 2005 confirmed he played keyboards for Perfection Band). Donnell later talked about Mr. Cheeks and his one hit, Jeeps, Lex Coups, Bimaz and Benz (since I don't think Mr. Cheeks is from DC, I don't know how this is related). Donnell suggested may he should give me a copy of the album (Evolution) to listen to. He said he thinks GoGo can still go national, "Look how long it took Reggae and Rap", although he concedes that Reggae had the benefit of a whole country's support. He said that right now, the radio stations will only play GoGo by request and only the young request. He also said only young people like Usher, he would never buy Usher. He also talked about how fake the lyrics of Confessions are (about Usher's relationship with Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas of TLC), "If it was true, where's the baby?" He told me that Trouble Funk's style is what GoGo is right now: "The whole band playing the same melody."

I asked Donnell to confirm all of the releases 911/Familiar Faces has had. What I know of are: Blueprint, the Chuck Brown Concert, and six PAs as 911: November 4th 2001 Tradewinds, May 5th 2002 Metro, August 3rd 2002 Metro, April 27th 2003 Tradewinds, May 7th 2003 Cada Vez (actually Donnell said this is the compilation listed below), and October 30th 2003 Club U. As Familiar Faces, there is the March 31st 2004 Takoma Station and a compilation I heard earlier at the Xcalibur. Donnell said he didn't think there were six PAs, but there is also a 911 Compilation. I told him I know there are six, but I bought them all when they came out. He said, "So you're the one."

A video of Alicia Keys' Diary came on and Scotty said that Rich was in love with her, she is constantly touching you. Scotty had temporarily saved on of the files on Whop's hard drive due to lack of space. Whop is the leader of Whop-N-Em, a band which also features Tony Sharpe and Ricky Wellman. I told Donnell that Demetrius Owens, the percussionist at the live recording, told me he was Ricky Wellman's nephew. Donnell said that he didn't know that.

Donnell and I had a discussion about Kobe Bryant which I filmed. Donnell likes Kobe but hates the Lakers, I feel the opposite on both counts, personally I think anyone who is a Bullets/Wizards fan must be masochistic.

We discussed the Pro Tools software - he said it first came out in 1990, but it was not widely accepted because it took longer to do things than doing it without software.

Donnell and Scotty agreed that Eminem was the most talented rapper out there, Donnell was impressed with his hooks as well as his raps - he said, "Remember how terrible Rakim's hooks were?" Scotty talked about how Eminem was devoted to his group D12, when none of them are worth it. He said of their talent, "You know in movies that after the trailers they have that message, please take your baby out if it starts crying? That's what those guys are."

We watched BET on the studio TV (we watched MTV and HBO during the other studio sessions) - Terror Squad was being interviewed. When they showed the video, Donnell said that Remy Martin probably doesn't look that good without makeup. He did say she looked better when they interviewed them. Donnell talked about how Fat Joe doesn't have the charisma or looks to get much and they only have the one hit. However, Scotty said, "He does have the hit of the Summer."

Kanye West came on and Donnell said he was a fluke. Scotty said that he does have the first rap song about God. Donnell pointed out that Doug E. Fresh had All the Way to Heaven. Scotty rephrased what he said, "The first rap song about Jesus" (Jesus Walks is the song). Donnell said, "That's about one religion, Christianity." Scotty told a story about how Rich and Kanye were both interviewed for a magazine by a British writer named Omar (who had an accent like a New Yorker, Scotty said, "New Yorkers are very British in style"). Rich's article was good, but Kanye was trashed as "Kanye was a total jerk". Scotty gave details. He also said that Rolling Stone "The biggest artist kiss-up," had cancelled an interview with Kanye. He said Jigga also didn't like working with him. Apparently in the studio, he is hard to work with because he will request a thousand different alterations with Roc-A-Fella's blessing. Donnell said that's good because you can give different radio mixes and people will notice it.

At one point, Donnell saw an ad for Shyne's new album, "Godfather Buried Alive". He was disappointed because the word Godfather popped up first and he was hoping it would be about the movie. He said maybe there will be a Godfather IV. I said III was terrible. He said it wasn't all bad, just the acting of Andy Garcia and the daughter.

Donnell said that the two biggest sports events in the DC area are Redskin's season opener and Maryland ACC basketball. I told him and Scotty that you have to give around $2,500 to get a chance to buy season tickets. He said that Chris McCray, who played with his son in AAU basketball, gives him tickets when he wants to go. He says that Gary isn't a good recruiter, whoever is supposed to be the star never ends up being a star. He also said that Stevie (Francis) told DJ (Strawberry) not to go to Maryland, that Gary is a liar.

As an overall review - the studio recording and editing process is very tedious. After discussing options with Scotty and running out of time, Donnell decided to go with the Tony Sharpe version of Holla at Your Boy.

Donnell said there were three things he wanted to do/see tonight and couldn't decide (or remember the third thing); two of the things were to see Denzel Washington's new movie, the remake of Manchurian Candidate, and Mike Tyson's fight. We finished a little after 7 PM.

I decided to hang out in College Park before going to Safari Steakhouse. I killed time going to the record store CDepot, where I used to buy all my commercial GoGo, but more recently, I have discovered that Best Buy has a much better selection, even though they put it under Rap. I went to Cluck-U and saw in person for the first time the local rapper and Tupac look-alike, Lee Majors. I left College Park around 9:30; it ended up taking half an hour to get to the exit for Annapolis Road because of the construction on I-495.