The Friday Mixtape–Remembering Donna Summer & Chuck Brown [Voices]
Known as the “Godfather of Go-Go,” the performer, singer, guitarist and songwriter developed his commanding brand of funk in the mid-1970s to compete with the dominance of disco.
Like a DJ blending records, Mr. Brown used nonstop percussion to stitch songs together and keep the crowd on the dance floor, resulting in marathon performances that went deep into the night. Mr. Brown said the style got its name because “the music just goes and goes.”
In addition to being go-go’s principal architect, Mr. Brown remained the genre’s most charismatic figure. On stage, his spirited call-and-response routines became a hallmark of the music, reinforcing a sense of community that allowed the scene to thrive. As go-go became a point of pride for black Washingtonians, Mr. Brown became one of the city’s most recognizable figures.
- Chris Richards, The Washington Post
She became the face and voice of one of the most powerful music and cultural movements in America. As a disco icon, she projected an empowering African American femininity that would influence artists from Grace Jones to Beyonce and Rihanna, and help make her a figurehead of gay club life. As an artist, her music was incalculably influential.
Her singles with Moroder like “I Feel Love” are considered early electronic dance music, now a defining sound of today’s top-grossing pop. And she survived the disco backlash of the late 1970s and early ’80s to remain one of pop’s most pioneering artists, whose legacy can still be heard in Lady Gaga, the Electric Daisy Carnival and countless nightclubs around the world.
- August Brown and Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times
“Go-go is D.C.’s very own unique contribution to the world of pop music, and Chuck Brown was regarded as Go-go’s creator and, arguably, its most legendary artist,” D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray said in a statement. “Today is a very sad day for music lovers the world over, but especially in the District of Columbia.
“Without Chuck Brown, the world – and our city – will be a different place. What a loss.”
Brown always liked to tell the story of how he grew up on the streets of Washington shining shoes, then later ended up in prison. That’s where he would say he got his hands on his first guitar, and the go-go revolution was on.
- Sam Ford, WJLA-TV
As well has staggering career highs, Summer also endured personal lows.
She suffered serious depression in the wake of September 11 terrorist attacks in New York.
‘I was really freaked out by the horrific experiences of that day,’ Summer, who was at her Manhattan apartment during the 2001 attacks, once said.
‘I couldn’t go out, I didn’t want to talk to anybody. I had to keep the blinds down and stay in my bedroom.’
Friends eventually intervened and the born-again Christian also found strength in her faith.
‘I went to church, and light came back into my soul,’ she said in 2008. ‘That heaviness was gone.’
He once called his Redskins halftime performance in 2010 a “dream come true.”
“I’ve always been a die-hard Redskins fan,” he said in the press conference announcing the performance. “Through thick and thin, for me it’s the Skins.”
His son, Nekos, played football for Virginia Tech, and another son, Wiley, will be a fifth-year senior linebacker for the Hokies in the fall.
After hearing of his passing, athletes with ties to D.C. took a moment to pay their respects on Twitter.
- Sarah Kogol, The Washington Post
“Music is part of my life. For my judgment, music is the greatest of all the gifts,” Summer told MTV News’ John Norris in a rare 1989 interview. “The voice — not my voice, but the voice — to me is the greatest gift. Having a voice. You need no other instrument, all you have to do is sing. Open your mouth, and it’s there.”
Page 1 of 3 | Next page