The definitive history of go-go music and culture
Go-go is the heart and soul of Washington, DC's African American culture—a source of resilience for the community and a way to celebrate Black lives. As the soundtrack of the District since the mid-1970s, go-go was designated the official music of Washington in 2020, and it has been incorporated into music genres such as hip-hop and R&B for decades.
Crankin! offers a rich narrative packed with photos that highlight go-go's key figures, bands, and moments—spanning fifty years from its beginnings all the way to its central role in the #BLM protests in 2020 and the #DontMuteDC and Moechella movements. This sweeping history of go-go music culture details the life of Chuck Brown, the "godfather of go-go," and documents the history of the genre's early pioneers, Trouble Funk, Rare Essence, and Experience Unlimited (EU). The book also covers EU's 1988 number one hit, "Da Butt," go-go's gospel and grown 'n' sexy subgenres, go-go's international impact, the bouncebeat sound, go-go lifestyles, activism, and, finally, the homecoming as go-go artists brought Chuck Brown's African-inspired beat to Africa.
Crankin! will entertain and inform fans of go-go as well as African American and American-created music; musicologists; scholars of American culture and subcultures; and readers interested in DC history.
Reviews
"Crankin! is the indispensable biography of go-go music and its gurus, an irresistible chronicle that captures the pulsating soul of a city and its true cultural identity. Alona, Charles, and Kato have given us the book about Washington, DC, that we desperately need now."—Kevin Merida, former managing editor, The Washington Post, and longtime go-go aficionado
"Shaped and informed by their singular, varied, decades-long interactions with the go-go scene, the authors have created a lively, visually rich book that not only lives up to its title but is fundamental to understanding what this music is all about."—Kip Lornell, coauthor of The Beat: Go-Go Music From Washington DC, and professor emeritus of music history and culture, George Washington University
"Crankin! is a vital addition to scholarship on place-based Black music cultures and the growing literature on DC's indigenous music. Engaging and authoritative, it gives long-overdue attention to a genre often overlooked in popular music studies, bringing nuanced stories—long shared through word of mouth—into print with care, clarity, and deep respect for the go-go community that sustained them."—Melissa A. Weber, curator, Hogan Archive of New Orleans Music, Tulane University Special Collections
"Go-go is DC's life force; it's more than music. The sound is hypnotic and will put a spell on you. Crankin! is a hand in the air, a book filled with pulsating memories. This is the story of a city hungry for home rule. It's a reminder that music will always be "Bustin' Loose" until that rare essence of freedom is reached."—E. Ethelbert Miller, 2023 Grammy nominee, spoken word and poetry
"It's been 50 years going, and here is the best book on go-go to hit the scene! Alona Wartofsky, Charles Stephenson, and Kato Hammond bring go-go to life, from its funky inception to the current moment. It is rare to be comprehensive and sweeping while indelibly personal with Black music history, yet every contribution grooves and flows. Bits and pieces have been written about go-go from the inside and the outside. The writers thread it together and put it in that go-go pocket—delivering not just the swing, not just the grind, not just the stomp, but the crank!"—Ricky Vincent, author, Funk: The Music, the People, and the Rhythm of The One
"Crankin!'s all-star lineup of writers has spent decades chronicling go-go's miraculous first fifty years. With encyclopedic, meticulous detail, Wartofsky, Stephenson, and Hammond have created a priceless document marking the essential people and places banging the rebel beat of DC's own drum."—Natalie Hopkinson, associate professor of media, democracy & society, American University
About the Author
Alona Wartofsky is a former culture editor and reporter for the Washington Post. She has been reporting about go-go since the mid-'80s, and her stories about go-go culture have appeared in the Washington Post, Washington City Paper, the Village Voice, Spin magazine, and LA Weekly.
Charles C. Stephenson Jr. is the coauthor of The Beat: Go-Go Music from Washington, DC, the original manager for Experience Unlimited, and former chairman of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
Kato Hammond is a go-go musician, author, publisher, and journalist. He is the owner and creator of Take Me Out To The Go-Go, Inc. (TMOTTGoGo)—the first website, magazine, and online radio station covering the go-go music culture.
