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Speaker 1: September twenty third, nineteen eighty three, the date of one

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Speaker 1: of the most infamous concerts in Washington d C Rock history.

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Speaker 1: Of course, none of the kids lined up outside the

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Speaker 1: Lansburg Cultural Center knew it at the time, but expectations

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Speaker 1: were high. The atmosphere was electric as doors opened. The

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Speaker 1: concert was meant to be a unifying event for two

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Speaker 1: of the district's most provocative homegrown musical acts. Minor Threat

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Speaker 1: standard bearers of the city's exploding hardcore punk scene and

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Speaker 1: Trouble Funk Master, practitioners of Go Go DC's home brewed

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Speaker 1: take on funk that fired up crowds with deep grooves

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Speaker 1: and long call and response sections. Both scenes were also

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Speaker 1: known for their opposition to conformity, to authoritarianism and too racism,

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Speaker 1: and both scared the absolute shit out of d c's

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Speaker 1: upper class. These two forms of music holding truth to

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Speaker 1: power in nineteen eighty three is the perfect way to

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Speaker 1: count us in, even if the show didn't go as planned.

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Speaker 1: Symbols of democracy pinned up against the coast, outhouse of bureaucracy,

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Speaker 1: surrounded by a moat, citizens of poverty are barely out

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Speaker 1: of sight. The overlords escaping in the evening with people

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Speaker 1: of the night. Morning brings the tourists, peering eyes and

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Speaker 1: rubber necks to catch a glimpse of the cowboy, making

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Speaker 1: the world a nervous wreck. It's a massive irony for

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Speaker 1: all the world to see. It's the nation's capital. It's Washington,

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Speaker 1: d C. Gil Scott Harry Washington, d C. Is a

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Speaker 1: city built from the ground up for a specific purpose.

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Speaker 1: On July sixteenth, seventeen ninety, none other than George Waher

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Speaker 1: Washington signed into law the Residents Act. The Act decreed

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Speaker 1: that in ten years time, a new city would be

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Speaker 1: built along the River Potomac to serve as the permanent

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Speaker 1: seat of the government of the United States of America.

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Speaker 1: And who would build this new capital city. Washington went

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Speaker 1: to work at once surveying the land, but of course

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Speaker 1: he didn't build it. Peris born engineer and revolutionary war

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Speaker 1: veteran Pierre Charles Lafonte, the most French name ever, drew

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Speaker 1: up the plans. He picked the locations for the President's House,

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Speaker 1: the White House, and the People's House the US Capital,

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Speaker 1: but he didn't actually build them, of course. Not long after,

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Speaker 1: Washington and his Frenchman engineer built up the plans, the

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Speaker 1: real workers entered the scene. We don't know most of

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Speaker 1: their names. They were all poor, many of them were black,

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Speaker 1: and many of them were slaves. That's right, in case

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Speaker 1: you did not know, slave labor was used to build

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Speaker 1: our country's symbol of freedom. The work that started back

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Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety got a serious slowdown when British troops

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Speaker 1: briefly took Washington, d C. In the War of eighteen

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Speaker 1: twelve and burned government buildings throughout the city. When the

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Speaker 1: British were pushed out a few days later, I'll let

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Speaker 1: you guess who was left to do the repair work.

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Speaker 1: By eighteen thirty, proving that hypocrisy has no bottom, DC

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Speaker 1: served as a major hub for the slave trade just

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Speaker 1: blocks west of the US capital. Countless families are ripped

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Speaker 1: apart and ship to brutal plantations throughout the Deep South,

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Speaker 1: and it wasn't until eighteen sixty two that slavery was

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Speaker 1: officially abolished in Washington, d C. This was DC's beginning.

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Speaker 1: It's really no wonder that DC is a city of contradictions.

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Speaker 1: There's the symbol of freedom, the people's voice, and then

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Speaker 1: there's the reality of the city built on a swamp,

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Speaker 1: stuck between two states with none to call home. The

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Speaker 1: district is the place where some of the most powerful

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Speaker 1: people in the world go to work, where our laws

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Speaker 1: take roots, where corruption is more embedded than bedbugs in Paris,

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Speaker 1: but also where hope can always be and must be

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Speaker 1: rekindled by those who can cut through the muck, the mere,

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Speaker 1: and the mazes. In other words, the perfect petri dish

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Speaker 1: for some of the most fierce and fiercely independent musicians

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Speaker 1: in America. And it's a good thing that they're there

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Speaker 1: to keep an eye on the upper crust, to call

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Speaker 1: bullshit when they see it, to sing it in a

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Speaker 1: song that lasts longer than a term, because even if

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Speaker 1: it takes the rest of us a while to catch on,

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Speaker 1: sooner or later, we are all singing the same tune.

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Speaker 1: You are listening to Sound of Our Town, a podcast

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Speaker 1: about the music that shaped the city you are touching

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Speaker 1: down in. It is also about being present to hear

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Speaker 1: and experience its best music happening right now in what

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Speaker 1: sounds and places have shaped the city's culture. It is

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Speaker 1: about the abiding ritual of getting together in a room

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Speaker 1: to listen, and why that matters. This is the anti

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Speaker 1: content podcast because it is encouraging you to ignore all

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Speaker 1: the other content and get out there and participate in

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Speaker 1: the sounds being created around you. In this season two

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Speaker 1: of Sound of Our Town, I'll introduce you to the

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Speaker 1: real places that sonic stories echoing in a particular city,

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Speaker 1: so that your travel and your life is enriched with music.

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Speaker 1: I am your host, Will Daily. I am an independent

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Speaker 1: DIY songwriter and touring artist. I've been doing this a

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Speaker 1: while and frankly, this show is a reminder to myself

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Speaker 1: how important live music is to our existence. The business

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Speaker 1: of it kicks you around, but the crowd never lets

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Speaker 1: you down when you come with the truth. And in

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Speaker 1: this episode, we are sprinkling some truth on Washington, DC,

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Speaker 1: walking in the margins. That's how DC's musicians have operated

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Speaker 1: for decades, whether it was in the smoky after hours

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Speaker 1: jazz clubs like the Crystal Caverns, where DC's own Duke

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Speaker 1: Ellington used to hang out after concerts, or basement level

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Speaker 1: listening rooms like the Cellar Door, a day one hundred

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Speaker 1: and thirty person basement club that hosted iconic solo performances

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Speaker 1: from Neil Young and served as the meeting place for

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Speaker 1: legendary Harmonizers, Emmy Lou Harris and Graham Parsons. So who

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Speaker 1: are some of the other musicians and artists who have

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Speaker 1: operated in the margins of our nation's capital. Duke Ellington,

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Speaker 1: Bartie Strain, Bad Band, Minor Threat, Marvin Gaye, Chuck Brown

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Speaker 1: and the Souls, Danny Gat Dave Grohl, Fever Corporate, who

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Speaker 1: got Walter Martin, John Fagan as Trouble Fund, Genuine Rights

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Speaker 1: of Spring, ted Leo and the Farmers, I'm Married, The

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Speaker 1: dismemberment job on Pussy Galore, Girls against Boys, Harris and

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Speaker 1: the O g hit Maker John Philip Sousa. Being on

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Speaker 1: the outside looking in is tough, but sometimes it can

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Speaker 1: make you resilient. Despite the brutality of Washington, DC's slave trade,

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Speaker 1: there was a strong free black community even before the

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Speaker 1: Civil War, and in eighteen sixty seven Howard University was

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Speaker 1: found and became a beacon for a thriving African American

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Speaker 1: business class. The federal government, which had spent the last

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Speaker 1: century denying their rights, was suddenly thanks to federal pay

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Speaker 1: requirements and attractive employer. U Street was nicknamed Black Broadway

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Speaker 1: for its number of black owned theaters and music clubs.

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Speaker 1: The City became a hotbed for R and B and

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Speaker 1: soul in the nineteen sixties, nurturing homegrown talents like Marvin

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Speaker 1: Gay and by nineteen seventy five, the authority of George

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Speaker 1: Clinton dubb DC Chocolate City in Parliament's album length tribute

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Speaker 1: to the Nation's Capitol. It was around this time that

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Speaker 1: local artists like Chuck Brown and the Soul Searcher's Trouble

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Speaker 1: Funk and Rare Essence began developing a new style, one

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Speaker 1: that would keep the dancers going and going on the

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Speaker 1: dance floor, so they called it Go Go Music. In

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Speaker 1: addition to drum kit, Go Go features congress and hand percussion,

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Speaker 1: all working together to create a deep, deep pocket. Over

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Speaker 1: the top of all this, singer's fire up the crowds

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Speaker 1: with call and response chants lifted straight from the gospel tradition.

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Speaker 1: The sound was so frenetic, fierce and funky that had

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Speaker 1: quickly captured the year of the city's white and black

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Speaker 1: residents alike, and Go Go began to reach beyond the

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Speaker 1: River and Phillip venues like the fame nine thirty Club.

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Speaker 1: The crowds, the energy and the noise of the intense

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Speaker 1: rhythms were too much for the upper crust. Go go

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Speaker 1: became a scapegoat for the street violence and drugs that

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Speaker 1: were prevalent in the district in the nineteen eighties, and

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Speaker 1: within a decade, nearly every go go venue and event

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Speaker 1: were pushed out of the city. At nearly the same time,

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Speaker 1: hardcore's music, slam dancing, mosh pit culture was starting to

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Speaker 1: provoke a similar, although less intense response. House shows and

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Speaker 1: underground venues were shut down. It is sadly a fitting

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Speaker 1: symbol that two of Washington, DC's most celebrated homegrown music

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Speaker 1: cultures were largely pushed to the side by the turn

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Speaker 1: of the century. Of course, musicians, as always, have found

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Speaker 1: ways to carry on in the margins. So let's explore

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Speaker 1: some of the spots fighting to keep Washington, DC's music

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Speaker 1: culture alive and hold truth to power. Our first stop

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Speaker 1: in DC may surprise you. It's not a grand historic

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Speaker 1: building like the Howard Theater. It's not a rock club

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Speaker 1: like Borough Street Warehouse. At first glance, the corner of

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Speaker 1: Seventh Street Northwest and Florida Avenue is nothing special, But

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Speaker 1: the seeker of good music knows better. Underneath the street

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Speaker 1: sign for Seventh Street is another sign marking the block

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Speaker 1: as Chuck Brown Way, named in honor of the originator

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Speaker 1: of Go Go music in DC. Your basic strip mall

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Speaker 1: style cell phone store called Central Communications sits at the corner,

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Speaker 1: surrounded by high rise buildings and other gleaming signifiers of gentrification. Inside.

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Speaker 1: In addition to cell phones, the owner, Donald Campbell, sells

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Speaker 1: Go Go tapes and CDs. Outside allows speaker Pump's Go

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Speaker 1: Go music all day, in and out. Nineteen the music

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Speaker 1: was almost halted when nearby residents complained about the volume,

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Speaker 1: and T Mobile representatives asked Donald to turn off the music.

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Speaker 1: Longtime residents revolted and began a protest campaign called Don't

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Speaker 1: Mute DC. For days, they gathered out front of the

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Speaker 1: store to blast Go Go music, dance, and voiced their

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Speaker 1: frustrations at once again DC's homegrown culture being pushed aside

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Speaker 1: in favor of the interests of the wealthy. The movement

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Speaker 1: gained national intention, and eventually the CEO of T Mobile

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Speaker 1: had to intercede to say Central Communications could continue to

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Speaker 1: play Go Go music. A nearby luxury apartment building, the Shea,

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Speaker 1: has an eighty foot mural featuring images of Chuck Brown

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Speaker 1: and the Soul Searchers and the Junkyard Band, another early

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Speaker 1: Go Go group featuring kids from the nearby Barry Farm Projects,

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Speaker 1: all them in the mural, playing homemade instruments and a

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Speaker 1: joyous tribute to Go Go City. Meanwhile, over the past

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Speaker 1: four years, Don't Mute d C movement keeps going strong

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Speaker 1: to sport local arts, music, and community in the district.

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Speaker 1: Do not silence the people, and don't silence your own

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Speaker 1: city's art. You will miss out on your own legacy.

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Speaker 1: To stand at the spot of the mural is to

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Speaker 1: bear witness to a time when locals stood their ground

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Speaker 1: and refused to be drowned out. It will set the

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Speaker 1: tone for everything we're going to visit. So buy a

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Speaker 1: Go Go tape and bring some of that same Don't

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Speaker 1: Mute DC energy to your local arts community. And if

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Speaker 1: all this music talk has got you jonesing for a show,

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Speaker 1: right around the corner is DC nine, an excellent independent

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Speaker 1: music club where you can see rising local and touring

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Speaker 1: acts almost any night of the week. The Kennedy Center.

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Speaker 1: It opened in nineteen seventy one. It's the national cultural

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Speaker 1: center of the United States. In a very real way,

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Speaker 1: it belongs to you to me to all of us.

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Speaker 1: If the US Capitol Building is the people's house, then

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Speaker 1: let's call the Kennedy Center our living room, and Wednesday

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Speaker 1: through Sunday we are all invited to hang out in

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Speaker 1: the living room free of charge. The Millennium Stage, a

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Speaker 1: two hundred and thirty five person performance space in the

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Speaker 1: Kennedy Center's ornate Grand Foyer, launched in nineteen ninety seven,

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Speaker 1: is part of a performing Arts for Everyone campaign, and

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Speaker 1: to this day it holds free concerts at six pm

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Speaker 1: every Wednesday through Saturday. You can catch everything from soul

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Speaker 1: singers and country crooners to symphonies and hip hop mcs,

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Speaker 1: and you can see them just steps from where Beyonce

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Speaker 1: paid tribute to Tina Turner and Heart made Robert Plant

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Speaker 1: Cry with a stirring rendition of staoid A Heaven Back

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Speaker 1: by gospel choir and string orchestra. The only catch the

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Speaker 1: performances may be free, but they can fill up fast.

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Speaker 1: You have to register in advance at the Kennedycenter dot

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Speaker 1: org to ensure yourself a seat, otherwise it'll be stuck

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Speaker 1: like the rest of us, streaming the performance from the

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Speaker 1: Kennedy Center website. Going back to the nineteen sixties folk

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Speaker 1: music boom. There have always been a handful of historic

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Speaker 1: listening rooms in the DC area, like the iconic Cellar Door,

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Speaker 1: which hosted pivotal solo concerts by Neil Young, as well

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Speaker 1: as Emmy Lou Harris, whose partnership with Graham Parsons began

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Speaker 1: with an impromptu duet at the club for a rumored

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Speaker 1: audience of six people. We've all been there. I don't

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Speaker 1: mean at that club with Graham Parsons and Emil Harris.

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Speaker 1: I mean performing in front of six people and it

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Speaker 1: being legendary or legendary feeling. Today, the Birchmere in nearby Alexandria,

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Speaker 1: Virginia carries on this listening room legacy with old school

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Speaker 1: charm to spare. The rules are simple in this table

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Speaker 1: service music hall. No standing, no smoking, no recording, no talking.

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Speaker 1: It's been that way since nineteen sixty six. Because they

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Speaker 1: put the music first. Musicians keep returning here long after

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Speaker 1: they would have moved on to a bigger club, except

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Speaker 1: Ray Charles, who played his final concert here on July twentieth,

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Speaker 1: two thousand and three, before heading off to that great

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Speaker 1: gig in the sky. You can feel the venue's history

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Speaker 1: as soon as you walk in the doors, as hundreds

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Speaker 1: of frame concert posters and artist photos cover every square

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Speaker 1: inch of wall in the long, low slung entryway. And

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Speaker 1: with more than fifty years in the business, it's the

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Speaker 1: little things that continue to make the Birchmere great, from

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Speaker 1: the hand painted backdrop behind the stage the hand drawn

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Speaker 1: portress that decorate the monthly concert calendars. The human touch

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Speaker 1: is infused with everything. Maybe that's why it draws DC

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Speaker 1: elites looking for authentic connection, including Bill Clinton, who slipped

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Speaker 1: out of the Oval Office more than once to see

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Speaker 1: artists like Jerry Jeff Walker at the Birchmure. Inside you'll

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Speaker 1: have an old school music supper club with modern day

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Speaker 1: sound and lighting. Seats at the venue are first come,

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Speaker 1: first serves, a plan accordingly, and if the show is full,

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Speaker 1: be aware you may find yourself sharing a table and

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Speaker 1: quite possibly meeting your new concert buddy. There is no

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Speaker 1: current music club in Washington, d C. More steeped in

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Speaker 1: history than the Nine to Thirty Club, originally opened in

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Speaker 1: nineteen eighty by Doti DeSanto and John Bowers as a

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Speaker 1: tiny two hundred person club at the now legendary address

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Speaker 1: of nine to thirty f Street more than that in

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Speaker 1: a minute. The club set up shop in nineteen ninety

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Speaker 1: six at its current location eight hundred and fifteen v

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Speaker 1: Street Northwest, in a larger twelve hundred person space. The

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Speaker 1: venue has hosted countless legendary artists from Patty Smith, the

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Speaker 1: George Clinton to Bob Dylan over the years, but they've

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Speaker 1: continued to provide an important outlet for local artists. As

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Speaker 1: a critical venue for DC's hardcore and go go bands

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Speaker 1: from the iconic nine thirty Club, Cupcakes serve backstage to

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Speaker 1: the wheeled stage that can be moved forward and backwards

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Speaker 1: to create the perfect room for any audience size. It's

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Speaker 1: a venue where music and musicians are revered. My first

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Speaker 1: show there was opening for the hippie regalness of Queen

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Speaker 1: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. You know, going in that

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Speaker 1: nine point thirty was the ideal room for a special show.

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Speaker 1: The people expect the best on that stage. It means

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Speaker 1: something to be on that stage, and somewhere in that

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Speaker 1: chemistry you find your best self standing up there. In

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Speaker 1: May of twenty twenty three, IMP, the promoters behind the

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Speaker 1: nine thirty Club, the Anthem and Moore, announced a new

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Speaker 1: performance space next door to the nine thirty Club. Four

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Speaker 1: hundred and fifty person space called the Atlantis, is meant

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Speaker 1: to evoke the vibe of the club's original location. It

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Speaker 1: opened forty four years after the original with an audacious

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Speaker 1: run of forty four concerts from artists like Jeff Tweety

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Speaker 1: Foo fighters in DC's Go Go Pioneer's Trouble Funk. Much

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Speaker 1: like the larger nine to thirty Club, it features a

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Speaker 1: wrap around balcony above its small dance floor, so although

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Speaker 1: it's tight, there are great site lines everywhere. Much like

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Speaker 1: the larger nine thirty Club. Black Cat is a long

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Speaker 1: running DC music club with a pedigree. It opened in

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Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three with an initial group of investors composed

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Speaker 1: of musicians like Virginia native Dave Grohl, who got to

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Speaker 1: start drumming in DC hardcore bands. Bands like Morphine, Rancid,

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Speaker 1: and Stereo Lab helped Chris in the new space, and

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Speaker 1: since then everyone from Beck to Jeff Buckley Do the

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Speaker 1: Roots have graced the stage. The eight hundred person independent

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Speaker 1: club revels in its old school rock and roll charm.

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Speaker 1: We're talking black and white checkered floors, coin operated pinball

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Speaker 1: a sound system that has no respect for your tonights.

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Speaker 1: If you don't like it tough. Sure, some might say

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Speaker 1: the black and white checkered floor is too dated, that

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Speaker 1: the music is too loud, the lighting is too dark.

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Speaker 1: But earlier this year, Black Cats celebrated thirty years in

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Speaker 1: business with a concert lineup featuring local grades like Pexx

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Speaker 1: and ted Leo and the Pharmacists. And when you've outlasted gentrification,

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Speaker 1: COVID closures, and Ticketmaster so far, at least for thirty years,

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Speaker 1: it's safe to say that you're doing something right. So

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Speaker 1: drink your tall Boy pop quarter in the pinball machine

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Speaker 1: and ignore the haters. When you're at the Black Cat,

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Speaker 1: You're here for one reason only, and that's to get

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Speaker 1: your face absolutely melted. When looking for a musical feast,

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Speaker 1: you might be surprised to find out that one of

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Speaker 1: DC's best hidden gems is also one of the city's

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Speaker 1: best places for pie. Pie Shop DC is a labor

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Speaker 1: of love for owner and pie maker Sandra Bissanti. She

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Speaker 1: and her husband Stephen McKeever, are opened in twenty ten

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Speaker 1: as a way to help pay the bills while playing

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Speaker 1: in local bands. The menu is divided between sweet and

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Speaker 1: savory pies with everything from sour cherry to Mochella, a

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Speaker 1: chicken pie whose name is a hat tip to the

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Speaker 1: DC Grassroots Go Go Music Festival. The real treat, however,

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Speaker 1: is upstairs on a tiny stage, the Mkiev, built by

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Speaker 1: hand in a room holding only about seventy listeners. Crowds

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Speaker 1: gather around whiskey barrows to hear up and coming bands

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Speaker 1: play one of the district's most intimate venues, a true

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Speaker 1: hidden jam. DC is home to a number of travel

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Speaker 1: worthy festivals, from the DC Jazz Festival to Indie rock

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Speaker 1: Favored All Things go at nearby Meriwether Post Pavilion. But

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Speaker 1: if you're looking for a chance to hear some echoes

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Speaker 1: of the past alongside glimpses of where the district's music

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Speaker 1: is going, mark these days on your calendar. If you

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Speaker 1: are itching to experience the down home comforts of the Birchmere,

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Speaker 1: be sure to check out the venue's annual tribute to

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Speaker 1: Hank Williams on December twenty ninth. You'll get to hear

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Speaker 1: some of the district's best folk and acoustic performers like

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Speaker 1: Jake Blount, Robin and Lussin Williams and many more pay

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Speaker 1: their respects to Hank nearly seventy years after he was

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Speaker 1: found dead in the backseat of a car just a

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Speaker 1: few hours south of Bristol, Virginia. For a taste of

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Speaker 1: DC's go go heritage, keep an eye out for the

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Speaker 1: surprisingly robust summer concert series at Martin Luther King Junior's

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Speaker 1: Memorial Library twenty twenty three. Concerts feature bills like Go

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Speaker 1: Go Pioneer's Troublefunk, teaming with up and coming hardcore bands,

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Speaker 1: and a nod to the intertwined history of go go

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Speaker 1: and hardcore. The library also houses a permanent Go Go

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Speaker 1: in DC Punk Archive on the fourth floor, where you

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Speaker 1: can check out old fanzines, tickets to pictures, recordings, and more.

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Speaker 1: And if you are looking for one of the biggest

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Speaker 1: go go gatherings in the country, then pencil in next

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Speaker 1: to August nineteenth, as DC pays tribute to the originator

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Speaker 1: of go go with the tenth annual Chuck Brown Day.

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Speaker 1: This free outdoor concert brings together d C go go

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Speaker 1: lovers for a full day of music from the genres, originators,

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Speaker 1: and innovators every year at Fort DuPont Park. That's a

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Speaker 1: pretty full calendar prepping for a trip to DC, whether

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Speaker 1: you've just booked tickets to see your favorite band at

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Speaker 1: the nine thirty Club, or you're looking for some counter

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Speaker 1: programming to a day full of historic sight seeing. To

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Speaker 1: learn more about DC's music culture, I recommend you check

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Speaker 1: out the documentary Salad Days, A Decade of Punk in Washington,

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Speaker 1: d C. Which you can find streaming, or the great

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Speaker 1: book by Natalie Hopkinson Go Go Live, The Musical Life

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Speaker 1: and Death of a Chocolate City. Of course, reading about

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Speaker 1: music is sort of like dancing about politics, so direct

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Speaker 1: your ears to classic go go albums like Chubble Funk's

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Speaker 1: Drop the Bomb or Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers

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Speaker 1: Bust and Loose, both of which have been sampled by

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Speaker 1: dozens of hip hop hits over the years. For a

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Speaker 1: taste of DC's listening room legacy, be sure to put

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Speaker 1: on Neil Young's Live at the Cellar Door. It's an

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Speaker 1: incredible document of the legendary performer trying out new material

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Speaker 1: in a beloved listening room. And for hardcore, I could

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Speaker 1: go on for days about this band, but if you're

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Speaker 1: gonna start with one album, it should be for Gazzi's Repeater,

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Speaker 1: or for Gazi's end hits, or the Argument, or in

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Speaker 1: on the kill Taker or Red Medicine. But what am

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Speaker 1: I talking about? Just start with thirteen songs. Thirteen songs.

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Speaker 1: Look at that record when you start there, start at

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Speaker 1: the beginning. Ian Mackay and company going in an absolute

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Speaker 1: tear and a punk landmark that inspired hundreds of alternative

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Speaker 1: bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jem that would follow in

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Speaker 1: their wake. And those things should keep you going, get

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Speaker 1: you ready for your time in Washington, DC. So that

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Speaker 1: concert with Minor Threat and Trouble Funk at the Landsburg

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Speaker 1: Cultural Center, that was supposed to be the moment that

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Speaker 1: brought seen unity, that pulled together disaffected teens both black

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Speaker 1: and white, that would bring their movement to a whole

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Speaker 1: new level. Anticipation was high as Trouble Funk burned through

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Speaker 1: a set including their signature song Dropped the Bomb. It

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Speaker 1: had the room bouncing, energy was pulsing. Everything was coming

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Speaker 1: together now. In their day, Minor Threat got crowds fired

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Speaker 1: up by playing faster, louder, more aggressive, and just playing

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Speaker 1: better punk rock than just about anybody else on the

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Speaker 1: East Coast. They did it without drugs and alcohol. As

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Speaker 1: they famously expressed in the song straight Edge, and they

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Speaker 1: did it without major labels, instead releasing music on their

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Speaker 1: own label, Discord Records. But when Minor Threat took the

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Speaker 1: stage that day in nineteen eighty three and singer Ian

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00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:59,919
Speaker 1: Mackay launched into the first song, fans could tell something

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Speaker 1: wasn't right. The rhythm was off, but Kai moved around

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Speaker 1: like he was in a trance. People in the crowd

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Speaker 1: began to jeer between songs. Suddenly, the night that was

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Speaker 1: supposed to propel DC's music to a new level was

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Speaker 1: stop dead in its tracks, and Minor Threat would never

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Speaker 1: perform again. In the following years, police cracked down on

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Speaker 1: go go shows and punk rock house concerts, scapegoating them

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Speaker 1: for an uptick and violent crime. But it often feels

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Speaker 1: like you just can't have people uniting too much, especially

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Speaker 1: if two types of voices from seemingly alternate universes start

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00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:44,159
Speaker 1: to find harmony. The music was pushed out of the

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Speaker 1: city or even further into the underground, and an opportunity

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00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:52,280
Speaker 1: had been missed, or at least that's what it seemed like.

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00:24:54,440 --> 00:24:57,280
Speaker 1: Funny thing, even as DC was doing its best to

405
00:24:57,320 --> 00:24:59,760
Speaker 1: push out the artists for calling bullshit on the rich

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00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:02,760
Speaker 1: and powerful. The rest of us were just beginning to

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Speaker 1: listen the emotional style of Rights of Spring, which became

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Speaker 1: a guiding light for EMO. And then there's Fugazi, the

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00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:14,280
Speaker 1: band Mackay formed after his disastrous Last Minor Threat concert,

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00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,000
Speaker 1: and he brought in Rights of Spring lead singer Guy Pachito.

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00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:22,159
Speaker 1: The band was a huge influence on many, including a

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Speaker 1: young Kirk Covain. Pearl Jams. Eddy Vedder described seeing them

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Speaker 1: as life changing, and through Discord Records, Fugazi sold millions,

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Speaker 1: turned down huge offers from major labels, and created a

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Speaker 1: fine wine music catalog built on sonic exploration via punk

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Speaker 1: from the heart while speaking truth to power. At very

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Speaker 1: nearly the same time, while DC's police departments cracked down

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Speaker 1: and gog had pushed the music almost entirely out of

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Speaker 1: the city, the sound was resonating with up and coming

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Speaker 1: hip hop beat makers looking for infectious energy and deep grooves.

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Speaker 1: Producer Pharrell, who grew up in nearby Virginia the Beach,

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Speaker 1: took his love of Go Go even further when he

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Speaker 1: used a sample from Chuck Brown's Bus and Loose as

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00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:08,840
Speaker 1: the main backbone for mega hit HoTT in Here by Nelly,

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Speaker 1: and over the last two decades, Go Go music has

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00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 1: started to belatedly get the recognition as a musical innovation

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00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:20,800
Speaker 1: that it deserves, both locally and across the country, and

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty, Mayor Bowser signed a bill into law

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00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:28,560
Speaker 1: designating Go Go as the official music of Washington, d C.

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00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:33,960
Speaker 1: In the end, it's truth and great art that tells

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00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:37,480
Speaker 1: the story of being here. Those are the factors that

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00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:42,240
Speaker 1: always remain. The American legacy of music is steeped in it.

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00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:52,920
Speaker 1: It just may be our greatest export. And one more thing.

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00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:55,680
Speaker 1: I was in Kansas City. It was the day after

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00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,440
Speaker 1: a show, and I was wandering around, and it often happens,

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00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,800
Speaker 1: I gravitated towards the lower independent record store and I

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00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:04,440
Speaker 1: was immediately taken in by a wall of T shirts

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00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:06,439
Speaker 1: as my eyes caught a black one on the bottom

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00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:10,240
Speaker 1: shelf with a simple statement on the front, Fugazi is

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00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:13,800
Speaker 1: my Beatles. It struck me right in the heart. There

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00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:16,199
Speaker 1: is a part of my development where Fugazi was the

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00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:19,520
Speaker 1: mind expander. I was present for the release of their

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00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:22,520
Speaker 1: mighty career wrap up albums and hits. In the argument,

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00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:25,240
Speaker 1: so should I get this shirt? I don't really need

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00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:27,160
Speaker 1: a new T shirt. I don't need to spend money

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00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:29,800
Speaker 1: on the road. But I do love Fugazi in a

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00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:32,160
Speaker 1: different way than I love the Beatles, and I love

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00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:35,040
Speaker 1: this mighty bold T shirt statement with just the right

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00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:39,119
Speaker 1: touch of cheeky. And then I imagined myself walking around

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00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:41,919
Speaker 1: with this fighting words kind of statement on my chest,

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00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:46,439
Speaker 1: and I just didn't think we needed another take, another

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00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,720
Speaker 1: bold statement that really doesn't help anyone's situation in any way.

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00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:51,879
Speaker 1: If I wore this shirt, weld, I then have to

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00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:55,239
Speaker 1: make a series of tiktoks advocating for this position, you know,

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00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:57,720
Speaker 1: and then say leave a comment below and let me

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00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,040
Speaker 1: know what you think and other bullshit. Then all of

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00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:02,360
Speaker 1: a sudden, on the Fugazi is my Beatles TikTok guy

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00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,240
Speaker 1: with a hardcore following and so many people hating me

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00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:07,679
Speaker 1: and loving me, and that becomes my life and I

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00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:10,320
Speaker 1: don't really need that. I imagine myself walking down the

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00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:12,639
Speaker 1: street getting dirty looks, engaging in debates that don't need

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00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:17,720
Speaker 1: to happen. We have enough takes, enough unnecessary debates, And

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00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:22,359
Speaker 1: speaking of Washington, DC, division is an economy that doesn't

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00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:27,640
Speaker 1: need my participation. I love Fugazi I love the Beatles

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00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:37,080
Speaker 1: and they didn't have my size. Well, thank you for

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00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:40,560
Speaker 1: listening to our episode on Washington, d C. Sound of

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00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:44,840
Speaker 1: Our Town Season two, Episode eight eight episodes. Already in

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00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:48,240
Speaker 1: season two, full More left three cities in a special

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00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:53,240
Speaker 1: bonus episode. What would really help us get those other

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00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,560
Speaker 1: four done and get a third season would be if

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00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:58,720
Speaker 1: you follow this wherever you get podcasts, and if you

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00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,440
Speaker 1: take a second to write a review whoever that is.

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00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:08,120
Speaker 1: That is actually how podcast babies are made for when

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00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:12,480
Speaker 1: you're ready to tell the kids how they're created. Sound

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00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,640
Speaker 1: of Our Town is a production of iHeartRadio and Double Elvis.

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00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:19,440
Speaker 1: It's executively produced by Jake Brennan and Brady Sadler, Audio

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00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:24,440
Speaker 1: engineering by Matt Bowden. It's produced, written, created, scored, and

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00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:29,280
Speaker 1: spoken by me Will Day we met earlier. This episode's

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00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,080
Speaker 1: head writer is Patrick Coleman. I did the music in

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00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:33,920
Speaker 1: this episode, and if you want to hear more of

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00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:35,880
Speaker 1: my stuff, we just got to find a place that

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00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:39,000
Speaker 1: streams music. I heard. They're out there, and if you

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00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:43,320
Speaker 1: spell my name correctly, Will and then spell daily D

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00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:45,760
Speaker 1: A I L EUI, you'll be able to hear more

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00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:49,280
Speaker 1: of that music. And I'm always out there playing somewhere,

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00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:51,120
Speaker 1: and I hope it to make it to your city

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00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:54,240
Speaker 1: so I can play there, so I can cover it

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00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:59,239
Speaker 1: for an episode, and until then, thank you for your

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00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:06,440
Speaker 1: ears as