An American Lion

See any Go Go Music Here? Tell Mayor Fenty that you want him to continue to destroy Go Go music

I rather enjoy it when a major metropolitan area uses the full weight of government repression and regulation to eradicate a musical genre. We could have used this kind of assistance when alt-country was getting started up. Someone could have used zoning permits and health code inspections to shut down emo, sir. Washington D.C. has thirty or forty different styles of club hip hop and whatnot--much of it relying on seductive hip shakes and well constructed rhymes. Crushing these styles falls to bureaucrats and politicians because the kids can't do everything.

Mayor Adrian Fenty declares war on "go go" music in Washington D.C. and uses every weapon in his arsenal against it:

District Mayor Adrian Fenty announced Thursday that a Masonic lodge in Northeast is no longer permitted to be rented out as a music venue on weekends, blaming it for several violent incidents.

Fenty announced the closure of Most Worshipful King Solomon Grand Lodge at a news conference Thursday. He was joined by Attorney General Peter Nickles, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier and DCRA director Linda Argo.

The Lodge has long rented the hall out on weekends as a live music venue. Neighborhood residents had complained about these events, specifically Go-Go concerts, that allegedly led to "repeated instances of disorderly and violent conduct", according to the mayor's office.

Chief Lanier said the department had received 114 requests for police service within 1,000 feet of Solomon Lodge in the first 7 and a half months of the year, including complaints about noise, public urination and illegal parking.

Now, one man's "disorderly conduct" is another man's attempt at dancing on moving cars while high on angel dust--something I can relate to, most definitely.

I ghost ride the whip, not especially well, but I've been doing it for forty years. I have always enjoyed getting out of the car and dancing or marching beside it while it rolls forward in gear, something that is almost impossible to do with a standard transmission. When I got my first automatic transmission car in the late 1970s, it was like a Godsend. I was able to snack and walk next to the rolling car while musical tunes played, I loved it. The kids would ride in the back seat and laugh and giggle whenever the car would hop a curb or hit a telephone pole. One of my favorite memories is of the boys being tumbled in the back of the car when it hit a retaining wall at ten miles an hour--they weren't hurt that badly and everyone thought it was fun to go to the emergency room and lie to the doctors and Johnny Law about how Daddy was unable to stop the car when it "magically" slipped into gear.

Mayor Fenty is up against some tough proponents of Go Go, however:

The senior citizens who leased their hall to Go Go bands say they never had any problems with the kids who came to party.

"We don't rent out to nobody that's a thugs or anything like that," said Luther Parker.

Party-goer Kevin McGill says he will miss his Saturday night visits. He thinks the neighbors will regret getting the Lodge's license to party revoked.

"You got a hundred fifty kids in here, you got a hundred fifty kids off the streets, not robbing, stealing cars, shooting, fighting none of that," McGill said.

Fenty said D.C. police met with lodge owners last month to discuss security upgrades, but none was implemented. Chief Lanier said police have had to deploy extra officers on weekends to the area.

I think it comes down to this--Mayor Fenty can't stand Go Go, and he's trying to stamp it out so that his own brand of funk and hip-hop can gain popularity. I don't know that he espouses his own musical genre--perhaps he's figured out how to weld some jazzy be-bop to a straight latin beat, I don't know. I do know this--Go Go can never be stamped out. It's too popular. It's everywhere:

 

Now, could it be that Mayor Fenty resents the implication that Washington D.C. is welcoming bitches, rather than accepting new citizens of upstanding character? This is the most recent comment on that YouTube link:

Text Comments (901) Options Loading... cjredskin92 (1 day ago) Show Hide welcome to D.C. bitches!

If I was mayor, would I want bitches showing up in my city, causing undue grief to the people who are trying to attract visitors to the Convention Center or gunking up the sidewalks and the Senior Citizen facilities? Probably not.

Good luck, Mr. Mayor. If you successfully crush Go Go, you'll be a man among men.