Go-go is one of my musical blind spots. Aside from a handful of Chuck Brown songs, the only other go-go I’m familiar with comes from E.U., the band that made (and had a #1 hit with) “Da’ Butt”. I’d like to think I am an authority when it comes to music that makes my ass (and potentially the asses of others, since I have occasionally been called into service as a DJ) move. “Da’ Butt” causes tons of involuntary rear wiggling, and not just because of the title.

Here are some awesome things about “Da’ Butt” and E.U.; “Da’ Butt” is a song about a dance that literally involves just shaking your ass, it was from the excellent Spike Lee film “School Daze”, it kicked off a lengthy streak of Spike’s movies attaching themselves to awesome music, E.U.’s Larry Blackmon-esque lead singer is named Sugar Bear, and the video for “Da’ Butt” was shot in the cafeteria of the high school that I would enroll in less than 18 months after the song became popular. Brooklyn Tech has spawned some pretty awesome celeb alumni; Lou Ferrigno, Vernon Reid, Kim Coles, Talib Kweli (who I was in classes with as a freshman before he split after a year to go to a different high school), it’s the school that formed the basis for the TV show Head Of The Class. It’s one of NYC’s original elite high school. But to me, aside from being my alma mater, the first fact I’ll always think of when my school comes up in conversation is this video.

NOT QUITE FIVE STARS…

“The D.O.C. & The Doctor” by The D.O.C. (1989); Before he crushed his larynx in an auto accident, The D.O.C. was a superstar on the rise. His success was on its way to eclipsing that of his mentors, NWA. His raspy pipes and Dr. Dre’s Bomb Squad-esque production was responsible for songs like “The D.O.C. & The Doctor” (a tribute to their collaboration) banged so hard.

“D’yer Mak’er” by Led Zeppelin (1973): Zeppelin could do rock, they could do funk, they could do funk, and they could even do reggae, as evidenced by this early ’70s genre experiment/tribute (say the title the way it’s meant to be said and it should sound like “Jamaica”.) Interesting coincidence, E.U.’s 1989 remix of “‘Da Butt” opens with a re-sung snatch of “D’yer Mak’er”.