Going to a Go-Go: Hip-Hop Repays Its Debt to Chuck Brown

CHUCKY THOMPSON was just a teenager from the streets of Washington when he became a drummer for Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers in the late '80s. These were the glory days of go-go, when songs could go on for 20 minutes at a time and shows for hours on end as the hypnotic syncopation and call-and-response chants held the local crowds in thrall. Thompson even lied about his age so he could travel to Europe with Brown, the "Godfather of Go-Go."