Thanks to Chuck Brown for Giving D.C. a Hometown Beat

"Hometown D.C. has always had a vibrant, pulsing musical and cultural life, but the overbearing presence of official Washington often smothered the identity of hometown Washington as much as it trampled our rights as American citizens. Americans knew the nation's capital, but could not tell the difference between official Washington and hometown D.C. Then came the Godfather – Bustin' Loose, and busting D.C. loose, too. Chuck Brown rescued hometown D.C. from the image of a government town that couldn't keep a beat to a hometown with its own funky beat.

"Composers have created songs about cities – New York, New York; Chicago; I Left My Heart in San Francisco. But the Godfather of Go-Go gave our city a great big musical genre and a unique sound distinctly our own. This is a town with dancing in its DNA, so Chuck gave us a hometown sound that won't let you stay in your seat and won't let you sit down once you get up.

"Chuck brought his sound to the Capitol grounds a couple of years ago. As the unmistakable go-go rhythms and beat spread beyond the west front of the Capitol, no member of Congress would have mistaken the Godfather's sound for the Marine Band. He performed in the hot sun for several hours, without missing a beat, for a reason: to send a message that Chuck Brown stood for statehood and voting rights for his hometown.

"We are grateful that we had 40 years of music from our very own musical virtuoso – composer, singer, guitarist, band leader – and from one generation to the next, the Godfather's go-go never went out of style.

"There is every reason for Chuck Brown's hometown to commemorate his birthday on August 22 and every August 22 thereafter to continue to send the message, year after year, that as long as there is a District of Columbia, there will always be a Chuck Brown party."