The Washington, D.C. area and its homegrown musical genre of Go-Go remained largely regional despite some flashes of commercial success by some of the bands from the region. Experience Unlimited scored one of Go-Go’s biggest hits in “Da Butt” just over three decades ago and now, Vinyl Me, Please has a real treat for music lovers with its reissue of the Go-Go and Funk band’s debut LP, Free Yourself.

Free Yourself was released in 1977 on Black Fire Records some 11 years before E.U., as they were widely known in D.C., broke onto the Billboard charts with “Da Butt,” which was released on the soundtrack for Spike Lee’s School Daze.  Older fans of Go-Go categorized “Da Butt” as a tamer version of the traditional sound of the music but it gave way to other hits for the band while paving the way for Go-Go’s next generation.

The story of Experience Unlimited’s rise to prominence reveals a little-known fact about Washington, D.C.’s music scene, more specifically in the Rock and Punk music scenes. Many of E.U. band members were into rock music, much like many musically-inclined youths from Chocolate City. The band went from calling themselves The Young Hustlers and renamed the band Experience Unlimited in honor of Jimi Hendrix all while fine-tuning their sound. The story of the band’s rise can be found here.

The reissue is timely as Washington natives have rallied to establish the presence of Go-Go in the city streets despite the growing specter of gentrification.

Vinyl Me, Please’s innovative choices in reissuing classic or unearthed records rewards audiophiles by way of staying true to the original cover art and taking care to deliver only the most solid of products to the listener.

To learn more about Vinyl Me, Please’s reissue of Experience Unlimited’s Free Yourself album, click here. Check out a video trailer below and then head over to the gallery of images.

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Photo: Vinyl Me, Please

Source: HipHopWired.com

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