When William “Ju Ju” House was six years old, he picked up his first set of drumsticks to play drums at his father’s church. Coming from a musical family, his grandfather played guitar for the church band and Ju Ju’s father played drums, saxophone and bass. Ju Ju, the name for which he is known, watched his father play with the greats including Otis Redding and James Brown and knew that he would follow in his father’s footsteps. And Ju Ju’s own son would follow in his playing with the Air Force Marching Band.
Fast forward forty something years and Ju Ju is still going strong and has developed a drumming style all his own, positioning himself as one of the most sought after drummers on the world wide music scene.
Ju Ju, who has travelled the world playing with David Sanborn, Chaka Khan, Roberta Flack and D.C.’s own E.U., is honored to discuss his contribution to the Washington, DC Go-Go scene as one of the pioneers of this DC homegrown music. “I can honestly say the first gig where I made what I consider a lot of money, was when I first played with The Peacemakers. The Peacemakers are another lost group. This is when Go-Go was really Go-Go. What they’re playing now is not what you consider Go-Go, it’s considered Go-Radio (laughs). This is the biggest problem that I see with the DC musicians and the music that’s going on in DC now. You go to a Go-Go and you hear the first band so you’ve heard all of the rest of the bands that’s playing there that night. And this is where we lost our flavor.”
He elaborates, “Back in the day, when you would go see bands like the Peacemakers, Trouble Funk, EU, Rare Essence- each one of these groups had an identity. Whether you liked them or you didn’t, you knew EU was EU. You knew Trouble was Trouble. You knew Chuck (Brown) was Chuck. You knew Essence was Rare Essence. You knew the groups. You knew (Little) Benny. You could tell. They each had a different flavor, a different style, a different image. Everything was different about the groups.”
“The Peacemakers were a group that came up with a lot of the old Go-Go chants. There are a lot of things that’s happening, that these young groups are playing and don’t realize that a lot of these older groups brought that creation. They brought it to the table.”
Developing your own identity is the key to success in the music industry and Ju Ju encourages that the younger bands to do just that. He cites Chuck Brown and Junkyard band as two who have developed and maintained their own identity away from the other DC centered bands. He offers, “I have never seen a group of people, a group of musicians from out of Washington, DC that are supposed to be the best musicians in the world, break their neck to rehearse Beyonce. Break their neck to rehearse Jay Z. Break their neck to rehearse somebody else that’s making money off the song. They don’t have any creativity anymore, any writing ability anymore- and they call it Go-Go. This is what they call Go-Go now- playing somebody else’s material. They call that Go-Go. Bounce. Bounce what? What are you bouncing? Bouncing checks, that’s about it because you’re playing somebody else’s music, basically.”
Ju Ju understands that the style of music the younger bands from the DMV are playing, Bounce Beat, is both a blessing and a curse. He explains, “When I came back home (from touring), there were no bands even playing. I think Proper Utensils, Rare Essence and Chuck were the only bands still playing. We put a group together called Maiesha and the Hiphuggers. We came out with a song called ‘Um Bop Bop’ and ‘Bounce’. The clubs weren’t letting the bands play in there and what Maiesha was able to do was take that transition of some Top 40 and some 70s and mix it in with the Go-Go which was a good thing, but it ended up being a disaster because the bands lost their identity. They didn’t have the ability to say ‘Hey, you know what? There’s a limit to playing somebody else’s stuff.’ It’s ok to play somebody else’s song, but when you do it all night, when you’ve got 2 hours and out of that 2 hours you played 99% of somebody else’s stuff , with a beat, and you talk about a bounce beat, a Go-Go beat- there’s no such thing. I mean it’s – the identity is not even there.”
When asked if Bounce Beat is Go-Go, “Go-Go has made money. Go-Go has travelled around the world. Bounce hasn’t gotten out of DC yet. That’s the difference. It’s what the pioneers created. How can you take the pocket from Go-Go and call it Go-Go? What the young kids are doing, that’s cool. Hey, that’s every bit of cool, but where do you draw the line? When will there be songs on the same level as ‘Da Butt’, ‘Buckwild’, ‘Drop the Bomb’, ‘Misty’, all the things Chuck’s doing. Back in the day we had the strength because of the fact that we did Go-Go, we created our own- ‘Ooh La La La’, ‘Knock em Out Sugar Ray’, ‘Drop the Bomb’, ‘Cat in the Hat’, ‘Go Ju Ju Go’. We had the ability. We had the strength because we wrote, we put out our own stuff and radio stations didn’t have to play it. Now the groups depend on these little radio stations. Things have changed and we look at these local deeJays that never made a career for any of us. We made their careers by giving them the records to play. There wouldn’t have been a DJ Flexx or a Rico or Tigger on the radio if it wasn’t for ‘Cat in the Hat’, ‘Go JuJu Go’, ‘Um Bop Bop’ ,’Bounce’ and the rest of this stuff. We made a path for them to be on the radio.
So many people have used Go-Go to get their platform, to get their foot in the door and after they use it, they abuse it and this is with everything that everyone has touched – even with these clubs. The clubs will start going down , their income is going down so what they do is they get the Go-Go bands to come in there and play- pump it out for a good month or two, build their franchise back up, remodel the club and then tell the bands “Oh we’re not gonna have Go-Go bands in here anymore. “ Well, no one was coming in here before we got here. So many people have used Go-Go for so many years and the young people don’t even realize. They have no clue that’s it’s bigger than DC because they haven’t been anywhere. It’s much bigger than DC.”
With success often comes jealousy and Ju Ju is not immune to this phenomenon. Some of his detractors have publically questioned his level of commitment to Go-Go. “Go-Go has lost its ability to even be called Go-Go. People wonder ‘Ju Ju, don’t you want to play Go-Go anymore? Have you lost your interest in Go-Go?’ I say “Hell no! I don’t want to play Beyonce anymore. I don’t want to play Jay Z anymore. Hell no! That’s not what I have based my career on for 30 years to play Jay Z. I played with Jay Z so what do I want to play Jay Z’s song for?”
Ju Ju adds some insight, “I’ve played with Chaka (Khan), I’ve played with David Sanborn, played with Marcus (Miller), played with George Duke, played with Grace Jones, played with Soul II Soul, played with Roberta Flack, played with Jon Secada, with Arrested Development on MTV Unplugged, played for the Pope when he came to Central Park . How many brothers you know who were standing next to the Pope and the Mayor in Central Park? I’ve been around the world, toured, 26 years non-stop. When you start talking about Japan- Japan knows a lot about Go-Go. They actually know more about Go-Go than the people that are actually playing it in this City. But, they look at it and say what we’ve heard in the past is great but what’s coming out of DC now, it’s disgusting because they are hearing us play everyone else’s songs.”
“I remember when I played with Chaka. We did this song ‘Through the Fire’ and at the end of it she said ‘I want you to go into that Go-Go thing.’ And this is Chaka Khan and she plays drums- go into that Go-Go thing. So it’s bigger than DC. And understand that playing drums is a big part of DC, congas is a big part of DC, so no matter if you’re doing bounce, if you’re doing pocket, it doesn’t matter. Have you had the ability to be identified? You can identify me. You know who I am and you know how I play. That’s my style. I don’t want to sound like anybody else. That’s why they call me JuJu. My identity is worth more to me than trying to play like somebody else. That’s why they hire me for the big gigs.”
Juju respects those legendary people that were there beside him as the genre was being developed. “I’ve been in the trenches. Sugarfoot’s (Rick Wellman) been in the trenches, Glenn Ellis has been in the trenches, Sugar Bear has been in the trenches, Benny’s been in the trenches, Chuck’s been in the trenches, James Funk’s been in the trenches, Footz (Quentin Davidson) has been in the trenches, Heavy One’s (Willie Gaston) been in the trenches. And Godfather (Mark Lawson). Godfather is one of the cats – that’s another one that they have to have the utmost respect for that has an identity- not just ability. He’s another one that people overlook and to a point try to treat him like he’s a little peon, but they have no idea what this cat has done. Godfather is a legend. I have the utmost respect for that man and he’s a creator. He’s bad as shit. There’s Tino, Big Tony, Rock Steady, Jungle Boogie, Go-Go Micky and Buggs (Steven Herrion). We’ve been in the trenches. There’s only a handful of us living”
JuJu credits Cherie Mitchell-Agurs with the ability to understand true musicianship. “I’m really proud of Cherie. Cherie stepped up her game. She’s toured. She’s actually been out there and she was able to see what the other side is like and she came back home and did her thing and put Be’la Dona together. And Cherie is not afraid to write a song. Nobody in that band is afraid to write a song. I’m impressed with that. When I see people like that, I’m impressed. You’re showing me something.”
“I made a living off of playing drums, not just in DC. I’ve never worked a job in 35-40 years. I played drums all my life. And I’ve got proceeds to prove that I’ve played drums. The important thing is to be able to teach these youngins. I don’t care what you’re playing, personally, but at the end of the day, can you pay your bills? Can you take care of your home? Can you pay your rent? Can you pay your car note? Can you go to the ATM and it doesn’t say 0 balance? I’m talking about just playing drums.
Ju Ju offers up some advice, “What’s important is being able to get out of here and experience the World. It’s more important than you sitting here thinking you’re gonna hit gold playing Go-Go. Go-Go is a beautiful thing and I made a living off of Go-Go, but you’re not gonna hit gold playing Go-Go. You’re not gonna reach the top of the mountain playing Go-Go. You’re not gonna reach the top of the mountain playing anything. You will reach the top of the mountain by having an identity being able to do what you do better than anyone else, but it has to be you. You have to have that ability to do that. There’s no band, nobody in the world that can help you do that. You have to have that ability to stand up on that stage and play in front of 20,000 people when that band walks off that stage and leaves you up there by yourself. If you’ve got that ability, you will survive in this. If you don’t have that ability, you’ll be working from 8-4 playing Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays at the little clubs, at the little rec centers for the rest of your life and if that’s what you’re looking forward to then so be it. That’s not what I was looking forward to.”
Ju Ju has reached out to the up and coming drummers in the DMV to teach them, the way that Ricky “Sugarfoot” Wellman did for him. Ju Ju remembers, “Darrell “Blue Eye” Arrington used to sit behind me and when I would play, Blue would be right there, watching. I’m quite sure he has implemented some of what he learned from watching me. I did the same thing with Rick so I’m quite sure he has. Rick Wellman has the ability and he also has the identity and that’s what’s so important. Sugarfoot has an identity, Sugarfoot has a style. And that’s why he has played with Miles Davis.”
Sharing some of the main things to remember in this business, Ju Ju concludes, “If you have that ability and you have that knowledge, be a musician, not just a Go-Go musician. Not just a Go-Go drummer. Not just a Go-Go guitar player. If you have the ability to play music, be a CREATOR. This is why God gave you this gift, to be a creator- not just Go-Go. Chuck plays Blues just as well as he plays Go-Go. Sugar Bear can do rock and roll as well as he plays Go-Go. SO what I’m trying to tell these young people out here it’s not just about playing a pocket, a bounce beat, but be able to… I play country music, Hank Williams Jr., I can play a Bar Mitzvah, Eva Cassidy, I played with Eva. I played with the Boston Pops, the only black kid onstage with the Boston Pops Orchestra. I played with the Dallas Symphony, I did the Boston Symphony, I walk in there looking like Snoop Doggy Dogg, the people looking at me, and they’re thinking ‘who is this young kid coming in here with plaits? He’s got his book in his hand’. And they know that I can read music when they see me pull my stuff out and look at those charts and hit it.”
“Instead of talking, the young people should be asking me questions about how to be successful, how has it been that I have been able to play drums all my life and not work? How I’ve been able to send 3 kids to college and not work a job. How I’ve been able to buy 3 houses and not work a job. That’s what they should be asking. I have the heart for all these young people. DC has been good to me. And the people in DC have been good to me. It’s just the younger people and the younger musicians that are coming up. There’s always something new that people are gonna try and that’s natural and it’s a good thing, but you can never change history and you can never change the fact of where Go-Go came from. You can’t ever change the fact of what Go-Go was built on, because you can never go back and change Grover Washington- you’ll never go back and change Mr. Magic.”
“And at the end of the day”, Ju Ju relays, “I’ve got drum magazines, Billboard magazines, Japanese magazines with me and chuck, drummer Magazines, Arrested development, MTV, MTV Unplugged with Arrested Development. I have Gold Records- one from David Sanborn, one from Grace Jones ‘Slave to the Rhythm’, E.U.’s ‘Da Butt’, another one for BuckWild.”
He confidently adds, “When we’re gone, I would hope that these young kids can carry on the legacy of the identity and tell the young kids the story of how Go-Go got started, what Go-Go is about, what Go-Go has been about and what we’ve done in our own separate journeys away from DC. What we’ve accomplished. Until you experience what it’s like, I’m still sitting on top of the mountain.”
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