David Gogo
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Gogo gets a new attitude on latest disc, Vibe

Ottawa Citizen

Norman Provencher
The Ottawa Citizen
Thursday, September 30, 2004

Most entertainers will swear on a stack of Bibles that they don't read reviews, but Nanaimo's David Gogo says that Vibe, his newest record and possibly the best of his career, came out of some critics looking down their noses at his material.

"Some people said that the (cover songs) on my albums (like his popular versions of James Brown's It's a Man's World and Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus) were, I don't know, unnecessary," the singer-guitarist

The criticism got him to thinking. Up to then, Gogo hadn't worried too much about writing. He did it, of course, and did it pretty well over the course of half a dozen albums and a bunch of national blues awards and Juno nominations. But performances, especially live shows, were his first love.

Still, Gogo says he and his associates decided to challenge themselves by making his new record his first all-original songs record. "It's a little strange now, because (writing) excites me more now, I like "

That attitude shows on Vibe. Simply put, everything on this record is big: Big sound and production, big instruments and, most noticeably, big and varied songs.

The record kicks out with the hard-rocking radio hit, Love in the City, featuring Canadian headbanger emeritus Tom Wilson (who joins Gogo at a preview release party at Barrymore's Saturday night). From there, it's all over the map, from the magnificently heavy 300 Pound Shoes, to smooth, Motown-inflected R&B (She's Alright), from low-down funk (Silk & Stone) to a genuine feel-good-hit-of-summer-type tune,

That mix of "genuine" blues and blues-based material is almost certain to get a slag or two from Blues Police -- as opposed to music fans -- who question Gogo's penchant for pleasing audiences,

Gogo's pretty much immune to that criticism. "There's always gonna be people who don't like what I do, fair enough. But I love mixing

"It knocks me out at the festivals when I get teenagers come up to me and say stuff like 'You know, I hate the blues. My dad makes

"That's when you know they're hooked."

David Gogo plays Barrymore's Saturday night. Tickets & time,

© The Ottawa Citizen 2004