boogie on (and on)

more from DJ pal Paul Kennedy (who is also, now it can be revealed, the "musician friend" mentioned earlier in the piece)

"one thing I forgot to mention before is a theory I've heard that boogie as a term for early 80's r&b may have originated with roller boogie, the disco played in roller-skating rinks. apparently, that type of mid-tempo disco funk which reverted to the bass snare bass snare (or clap for snare) pattern was ideal for 'pushing-off' with alternating feet. also, think of "Good Times" as an ideal roller-disco anthem with the lyrics "clams on the half-shell and rollerskates, rollerskates!" then in its versioning as "Rapper's Delight": "rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jumped the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat"...

"...then how bout the Boogie-Down Bronx and Boogie Down Productions? Timbaland's re-use/reference of "Up Jumps Da Boogie"."

Paul also points out that "Get It On by T.Rex is actually not boogie in the strict sense but "features the more 16th note 'square' rockin' groove as opposed to the 12th notes 'three'd' feel. I suspect that both kinds of rhythms were options for the basic rock n roll groove, but that the 'squared feel' comes more from barrellhouse/boogie (see Chuck Berry pianist Johnnie Johnson?) and the three'd feel is more from folk/electric blues."

here's a couple of other boogie-woogie related offshoots (there are dozens of them in American popular music of the 20th Century and regional rootsy sounds)

Boogalu



and

Pacucho Boogie




Now in some of the early Chicago piano driven house of mid-80s I sometimes imagine I can hear a trace of boogie-woogie in the piano

also, i wonder if this is the connection between boogie-woogie and discofunk

"Wayne Schmidt remarks that with boogie-woogie songs, the "bass line isn't just a time keeper or 'fill' for the right hand"; instead, the bassline has equal importance to the right hand's melodic line. He argues that many boogie-woogie basslines use a "rising/falling sequence of notes" called walking bass line."

so when in 'Rock With You' MJ says "and we can ride the boogie" he's saying we can ride the bassline?