Good to Go (film)

Good to Go
Good to Go
	theatrical release poster
Directed by	Blaine Novak
Screenplay by	Blaine Novak
Produced by	Chris Blackwell (exec.); Jeremy Thomas (exec.); Maxx Kidd (assoc.); Rob Fraboni (music); Doug Dilge; Sean Ferrer; Ron Downing (art)
Starring	Art Garfunkel; Robert Doqui; Harris Yulin; Reginald Daughtry
Cinematography	Peter Sinclair
Edited by	Gib Jaffe; Kimberly Logan; D.C. Stringer
Music by	Billy Goldenberg
Distributed by	Island Visual Arts; Starmaker Video; Vidmark Entertainment
Release dates	August 1, 1986 (Washington, D.C.);
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,500,000 (estimate)

Good to Go (also titled as Short Fuse^[2]) is a 1986 crime thriller film written and directed by Blaine Novak, and stars Art Garfunkel as a beat journalist pursuing a murder investigation, with the Washington, D.C. go-go-scene in the backdrop.^[1]

Plot

S.D. Blass is a beat journalist for the Washington Daily Tribune newspaper in Washington, D.C.^[3] His editor-in-chief pressures him to deliver more featured stories, as it's been too long since Blass has had a decent article printed. Blass reaches out to Matthew Harrigan, a detective for the Washington Metropolitan Police department, looking for a good story to pursue.

He learns about a nurse that was raped and murdered on her way home after working the night shift at Washington Metropolitan Hospital. Unbeknownst to Blass, the detective had fabricated the police report and placed the primary blame on go-go music and its concert goers. Blass takes the story and publishes it with the title: "Nurse Murdered at Go-Go: Music and Drugs Blamed for Violence."

Meanwhile, Max (the owner of "Maxx Saxx Entertainment") manages three of the city's top go-go bands. After fifteen years of playing at local clubs, he feels the timing is perfect to take go-go music nationally. He arranges a sit-down meeting at the Watergate complex with Gil Colton (a Los Angeles-based record producer) hoping he'll sign his artists to a recording contract. Colton loves the music and the band's energy when performing live at the local clubs. However, he's worried about all of the bad press and media attention that's associated with the live performances. Because of this, he decides not to sign the artist and heads back to L.A.

Little Beats (an up-and-coming conga player for one of Max's go-go bands) has an older brother ("Chemist") who was once a promising college student majoring in chemistry.^[2] However, he started using illegal drugs, primarily PCP (aka "Luv Boat"), and is now robbing and stealing to finance his drug addiction. He also hangs with Mr. Ain't and his street crew as they travel around the city wreaking havoc, including the rape and murder of the nurse.

Eventually, this leads to Chemist being falsely accused and charged with the murder and rape. Little Beats is apprehended by Det. Harrigan, with hopes of getting more information of Chemist's whereabouts. Blass, now aware that the detective has been fabricating many of his police reports, has chosen to disassociate himself with Harrigan. He gets in touch with Little Beats, Chemist, and their mother and works to clear Chemist of the allegations, along with exposing the police misconduct of Det. Harrigan.^[2]

Cast

Art Garfunkel as S.D. Blass
Robert Doqui as Max
Harris Yulin as Det. Matthew Harrigan
Reginald Daughtry as Little Beats
Richard Brooks as Chemist
Richard Bauer as Editor-in-chief
Paula Davis as Evette
Michael White as Gil Colton
Hattie Winston as Little Beats' Mother
Fab Five Freddy (credited as "Fred Brathwaite") as Mr. Ain't
Anjelica Huston as Charlemaigne

Reception

Good to Go was produced with an estimated $1,500,000 budget. The film premiered on July 31, 1986 at the Warner Theatre^[4] in Washington, D.C. before being released nationally on August 1, 1986.^[4] Due to poor box office performance, the film was pulled shortly after its nationwide release. The film was repackaged under the title Short Fuse and released on VHS thereafter.^[4] The film is currently out-of-print.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released on August 1, 1986 in conjunction with the nationwide release of the film. It consists of a compilation of 13-songs, mostly by local Washington, D.C.-based go-go bands, along with several dancehall musician. The Good to Go soundtrack was released with intentions of it becoming a springboard to elevate go-go music, similar to the way The Harder They Come soundtrack influenced the acceptance of reggae music globally.^[5]^[6]^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Review: Good to Go". IMDb. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c Brett, Ty. "Comeuppance Reviews: "Short Fuse (1986)"". Comeuppance Reviews. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
^ KcKenna, Dave. "Art Garfunkel: The Unexpected Face of Go-Go". GrantLand. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c Lornell, Kip; Stephenson, Jr., Charles C. (2001). The Beat: Go-Go's Fusion of Funk and Hip-Hop. Billboard Books. pp. 104–105, 178, 199, 206, 209–218. ISBN 0-8230-7727-6.
^ Lornell, Kip; Stephenson, Jr., Charles C. (2009). The Beat! Go-Go Music from Washington, D.C. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 33, 149, 222, 243. ISBN 978-1-60473-241-2.
^ Cross, Charles R., ed. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 916. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
^ Chang, Jeff (2005). "Chapter 18. Becoming the Hip-Hop Generation: The Source, the Industry and the Big Crossover". Can't Stop Won't Stop (1st ed.). New York City: Picador–St. Martin's Press. pp. 407–409. ISBN 0-312-42579-1.

External links

Good to Go at IMDb
Good to Go at AllMovie
Good to Go at the British Film Institute^{[better source needed]}
Good to Go at the TCM Movie Database

[IMDb-1] "Review: Good to Go". IMDb. Retrieved 19 October 2016.

[Come-2] Brett, Ty. "Comeuppance Reviews: "Short Fuse (1986)"". Comeuppance Reviews. Retrieved 19 October 2016.

[Grant-3] KcKenna, Dave. "Art Garfunkel: The Unexpected Face of Go-Go". GrantLand. Retrieved 19 October 2016.

[TheBeat-4] Lornell, Kip; Stephenson, Jr., Charles C. (2001). The Beat: Go-Go's Fusion of Funk and Hip-Hop. Billboard Books. pp. 104–105, 178, 199, 206, 209–218. ISBN 0-8230-7727-6.

[Beat!-5] Lornell, Kip; Stephenson, Jr., Charles C. (2009). The Beat! Go-Go Music from Washington, D.C. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 33, 149, 222, 243. ISBN 978-1-60473-241-2.

[RS-6] Cross, Charles R., ed. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 916. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.

[CSWS-7] Chang, Jeff (2005). "Chapter 18. Becoming the Hip-Hop Generation: The Source, the Industry and the Big Crossover". Can't Stop Won't Stop (1st ed.). New York City: Picador–St. Martin's Press. pp. 407–409. ISBN 0-312-42579-1.

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