Songoftheday 1/16/16 - Walked in this place surprised to see a big girl gettin' busy, just rockin' to the go-go beat...

"Da' Butt" - E.U. 
from the albums School Daze (Original Soundtrack) (1988) and Livin' Large (1989)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #35 (three weeks)
Weeks in the Top-40: 4

Today's song of the day comes from the Washington, DC-based band Experience Unlimited, who started out in the mid-70s as a funk band in the locally-specific genre of "go-go". With a peculiar percussive pattern that gets the audience involved, and led by singer "Sugar Bear" Elliot, the band were local live favorites for years, though that didn't translate to much radio airplay and exposure beyond the DC area. That changed in 1988, when the band were recruited by director Spike Lee for hit movie School Daze. Starring a young Laurence Fishburne as a college student fighting against school money policy, the film was a critical counterpoint to the deluge of lily-white movies in the same age group (the "Brat Pack" movies and all). With the band's name condensed to E.U., their track "Da' Butt" was the highlight of the film, and the infectious club jam was finally afforded a national audience, where R&B airplay finally allowed it to cross over to pop stations...

"Da' Butt" went all the way to #1 on the R&B chart in April of 1988, and followed over to the pop top 40 the following month. The extended version also climbed to #23 on Billboard's Dance Club Play chart.

Riding on the success of the single, E.U. issued their Livin' Large album the following year. After guesting on female rappers Salt-N-Pepa's remake of "Shake Your Thang", which hit #4 R&B and #8 Dance, they landed two more top ten hits on the R&B list with "Buck Wild" (#7) and slow jam "Taste Of Your Love" (#4). In 1990, they released Cold Kickin' It, a stab at mainstream new-jack-swing, and first single "I Confess" reached #27 on the R&B chart, and follow-up "Ain't Found The Right One Yet" their last chart appearance at #72. But E.U. still retains their loyal local following, touring to this day.

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Here's E.U. kickin' it live at the Apollo in 1988...

...and for extra credit, here is the band of Bethune Cookman University in Florida killing it...

Up tomorrow: A filthy girl hits the top for the gloved one.