Sugar Bear to get AAAA Fest dancing
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"This is Sugar Bear talking -- tell 'em to bring their dancing shoes 'cause we're gonna party."
Sugar Bear is Gregory Elliott, founder and bass player of the band E.U., which will perform 8 p.m. Saturday at the Warren Community Amphitheatre as part of the African American Achievers Association Festival at Courthouse Square.
E.U. (Experience Unlimited) is best known for the single "Da Butt," which topped Billboard's Black Singles chart and peaked at No. 23 and 35 on its Dance Club Play and Hot 100 charts and earned a Grammy nomination for best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocal.
Fresh off performing on Radio Host Tom Joyner's Fantastic Voyage cruise, Elliott said during a telephone interview Tuesday that he still believes the band should have won that Grammy over Gladys Knight & the Pips, but the songs enduring popularity remains a gift.
"Thank God for it," he said. "It's still being played to this very moment, and we're speaking about it."
The song was prominently featured in the Spike Lee's movie "School Daze," and Elliott still remembers the immediate impact of that.
"We didn't have no cellphones then. Do you remember pagers? My pager was blowing up -- 'Turn on the radio. They're playing your song.' There was a video to go along with it, and that was even more exciting. That was a blessing, to get all that love and response, that acknowledgment and appreciation for your talent like that. That was our ticket."
E.U. may qualify as a one-hit wonder -- the band ranked at No. 61 on VH1's "100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the '80s" -- on the pop chart, but its R&B hits include "Buck Wild," "Taste of Your Love" and "I Confess," and the band collaborated with Salt-N-Pepa on "Shake Your Thang."
An even earlier song, "Hey You" from E.U.'s 1977 debut album "Free Yourself," provided the soundtrack for a 2022 New Balance commercial featuring rapper Jack Harlow and basketball player Kawhi Leonard.
Elliott still practices five days a week to maintain his bass-playing chops, but that's not the only way he makes a living. He just finished his 27th year as a special education teacher in the public school system of Alexandria, Va. He said he loves seeing his students excel and celebrating their achievements, but there also are practical reasons for his dual career.
"In music, we are self-employed, entrepreneurs," he said. "We don't have no insurance, no dental, no nothing."
Growing up in Washington, D.C., Elliott was influenced by the district's Go-Go scene, led by Chuck Brown & the Soul Searchers (according to Elliott's bio on eusugarbear.com, he even got a lecture as a high school musician from the legend on how to get a crowd up and moving). Go-Go certainly incorporates elements of soul and funk and it influenced hip hop, but with Go-Go, the players establish a groove and keep it going for as long as the crowd is moving.
"It's hard to duplicate Go-Go music on wax," he said. "You have to see it live to appreciate it. 'Da Butt' on wax is four minutes. When you see us live, you get a 10-minute version, and you really feel it."
If you go …
WHAT: Trumbull County African American Achievers Association Festival
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday
WHERE: Courthouse Square, West Market Street and North Park Avenue, Warren, with entertainment on Saturday and Sunday at the Warren Community Amphitheatre, 321 Mahoning Ave. NW, Warren.
HOW MUCH: Admission is free. Donations will be accepted for entertainment at the amphitheater.