Go (Moby song)


"Go" is a song by American electronica musician Moby, released in March 1991 by record label Instinct as the first single from his self-titled debut album.
The single was a success in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background

"Go", in its original form, was first released as the B-side to Moby's debut single "Mobility" in November 1990. Moby later composed an alternate mix of the song, built around string samples from Angelo Badalamenti's "Laura Palmer's Theme" from the television series Twin Peaks, which was released as a single in its own right in March 1991.
The title of the single version, "Woodtick Mix", is a reference to episode seven of Twin Peaks, when special agent Dale Cooper gets shot three times after folding up his bulletproof vest while chasing a wood tick as revealed in episode eight. Moby himself admitted so in his book.
"Go" samples the titular vocal from Tones on Tail's song "Go!". The "yeah" vocal which features prominently in the track is actually a sample from soul singer Jocelyn Brown, taken from her 1985 single "Love's Gonna Get You".

Release

"Go" was released in March 1991 by Instinct Records. The single peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart. An accompanying promotional music video for the song was released, directed by Ondrej Rudavsky. Moby recalled, "When it was released, my dream was for it to sell 4,000 copies. It did a couple of million, including compilations. And I really thought that when DJs played 'Go', it was because they were taking pity on me for making such a mediocre song. I guess it's a good thing I'm not a record company executive, huh?"
Fourteen different remixes of "Go" were collected and combined into an entire continuous CD as a bonus disc for Moby's 1996 compilation album . Another mix was produced for the compilation I Like to Score, released the following year. Trentemøller produced a remix for Moby's 2006 compilation Go – The Very Best of Moby; on the UK version of the album, the I Like to Score mix of the song appears instead. Drum and bass group Fourward released a remix of the song on a Moby Remix sampler in 2017.

Legacy

In 2010, "Go" was ranked number 134 in Pitchforks "Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s" list.

Track listing

Charts