THE NATIVE

Ernie K-Doe didn't have a lot of hits. He had one. That doesn't make a bit of difference. He is as New Orleans as any of the more successful musicians, producers, and songwriters associated with the city, maybe even more so. Because he had that certain thing, the secret ingredient of any music scene with a soul, he was a funky eccentric. After his first go-around lost steam, he went on the radio, as a DJ on WWOZ, ranting and raving like a nut, and occasionally getting around to playing records. He started calling himself "Mister Naugahyde", a suitably WTF moniker, but then he settled on "The Emperor of the Universe", which was brilliant. When you're going to give yourself a title, go big, right? He enjoyed something of a comeback in the nineties, after his wife Antoinette encouraged him to really let his flag fly. (That's her with K-Doe above. The excellent photo is by Jeff Riedel). Capes, crowns, flowing tresses, feathers, the whole shooting match.

Here's a handful by K-Doe, and a radio show from his days on WWOZ. Dig it, It's seventy minutes of K-Doe, going off and spinning the wax.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Ernie K-Doe - A Certain Girl mp3 at Hearsay
Ernie K-Doe - Wanted, $10.000 Reward mp3 at J Yuenger
Ernie K-Doe - Mother In Law mp3 at Net Animations (?)
Ernie K-Doe - Popeye Joe mp3 at Probe Is Turning-On the People
Ernie K-Doe - Here Come the Girls mp3 at Brendan McGetrick (?)
Radio show:
Ernie K-Doe on WWOZ at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban
Visit:
Ernie K-Doe at Wikipedia