Ernie K-Doe was a true New Orleans character, an R&B singer who enjoyed early success and then spent the rest of his life as a local fixture who found new and creative ways to capitalize on his legacy. Born Ernest Kador Jr. on February 22, 1933, K-Doe cut his teeth with vocal groups around New Orleans in the mid to late 1950s. He would then be forever associated with his first single as a solo artist, the 1961 novelty hit “Mother-in-Law”, written and produced by New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint, which hit Number 1. He would taste the middle ranges of the charts with songs like “Te-Ta-Te-Ta-Ta” and “Later for Tomorrow”, but by 1968 his hitmaking days were over. In the ‘80s, K-Doe became a deejay on local New Orleans radio, and continued to provide the color and flair that punctuated his recording career. In 1994 he opened a venue and club, the Mother-in-Law Lounge, which became his home away from home and even outlasted him after he died of alcohol-related causes on July 5, 2001.
