K-Doe for Mayor

You may have missed it, but the great Ernie K-Doe is running for Mayor of New Orleans despite having died five years ago. His widow Antoinette launched his campaign the other day and is hoping to raise money to rebuild the Mother in Law Lounge, which was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Ernie brings back many happy memories of New Orleans for me, despite many of his performances being rather shambolic due to an excess of alcohol. I particularly remember a visit that John Howard and I made to his lounge a few years ago. He sat on his throne on a trance-like state as we paid homage to the great man and when the time came for him to sing he seemed to think he was Jerry Butler, performing a lengthy version of I stand accused in a strange warbling baritone. Nevertheless the man was a genius - the epitome of New Orleans R &B. His big hit Mother in Law was just one of many great tracks he recorded in the 60s and he continued to entertain until his death in 2001. I last saw him a couple of months before he died, looking remarkably smart and sober. He was with his wife and was on his way to record a radio interview with WWOZ and Antionette took a photo of me and him together in front of his brightly painted minibus. His death was a great loss to New Orleans - and I really hope that he wins the election and becomes Mayor. It would be quite a story. Vote K-Doe Vote. He's cocky but he's good. For details of Ernie's campaign look here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060409/us_nm/hurricanes_kdoe_dc