Biography
Doctor Father was the band name used by British musicians Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme – later of 10cc – for the release of a single, "Umbopo", in August 1970.
The trio had already recorded as Hotlegs and had achieved a UK No.2 hit a month earlier with "Neanderthal Man".
"Umbopo" was written by Godley and Creme, produced by Creme and featured Godley on lead vocals. Released on the Pye Records label, it was an expanded reworking of "There Ain't No Umbopo", a song the trio had recorded in 1969 under the guise of American bubblegum pop group Crazy Elephant. That song had emerged from an intense three-month period at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, near Manchester, writing and performing songs for American hitmakers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeff Katz of Super K Productions.
Despite regular airplay on Radio Northsea "Umbopo" did not appear on the British charts and was the sole release by Doctor Father. A brief sample of the song was included on The History Mix Volume 1 by Godley & Creme in 1985, while the full version – along with the shorter Crazy Elephant version – appeared on the Strawberry Bubblegum compilation CD from Castle Music in 2003.
The decision to create a new band name for the release of "Umbopo" was consistent with the trio's operating procedure of the previous year: working with Kasenetz, Katz and Manchester songwriter Graham Gouldman, they had recorded a large number of songs under names including Silver Fleet, Fighter Squadron and Festival. Creme later recalled: "Singles kept coming out under strange names that had really been recorded by us. I've no idea how many there were, or what happened to them all." After "Umbopo" the band reverted to Hotlegs and produced several singles and an album, Thinks: School Stinks.
In 1972 Stewart, Godley and Creme joined Gouldman to form the pop band 10cc.
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