| Go See the Doctor | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Kool Moe Dee |
| Album: | Kool Moe Dee |
| B-Side: | Monster Crack |
| Released: | 1986 |
| Recorded: | 1986 |
| Genre: | Golden age hip hop |
| Length: | 3:57 |
| Producer: |
|
| Prev Title: | Turn It Up |
| Prev Year: | 1985 |
| Next Title: | Rock Steady |
| Next Year: | 1987 |
"Go See the Doctor" is a song by American rapper singer Kool Moe Dee. It was released in 1986 as the first single from his eponymous debut album. Originally published by Rooftop, it was later reissued by Jive.[1]
Produced by Kool Moe Dee himself with Lavaba and Teddy Riley, the song has messages of the prevention of sexually transmitted infections.[2]
"Go See the Doctor" became Kool Moe Dee's first single to appear on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 89 in April 1987 and staying on the chart for five weeks.[3] It also peaked at number seven on the Belgian Ultratop (Flanders), number three on the Dutch Nationale Hitparade and number 82 on the UK Singles Chart, being his single with the highest impact outside the United States.
Bruce Pollock listed the song in his book Rock Song Index: The 7500 Most Important Songs for the Rock and Roll Era (2005)
During the school year of 1985-1986, two high school students wrote the lyrics for Go See the Doctor. The lyrics were written on the inside cover of their Calculus text books. Eli Whitley and Steve Swank of Gilroy High School where more interested in rap lyrics and girls than calculus. Eli was from the Detroit area and with connections to Def Sound Studio, sold the song for minimal compensation. The studio would buy songs, then sell them for distribution to fill album space for recording artists. The original version did not have the triangle ding in it. Slight modification to the basic beat and kicker notes, it was refined for Kool Moe Dee to cut on a record. The two writers different backgrounds and witty story telling, painted the pleasure and price of bad choices.
During an interview in June 1987, Kool Moe Dee commented on "Go See the Doctor":
The song, which Los Angeles Times described as "a story, in explicit language, of the contraction and consequences of a sexually transmitted disease", aroused controversy in the United States, but was used in a public service announcement in Germany.
In a later interview Kool Moe Dee stated that "Go See the Doctor" was "the hardest thing I had to do in my career":
Among the song's producers was Teddy Riley, who at that time was 18 years old and had previously worked on the Doug E. Fresh hit "The Show".
The song contains a sample of James Brown's "Funky Drummer" (In an interview with Vibe in 2012 Teddy Riley declared about this time that "Between me and Marley Marl, we were the first to sample James Brown").[4] The song also interpolates Hank Williams's "Hey, Good Lookin'".
Hip hop magazine Ego Trip included "Go See the Doctor" on in its list of the Greatest Hip-Hop Singles of 1986.[5]
Bruce Pollock listed the song in his book Rock Song Index: The 7500 Most Important Songs for the Rock and Roll Era (2005) for "instructive editorial in the era of AIDS".
A-side
B-side
| Chart (1987) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[6] | 74 | |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[7] | 55 |