Stephen doc kupka wikipedia
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Doc Kupka
Stephen "Doc" Kupka was born in Los Angeles, CA on March 25th, 1946. His family moved to Berkeley, CA when he was 2. He started playing the oboe at age 12, and played throughout high school and college. Doc's first baritone sax experience came as a senior at Berkeley High School, when he played in the stage grupp for a semester. During his junior year in college, he had an uncontrollable desire to play rhythm and blues after hearing James Brown, Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, amongst other soul singers and bands of the day. He then took a job as a roadie with The Loading Zone grupp while striving to become proficient on the baritone sax.
Doc met Emilio Castillo of Tower of Power over the July 4th weekend in 1968. He had an audition with Tower of Power, was offered the job, and has been with the group ever since. Doc's first gig with the group was at I.D.E.S. ingångsrum in Hayward, CA on August 13th, 1968. The group played an audition for Bill Graham at the Fillmore Auditorium duri
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Tower of Power is a horn-based funk/soul band from Oakland, California. In the mid-1960s, 17-year-old tenor saxophonist Emilio Castillo moved from Detroit, Michigan, to Fremont, California. He started a band called the Motowns, specializing in soul music. In 1968, Castillo teamed up with baritone saxophonist Stephen "The Funky Doctor" Kupka and trumpet/trombone player Mic Gillette, moved to Oakland, and began writing original material. They changed the band's name to Tower of Power and began playing frequently in the Bay Area.
In 1970, TOP signed a recording contract with Bill Graham's San Francisco Records and quickly released its first album, East Bay Grease. 1972's Bump City and 1973's self-titled release were breakout albums for the band; the latter included possibly their most enduring song, What is Hip?.
Tower of Power has remained active throughout the 1970s, '80s, '90s, and into the 21st century, and is still touring in 2010. Personn
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Tower of Power
American R&B and funk band
This article is about the band. For the band's namesake album, see Tower of Power (album). For other uses, see Tower of Power (disambiguation).
Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968.[1] The band has had a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted the band between early 1973 and late 1974, the period of their greatest commercial success. They have had eight songs on the Billboard Hot 100;[2] their highest-charting songs include "You're Still a Young Man", "So Very Hard to Go", "What Is Hip?", and "Don't Change Horses (in the Middle of a Stream)".[3][4]
History
[edit]In the summer of 1968, tenor saxophonist/vocalist Emilio Castillo met Stephen "Doc" Kupka, who played baritone sax. Castillo had played in several bands, and hired Kupka after a home