Released May 3, 1989 Genre Rock Label Capitol | Recorded 1989 Length 3:47 | |
Writer(s) Tom Johnston/Charlie Midnight/Eddie Schwartz | ||
"The Doctor" is a hit single released by The Doobie Brothers on their 1989 studio effort, Cycles. The song, so far, is the last hit single that the band has released; it reached the number 1 spot on the Billboard mainstream rock chart and peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The song was released with a music video that features the band playing to the tune with all of the members present. The video also got significant airplay on the music video channels throughout the US and helped propel the song into the spotlight. Guitarist and founding member Tom Johnston sang the lead vocal, after returning from years of being out of the band after Michael McDonald took over in the late 1970s. Johnston told Songfacts that he wrote the bulk of the song before the band re-formed when he was in a band called Border Patrol.