Frankie Smith ft Beverly Jones ~ Double Dutch/Double Dutch Bus 1981 Disco Purrfection Version

Froggy voiced Frankie Smith was probably the only voice you remember from 1981 when this one was a smash, since Beverly Jones’ rap and vocals were cut out of the single version release. The song was “Double Dutch/Double Dutch Bus“ and the “Double Dutch“ intro was removed along with any trace of Beverly before it went in wide release. Frankie was born in Philadelphia, PA and went to college in Tennessee and returned home to Sigma Sound Studios where Gamble and Huff hired him as a songwriter, staying on until the company’s demise. In 1971 he had recorded a song as Franklin called “Double Dutch“ for Paramount Records that did not chart. It was written about the jump rope game children played and Smith was disappointed when the record did not do better. He had applied to to city to work as a bus driver, got the job and was told to start in two weeks and that he would hear from them. The call never materialized and he used his frustration to this bus incident to fuel his expletive filled rap while recording the tune. Most of the rap fit the song, but he had to redo a few lines to remove the curse words and make it more radio friendly since he intended to reach out to the kids through it. Channeling Kurtis Blow who was hot at the time, and adding the kids chorus rapping in pig latin made this one irresistible to just about everyone, it was #1 R&B for four weeks, but peaked at #30 on the Hot 100. What a shame to make this a victim of the disco fallout, it is one of the best songs to come out of that era and I wanted to pay tribute to it and make you feel good on this Sunday night. Its still the weekend until midnight!