I salute Frankie Smith, a funk musician and R&B/soul songwriter best known for his 1981 single, “Double Dutch Bus.” The Philadelphian attended college in Tennessee for elementary education with a minor in music. He became a writer for funk and soul artists such as the OJays and The Spinners. He has also been influential in the careers of the rappers Tone Lōc, Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg. With “Double Dutch Bus,” Smith popularized a nonsensical form of slang in which iz is placed in the middle of a word (for example, the word place becomes plizace) or the last letters of a word are replaced with -izzle (ex. sure becomes shizzle). The style became part of hip-hop slang, and was popularized by rappers Snoop Dogg and E-40. The style today holds a place in popular slang. Double Dutch Bus itself has been sampled frequently in hip-hop, including Snoop Doggs Snoop Dogg (Whats My Name, Pt. 2) and Missy Elliotts Gossip Folks. Both records were produced by Timbaland. His single Double Dutch Bus is also featured in the 2008 Disney movie College Road Trip starring Martin Lawrence and Raven-Symoné. Smith’s version rocketed to popularity in a matter of weeks and debuted on the US Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart in February, rising to the top spot by July, where it held at number one for four weeks. It also crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 30 in the summer of 1981. The record became only the second in history (following the 1979 Barbra Streisand/Donna Summer duet No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)), and remains one of the few, to receive two separate standard-release Gold certifications from the RIAA: first in June 1981 for sales of the 12 single; and a second Gold record in September 1981 for sales of the 7 edit. Interestingly, Smith once applied to be a bus driver for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), which operates Philadelphias public transit system, but SEPTA turned him down. The Transpass referred to by Smith in Double Dutch Bus is an actual monthly fare pass issued by SEPTA. Below, you can take a ride on Frankie Smith’s “Double Dutch Bus.”
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 16:58:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015