Archie Bell and the Drells, Billy Paul, and others. While there, he began to co-write songs with Bill Bloom.
A lil’ background info about Frankie is that prior to him creating his “Double Dutch” hit, he needed to find a way to make ends meet, so he once applied for a bus driving job with the city of Philadelphia, but they decided that he wasn’t qualified enough and in turn, didn’t hire him. Still a little angry about that experience, Smith recorded an expletive-laced improvised rap song about a “double dutch bus.” The engineers laughed and told Smith that they couldn’t use that, so he re-recorded a cuss-free version of the rap. He kept in mind the huge crossover success of Kurtis Blow, who had a million-selling single with The Breaks, and pig Latin, which had become a current rage with the kids. Smith recorded the rap at about two o’clock in the morning, giving the vocal a groggy, froggy flavor. To complete the track, Smith went to a bus terminal and recorded a horn, and invited neighborhood kids to the recording studio to add some hip pig Latin.
The track became extremely long, with co-writers/co-producers Smith and Bloom having singer Beverly Johnson add some vocals. The two decided to split up the track, with “Double Dutch” featuring Johnson being the A-side of the single and Smith’s version, titled “Double Dutch Bus,” becoming the B-side. WMOT favored Smith’s track more and instead made it the A-side. Selling over two-million copies and included on the Children of Tomorrow album, “Double Dutch Bus” parked at number one R&B for four weeks, going to number 30 pop in the summer of 1981. Dick Clark asked Smith to rap the rules for the 1982 American Music Awards, which aired on ABC. Smith toured with Rick James, Slave, Zapp, Sugarhill Gang, Gap Band, the Commodores, Kool and the Gang, and Smokey Robinson. “Double Dutch Bus” appears on Old School, Vol. 1, The Best of WMOT Records, and Star Funk, Vol. 1. Smith’s other WMOT singles includes The Auction and Teeny Bopper Lady b/w Slang Thang. The entertainer began appearing in movies such as Beloved, Snake Eyes, and horror B-movies. Smith re-recorded his biggest hit for the 1999 CD Double Dutch Bus (Planet Entertainment) and released another album, The Frogman.
There you have it folks, Frankie Smith is still riding off of his “Double Dutch” success, which sold 2 million records. Are you ready for a “Double Dutch Bus” part 2? Maybe we’ll be getting that one next because based on this photo, it looks like Frankie Smith still goes into the studio to record every now and then.
