Four of the five songs I’m featuring this week are by black artists, which I find interesting considering all the talk in recent years about how white America has adopted black musical culture.
That’s certainly true today, but maybe it’s not such a new phenomenon. Maybe it’s always been true.
Don’t get me wrong… I was listening to Phil Collins in 1981 right alongside Frankie Smith’s ‘Double Dutch Bus.’ But the songs I most remember from those years are by black folk. And I’m not even including Michael Jackson, who actually was black back then.
‘Double Dutch Bus’ is a funk hit that topped the R&B charts for 8 weeks in ’81 and cracked the Top 40 as well. Its middle section makes use of the “izz” language later popularized by Snoop Dogg. I didn’t realize that this inner city version of Pig Latin actually dates back to the 70s, when it was commonly used among pimps.
All this time I thought it was the Dogg’s own doing. Fo shizzle my nizzle.
There’s a double dutch
bus comin’ down the street
Movin pretty fast
So kinda shuffle your feet
Get on the bus and pay your fare
And tell the driver that you’re
Goin’ to a Double Dutch Affair
Fe Fi Fo Fum
Well I’ll be darn here it comes
The Double Dutch Bus is on the street
You’d better get off the curb
Move your feet
Bus fare trans-pass
That’s the way my money lasts
Ain’t got no car to get around
When I go to work I’ve gotta go downtown
Now I’ve missed my train
That’s a darn shame
When I’m running late no sleep’s to blame
If you’ve gotta wife you know I’m right
Gotta special man well I can understand
Uptown, downtown everybody’s getting down
Say uptown say downtown
Well I’ve missed my bus I know I’m late
I’ve gotta do something I knio0w I hate
I’m gonna walk to work fifteen blocks
I already got a hole in my socks
Go ahead and laugh that’s okay
Cause what I really wanna say
I got bad feet my corns hurt
To top it off I’m lost for work
Let me tell you what I say
When I’m dealing with the funky sidewalk
Let me show you how to walk
When I gotta do my funky walk
Let me tell you what I say
When I’m dealing with the funky sidewalk
I say sssssssss-sugar
(Rep with children)
Bip, bomp, bam alakazam
But only when you’re grooving
With the Double Dutch Man
Put on your skates don’t forget your rope
Cause I know I’m gonna see you
At my Double Dutch Show
Rebecca, Lolita, Veshawn and Dawn
Everytime you do the Double Dutch you really turn it on
Bilzarbra, Mitzery, Milzetty, Kilsan
Titzommy, Kitzerrance, Kilzommy that’s my man
Come on get on my Double Dutch Bus
(The Double Dutch Bus)
Let me hear you say do that
(Do that)
Let me hear you say Do that again
(Do that again)
Let me hear you say do the do
Let me hear you say do the do the do
Do the do, do do do do do
Meet Me In Montauk 
Well, at least this is a song I actually remember, though it’s not a song that really defined my early 80’s experience. Basically, I didn’t “go black” until MTV did:) Actually, that’s not true—I was way into Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” (as my kids can still attest as I torture them every once in a while with my mad rap skills from that song)
I’m not sure why anyone would argue that black artists only recently dominate the music industry. Obviously, Motown in the 60’s and 70’s was an extremely huge presence and, by the 80’s you had the likes of Jackson and Prince, followed by the rap explosion of the 90’s. Arguably, there may have been some brief lull in the impact of black artists at some point in the 90’s as grunge, metal and alternative music seemed omnipresent, but, by the late 90’s and through today, the industry remains dominated by black artists.
I don’t remember Dad playing this one in the car 😉
I’m loving all these old black songs you’re writing about. This is my favorite music of all types and eras.
Now, if you’re writing about the ’80s, I think you should also be posting pics of yourself from that era 🙂