The song title represents a combination of two institutions in Smith's Philadelphia, Pennsylvania neighborhood: the double Dutchjump ropegame played by neighborhood kids; and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority bus system that was a backbone of the local transportation network. Smith and co-writer Bill Bloom persuaded contacts at WMOT Records to finance the song, and it was recorded in early 1981, engineered by Gene Leone. The song rocketed to popularity in a matter of weeks and debuted on the US BillboardHot 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 BillboardHot 100, where it peaked at number 30in the summer of 1981. The record became only the second in history, remaining 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. In the National Geographic documentary "King of Coke: Living the High Life" Frankie Smith explains how the song was composed. He also states that WMOT Records failed to pay him his royalties, and how he therefore was unable to pay his taxes. An investigation was started which brought to light that WMOT Records was not only badly managed, but in fact laundering money for Larry Lavin, aka Dr. Snow, a dentist who was secretly dealing cocaine.
Chart positions
Sampling
The song was sampled heavily by Missy Elliott for use in the song "Gossip Folks". Kylie Minogue sampled the song during her Fever Tour in her performance of "Cowboy Style". Madonna sampled the song on her Sticky & Sweet Tour performance of "Into the Groove". The "UK Extended Dis" mix of Beat Dis by Bomb the Bass also sampled the track.
"Double Dutch Bus" was later covered by Raven-Symoné. The track was released to promote the film College Road Trip and is the first and only single from her fourth and self-titled studio album. The single was placed on Radio Disney on February 9, 2008. This version has an updated hip hop and R&B sound. "Double Dutch Bus" was released to the US iTunes Store on March 4, 2008.
