Under the Boardwalk

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"Under the Boardwalk" is a hit pop song written by Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick and recorded by The Drifters in 1964.

The lyric describes a tryst between a man and his beloved in a seaside town (Myrtle Beach, SC), who plan to privately meet "out of the sun" and out of sight from everyone else under a boardwalk. The instrumentation includes güiro, triangle and violins. The song's chorus is unusual in that it switches from a major to minor key. The song occasionally quotes the chorus of the Drifters' prior hit "Up on the Roof".

The song was set to be recorded on May 21, 1964, but the band's lead singer, Rudy Lewis, unexpectedly died of a heroin overdose the night before. Lewis had sung lead on all of their hits since the 1960 departure of Ben E. King, including "Up on the Roof". Rather than reschedule the studio session to find a new frontman, former Drifters backup singer Johnny Moore was brought back to perform lead vocals for the recording. The last-minute move was a success, as the single, released on Atlantic Records, went to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

"Under the Boardwalk" has since been covered many times, including The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, John Mellencamp, The Undertones, Bette Midler, and Tom Tom Club. Versions by Billy Joe Royal, Bruce Willis, and Lynn Anderson (#24 on the Country singles) all reached the Billboard charts.

A cajun-tinged swamp pop parody of the song, "(Holly Beach) Under the Boardwalk" by Kenny Tibbs (Kenny Thibodeaux) and the Jokers was released in 1991 and was a perennial Louisiana jukebox favorite until Hurricane Rita virtually wiped out the small seaside resort of Holly Beach, Louisiana in 2005.

See also

• 1964 in music

References

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Last updated on Saturday January 26, 2008 at 22:22:47 PST (GMT -0800)
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