Bruce Willis with The Temptations or perhaps vice versa
"Under The Boardwalk"
Oh, when the sun beats down and burns the tar up on the roof
And your shoes get so hot, you wish your tired feet were fireproof
Under the boardwalk, down by the sea
On a blanket with my baby is where I'll be
(Under the boardwalk) Out of the sun
(Under the boardwalk) We'll be havin' some fun
(Under the boardwalk) People walking above
(Under the boardwalk) We'll be falling in love
Under the boardwalk, boardwalk
From the park you hear the happy sound of a carousel
Mmm, you can almost taste the hot dogs and French fries they sell
Under the boardwalk, down by the sea, yeah
On a blanket with my baby is where I'll be
(Under the boardwalk) Out of the sun
(Under the boardwalk) We'll be havin' some fun
(Under the boardwalk) People walking above
(Under the boardwalk) We'll be falling in love
Under the boardwalk, boardwalk
Oh, under the boardwalk, down by the sea, yeah
On a blanket with my baby is where I'll be
(Under the boardwalk) Out of the sun
(Under the boardwalk) We'll be havin' some fun
(Under the boardwalk) People walking above
(Under the boardwalk) We'll be falling in love
Under the boardwalk, boardwalk
"Under the Boardwalk" was the Drifters' last major hit, reaching #4 in mid-1964. That was right around the time the Drifters' heavily orchestrated New York pop-soul was started to pass out of fashion. But there are few better orchestrated New York pop-soul records than "Under the Boardwalk," a record where a great song, vocal, and production contributed about equally to the creation of a classic. Like many other 1960s Drifters songs, "Under the Boardwalk" adheres to a Latin American rhythm, one that puts more emphasis on the later beats of a measure than the earlier ones. The inventive instrumental introduction puts a perky, ascending bass against a scraping percussion noise and a triangle. That sets an upbeat mood for a pleasant tune that could almost be a calypso, or a Mexican ballad, with a cantina-like guitar trilling away in back of Johnny Moore's lead vocal. It's not the Caribbean or Mexico, however. It's America, and "Under the Boardwalk" has vivid images of coastal American beaches, with the boardwalk, hot sun, hot dogs, French fries, and carousels. These verses might have been enough alone to sell the song to radio and listeners. But they're outshone by the devastating chorus, in which the song suddenly goes into a vaguely ominous minor key. The way the backing Drifters sing-chant the title phrase is ominous too, almost threatening, as though something dangerous and momentous is going to happen under the boardwalk. Moore keeps serenading away about falling in love under the boardwalk as the backup singers counterpoint him in a moodier fashion. When Moore reaches the line about falling in love under the boardwalk, though, the backup vocal suddenly becomes a cappella and briefly changes rhythm, ending with an emphatic minor-keyed "boardwalk," as if a point of no return has suddenly been reached. In the best Drifters fashion, the orchestration becomes more elaborate as the song goes on, adding sumptuous strings, particularly in the instrumental break, punctuating the backup chants of the title with dramatic staccato strokes on the last chorus. The end of the song is most creative, too, ending cold on a final "under the boardwalk." It's an ending that takes listeners by total surprise the first couple of times they hear it, as they expect the song to go back into the verse, but it doesn't. Too, that lends an air of finality to the song's mini-operetta, and also implies that whatever's gone on under the boardwalk might be a little sinister, in addition to being romantic. And what exactly does go on, under the boardwalk, other than the couple falling in love? It's not spelled out, but you don't go under the boardwalk to soak up the sun, and they're probably enjoying a romantic interlude, whether it's kissing or going quite a bit further than that.
The story behind the recording of "Under the Boardwalk," incidentally, was about as dramatic as the story in "Under the Boardwalk" itself. The song was written for Rudy Lewis to sing lead on, but Lewis died of a heroin overdose the night before the session. The session went ahead anyway, and the lead was handed to Johnny Moore, who did a magnificent job. "Under the Boardwalk" has been covered by several artists, the most famous of them being the Rolling Stones, who did it in 1964 for their second album, not long after the Drifters hit had come out.
The Rolling Stones' version is a little disappointing; the arrangement, faithful to the original but lacking any orchestration, sounds underrehearsed and a little ragged, while Mick Jagger's lead vocal strains to the point of breaking when he tries to hit the high notes at the end of the verse.
| "Under the Boardwalk" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The Drifters | ||||
| B-side | "I Don't Want to Go On Without You" | |||
| Released | June 1964 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Recorded | 1964 | |||
| Genre | Soul, pop standards | |||
| Length | 2:45 | |||
| Label | Atlantic 8099 | |||
| Writer(s) | Kenny Young Arthur Resnick | |||
| Producer(s) | Bert Berns | |||
| The Drifters singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Under the Boardwalk" is a hit pop song written by Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick and recorded by The Drifters in 1964. It charted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The song has since been covered by many other artists, with versions by the Tom Tom Club, The Rolling Stones,Billy Joe Royal, Bruce Willis, and Lynn Anderson all charting in the United States or overseas. The song ranked #489 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Premise
The lyric describes a tryst between a man and his beloved in a seaside town, 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 opening line of the song references the Drifters' prior hit "Up on the Roof", showing the occasional thermal weakness of the rooftop getaway and setting the stage for an alternate meeting location, under the boardwalk.
History
The song was set to be recorded on May 21, 1964, but the band's lead singer, Rudy Lewis, died of a suspected heroin overdose the night before. Lewis had sung lead on most 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 lead vocalist Johnny Moore was brought back to perform lead vocals for the recording. The personnel on that recording included Ernie Hayes on piano, Everett Barksdale, Bill Suyker and Bob Bushnell on guitar, Milt Hinton on bass, Gary Chester on drums and George Devens on percussion. The last-minute move was a success, as the single, released on Atlantic Records, went to number four on the Billboard Hot 100 charts and number one for three non consecutive weeks on Cashbox Magazine's R&B chart.There are two versions of the song. The mono 45 USA released version contains the line "We'll be falling in love". Beneath the line "We'll be falling in love" on the stereo album version, the line "We'll be making love" can be heard. These are two entirely different recordings, not edits of one another, as the line "on a blanket with my baby is where I'll be" is sung differently in each version. The version appearing on the Drifters' Golden Hits compilation is a composite of the two, using "making love" in the first two choruses and "falling in love" in the third. Because of the line "making love" several radio stations banned the song, or altered it with the line "we'll be falling in love" instead.
Covers
| "Under the Boardwalk" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Bruce Willis | ||||
| from the album The Return of Bruno | ||||
| Released | May 1987 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Recorded | 1987 | |||
| Genre | Pop, R&B | |||
| Length | 3:03 | |||
| Label | Motown | |||
| Writer(s) | Kenny Young Arthur Resnick | |||
| Bruce Willis singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Under the Boardwalk" has since been covered by many artists, including Bette Midler, and the Tom Tom Club (whose version reached #22 in the UK Top 40 in 1982, becoming the first version of the song to chart in Britain). Versions by Billy Joe Royal, Bruce Willis (a #2 success in the UK), and Lynn Anderson (#24 on the Country singles) all reached the Billboard charts.
The song has been translated to Spanish and interpreted by the pioneer Argentine rock group Los Gatos Salvajes under the title of "Bajo la rambla", on their 1965 debut LP Los Gatos Salvajes. It was also covered by the Argentine band Los Perros on their 1992 album Perfume y dolor. In Mexico it was also covered by Los Apson Boys in 1966, with the name of "Fue en un café". It was also covered by Ana Gabriel in 1996 with a Spanish version called "Fue en Un cafe" using the music from Bette Midler's version of the song. She also sung the song in its original English version. Both versions are on her 1996 album Vivencias.
A cover of this song by the Rolling Stones appeared on their albums. Their 1964 version was released as a single-only in Australia, South Africa and Rhodesia, and peaked at no. 1 in the first two and at 2 in Rhodesia. It appeared on their albums 12 X 5 and The Rolling Stones No. 2. In 2007, it was included on the album Rhythms del Mundo Classics.
Alternate versions
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.
Another parody cover version came from Germany by Lothar & die Trabanten in 1991. The song "Unter dem Wartburg" ("Under the Wartburg") describes the technical problems a family father has with his Wartburg car, a car made in the German Democratic Republic, while travelling fromDresden to Rimini.
After Hurricane Sandy hit the Jersey Shore in New Jersey, causing widespread damage to the New York and New Jersey area, Jimmy Fallon, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, and Steven Tyler performed the song during the November 2012 Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together telethon, referencing the many shoreline boardwalks that were damaged and destroyed in the storm.
Doc Pomus (Photo: William P. Gottlieb courtesy of the Library Of Congress)Doc Pomus (Photo: William P. Gottlieb courtesy of the Library Of Congress)