By JayQuan
*Frankie Smith departed this life 3/9/19 - May He Rest In Peace*
JayQuan: Where are you from , and how did you get into music?
Frankie Smith: Im originally from Philadelphia Pennyslvania , and i've been playing keyboards since 1961. When I was in college I discovered that I could play by ear.
JQ: Who were your influences?
FS: Oh ,Oscar Peterson & Herbie Hancock. Originally I wanted to play Jazz so most of my stuff is Jazz orientated with an R&B flavor.
JQ: So you didn’t have aspirations of becoming a vocalist?
FS: No , I just wanted to play Jazz piano. I was majoring in elementary education , with a minor in music , but my scholarship ran out and I had to drop out of school. I have been playing by ear now for more than 40 years.
JQ: Was Philly International your first professional gig?
JQ: So before 1976 you were just trying to break into the industry?
FS: Right. I was just at home playing keyboards and writing lyrics. But Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff taught me everything I know , along with McFadden and Whitehead. They sat me down and showed me. There is a formula to writing hit records and they showed me! They even sent me to engineering school.
JQ: What happened after 1979?
FS: Philly International shut down in ’79 , and I took what I learned there and created a song called the Double Dutch Bus.
JQ: What was the inspiration for the DDB, and is it true that Fat Larry (of Fat Larry’s Band) was involved in the early stages of the record?
FS: I was sitting in my living room one day watching the Lil Rascals , and there is a character named Froggy with a scratchy frog like voice. I was never a vocalist , and I didn’t want to be in competition with real singers so I said I could use a voice like that , or like Popeye. I saw girls outside jumping rope in 90 degree weather, and they were sayin’ “25 , 35 , 45 hey you missed!” I put that to a rhythm right there in my living room. I was just snapping my fingers , not even at the piano. I came up with a song I called Double Dutch NOT Double Dutch Bus.
I put the frog voice to it and took it to WMOT records where Fat Larry happened to be an artist. I wanted some studio time, and I got booked on the same day that Fat Larry was recording 3 tracks for an upcoming album. I asked him to play a drum beat for about 5 or 6 minutes. I told him what was in my head , and how I wanted him to play. He played and I was beating on a cowbell with a drum stick. After that I built on the track with basslines, keyboards and lyrics.
JQ: So the B side of the DDB single, called Double Dutch was actually the original song?
FS: Correct. If you listen to the pig latin that Missy Elliot sampled in her song “Gossip Folk” , she took it from Double Dutch , not Double Dutch Bus.
JQ: According to the RIAA how many copies did DDB originally sell?
FS: They say it sold 500,000 45s and 600,000 12” singles so it was platinum. Back then a million was platinum. Today it's more than 6 million that ive sold. It was so much stealing going on its hard to say. That was a unique record, and they didn’t know how to characterize me. They didn’t know if if was a rapper or what. Then it had the pig latin – and they didn’t know if I was cursing or what. Snoop Dogg gave me my props that I was the one who originated the slang he uses with that foe shizzle.
JQ: But Pig Latin existed long before your record.
JQ: Wow you look like you could be in your early 50s. I had no idea that you were almost 70 years old….
FS: Well I don’t do any drugs or drinking, just Pepsi Colas and Cheeseburgers!!
JQ: You were touring with Zapp and those groups as well as Grandmaster Flash and The Treacherous 3. Did you consider yourself a rapper?
FS: I didn’t know how to market myself , and neither did the label. They were too busy stealing. I had so many opportunities to do commercials and shows with the Mc Donald Girls and The Fantastic 4 (double dutch crews). I didn’t find out until later that companies were approaching the label with offers , but they were so busy stealing that they weren’t interested , and they never even mentioned to me that I had the offers.
JQ: After DDB blew up , did you ever run into Gamble & Huff?
When I went to the IRS to file my income taxes, the label was stealing so much that they out smarted themselves. They gave me a check for $23,000, and the record was Platinum. They looked at the check and looked back at me and said didn’t your record go Gold? I said no Platinum, but I cant pay taxes on monies I didn’t get. So they promised to help me find my money so I could be a good citizen and pay my taxes. When they kept seeing these 5 Million dollar deposits to overseas bank accounts and the name Larry Lavin kept popping up , my lil money became small potatoes!
Your next question is probably can’t you still get your money? ….Nope after 7 years there is a statute of limitations, and every one who I went after filed chapter 7 , 11 and 13. All they had to do is pay me!! When they didn’t pay me it put up a red flag to the IRS and Larry Lavin (WMOT CEO) is in jail for life!!
Larry didn’t beat me. He was just laundering his money through that label. The bigger the record got the less he paid me. That’s stupid!! If you’re stealing all that money pay the artist!!
JQ: Where did the image come from with the big mustache, big cowboy hat and gun & holster.
JQ: You had a song on your “Children Of Tommorow” lp called the Auction. It had the western feel to it. Did you write that?
FS: My partner co wrote that with me. His name is Bill Bloom. He was playin' around on the Honkey Tonk piano on that one. That was gonna be my next single , that’s why I did it on Soul Train. I had been on tour about 18 weeks straight opening for Rick James. I was given a 40,000 check. The label told me they had 80,000 and I was getting half.
JQ: Yeah Lady B had a single on Tec called “To The Beat Y’all”.
FS: Yeah Lady B helped blow the Double Dutch Bus up! ( Lady B is a Philly radio personality and early female rapper).
JQ: So how did you label Frills come about?
FS: After I got taken I said I would just start my own label! All you gotta do is take 800 dollars and go to Delaware where there is no tax. I called it Frills for Frank’s records….just using the slang again like Frillsankie….But all I did was write a song about girls jumpin’ rope and people have gotten killed and are in jail!!
JQ: Are you getting paid when people sample your stuff?
JQ: What was some of the stuff that you did at Philly International?
FS: my first song was called “Hard Not To Like You”. That was Archie Bell & The Drells. I wrote that along with McFadden & Whitehead. I did stuff wit the Futures, Dee Dee Sharpe and we cut something with Teddy Pendergrass that didn’t make the album. Only 8 songs were on an album back then. 4 were gonna automatically go to Gamble and Huff. The other 4 writers had to wait their turns for. So I worked with Lou Rawls , The O Jays , Billy Paul and all of those guys. But your song didn’t always make the album…..Also I did something with Michael Pettison Jr.
JQ: With the DDB you were able to do Merv Griffin , American Bandstand , The American Music Awards and Soul Train , is that right?
FS: Yes. I opened for Rick James when he had Street Songs out , and I was an opener for Frankie Beverly , Carl carlton & Smokey Robinson. It was a good experience…. I remember Eveyln Champaign Kings mother worked at Philly International. She kept telling Gamble & Huff that her daughter could sing. They kept telling her “all things in time”. Someone took her right to RCA where she had her biggest song with Shame. She never looked back…..
JQ:..Its been an honor. Thanks for your time.
*Frankie Smith departed this life 3/9/19 - May He Rest In Peace*
http://www.thafoundation.com/franks...ujgyjEMatQI0k4-cqQQnIyuDRBJuzLcPfVMStR3kxYUu8
RIP. Condolences to his family. 
