"Double Dutch" is a 1983 single by Malcolm McLaren. It is taken from his debut album Duck Rock. "Double Dutch" is the follow-up to his successful debut single, "Buffalo Gals", and reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart, making it his highest-charting single release. The album version is a slight re-edit of the single, with part of the original middle eight moved to the end of the track. The song concerns the skipping game of the same name, with McLaren's narration mentioning several New York double dutch troupes by name, notably the Ebonettes, whose name is also used as a chant in the chorus.
Mbaqanga group, The Boyoyo Boys, took legal action against McLaren over the similarity of "Double Dutch" with their own hit "Puleng". After a lengthy legal battle in the UK the matter was settled out of court, with payment made to the South African copyright holders, songwriter Petrus Maneli and publisher Gallo Music, but Horn and Mclaren retained their songwriting credits.
The track was heavily sampled by British house music trio Dope Smugglaz on their 1999 track Double Double Dutch.
Famous quotes containing the words double and/or dutch:
“O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven;
It hath the primal eldest curse upon ‘t,
A brother’s murder. Pray can I not,
Though inclination be as sharp as will;
My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent,
And like a man to double business bound
I stand in pause where I shall first begin,
And both neglect. What if this cursed hand
Were thicker than itself with brother’s blood,
Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens
To wash it white as snow?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The French courage proceeds from vanity—the German from phlegm—the Turkish from fanaticism & opium—the Spanish from pride—the English from coolness—the Dutch from obstinacy—the Russian from insensibility—but the Italian from anger.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)