"Pass the Dutchie" is a 1982 song performed by British-Jamaican band Musical Youth, taken from their debut studio album, The Youth of Today. It was produced by Toney Owens from Kingston, Jamaica. The single peaked at the top of the UK Singles Chart. Outside the United Kingdom, "Pass the Dutchie" topped the charts in at least five other countries, including Australia, Canada and Ireland, as well as peaking within the top ten of the charts in Iceland and the United States. The single sold over five million copies worldwide.[3]
The song was the band's first release on a major label. Following a shouted intro taken from U Roy's "Rule the Nation" with words slightly altered, the track combined two songs: "Gimme the Music" by U Brown, and "Pass the Kouchie" by Mighty Diamonds, which deals with the recreational use of cannabis (kouchie being slang for a cannabis pipe).[4] For the cover version, the song's title was bowdlerised to "Pass the Dutchie", the new word being a patois term for a Dutch oven, a type of cooking pot.[5] All obvious drug references were removed from the lyrics; e.g., instead of the original "How does it feel when you got no herb?", the cover version refers to "food" instead. The song was commissioned by the record company to turn "Pass the Kouchie" into a radio friendly hit for a wider audience. Toney Owens came up with the modified lyrics after coming home one night on an empty stomach.[6] Despite the lyrics being changed to specifically remove drug references, the word "dutchie" later became a slang term for cannabis as a result of the song.[7]
The song was first championed by radio DJ Zach Diezel and became an instant hit when it was picked up by MCA Records in September 1982. It debuted at number 26 on the UK chart and rose to number 1 the following week.[4] In February 1983, it reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the US.[8] Though they would have subsequent Top 40 hits in other countries, "Pass the Dutchie" remains their only hit in the US. The song also scored the number 1 position in at least five other countries, eventually selling more than five million copies worldwide.[3][9] After the song was featured in the Netflix series Stranger Things in 2022, it experienced a resurgence of popularity, re-entering a number of international charts.[10]
The video, directed by Don Letts,[11] was shot partly on the southern banks of the River Thames in London, by Lambeth Bridge. It depicts the band performing the song and playing instruments. At the same time, a school official appears to arrest them, wherein he ends up falling down and breaking his arm.[12] This footage is interspersed with courtroom scenes (featuring Julian Firth), where the band is put on trial. The trial ends with the jury finding the band not guilty, leading them to celebrate in the courtroom.
The song was parodied by a band from the Seychelles Islands Dezil' under the title "Laisse tomber les filles (qui se maquillent)", and peaked at #13 in France and #47 in Switzerland in 2006.[57]
