“Under the Boardwalk”

Kenny Young and Artie Resnick wrote it, and the Drifters were set to record it in New York on May 21, 1964. The night before, their lead singer, Rudy Lewis, died suddenly. The session went ahead, and Johnny Moore, the group’s other lead voice, stepped up to sing it. Its first line nods to the group’s earlier hit “Up on the Roof,” and its chorus slips from a major key into a minor one, like stepping into the shade. It reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 that August and has drawn covers ever since, from the Rolling Stones to Bette Midler and Bruce Willis. It entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.