[2] The song has since been covered by many other artists, with versions by Bette Midler, Sam & Dave, Tom Tom Club, The Rolling Stones, Billy Joe Royal, The Beach Boys, Bruce Willis, Bad Boys Blue, John Mellencamp and Lynn Anderson all charting in the United States or overseas.

The lyric describes a tryst between a man and his beloved in a seaside town, of New Jersey who plan to privately meet "out of the sun" and out of sight from everyone else under a boardwalk.

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.

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.

In 1966, Los Apson released a Spanish-language version titled "Fue en un Café" on their album No Hay Amor, which was a hit in Latin America, reaching the top 5 in Mexico.

[9][10][11][12] "Under the Boardwalk" has since been covered by many artists, including the Northern Irish punk rock band The Undertones (on their 1980 album Hypnotised),[13] Bette Midler on the 1988 Beaches soundtrack (number 26 in Australia), and the Tom Tom Club on their self-titled album (whose version reached number 22 on the UK Singles Chart in 1982, becoming the first version of the song to chart in Britain).