"Tain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" is a song written by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

musicians Melvin "Sy" Oliver and James "Trummy" Young. It was first recorded in 1939 by

Jimmie Lunceford James Melvin Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era. Early life Lunceford was born on a farm in the Evergreen community, west of the Tombigbee River, near Fulton, Mi ...

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

, and

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

, and again the same year by

Nat Gonella Nathaniel Charles Gonella (7 March 1908 – 6 August 1998) was an English jazz trumpeter, bandleader, vocalist, and mellophonist. He founded the big band The Georgians, during the British dance band era. Early life and career Gonella was bo ...

and His Georgians. The " shim sham" is often danced to the Lunceford recording of this song.

Fun Boy Three with Bananarama version

The jazz tune was transformed into a pop/ new wave song with

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

elements in 1982. With the title slightly altered to "It Ain't What You Do....", it was recorded by

Fun Boy Three Fun Boy Three were an English new wave pop Fun Boy Three Allmusic bio/ref> band, active from 1981 to 1983 and formed by singers Terry Hall, Neville Staple and Lynval Golding after they left the Specials. They released two albums and had seve ...

and

Bananarama Bananarama are an English pop duo from London, formed as a trio in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. T ...

, and was included on the former's self-titled debut album, but it was not available on a Bananarama album until 1988's '' Greatest Hits Collection''. Terry Hall of Fun Boy Three owned a copy of Bananarama's previous single " Aie a Mwana", and after seeing an article about the trio in '' The Face'', he decided he wanted them to sing background vocals on the song, solely based on the fact that he liked their look. "It Ain't What You Do...." became a big hit in the UK, climbing to number four in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, and achieving a Silver certification from the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...

. The success of the single also prompted Bananarama to return the favour and have Fun Boy Three sing on their next single, "

Really Saying Something "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin' is a soul song written by Motown songwriters Norman Whitfield, William "Mickey" Stevenson, and Edward Holland, Jr. in 1964. The song is notable in both a 1964 version by American Motown girl group the Velvelet ...

Media appearances

* In 2012, the cover version was used in a commercial for Hewlett-Packard's color printers, which aired in the United States. * Throughout the early-mid 2010s, English DIY retailer B&Q used Fun Boy Three's version of the song. * Fun Boy Three's version of the song was also used in another television advertisement for the

Chrysler PT Cruiser The Chrysler PT Cruiser is a retro-styled compact car manufactured and marketed internationally by Chrysler in 5-door hatchback wagon (2001–2010) and 2-door convertible (2005–2008) body styles—over a single generation, with an intermedia ...

in the United Kingdom in the early 2000s. * The Lunceford version of the song appeared in the final episode of the third season of ''

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'' is an American period comedy-drama television series, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, that premiered on March 17, 2017, on Amazon Prime Video. Set in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it stars Rachel Brosnahan as ...

''.

Track listings

; 7" single #"It Ain't What You Do (It's The Way That You Do It)" 2:54 #"The Funrama Theme" 2:56 + ; 12" single #"It Ain't What You Do..." / "Just Do It" (Extended Version) 5:55 ++ #"The Funrama Theme" (Extended Version) 5:55 + + A remix of "The Funrama Theme" with overdubbed brass, titled "Funrama 2", appears on The Fun Boy Three's album ''The Fun Boy Three''. ++ The first 2:52 of the 12" version is the standard album version of the song, which is different from the 7". Some reissues of the album also include the "Just Do It" section as a separate track.

Charts

References

1939 songs 1982 singles Bananarama songs Fun Boy Three songs Mildred Bailey songs Songs with music by Trummy Young Music videos directed by Steve Barron Songs with music by Sy Oliver {{1980s-single-stub