'Tain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)

Song "Tain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" is a song written by jazz musicians Melvin "Sy" Oliver and James "Trummy" Young. It was first recorded and released in 1939 by Jimmie Lunceford,Song: 'It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That Cha Do It) written by Sy Oliver, Trummy Young SecondHandSongs https://secondhandsongs.com/work/30036/all 2025-07-23 secondhandsongs.com followed within the same year by Ella Fitzgerald,http://ellafitzgerald.altervista.org/discog_01.htm Ella Fitzgerald Discography - Discography - Part 1 2008-01-29 https://web.archive.org/web/20160808044611/http://ellafitzgerald.altervista.org/discog_01.htm 2016-08-08 dead Fats Waller,"Fats" Waller And His Rhythm - 'It Ain't What You Do (It's The Way That Cha Do It) / Some Rainy Day 1939-04-05 https://www.discogs.com/release/9720569-Fats-Waller-And-His-Rhythm-It-Ain't-What-You-Do-Its-The-Way-That-Cha-Do-It-Some-Rainy-Day 2025-07-23 en Adelaide Hall,Adelaide Hall - Don't Worry 'Bout Me / It Ain't What You Do 1939 https://www.discogs.com/release/6790568-Adelaide-Hall-Dont-Worry-Bout-Me-Taint-What-You-Do 2025-07-23 en Harry James, and Nat Gonella and His Georgians. The "shim sham" is often danced to the Lunceford recording of this song. Fun Boy Three with Bananarama version It Ain't What You Do.... Banana_iawyd.jpg single Fun Boy Three with Bananarama Fun Boy Three The Funrama Theme January 29, 1982http://i.imgur.com/aYl4whs.jpg BPI > Certifications > Search results for 'Fun Boy Three' (from bpi.co.uk) Imgur.com (original source published by British Phonographic Industry) 2016-07-31 1981 New wavehttps://www.classicpopmag.com/2021/05/top-20-80s-collaborations/ Top 20 80s Collaborations May 27, 2021 Classic Pop Tom Eames Bananarama's 10 greatest songs, ranked Smooth Radio August 30, 2023 https://www.smoothradio.com/features/top-songs/bananarama-songs-best-ranked/ February 5, 2025 pop ska 2:48 Chrysalis Sy Oliver Trummy Young Dave Jordan Fun Boy Three Fun Boy Three The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum) 1981 Really Saying Something 1982 Bananarama singles Aie a Mwana 1981 It Ain't What You Do.... 1982 Really Saying Something 1982 The jazz tune was transformed into a pop/new wave song with ska elements in 1982. With the title slightly altered to "It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" (and shown on the single sleeve as "It Ain't What You Do...."), it was recorded by Fun Boy Three and Bananarama,https://ig.ft.com/life-of-a-song/taint-what-you-do.html 'Tain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It) — Ella Fitzgerald popularised this classic swing tune Hunter-Tilney Ludovic November 11, 2019 Financial Times October 11, 2026 and it 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,http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/30294/bananarama/ Official Charts > Bananarama The Official UK Charts Company 2016-07-31 and achieving a Silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry. 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".https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/dec/20/terry-hall-specials-fun-boy-three Terry Hall: his 10 greatest recordings with the Specials and beyond Dave Simpson December 20, 2022 The Guardian 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 in the United Kingdom in the early 2000s Is part of the soundtrack of the film Lolita (1997) sung by Ella Fitzgerald The Lunceford version of the song appeared in several episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel In the 2009 film Youth in Revolt this song was used. 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 Chart (1982)PeakpositionAustralia (Kent Music Report)Kent David David Kent (historian) Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 Australian Chart Book Sydney 1993 Illustrated 25 0-646-11917-6 N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between 1983 and 26 June 1988.55Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)http://www.ultratop.be/nl/song/56f0/Fun-Boy-Three-with-Bananarama-It-Ain't-What-You-Do.... Fun Boy Three with Bananarama – It Ain't What You Do... Dutch Hung Medien 2016-07-313Ireland (IRMA)http://i.imgur.com/5RkNUec.jpg The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for 'It Ain't What You Do' (from irishcharts.ie) Imgur.com (original source published by Fireball Media) 2016-07-315Israel (Israeli Singles Chart)https://israelcharts.com/ Israeli Charts June 26, 2026 Search "Fun Boy Three and Bananarama" for Israeli chart history.8Luxembourg (Radio Luxembourg) http://www.umdmusic.com/default.asp?Lang=English&Chart=F&ChDay=&ChMonth=&ChYear=&ChBand=Bananarama&ChSong= Radio Luxembourg Singles umdmusic.com 27 April 20252Netherlands (MegaCharts)http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Fun+Boy+Three+with+Bananarama&titel=It+Ain%27t+What+You+Do%2E%2E%2E%2E&cat=s Fun Boy Three with Bananarama – It Ain't What You Do... Dutch Hung Medien 2016-07-313New Zealand (RIANZ Singles Chart)https://charts.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Fun+Boy+Three+with+Bananarama&titel=It+Ain%27t+What+You+Do%2E%2E%2E%2E&cat=s charts.nz > Fun Boy Three with Bananarama – It Ain't What You Do... (song) Hung Medien 2016-07-3137UK Singles Chart4Billboarddanceclubplay 49 Fun Boy Three 20 August 2025 References Category:1939 songs Category:1982 singles Category:Bananarama songs Category:Fun Boy Three songs Category:Mildred Bailey songs Category:Songs with music by Trummy Young Category:Music videos directed by Steve Barron Category:Songs with music by Sy Oliver Category:Chrysalis Records singles