Grab my hand, we’re going down a rabbit hole.
Back in the early 80’s, when I was a college radio nerd (before I grew up to be a public radio nerd), New Wave music not only introduced me to new artists, but also older songs. Many bands covered songs from different decades.
For example:
- The Flying Lizards covering the 1959 Barret Strong song, “Money.”
- Billy Idol with the 1968 Tommy James and the Shondells tune, “Mony, Mony”
- Devo’s version of 1965’s “Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones.
This was the early 1980’s, before Al Gore invented the internet, so connecting the dots to the original versions of these covers took a lot of sleuthing.
One song I particularly enjoyed was Fun Boy Three’s single “It Ain’t What You Do,” so when I saw the 12-inch single at Angry Mom Records, I had to give it a place in my collection. FBT was led by Terry Hall, a British ska on the 2 Tone label, known for a sort of a reggae-pop sound. He was with The Specials and formed Fun Boy Three with two of his former bandmates.
Hall went all the way back to 1939 and decided to make his own version of the jazz song recorded by Jimmy Lunceford, “T’ain’t What You Do.” However, he transformed it into a New Wave-Ska hit. Enlisting the help of the female trio, Bananarama, they released a very danceable song that hit #4 on the UK Singles Chart in 1982.
But I wanted more…I wanted to know more about this song and who else has covered it over the years. So you, my friends, now get to have many different versions of this song in your head too.Click on the links to enjoy!
1982
From the British “Top of the Pops” TV show, this is Fun Boy Three and Bananarama.
1939
Jimmy Lunceford recorded the tune written by trumpeter Sy Oliver with help from trombonist Trummy Young. This song was the first recording and release from Lunceford’s band.
1940
The same year that Jimmy Lunceford released this song, Chick Webb and his orchestra added it to their repertoire. This was recorded live at the Savoy Ballroom in 1940 with the fabulous Ella Fitzgerald.
1955
Louis Armstrong and His All Stars gave a shout out to co-writer Trummy Young before performing the song in 1955’s The California Concerts recording.
1961
The oh-so-sultry singer Julie London released a torch song version of the song on her album, Send for Me. It’s still got the jazzy beat, but London just makes it sound so intimate.
“Tain’t What You Do” is a simple, repetitive song that tends to be bouncy and fun. Look for covers of it and tell me about your favorite version.