Fun Boy Three (With Bananarama) - It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)

Way back when, in 2013, we featured the excellent "Ghost Town" by The Specials as part of ERV's All Hallows Even celebration.  This year, we come full circle with Fun Boy Three's "It Ain't What You Do" cover.

As savvy readers will know, Fun Boy Three arose from the ashes of The Specials, when singers Terry Hall, Neville Staple, and Lynval Golding left to form their new act.  This also led to a change in musical style; while The Specials were a 2 Tone ska band (admittedly with strong pop sensibilities), Fun Boy Three was more of a straight up pop band.

"It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" was the second single that Fun Boy Three released, and it became a huge hit in the UK - reaching #4 on the singles chart.  (I don't think that it charted in the U.S.)  The song also introduced Bananarama to audiences and led to a second collaboration, "Really Sayin' Something," which was featured on ERV in 2015.

 The creepy video has a dream-like atmosphere that fits both the song, and ERV's All Hallows Even theme.

In addition, "It Ain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)" is a cover of a 1939 song originally called "'Tain't What You Do (It's the Way That You Do It)."  We believe that one of the first recordings was by Jimmy Lunceford, which we have included below: