"Do It Again" is an American

Music of the United States

The music of the United States reflects the country's multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. Among the country's most internationally-renowned genres are hip hop, blues, country, rhythm and blues, jazz, barbershop, pop, techno, and rock and roll. The United States has the...

 popular song by composer George Gershwin

George Gershwin

George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...

 and lyricist Buddy DeSylva. The song premiered in the 1922 Broadway show The French Doll, as performed by actress Irène Bordoni

Irène Bordoni

Irène Bordoni was a French singer and a Broadway and film actress.-Early years:Born in Ajaccio, France, from an Italian family, she had been a child actor, performing in Paris on stage and in silent films for a few years, having signed with theatrical agent André Charlot...

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Background

Gershwin recounted the origin of the song in 1934: "I was in the office of Max Dreyfus, my publisher, one day when Buddy DeSylva walked in. DeSylva said jokingly to me, 'George, let's write a hit!' I matched him by saying, 'O.K.!' I sat down at the piano, and began playing a theme which I was composing on the spot... Buddy listened for a few minutes and then began chanting this title—'Oh, Do It Again!,' which he had just fitted to my theme." Gershwin began playing the song, described as "innocently sensual", at parties. Upon hearing the song, Irène Bordoni

Irène Bordoni

Irène Bordoni was a French singer and a Broadway and film actress.-Early years:Born in Ajaccio, France, from an Italian family, she had been a child actor, performing in Paris on stage and in silent films for a few years, having signed with theatrical agent André Charlot...

 insisted that she performed the song in her show. "Do It Again" first appeared in the Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 play The French Doll, which premiered on February 20, 1922 at the Lyceum and ran for a total of 120 performances.

Construction

In Edward Jablonski

Edward Jablonski

Edward Leon Jabłoński was a Polish soccer midfield player who represented both Cracovia and the Polish National Team. Born on October 13, 1919 in Krakow, Jabłoński was one of the few players who participated in games of the national team both before and after Second World War...

's book Gershwin: With a New Critical Discography, he writes that "Do It Again" has "bar-to-bar modulations, distinctive harmonies and un-Tin Pan Alley long-lined melody that mark it as one of Gershwin's finest creations."

Success

Bordoni, the actress who performed both songs in The French Doll, earned praise and success with the song's premiere. Alice Delysia's performance of the song (retitled as "Please Do It Again") in the 1922 London revue Mayfair and Montmartre was also well-received. That same year, the Paul Whiteman

Paul Whiteman

Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...

 Orchestra's recording found success and helped forge an "auspicious association" between the bandleader

Bandleader

A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....

 and Gershwin. While Bordoni never recorded the song, Delysia did in 1933. Other notable performances include Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....

's 1952 live rendition before thousands of marines at Camp Pendleton

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and serves as its prime amphibious training base...

 in Southern California

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

, which caused a "near riot", as well as the version that appears on Judy Garland

Judy Garland

Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...

's 1961 live album

Live album

A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

 Judy at Carnegie Hall

Judy at Carnegie Hall

Judy at Carnegie Hall is a two-record live recording of a concert by Judy Garland at Carnegie Hall in New York.This concert appearance, on the night of April 23, 1961, has been called "the greatest night in show business history". Garland's live performances were big successes at the time and her...

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