I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself  

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"I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" (1962) is a song written by Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David.

Composition

The song's life began in 1962, when Bacharach and David were songwriters at New York songwriting factory the Brill Building.

Original version

"I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself" was first recorded by Chuck Jackson in 1962.<ref name="ft.com"/> This version was shelved and remained unreleased until it appeared on a 1984 compilation on the Kent record label called Mr. Emotion. According to the sleeve notes of that album, Tommy Hunt's vocals were substituted for Jackson's whilst the original backing track was retained.

The song was then recorded, also in 1962, by Tommy Hunt in a session produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, with Burt Bacharach arranging and conducting. It was released as single Scepter 1236 (B-side "And I Never Knew") in May 1962, but did not chart. The song served as the title track for Hunt's sole album release on Scepter released in April 1963. The success in the UK of the Dusty Springfield version of "I Just Don't Know..." in the summer of 1964 led to Scepter's re-releasing the original, at which time it reached the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart in Billboard with a number 119 peak.

Dusty Springfield version

Dusty Springfield recorded "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" in a session at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London with production credited to Philips Records owner Johnny Franz - although Springfield later stated her solo Philips tracks were self-produced - and arranged by Ivor Raymonde who conducted his orchestra; personnel on the session included Big Jim Sullivan on guitar and Bobby Graham on drums. Springfield, whose first solo recordings had included covers of the Bacharach/David compositions "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "Wishin' and Hopin' " - had brought back "I Just Don't Know..." from an overnight trip to New York City where she met up with Bacharach in February 1964.

The third UK single release of Springfield's solo career - following the "Brill Building" Sound-alikes "I Only Want to Be With You" and "Stay Awhile" - "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" was Springfield's first UK single release to display her signature vocal style; rising to number 3 in the summer of 1964 the track remained Springfield's highest UK Singles Chart hit, until she reached number 1 in 1966 with "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me", which was Springfield's only UK solo hit to chart higher than "I Just Don't Know...".

A concurrent US release of Springfield's "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" was preempted by the presence of Springfield's "Wishin' and Hopin'" in the US Top Ten over the summer of 1964. Springfield's "I Just Don't Know..." received a belated US release in October 1965 featured on a single with Springfield's current UK hit "Some of Your Lovin'"; that month Springfield made a promotional junket to the US which included performances of both of the single's tracks on the TV shows Hullabaloo and Shindig but neither side reached the Billboard Hot 100.




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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