"G.I. Jive" is a 1944 song written and originally performed by

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Wallichs Music Cit ...

Background

Mercer intended to write a song that the soldiers would like, and the song was the biggest hit of all the songs dealing with soldier life during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Chart performance

The single was a hit twice in 1944 by two different performers: Johnny Mercer hit number one on the

Harlem Hit Parade The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

for one week and peaked at number thirteen on the pop charts. Three months later,

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the King ...

, also made it to number one on both the Harlem Hit Parade and the pop chart with "G.I. Jive".

References

{{authority control 1944 singles 1944 songs Louis Jordan songs songs of World War II songs with lyrics by Johnny Mercer songs written by Johnny Mercer