Java Jive is a song written by Ben Oakland and

Milton Drake Milton Drake (August 3, 1912 - November 13, 2006) was an American lyricist and performing rights administrator. As a child, he performed in vaudevilles, in films and on radio. Later he wrote special material for theater and nightclub revues, inclu ...

in 1940 and most famously recorded that year by

The Ink Spots The Ink Spots were an American vocal pop group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style predated the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the subgenre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely ...

, whose recording reached #17 on the U.S. Pop charts and is considered by many to be the definitive version. The song is also heard in the 1942 movie ''

In This Our Life ''In This Our Life'' is a 1942 American drama film starring Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland as sisters and rivals in romance and life (the third of six films in which de Havilland and Davis starred together). The film was directed mostly by ...

''. The lyrics speak of the singer's love for

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

and

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...

, and also reflect the slang of that time, including a reference to " Mr. Moto", a Japanese film spy. The song originally featured the

couplet In poetry, a couplet ( ) or distich ( ) is a pair of successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (closed) couplet, each of the two lines is end-stopped, implying that there ...

"I'm not keen about a bean / Unless it is a 'cheery beery bean", as a pun on the song " Ciribiribin", but the Ink Spots' lead singer, Deek Watson, inadvertently sang it as "cheery cheery bean", and recordings by subsequent artists have generally either followed suit or changed it to " chili chili bean".

The Manhattan Transfer The Manhattan Transfer was an American vocal group founded in 1969 in New York City, performing music genres like a cappella, Brazilian jazz, Swing music, swing, vocalese, rhythm and blues, Pop music, pop, and standards. They have won eleven G ...

performed the song on various occasions, including during their appearances on ''

Camera Three ''Camera Three'' was an American anthology series devoted to the arts. It began as a Sunday afternoon local program on WCBS-TV in New York and ran “for some time”Mercer, Charles, Associated Press writer, Television World column, “Obscure P ...

'' (1974), ''

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' is an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland in 1961 before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went i ...

'' (1974), and ''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from 10 April 1971 to 25 December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo se ...

'' (1978), and the band recorded it for inclusion on their 1975 self-titled album. The song has been recorded several times over the years, notably by

Guy Lombardo Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) was a Canadian and American bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racing, hydroplane racer whose unique "sweet jazz" style remained popular with audiences for nearly five decade ...

The King Sisters The King Sisters were an American big band-era vocal group, appearing as a trio or quartet. Six sisters were in the group at one time or another: Alyce, Donna, Luise, Marilyn, Maxine, and Yvonne King. History Born and raised in Pleasant Grov ...

, and

Bluegrass Student Union __NOTOC__ Bluegrass Student Union is the Louisville, Kentucky barbershop quartet that won the 1978 SPEBSQSA International competition. They distinguished themselves by performing at a high level of proficiency on stage and in the recording stud ...

References

1940 songs Songs with lyrics by Milton Drake {{1940s-song-stub