Shirley Luster was born in Springfield, Illinois, and moved with her family to Decatur, Illinois, when she was three years old. She began to sing with the Decatur-based Bill Oetzel Orchestra at thirteen. While attending Decatur High School she appeared with Oetzel and his society band, the Ben Bradley Band, and Bill Madden's Band. After high school she moved to Chicago, changed her name to Sharon Leslie, and sang with a group led by Boyd Raeburn. Later she joined Benny Strong's band. In 1944, Strong's band moved to New York at the same time Christy was quarantined in Chicago with scarlet fever.
In 1945, after hearing that Anita O'Day had left Stan Kenton's Orchestra, she auditioned and was chosen for the role as a vocalist. During this time, she changed her name once again, becoming June Christy.
Her voice produced successful hits such as "Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy," the million-selling "Tampico" in 1945, and "How High the Moon". "Tampico" was Kenton's biggest-selling record. When the Kenton Band temporarily disbanded in 1948, she sang in nightclubs for a short time, and reunited with the band two years later in 1950.
Beginning Sept. 28, 1959, Christy began a five-week road tour of 38 performances called "Road Show". The all-star billing: Stan Kenton and his orchestra, June Christy, The Four Freshmen. Capitol recorded highlights on October 10 at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, for a two-disc LP, reissued in 1991 on CD.
From 1947, she started to work on her own records, primarily with arranger and bandleader Pete Rugolo. In 1954, she released a 10" LP entitled Something Cool, recorded with Rugolo and his orchestra, a gathering of notable Los Angeles jazz musicians that included her husband, multi-instrumentalist Bob Cooper and alto saxophonist Bud Shank. Something Cool was re-released as a 12" LP in 1955 with additional selections, and then entirely rerecorded in stereo in 1960 with a somewhat different personnel. Christy would later say that the album was "the only thing I've recorded that I'm not unhappy with." Something Cool was also important in launching the vocal cool movement of the 1950s, and it hit the Top 20 Charts, as did her third album, The Misty Miss Christy.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Christy appeared on a number of television programs, including the short-lived CBS show Adventures in Jazz (1949), Eddie Condon's Floor Show (1949), The Jackie Gleason Show (1953), The Tonight Show (1955), The Nat King Cole Show (1957), Stars of Jazz (1958), The Steve Allen Show (1959), The Lively Ones (1963). and The Joey Bishop Show (1967). She also appeared on the first sponsored jazz concert on television, The Timex All-Star Jazz Show I (December 30, 1957), which also featured Louis Armstrong, Carmen McRae, Duke Ellington and Gene Krupa.
Christy embarked on dozens of concert tours, playing in Europe, South Africa, Australia and Japan. She toured to such an extent that eventually it began taking a toll on her marriage. She began to pull back from touring in the early 1960s.
R.M. Cook and Brian Morton, writers of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings, appreciated the singer's body of work: "Christy's wholesome but particularly sensuous voice is less an improviser's vehicle than an instrument for long, controlled lines and the shading of a fine vibrato. Her greatest moments—the heartbreaking 'Something Cool' itself, 'Midnight Sun,' 'I Should Care'—are as close to creating definitive interpretations as any singer can come."
Christy semi-retired from the music business in 1969, in part due to her battle with alcoholism.
In 1972, she sang at the Newport Jazz Festival in New York City, where she was reunited with the Kenton Orchestra. She also performed at a handful of jazz festivals during the late 1970s and 1980s, playing with a band of all-star West Coast jazz musicians led by Shorty Rogers, as well as taking part in a number of world tours.
Christy returned to the recording studio in 1977 to record her final solo LP, Impromptu. She recorded an interview for a Paul Cacia produced an album in 1987 called "The Alumni Tribute to Stan Kenton" on the Happy Hour label. A number of other Kenton the alumni-Shorty Rogers, Lee Konitz, Jack Sheldon, among them, plus Mort Sahl - interspersed their tunes with reminiscences of the man and the years on the road.
Christy toured one final time in 1988, again with Shorty Rogers. Her final performance was sharing the stage with Chet Baker.
Christy died at her home in Sherman Oaks, California of kidney failure on June 21, 1990, at the age of 64. Her remains were cremated and scattered off the coast of Marina Del Rey.
Do It Again
June Christy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You hadn't any right
I really shouldn't have let you
Kiss me.
And although it was wrong
I never was strong.
So as long as you've begun it
And you know you shouldn't have done it.
Oh.
Do it again.
I may say no, no, no, no, no,
But do it again.
My lips just ache
To have you take the kiss
That's waiting for you
You know if you do
You won't regret it
Come and get it.
Oh.
No one is near
I may cry oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.
But no one can hear.
Mamma may scold me
Cause' she told me
It was naughty but then
Please,
Do it again.
Yes do it again.
And again and again and again and again and again
Turn out the light.
And hold me close
In your arms
All through the night.
I know tomorrow morning
You will say
Goodbye and Amen.
But until then,
Please do it again.
The lyrics of June Christy's song 'Do It Again' express a feeling of indiscretion and temptation between two people. The opening line of the song, "You really shouldn't have done it, You hadn't any right" shows that someone has engaged in an act they perhaps shouldn't have, but they are still drawn to it. The phrase "I really shouldn't have let you, kiss me" shows that one party acknowledges that they are giving in to impulsive behaviors. They both know that what they are doing is wrong, but they are unable to stop the escalation of their desire.
The lyric "My lips just ache to have you take the kiss, that's waiting for you" emphasizes the romantic and sensual nature of the song. It depicts the all-consuming desire that the two parties have for each other. The line "Mama may scold me, cause she told me it was naughty, but then" demonstrates shame over being involved in the situation. However, their attraction is so strong that they cannot resist each other. The idea of "Do it again" is a repetition of this attraction and the irresistible desire they have for each other. It is as if the song is urging them to give in to their desires, however improper they may seem to be.
Line by Line Meaning
You really shouldn't have done it
You didn't have the right to do what you did.
You hadn't any right
You didn't possess any authority to do what you did.
I really shouldn't have let you
I couldn't help myself from letting you do what you did.
Kiss me.
To touch lips to show affection.
And although it was wrong
Despite its immorality.
I never was strong.
I was never empowered to resist you.
So as long as you've begun it
Given that you've started what you did.
And you know you shouldn't have done it.
But you are aware of the fact that it was inappropriate.
Oh.
An exclamation that conveys excitement or desire.
Do it again.
Perform the same action again.
I may say no, no, no, no, no,
I may vocalize my denial.
But do it again.
Still, I want you to repeat it.
My lips just ache
My lips long for the kiss.
To have you take the kiss
To have you kiss me.
That's waiting for you
The kiss that yearns for you.
You know if you do
You are aware that if you perform the action.
You won't regret it
You will not feel guilty or remorseful about it.
Come and get it.
Hurry and satisfy your desire.
Oh.
An exclamation that conveys excitement or desire.
No one is near
No one is nearby.
I may cry oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh.
I may emit the sound of weeping.
But no one can hear.
But no one else can perceive it.
Mamma may scold me
My mother may criticize me.
Cause' she told me
Because she warned me.
It was naughty but then
It was mischievous or inappropriate, but...
Please,
An appeal to perform an action.
Do it again.
Perform the same action again.
Yes do it again.
Affirmative reply to the previous appeal.
And again and again and again and again and again
Repeat the action several times.
Turn out the light.
Switch off the light source.
And hold me close
And embrace me tightly.
In your arms
Held securely or gently in one's arms.
All through the night.
Continuously during the night.
I know tomorrow morning
I am aware that the next morning.
You will say
You will express.
Goodbye and Amen.
Farewell and blessings to you.
But until then,
Before that time comes.
Please do it again.
Kindly perform the action again.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: GRAHAM RUSSELL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind