It began life in 1930 as a nine-bar phrase with the working title "There's No Stopping Me Now".
[6][7] It was one of nine songs the Gershwin brothers wrote for the movie A Damsel in Distress in which it was performed by Fred Astaire with backing vocals by The Stafford Sisters.
The first jazz recording of the work was by Tommy Dorsey three weeks after the release of the film.
[7] Early chart versions were by Shep Fields, Teddy Wilson with Billie Holiday,[7] Fred Astaire, Maxine Sullivan, and The Andrews Sisters.
[8] The song was recorded by many jazz singers and adopted by bebop instrumentalists; Jerry Newman recorded pianist Thelonious Monk performing the tune in 1941 at Minton's Playhouse, a nightclub closely connected with early bebop, and he subsequently recorded it several times.