“I Like It Like That” was written and originally recorded by Chris Kenner and co-written by  pianist and arranger Allen Toussaint.

The song was covered by the Dave Clark Five in 1965. Their version charted at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song was recorded by The Nashville Teens (who had a hit with “Tobacco Road”) and also covered by the Kingsmen on their 1965 album “The Kingsmen on Campus”, Brinsley Schwarz on their 1972 album “Nervous on the Road”, and Loggins and Messina on their 1975 album of cover songs, “So Fine”.

Chris Kenner wrote a few other hits, such as “Something You Got” (covered by Wilson Pickett, Alvin Robinson, the Ramsey Lewis Trio, Chuck Jackson, Earl Grant, Maxine Brown, Fats Domino, Bobby Womack, The Moody Blues, the American Breed, Fairport Convention, Bruce Springsteen and Jimi Hendrix,  and “Land of a Thousand Dances” in 1962.

The song was also covered by Danny & the Memories, Ted Nugent, the J. Geils Band.

The song became famous for its “na na na na na” hook, which Cannibal & the Headhunters added in their 1965 version. The “na na na na na” hook happened by accident when Frankie “Cannibal” Garcia, lead singer of Cannibal and the Headhunters, forgot the lyrics. The melody to this section was also created spontaneously, as it is not in Chris Kenner’s original track.

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