R&B
The song was written by Broadway actor and singer Avon Long and jazz pianist, composer, singer and bandleader Lil Hardin. (She was married to Louis Armstrong at one time.) The Jive Bombers had a hit with the song in 1957. It rose to #7 on the U.S. R&B chart and #36 on the U.S. Billboard pop chart.
There have been a number of covers of the songs. Artists with versions include The Escorts, Mink DeVille, Ringo Starr, Sha Na Na, and more. The song was featured in the 1990 John Waters film Cry-Baby.
The Jive Bombers were an R&B group that formed in New York City from two previous vocal groups, which were Sonny Austin & The Jive Bombers and The Palmer Brothers. They first recorded in 1949 as The Sparrows, but they changed their name (and record label from Coral Records to Citation Records) in 1952. The group consisted of Earl Johnson, Al Tinney, William “Pee Wee” Tinny, and Clarence Palmer. Clarence was known for his scat-singing in the lead vocals, which you can hear in “Bad Boy” when he sings the song’s title.