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How Do You Do (Mouth & MacNeal song)

original song written and composed by Hans van Hemert and Harry van Hoof

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 11, 2026
Entity authorityQ5917605 ↗
Source-derived summary

"How Do You Do" released in 1971 was an international hit single for Dutch duo Mouth & MacNeal. It was No.1 in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, and New Zealand. It also spent 19 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 a year later, reaching No.8 and a cover version by Scots-German duo Die Windows (later Windows) reached No.1 in Germany. The single earned Mouth & MacNeal, and its composers Hans van Hemert and Harry van Hoof, the 1972 Buma Export Award for the most records sold abroad by a Dutch musical act in that year.

"Land of Milk and Honey" charted in Canada for two weeks, reaching No.91, before the flip-side became the bigger hit.

In Australia, two versions reached the Top 40 simultaneously, the bigger hit being by Jigsaw.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “How Do You Do (Mouth & MacNeal song)” as original song written and composed by Hans van Hemert and Harry van Hoof. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mouth, MacNeal and song.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1971, 1972—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1971-01-22. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Mouth, MacNeal and song providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “How Do You Do (Mouth & MacNeal song)”, the useful work is to connect “original song written and composed by Hans van Hemert and Harry van Hoof” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5917605. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1971 and 1972.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “How Do You Do (Mouth & MacNeal song)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow How Do You Do (Mouth & MacNeal song) primary sources, How Do You Do (Mouth & MacNeal song) archive and Mouth research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “How Do You Do (Mouth & MacNeal song)”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “How Do You Do (Mouth & MacNeal song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.