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Subject: Obit: Larry La Prise From: curmudgeon Date: 10 Feb 03 - 09:10 PM Posted on concertina.net. Posted by: Chris Ghent, Feb 10, 2003 With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the almost unnoticed death of a person whose music touched the lives of many. Larry La Prise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey", died peacefully at home. He was 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in... and then the trouble started.... |
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Subject: RE: Obit: to be added From: WFDU - Ron Olesko Date: 10 Feb 03 - 09:12 PM Okay, this guy actually died about 15 years ago. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: to be added From: GUEST Date: 10 Feb 03 - 09:25 PM It's a joke, Ron. Some comic relief. |
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Subject: BS: Obit: Larry La Prise From: Dave the Gnome Date: 06 Mar 03 - 11:44 AM With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person which went almost unnoticed last week. Larry La Prise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Cokey", died peacefully at the age of 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in - then the trouble started. born: 11 November 1912 in Detroit, Michigan, died: 04 April 1996 --Mod |
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Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Larry La Prise From: Stilly River Sage Date: 06 Mar 03 - 03:56 PM Hokey Cokey? I learned it as the Hokey Pokey. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Larry La Prise From: Dave the Gnome Date: 06 Mar 03 - 06:26 PM Two lands separated by a common tongue eh SRS? Cheers DtG |
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Subject: RE: BS: Obit: Larry La Prise From: Stilly River Sage Date: 06 Mar 03 - 06:48 PM Quite possibly! So that wasn't a typo? |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise From: Joe Offer Date: 06 Mar 03 - 08:49 PM So, Dave, did you get the information at one of these sites (click)? This Google Search will shed even more light (or cloud the issue further). then there's this page (click). This thread says he died in 1996. Some say he was 83, some 93. Whom do we believe? -Joe Offer, utterly confused- |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: Stilly River Sage Date: 06 Mar 03 - 10:50 PM Joe, unlike you, I didn't do any research this time, because I figured it was made up and an excuse for a joke. Kind of like the Pillsbury Dough Boy obituary that makes the rounds (pardon the pun). But I suppose someone had to start it! SRS |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: Joe Offer Date: 06 Mar 03 - 11:28 PM Well, the 'Cat is about to power down, but I think there's interesting research to be done on this. Seems like it was a British children's game first, Okey-Kokey. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: Dave the Gnome Date: 07 Mar 03 - 11:23 AM You put the old tales in You take the old tales out You put the old tales in and you shake 'em all about... Oh folky folky jokie!" GRIN To put all the arguments to bed I can state quite categoricaly that the Okey Cokey was invented by an AMERICAN. (Probably an Okie from Wiscokie). No Englishman would admit to such tripe anyway;-) Cheers DtG |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: Brakn Date: 07 Mar 03 - 09:19 PM Larry La Prise wrote "The Hokey Pokey" and Jimmy Kennedy wrote "The Hokey Cokey". Are they the same song? |
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Subject: Lyr Add: HOKEY POKEY (LaPrise, Macak, Mason, Baker From: Joe Offer Date: 08 Mar 03 - 11:26 PM OK, here's what I found in The Most Fantastic Fakebook in the World (Warner Bros, 1997) THE HOKEY POKEY (words & music by Larry LaPrise, Charles P. Macak, Charles P. Mason, and Tafft Baker) You put your right foot* in You put your right foot* out You put your right foot* in And you shake it all about You do the Hokey-Pokey and you turn yourself around That's what it's all about. CHORUS You do the HO-key Pokey You do the HO-key Pokey You do the HO-key Pokey That's what it's all about *left foot, right arm, left arm, right elbow, left elbow, head, right hip, left hip, whole self Copyright 1950, 1968, and 1971 by Acuff-Rose Songs Now, the Fireside Book of Children's Songs has this whole thing, unattributed, but it doesn't have the so-called chorus that makes it sound like a Big Band number. Maybe that's what LaPrise contributed. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Mar 03 - 11:30 PM You've apparently slipped a link, Joe. Or a quote. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: Joe Offer Date: 08 Mar 03 - 11:37 PM Yeah, I hit "enter" too quick, but then I fixed it with my magic edit button. From what I understand, the British lyrics were written by Jimmy Kennedy - I think he wrote "Teddy Bears' Picnic." Can anybody post Kennedy's lyrics? -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: Lyr Add: HOKEY COKEY From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Mar 03 - 12:09 AM Joe, I don't know whose lyrics these are, but they come from one of the few lucid "blogs" in the Google search that you posted earlier in this thread: "You put your left arm in, your left arm out In out, in out, you shake it all about You do the Hokey Cokey and you turn around That's what it's all about Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Knees bent, arms stretched Raa raa raa You put your right arm in, your right arm out In out, in out, you shake it all about You do the Hokey Cokey and you turn around That's what it's all about Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Knees bent, arms stretched Raa raa raa You put your left leg in, your left leg out In out, in out, you shake it all about You do the Hokey Cokey and you turn around That's what it's all about Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Knees bent, arms stretched Raa raa raa You put your right leg in, your right leg out In out, in out, you shake it all about You do the Hokey Cokey and you turn around That's what it's all about Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Knees bent, arms stretched Raa raa raa You put your whole self in, your whole self out In out, in out, you shake it all about You do the Hokey Cokey and you turn around That's what it's all about Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Knees bent, arms stretched Raa raa raa Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Whoa-o the Hokey Cokey Knees bent, arms stretched Raa raa raa" It's pretty much the American version, except it doesn't seem to scan very well. Maybe the tune is different? SRS |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: Bob Bolton Date: 09 Mar 03 - 12:26 AM G'day everyone, This is off the top of a badly remembered conversation, but a friend, who was chasing the copyright situations of kids' songs (he does shows in schools) told me there was an existing British song ... it was heard and (more or less) remembered by an American serviceman/singer ... and he published a version after he was demobbed. As America did not respect anyone else's copyrights, at that point (finally dragged into the Berne Convention later that decade), he copyrighted it ... for America ... and that's the version the Americans know. I 'm sure I have the older, British, one in collection of World War Songs. Regards, Bob Bolton |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: GUEST,Billy Date: 09 Mar 03 - 02:17 AM Can we finally put this one to bed? I could not run down LaPrise's army service records, mainly due to the amazing number of hits you get on the coffin joke, but I gather that he was a GI in England during WWII. When the Associated Press ran LaPrise's actual obituary in 1996, several World War II veterans stated they had danced the Hokey-Pokey in England in 1943, although the song was called the Okey Cokey. Of course, this would probably have been in London, where the "H" is not pronounced. "Oh, 'okey, Cokey, Cokey!" LaPrise supposedly wrote the song in the late 1940's and recorded it in 1949 with the Ram Trio. The rights were bought by Ray Anthony who recorded it as the 'B' side to "The Bunny Hop" in 1953. In 1953, in rural Scotland, I remember doing the Hokey-Cokey (my dad led the kids in the dance) but we never heard of "The Bunny Hop" or the "Hokey-Pokey". We did not own the record (it would have been a 78rpm). My mother, now 90, remembers doing the Hokey-Cokey when she was a young girl in the 1920's. So it seems that Larry just ripped off an old British folk song/dance and made it his own in America. Bob Dylan and Paul Simon are only recent converts to the steal. From another website a likely source of the song (like the black plague-inspired "Ring-a-ring-of-rosies"): Back in 17th century Puritan England anything 'popish' or Roman Catholic was viewed with great suspicion and open to, at best, ridicule. The Hokey-Cokey, with its song and actions, is a mimicry of the Roman Catholic Mass. In those days the priest faced the altar (not the people) and performed several actions as he consecrated the bread and wine at Holy Communion. The words of the service were in Latin. You put your left arm in ......etc was ridiculing the priest as he lifted his arms heavenward during the rite. You do the Hokey- Cokey and you turn around............ was when the priest turned to face the congregation with the host (consecrated bread) to offer it to them. Ooooh, the Hokey-Cokey......... hokey-cokey is a corruption of the Latin words of consecration - Hoc est corpus: 'This is my body' (Note: many of the strange words and phrases of our language are corruptions of other languages introduced to our country over the years and few were educated enough to speak or understand Latin). Knees bend, arm stretch, ra-ra-ra....... knees bend is a ridicule of the genuflection (a kind of religious curtsey to the altar) of the priest, arm stretch is when he holds up his hands at the point of consecration in the service, and ra-ra-ra is just a mimicry of the Latin words and prayers they didn't understand. Today, many people do not know the origin of the song/dance and just do it for fun, especially to teach children co-ordination (and their right from their left). Today, in England, the Roman Catholic Mass is said in English and is so similar to the Holy Communion of the Church of England that, sometimes, if you didn't know what church you were in............ |
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Subject: ADD: Okey Kokey From: Joe Offer Date: 09 Mar 03 - 03:05 AM Ah, Billy, I don't think it's that easily dispensed with. There's some interesting folklore here. The nuns in grade school said that "hocus-pocus" was derived from "hoc est corpus" (full phrase is hoc est enim corpus meum), but I haven't seen any documentation other than the words of Sister Mary So-and-So. Can't say I'm ready to believe it's the source for "hokey-pokey," either. Maybe so, maybe not - but I'd like to see documentation. In The Singing Game (1985, Oxford University Press) Iona and Peter Opie devote an entire chapter to "Okey-Cokey" and its antecedants, most notably "Lubin-Loo." As for "Okey-Cokey," they say, "It is of course based on Jimmy Kennedy's action-song of 1941, which was, as Kennedy himself said, 'the big dance favourite' in Britain during the Second World War." The found no evidence that British children played "Okey-Cokey" until the late 1950's, but it could be found on any playground in England after that. Here's a version the Opies recorded in Oxford in 1979: You put your right arm in,So, I think it still goes back to Jimmy Kennedy. Can anybody find his lyrics? Here's the version in the Fireside Book of Children's Songs: You put your right foot inLike I said, not much different from the La Prise version. -Joe Offer- |
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Subject: ADD: Hokey-Pokey From: Joe Offer Date: 09 Mar 03 - 03:29 AM Ah, we're not done yet. This is a totally different song, identified as possibly a nursing song, from the Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection, collected in the UK in 1906 or 1907: HOKEY-POKEY 1 Down on the carpet we shall kneel, Till the grass grows round our heel: Stand up straight upon your feet; Choose the one you love so sweet. 2 Halla-balla halla-balla bee Sitting on his mammie's knee Crying for a wee babee To buy hokey pokey. 3 Hokey-pokey penny a lump That's the stuff to make you jump When you jump you're sure to fall Hokey-pokey that's it all. Different song, but it proves the term "Hokey-Pokey" was used in Britain a hundred years ago. ....and I'd still like to see those Jimmy Kennedy lyrics. Here are some other songs Kennedy wrote:
One of the pre-eminent British lyricists of the mid-20th century, Jimmy Kennedy was born July 20, 1902, in Omagh, Northern Ireland. Upon graduating from Dublin's Trinity College, he embarked upon careers in teaching and civil service before publishing his first composition, "The Barmaid's Song," in 1930. Collaborator Harry Castling soon introduced him to music publisher Bert Feldman and later that year, Kennedy scored his first hit with "Oh, Donna Clara." "My Song Goes 'Round the World," "The Teddy Bears' Picnic" (which added new lyrics to John Bratton's 1907 melody), and "Play to Me, Gypsy" followed, but when Feldman rejected Kennedy's "Isle of Capri" (written with Will Grosz), the songwriter jumped ship to join publisher Peter Maurice, who made it a major hit in 1934. Around that same time, Kennedy began writing with Michael Carr, inaugurating the most fertile creative partnership of his career. The duo's five-year collaboration yielded a series of hits, including "South of the Border," "Hometown," and "We're Gonna Hang Out the Washing on the Siegfried Line," in addition to theatrical productions like 1936's O-Kay for Sound, 1937's London Rhapsody, and 1939's The Little Dog Laughed. Apart from Carr, Kennedy also notched the popular favorites "Red Sails in the Sunset," "Serenade in the Night," and "Harbor Lights," and upon revamping the lyrics to the traditional "The Cokey Cokey," launched a hugely popular party dance. After serving in the British Army during World War II, he resumed his prolific musical production with the likes of "An Apple Blossom Wedding," "April in Portugal," and "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," although by the late '50s the advent of rock & roll effectively brought his hitmaking days to an end. In 1960, Kennedy relocated to Switzerland, returning to Ireland over a decade later; there he collaborated with Stewart Parker on the musical Spokesong, his last major work. In 1984, the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors introduced its annual Jimmy Kennedy Award; the lyricist died on April 6 of that year. — |
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Subject: ADD: Cokey Cokey (Jimmy Kennedy) From: Joe Offer Date: 09 Mar 03 - 03:59 AM Well, maybe I've answered my own question This Tom Waits Page has a version attributed to Kennedy, and it looks credible. Can somebody verify? -Joe Offer- COKEY COKEY (Jimmy Kennedy, 1942) 'Way out West where there ain't no swing Old time dancing's still the thing They've a little song they like to dance and sing It's called the Cokey Cokey! Ev'rybody on their toes This is the way it goes You put your left arm out, left arm in Left arm out and shake it all about You do the Cokey Cokey and turn around That's what it's all about. See? You put your right arm out, right arm in Right arm out and shake it all about You do the Cokey Cokey and turn around That's what it's all about. See? You put your left foot out, left foot in Left foot out and shake it all about You do the Cokey Cokey and turn around That's what it's all about. See? You put your right foot out, right foot in Right foot out and shake it all about You do the Cokey Cokey and turn around That's what it's all about. See? You put your left hip out, left hip in Left hip out and shake it all about You do the Cokey Cokey and turn around That's what it's all about. See? You put your right hip out, right hip in Right hip out and shake it all about You do the Cokey Cokey and turn around That's what it's all about. See? You put your chest right out, chest right in Chest right out and shake it all about You do the Cokey Cokey and turn around That's what it's all about. See? The folks away out West, 'way out west Dance this song and never take a rest They do the Cokey Cokey and turn around That's what it's all about. See? HOKEY POKEY (nursery rhyme) You put your right foot in, You put your right foot out; You put your right foot in, And you shake it all about. You do the Hokey-Pokey, And you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about! You put your left foot in, You put your left foot out; You put your left foot in, And you shake it all about You do the Hokey-Pokey, And you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about! You put your right hand in, You put your right hand out; You put your right hand in, And you shake it all about You do the Hokey-Pokey, And you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about! You put your left hand in, You put your left hand out; You put your left hand in, And you shake it all about. You do the Hokey-Pokey, And you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about! You put your right side in, You put your right side out; You put your right side in, And you shake it all about You do the Hokey-Pokey, And you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about! You put your left side in, You put your left side out; You put your left side in, And you shake it all about You do the Hokey-Pokey, And you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about! You put your nose in, You put your nose out; You put your nose in, And you shake it all about You do the Hokey-Pokey, And you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about! You put your tail in, You put your tail out; You put your tail in, And you shake it all about You do the Hokey-Pokey, And you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about! You put your head in, You put your head out; You put your head in, And you shake it all about You do the Hokey-Pokey, And you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about! You put your whole self in, You put your whole self out; You put your whole self in, And you shake it all about You do the Hokey-Pokey, And you turn yourself around. Source: Zelo Nursery Rhymes ( (c) 1996-2000 C. Thomas Wright III ) |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Mar 03 - 02:31 PM Pretty good research, both Joe and Billy. I didn't do a close reading on the priest-mimickry story, though I did glance through it in my visit to some of the links Joe posted, in particular, those that Google identified. What gives credibility to that story is that mimickry and lampooning are both commonplace human occupations, and the English and the Catholic church have had difficulties going back hundreds of years. (In recent times, Tom Lehrer's Vatican Rag springs immediately to mind!). The Tom Waits page appears to give it a home, in a legal sense, with a citation to Kennedy Music Co. But the only hit I get (and it goes to a broken link) seems to indicate that Penn State might have reference to that company within the Fred Waring materials in their Special Collections. I'm posting a link to the library, but am not taking time to see if there are any finding aids. Someone dedicated to solving this puzzle can go hunting for them. Good luck! Finally, another place that occurs that might be useful, but unfortunately it doesn't have an index, is Iona and Peter Opie's I Saw Esau that contains lots of terms and tidbits and might easily have the term "Hokey-Cokey" tucked in there somewhere. But you have to read the book to find if this is the case. (Or find an online version that is searchable). I've read bits of it over the years to my children; it is as much a reference for adults as it is a book of rhymes for children. SRS |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: Dave the Gnome Date: 09 Mar 03 - 05:57 PM You know what worries me the most. What if the okey cokey realy IS what it's all about? Mind you, on reflection, that 'twould be a better state of affairs than many I could think of... Cheers DtG |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: The Walrus Date: 09 Mar 03 - 06:03 PM It's probably irelevant, but I always thought that "Hokey Pokey" was ice cream as in the Victorian vendor's cry "Hokey-Pokey penny a jollop" (from the days of the "penny lick"). My late Mother (born 1915)used to use the term occasionally - could there be any connection with the song name? Walrus |
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Subject: Lyr Add: HOKEY POKEY (THE ICE CREAM SONG) From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Mar 03 - 11:09 PM Now Walrus, you should have taken this for a spin on Google. The whole phrase itself didn't bring in any hits, but cutting off the "a jollop" part brought in quite a bit. I'll post a link to the Google Search. First off, there was this one posted at someone's AOL web page. Then there was some pay dirt with the following words, credited to Richard and Linda Thompson: HOKEY POKEY (THE ICE CREAM SONG)(Richard and Linda Thompson)Little boy running and the little girl too Got the money tucked up in their hand Over the wall and down into the street Give your man to the hollering man Give your man to the hollering man Everybody runs for Hokey Pokey Hear the ringing on the ice-cream bell He's got the stuff that'll cool you right down It's the best that they ever did sell It's the best that they ever did sell Girl on the corner with the tight dress on You know she don't know nothing so fine Feels so good when you put it in your mouth Sends a shiver all down your spine Sends a shiver all down your spine "Cat got your tongue" says Frankie to Annie "Girl you haven't said a word all night" Well Annie she smiled and she took another bite Hokey Pokey made her feel all right, all right Hokey Pokey made her feel all right Well some like it round and some like it flat And some like a poke or two But everybody runs for Hokey Pokey It's the natural thing to do It's the natural thing to do Down in the prison, number 999 Working like a bee in a hive He's still dreaming of Hokey Pokey Helps to keep that boy alive Helps to keep that boy alive Boss man he says to choir-boy Rocky Don't you sing to the boys in blue Or you won't get no more Hokey Pokey By the time we're through with you By the time we're through with you Fellas in the alley all look like girls With their lipstick and their high-heeled shoes Feel so pretty and the boys all say That they know just what to do That they know just what to do There is some interesting history of ice cream here, including this: 1861-1865 - After the Civil War, the number of ice cream vendors called Hokey-pokey men, exploded in the large cities. They peddled their wares shouting "Ecco un poco" meaning "try a sample." Hokey-pokey actually referred to cheap ice cream or ice milk. In general, they sold delicious ice cream, even though their standards of sanitation were quite low. On a hot sumer day in the city, there were swarms of children surrounding the ice cream vendors. Following is the catchy, nonsense phrase that was popular with the street vendors or Hokey-pokey men: "Hokey-pokey, pokey ho. Hokey-pokey, a penny a lump. Hokey-pokey, find a cake; hokey-pokey on the lake. Here's the stuff to make your jump; hokey-pokey, penny a lump. Hokey-pokey, sweet and cold; for a penny, new or old." There are quite a number of other hits on the search--I just scanned a few on the first page. Walrus, you are onto something (but you should have gotten all of the glory by doing the Google search yourself!). SRS |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: Genie Date: 13 Apr 03 - 12:44 PM Well, according to an email I got recently, the original Hokey Pokey concept dates back to none other than The Bard Of Avon, himself. To wit: [b]The Hokey Pokey[/b] (as written by William Shakespeare). O proud left foot, that ventures quick within, Then soon upon a backward journey lithe. Anon, once more the gesture, then begin: Command sinistral pedestal to writhe. Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke, A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl. To spin! A wilde release from Heavens yoke. Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl. The Hoke, the poke -- banish now thy doubt Verily, I say, 'tis what it's all about. - [i]The above is from the Washington Post Style Invitational contest that asks readers to submit "instructions" for something (anything), but written in the style of a famous person. The winning entry was: The Hokey Pokey , as written by William Shakespeare (©Jeff Brechlin, Potomac Falls)[/i] |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: GUEST,Calico Date: 13 Apr 03 - 11:06 PM Chuckle..! |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: katlaughing Date: 14 Apr 03 - 02:15 AM Excellent! |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: Genie Date: 14 Apr 03 - 11:41 AM Yea, forsooth! ;-) |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise From: open mike Date: 19 Apr 03 - 10:10 PM this found today--hokey pokey as if by shakespeare. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: CapriUni Date: 14 May 03 - 10:24 AM This song: Hinkumbooby, in Mudcat's own Digital Tradition (submitted by someone with the intitials MS back in '99 -- our own, dear Masato, perchance?), is pretty clearly an older relative of "Hokey Cokey." The chorus is different, but the dance moves are the same. The extensive notes on the origin at the bottom date that song to at least as far back as 1847, in any case. Masato, if that was you (and I suspect it was): "thanks!" again. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: PoppaGator Date: 14 May 03 - 12:03 PM Random reactions: Does "Lubin-loo" have anything to do with "Little Latin Loopy Loo"? "Teddy Bears' Picnic" -- One of my favorites as a young kid; I'm very surprised that it dates all the way back to the 19-oughts. I had alomst forgotten it as an adult, and then heard Dave Van Ronk's wonderful rendition on his album "Songs for Aging Children." How is it that *two* different Hokey-Pokey threads popped up this week (this new one, plus a long old hilarious one started in 1999)? |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar Date: 14 May 03 - 04:20 PM Can't put my hand to it to quote verbatim, but Jimmy Kennedy in the original sheet music says he saw the song being taught to London girls in dancehalls by Canadian servicemen over for the War. He wrote the introductory verse only, and collected all the dosh. Nice one, Jimmy. So, Canadian claims before British before American! |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: denise:^) Date: 14 May 03 - 04:26 PM But...but... ...What if the Hokey Pokey *is* what it's all about? Denise;^) |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: CapriUni Date: 15 May 03 - 03:35 PM From Denise: ...What if the Hokey Pokey *is* what it's all about? Okay, here's what I'm wondering: is the Hokey Pokey what it's all about, or "Turn yourself around" that it's all about? After all, there is that verse Shaker Hymn "Simple Gifts" that hints at the same thing: When true simplicity is gained, To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed. ("Knees bent, arms stretched..."?) To turn, turn, will be our delight, Till by turning, turning, we come 'round right! |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: denise:^) Date: 15 May 03 - 03:37 PM Gee, I hadn't thought that much about it...! It was just on a little plaque I saw once in a music store! Denise;^) |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) From: GUEST,Billy Date: 23 Dec 08 - 08:04 PM Didn't really want to resurrect this thread but I couldn't help but laugh when I saw this article. It seems that the Catholic church has waded in here |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) 2003 From: Desert Dancer Date: 04 Dec 09 - 06:40 PM Robert Degan, who claimed to have authored the Hokey Pokey and sued Larry LaPrise for copyright infringement, has died. The NY Times has some thought on the origins... Robert Degen, Who Had a Hand in the Hokey Pokey, Dies at 104 By BRUCE WEBER New York Times, December 3, 2009 Somewhere along the line — at a wedding, at a child's birthday party, in third-grade music class — everybody has done the hokey pokey. Admit it: you sang the silly song, you did the silly dance. You know the one: You put your right hand in, You put your right hand out, You put your right hand in, And you shake it all about. You do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around. That's what it's all about. Popular as the song is, its authorship has long been in dispute, with the credit usually going to Larry LaPrise, who as part of a musical group, the Ram Trio, is said to have created it in Sun Valley, Idaho, as a novelty number to entertain vacationing skiers. The trio, whose other members were Charles Peter Macak and Tafft Baker, recorded the song, "The Hokey Pokey," in the late 1940s. There are many reasons to question this version of the song's provenance, however. Among them is that a very similar song, "The Hokey Pokey Dance," was copyrighted a few years earlier, in 1944, by a club musician from Scranton, Pa., named Robert Degen. Mr. Degen — who claimed for decades that Mr. LaPrise had stolen his song — died in Lexington, Ky., on Nov. 23, his 104th birthday. (Mr. LaPrise died in 1996, and the two men never met.) Mr. Degen's death was confirmed by his son William. Working as a full-time musician before World War II, Mr. Degen played guitar and banjo with different bands in clubs and restaurants and at parties in and around Scranton. For a while in the 1920s he belonged to the Scranton Sirens, a jazz ensemble that at one time featured both Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. He was not a full-time composer and did not copyright any other songs, his son said, adding that his father wrote "The Hokey Pokey Dance" with a musician friend, Joe Brier, while playing for the summer at a resort near the Delaware Water Gap. The Degen-Brier version is rhythmically similar to the LaPrise version, though the melody is somewhat different. The lyrics of the opening verse are as follows: Put your right hand in, Put your right hand out, Put your right hand in and you wiggle all about. Everything is okey dokey when you do the Hokey Pokey. That is what the dance is all about. However, neither version may be the original. A similar song, called variously "Hokey Cokey" or "Cokey Cokey," was reportedly a favorite of English and American soldiers in England during World War II, the authorship attributed sometimes to a popular Northern Irish songwriter, Jimmy Kennedy, and sometimes to a London bandleader, Al Tabor. Some Roman Catholic churchmen, meanwhile, have said that the words "hokey pokey" derive from "hocus pocus" — the Oxford English Dictionary concurs — and that the song was written by 18th-century Puritans to mock the language of the Latin Mass. Last year the Catholic Church in Scotland, concerned that some soccer fans were using the song as a taunt, raised the possibility that singing it should be prosecuted as a hate crime. "This song does have quite disturbing origins," Peter Kearney, a spokesman for Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who leads the Catholic Church in Scotland, was widely quoted in Britain as saying. He added, "If there are moves to restore its more malevolent meaning, then consideration should perhaps be given to its wider use." In any case the song and dance became a popular phenomenon in the United States after the LaPrise version, arranged for a big band, was recorded by Ray Anthony and his orchestra and released in 1953 as the B side of another novelty song, "Bunny Hop." By the mid-1950s it was known by every child in the nation, and in 1956 Mr. Degen and Mr. Brier, who died in 1991, filed suit against the members of the Ram Trio and several record companies and music publishers for copyright infringement, asking for $200,000 in damages and $1 for each record of the LaPrise "Hokey Pokey." The suit was settled out of court, evidently in such a way that the two sets of authors would share ownership. Mr. LaPrise later sold the rights to his version to Acuff-Rose Music, a Nashville publishing company, started by the singer Roy Acuff, that was sold to Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2002. William Degen said his father received regular royalty payments from Sony/ATV through his lawyer, Donald Lowry, and supplied a copy of a Sony/ATV check for $47,199.25 written to Mr. Lowry in March 2005. A spokesman for Sony/ATV, Marc Wood, said in an e-mail message that any agreement between the company and Mr. Degen was confidential. Attempts to reach Mr. Lowry were unsuccessful. Robert Matthew Degen was born in Scranton on Nov. 23, 1905. His father was a farmer. He briefly attended a local business college before settling on music to make a living. After World War II, Mr. Degen gave up his full-time music career and worked as a furniture salesman until his retirement in 1970. He subsequently moved to Lexington, where his brother was then living. In addition to his son William, who lives in Lexington, he is survived by his wife of 74 years, Vivian; a second son, Robert, a jazz musician who lives in Frankfurt, Germany; a grandson; and two great-grandchildren. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) 2003 From: GUEST,Bill Date: 12 Jan 12 - 01:34 PM Down on the carpet we shall kneel, Till the grass grows round our heel: Stand up straight upon your feet; Choose the one you love so sweet. Now they're married life and joy First a Girl and then a boy Seven years after Seven years to come Georgie, georgie, kiss and run At school playtime the children would form a circle while chanting the Above lines. One person would be in the middle and during the first verse he/she would choose a person of the opposite sex from the circling children. At the end of the second verse they would kiss and the original boy/girl would join the circle and all would be repeated again while the second (chosen) person would, in turn, choose a partner from the circle and so on |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Larry La Prise (Hokey Pokey/Cokey) 2003 From: GUEST,Phil d'Conch Date: 05 Dec 17 - 05:57 PM Joe: "The nuns in grade school said that "hocus-pocus" was derived from "hoc est corpus" (full phrase is hoc est enim corpus meum), but I haven't seen any documentation other than the words of Sister Mary So-and-So. Can't say I'm ready to believe it's the source for "hokey-pokey," either. Maybe so, maybe not - but I'd like to see documentation Maybe it's, ahem... 'Tongan.' "Hokee Pokee wang-kee fum, Puttee po pee kaihula cum Tong-o-ree, wong-o-ree, ching-ring-wum, The king of the Cannibal Islands." Chorus to King of the Cannibal Islands Hodgson's Songster, 1838. |
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