Larry LaPrise

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Larry LaPrise (Roland Lawrence LaPrise, born: 11 November 1912 in Detroit, Michigan, died: 4 April 1996 in Gooding, Idaho) holds the U.S. copyright for the song Hokey Pokey.

LaPrise reportedly wrote the song in the late 1940s for the après-ski crowd at a club in Sun Valley, Idaho. The song was first recorded by his group the Ram Trio (with Charles Macak and Tafit Baker) in 1949. They were awarded U.S. copyright in 1950.

After the group broke up in the 1960s, LaPrise worked for the Post Office in Ketchum, Idaho.

The authorship of the Hokey Pokey is disputed, with British/Irish songwriter Jimmy Kennedy claiming to have written the original (entitled Cokey-Cokey) during WWII. Robert Degan sued LaPrise for copyright infringement of his 1946 The Hokey-Pokey Dance. They settled out of court.

See article Hokey Pokey for a more comprehensive account of the various competing theories attending the origin of the song and dance both in the United States and the United Kingdom.

[edit] Jokes

After LaPrise's death, the following joke circulated on the Internet comparing the Hokey Pokey to the process of placing LaPrise in his coffin:

Sad News 
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
almost went unnoticed last week. 
Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey" died peacefully at
the age of 96. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him
into the coffin. They put his left leg in. And then the trouble
started.