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Larry LaPrise (Roland Lawrence LaPrise, born: 11 November 1912 in Detroit, Michigan, died: 04 April 1996 in Gooding, Idaho) holds the U.S. copyright for the song Hokey Pokey.

LaPrise reportedy 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 European 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.

There are some reports that his death was recent, including the jokes listed below. However, according to the Social Security death index, his death was on April 4 of 1996.

Jokes

After LaPrise's death, the following jokes circulated on the Internet:

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 84. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him
into the coffin. They put his left leg in. And then the trouble
started.

Or

I don't usually pass on sad news like this, but sometimes we need to pause and remember what life is all about. 
There was a great loss recently. Larry LaPrise, who wrote the song Hokey Pokey, died this week at age 84. 
It was extremely difficult for the family to put him in the casket. 
They put his right leg in and they pulled his right leg out .....well, you know the rest.

Or

The guy that wrote the Hokey Pokie, died a while back. Unusual burial... I hear.

External links