Word Association Wednesday: Hop to It!

For today's WAW, from Sunday’s Cotton Tail, it’s a short hop to a bunny — and an even shorter hop to The Bunny Hop!

🐇 Hoppin' In

Let’s start with co-songwriter Ray Anthony’s big Capitol hit from late 1952, featuring vocalists Tommy Mercer and Marcie Miller:

A lot of fun — pure early‑’50s party energy!

Capitol knew they had something, so in early 1953 Ray cut an instrumental version:

Also fun — and to me, that’s the definitive version. I knew the instrumental for years and didn’t even realize there had been a vocal take until it popped up on a Ray Anthony CD compilation in the early 1990s.

🎹 Duke … Doing What Now?

Capitol wasn’t done hopping. In 1954, they had Duke Ellington — of all people — record — of all things — Bunny Hop Mambo:

I can totally understand Capitol’s A&R folks thinking it’d be clever to combine two crazes of the moment — Mambo and The Bunny Hop — but I still can’t wrap my head around why they handed it to Duke Ellington.

Still, it’s a fun record, played with absolute precision by the band. Only Ellington could make a novelty‑mambo hybrid sound like a fully professional chart.

But it's like two of my worlds colliding!

🤠 Hepcats Hop In

If you look closely at the fine print on the EP cover at the top, you’ll see Capitol had another Bunny Hop up their sleeve: a 1953 version by Cliffie Stone and his Hometown Hepcats:

That one’s also a blast — a Western Swing vibe filtered through Capitol’s pop‑novelty lens.

📺 Bonus Hop: Ray on TV

For a little extra fun, here’s Ray Anthony performing the tune on his TV show:

So much fun — and wow, Ray could really hop!