Trumpeter Ray Anthony was considered among the most modern of big band leaders, although his arrangements could not by any stretch be considered progressive or experimental. Still, he managed to continue into the rock 'n' roll era (his version of Peter Gunn was a sizeable hit) and he was a Las Vegas regular for many years.
In earlier years, Anthony had hits with the theme from Dragnet and Bunny Hop, a novelty dance that is thankfully not heard much anymore.
Ray Anthony's House Party Hop was the bandleader's first LP, issued first as a 10-inch album in 1951 and in 1956 as a 12-inch with four additional tunes, one of which unfortunately was Bunny Hop. However, the others tracks are mainly big band and pop standards that swing along quite nicely. Among them is a version of the Duke Ellington hit Perdido.
Perdido
The House Party Hop album isn't available on CD or as a download but some of the tracks from it are available on the many CD and download compilations of Ray Anthony's recordings. Some of the downloads are of questionable quality so always audition before buying.
Here's the title tune from House Party Hop accompanied by several nice shots of the Anthony band in action.
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