A House Party with Ray Anthony

I recently had a request to reupload a Ray Anthony LP called Swing Fox Trots. As is my usual practice, I went to work improving the sound, and, as often happens, I enjoyed the record so much that I pulled another one of the same artist's albums down from the shelf.

This present post is the result. It is a 10-inch LP called Houseparty Hop, taking its title from a terrific boppish tune of the same name that shows off Anthony's band in fine style. Otherwise, the program is composed of standards, all dispatched in a most pleasing manner. Anthony's band became known as a Glenn Miller clone, but there is none of that here.

Unlike many albums of the time, the tunes were not issued first as singles (or at all, as far as I know). The recording sessions were held in August and September 1951 in Los Angeles. I believe this was still a working band, although the personnel may have been augmented by a few session hands such as Ted Nash and Conrad Gozzo. The arrangements are likely by George (The Fox) Williams.

Billboard ad

I have many, many Anthony records, so I admit I chose this one for the cover. The artist assumed that "houseparty" likely referred to a fraternity house, probably accurately - Anthony was very popular on college campuses. So we get a cartoon depiction of what a pre-Animal House frat party looked like. Some dancing, some smooching, and some punch drinking (even the house mother is imbibing, although the Ivy-looking fellow in the crew cut, horn rims and bow tie seems dubious). Also very much of the time is a Cro-Magnon type chasing a girl onto the back cover - you can see the amusing continuation of this scenario below (click to enlarge). I probably don't need to observe that you would not see this kind of behavior depicted so lightly these days. One final observation - I love how the Capitol logo is hung on the frat house wall!

As a bonus, I transferred an Anthony EP called Dixie Parade, which can be found on my singles blog. And be sure to check out Swing Fox Trots, which is a much better album than the title would portend. When I transferred that record years ago, I speculated that Billy May might be responsible for the arrangements. However, subsequent research leads me to think that is unlikely. I came across a 1952 Billboard article in which May complained that "The Fox" was in his henhouse, stealing his style in Williams's arrangements for Anthony's band!

LINK to 2026 remaster