at the hop

Danny and the Juniors swept the nation with this dance sensation and had one of the biggest hits of all time with their first single.  The group began with four high school friends Danny Rapp (lead tenor), Frank Maffei (second tenor), Joe Terranova (baritone/bass) (aka Joe Terry), and Dave White Tricker (tenor) (aka Dave White) who performed at high school dance hops.  

Terranova recalls:   "We were discovered by a guy named John Madara. We were singing, practicing on the street corner one night. He lived in an apartment near us. He said 'you guys are pretty good. I'd like to take you to the guy who recorded me.' So, he took us to Artie Singer. We subsequently sang some songs for Artie. He liked the group and he liked the way it sounded. He liked a couple of songs in particular, which was a song called 'Do The Bop' and 'Sometimes When I'm All Alone'. So, he took us in the studio and we recorded those songs. Then, he took them up to Dick Clark, who was running American Bandstand only as a local show then. What the producers in Philadelphia would do is, they would produce records. Dick would play the records on the local radio stations and they would sell 50,000 - 60,000 copies. They really didn't care if it was a national hit or not. They were making money doing it that way. And you can make money doing it that way. But in any event, Dick said to him 'the Bop...the kids are doing it on our show, but these dances come in and go quickly, why don't you change the name of the song 'cause it's a good little song to the hop.' 'Record hops', he said, 'are gonna be around for a long, long time.' So, we went back, re-wrote it and...the rest is history. "

Madara says:   "'At The Hop' originally was recorded by myself, with Danny and The Juniors (who at the time were called The Juvenairs) singing background. It was titled 'Do The Bop', with the B Side, 'Sometimes', also with me singing lead and Danny and The Juniors singing background. I was under contract at the time to Prep Records and had just had a record, 'Be My Girl', which had made the national charts. Prep had me all set up to record again with a producer who was working with Paul Anka, Sid Feller, when I had the idea to write a song 'Do The Bop'. I wanted to do something that had a piano featured like 'A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On'. So, off we go to the recording studio, with me singing lead, Danny and The Juniors singing background, and my 45 record 'A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On' to set the tone of what I was shooting for. I paid for the session, sat in the control room, told the engineer what to do, played the Jerry Lee Lewis record for the musicians and that is how 'Do The Bop' was created.  After the recording, we played the record for Prep. They didn't care for it. They still wanted me to record with Sid Feller. So we went back to Philadelphia where 'Do The Bop' was played for Dick Clark, who suggested that The Bop wasn't really happening around the country and why don't we change it to something about record hops. So with some additional lyric changes, and because I was under contract with Prep, we went back into the studio with Danny and The Juniors. Danny, who was their lead singer, sang lead, using a lot of the same phrasing that I did on 'Do The Bop'. Of course, the rest is Rock and Roll history; except that Artie Singer, who had been my vocal coach, took all of the credit for the production (and production monies and all of the publishing), put his name on as a songwriter and publisher and has tried to take credit for producing 'At The Hop' all these years. I have read on many websites that Artie Singer went out and got Leon Huff to help with the production and play piano. This is totally, one hundred percent false. I discovered Leon Huff in 1963 playing with a band called The Lavenders, and at that time he was about eighteen years old. He would have had to have been twelve years old to be involved with 'At The Hop'... It would be nice to get credit for something that you do. It's the one thing that people can't take away from you, though they try."

Initially released on Artie Singer's Singular Records label, the song was nationally released on ABC-Paramount Records.  'At the Hop' became a hit across the country, reaching number one on the country and R&B charts, and spending seven weeks at the top of the pop chart.  Dick Clark presented the group with a gold record on American Bandstand and Danny and the Juniors were awarded Best New Group of 1957.   According to Billboard Magazine it is the twenty-third biggest number one hit of all time.  









Bah-bah-bah-bah
Bah-bah-bah-bah
Bah-bah-bah-bah
Bah-bah-bah-bah, at the hop

Well, you can rock it you can roll it
You can stop and you can stroll it at the hop
When the record starts spinnin'
You dance when you chicken at the hop
Do the dance sensation that is sweepin' the nation at the hop

Let's go to the hop
Let's go to the hop (oh baby)
Let's go to the hop (oh baby)
Let's go to the hop
Come on, let's go to the hop

Well, you can swing it you can groove it
You can really start to move it at the hop
Where the jockey is the smoothest
And the music is the coolest at the hop
All the cats and chicks can get their kicks at the hop
Let's go!

Let's go to the hop
Let's go to the hop (oh baby)
Let's go to the hop (oh baby)
Let's go to the hop
Come on, let's go to the hop
Let's go!

Well, you can rock it you can roll it
You can stop and you can stroll it at the hop
When the record starts spinnin'
You go dancin' when you chicken at the hop
Do the dance sensation that is sweepin' the nation at the hop

You can swing it you can groove it
You can really start to move it at the hop
Where the jockey is the smoothest
And the music is the coolest at the hop
All the cats and chicks can get their kicks at the hop
Let's go!

Let's go to the hop
Let's go to the hop (oh baby)
Let's go to the hop (oh baby)
Let's go to the hop
Come on, let's go to the hop

Bah-bah-bah-bah
Bah-bah-bah-bah
Bah-bah-bah-bah
Bah-bah-bah-bah, at the hop!






"Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay"





Saxophonist Lennie Baker later joined the group and went on to be a founding member of Sha-Na-Na, who performed the song at Woodstock, leading to a resurgence in its popularity.






The song was performed by Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids  in the film 'American Grafitti'.