Second World War, while serving in the British Army's Royal Artillery, where he rose to the rank of captain, he wrote the wartime hit, "We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line". His hits also included "Cokey Cokey" (1945; known as "The Hokey Pokey" and "Okey Cokey" in several locales), and the English lyrics to "Lili Marlene". After the end of the war, his songs included "Apple Blossom Wedding" (1947), "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" (1953), and "Love Is Like a Violin" (1960). In the 1960s, Kennedy wrote the song "The Banks of the Erne'", for recording by his friend from the war years, Theo Hyde, also known as Ray Warren. Kennedy was a patron of the Castlebar International Song Contest from 1973 until his death in 1984 and his association with the event added great prestige to the contest. Awards Kennedy won two Ivor Novello Awards for his contribution to music and received an honorary degree from the New University of Ulster. He was awarded the OBE in 1983. In 1997 he was posthumously inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. Death Kennedy died in Cheltenham on 6 April 1984, aged 81, and was interred in Taunton, Somerset. He was survived by two sons and a daughter. Selected songs "Blaze Away", added lyrics to the Abe Holzmann marching song in 1931 "Barmaids Song" "Red Sails in the Sunset" "South of the Border" "We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line" "The Isle of Capri" "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" "My Prayer" "Teddy Bears' Picnic" "Love is Like a Violin" (derived from 'Mon cœur est un violon' by Miarka Laparcerie - J.Richepin - see Wiki.) "Cokey Cokey" "Roll Along Covered Wagon" "Harbour Lights" References External links Jimmy Kennedy obituary, The New York Times, 7 April 1984 J.J. Kennedy, The Man Who Wrote The Teddy Bears' Picnic, AuthorHouse, 2011 1902 births 1984 deaths Alumni of Trinity College Dublin British lyricists Songwriters from Northern Ireland People from Omagh Officers of the Order of the British Empire Royal Artillery officers People educated at Cookstown High School 20th-century British musicians Musicians from County Tyrone