American bandleader Lawrence Welk (1903-1992) often started his music with, “And a 1! And a 2!” “Anna one, anna two…” is a jocular version that has been cited in print since at least 1964. “I think those were his daughters or something,” a poster commented on the newsgroup alt.fan.tito on December 8, 1996.
 
A riddle was posted on Reddit—Jokes on January 15, 2016:
 
Q: Why did the musician give his daughters the same name?
A: So he could yell “Anna 1, Anna 2!”
   
             
Wikipedia: Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American musician, accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the television program The Lawrence Welk Show from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known to his large audience of radio, television, and live-performance fans (and critics) as “champagne music”.
     
20 September 1964, Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer and Public Ledger, “TV ‘64-‘65 Preview,” Today (Sunday magazine), pg. 9, col. 3:
8:30-9:30: The Lawrence Welk Show.” Champagne bubbles, corn and ultra-melodic music, as usual. Anna one, anna two…
 
Google Groups: rec.music.compose
I am starting to wonder
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
4/11/96
Through my in depth analysis of the basic melodic structure of “Jimmy Crack’d Corn” I believe the followiing harmonic structures to be closest to the composers original intentions….
 
In the key of C ...uh hum ....

anna 1 anna 2 anna 3…a….an ....anna 4
   
Google Groups: alt.fan.tito
Lawrence Welk
Carlos May
12/8/96
(...)
: Behind it all was Lawrence Welk waving his baton, as the
: orchestra played in front of the bubble machine…Anna One, Anna Two
: (I think those were his daughters or something)
 
Google Groups: rec.music.artists.springsteen
TBC… 1,2 or 1,2,3,4
carl_spackler
5/25/01
In article <9elf…@enews1.newsguy.com>

, Ursus Minor\ says…
>
>Up late tonight, eh?
>
>Freakin’ Lawrence Welk turned *every* song into a 1, 2 song.
>
>Gimmie a 1-2-3-4 anyday.
>
>—Fr. Greg
>Learned-to-count-from-the-Ramones, WI
>
 
I think it was… “anna 1 anna 2…”
 
28 October 2010, Wall Street Journal (New York, NY), “A Little Lady Predicts a Big Win; The Republican tide may even reach the Jersey Shore” by Peggy Noonan:
Her campaign is a shoestring operation. She’s got four pickup trucks that tour around with her signs. She calls it “The Lawrence Welk Caravan: Anna 1, Anna 2, Anna 3 and Anna 4.”
   
Reddit—Jokes
Why did the musician give his daughters the same name?
submitted January 15, 2016 by Laez
So he could yell “Anna 1, Anna 2!”
 
Twitter
Pierre 008‏
@SweetGuy1234
Why did the musician give his daughters the same name? So he could yell “Anna 1, Anna 2!”
6:48 PM - 15 Jan 2016
 
Twitter
Joke Authority‏
@JokeAuthority
Why did the musician give his daughters the same name? So he could yell “Anna 1, Anna 2!”
10:54 PM - 19 Jan 2016
       
Twitter
Ryan Ward‏
@OriginalHopster
What did the musician call his three children?
Anna One, Anna Two… #dadjokes
6:35 PM - 5 Jan 2017
 
Twitter
RXP at 103.9‏
@1039rxp
What did the musician name his 3 daughters?
Anna 1
Anna 2
Anna 3
4:52 PM - 26 Sep 2017
 
Twitter
Tim Fogarty‏
@timfogartymusic
What did the musician name his 4 daughters? Anna 1, Anna 2, Anna 3, Anna 4! #nodadhere #justatim
9:10 PM - 29 Oct 2017
 
Reddit—Jokes
Did you hear about the drummer who gave all his daughters the same name?
submitted January 18, 2018 by jimmydabosh
Anna 1 Anna 2 Anna 3 Anna 4