Greg Kantowicz writesTop Five Hand-Clappy Songs

Songs with hand-claps are undeniably a guilty pleasure. When an artist sits down to craft a song, and looks at the vast options available to express himself, the hand-clap tempts as one of the most alluring low hanging fruit. By the age of six, most of us have already experienced its power, singing "If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands" countless times.

With this forceful shared memory in the back pocket, many artists have chosen the path of least resistance and thrown the hand-clap into their song. Some have even harnessed its appeal in their band name. Shout out to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, coming to Lincoln Hall in July...

Growing up as a young man in the '80s, one particular song's use of the hand-clap wriggled into my brain like the worm in Wrath of Khan: Hall & Oates' "Private Eyes". With '80s top 40 churning the same hits in endless repetition, and very few musical alternatives for a young man to escape to, "Private Eyes" held my brain hostage. To this day, if I hear the words "private eyes," my hands involuntarily start the corresponding hand-clap from the Hall & Oates song.

The best analogy is the scene from Pee Wee's Big Adventure where Pee Wee proves to Dotty that he is in Texas by calling out "The stars at night, are big and bright…" and everyone stops what they are doing to clap and sing "Deep in the Heart of Texas!" Which is, in fact, a song from the '40s that used the hand-clap crutch.

There are songs that I like, with no remorse, that use the handclap. Massive Attack's "Paradise Circus" comes to mind...

But when considering the use of the hand-clap in music history, there is one song that looms large for me. Putting the "guilty" in guilty pleasure, Gary Glitter's "Hello, Hello I'm Back Again (Good To Be Back)" uses the hand-clap most effectively. The video is necessary to absorb the song's full power. Consider in your risk analysis before viewing, that his shit-eating grin may haunt your brain.

comments powered by Disqus