songs with cool handclaps

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Inspired by Philip Sherburnes latest entry at needledrops. herberts mix of Fantasy by Blaze, Jay Z - It's hot, Cybotron - Techno City.

― ed, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

that outkast song...

― toby, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Miles Davis - Black Satin has the best clappy claps

― chaki, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Happy Clappy Melon Farmers" by The Goose.

It's incredible.

― Zanny G, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

ODB - Got Your Money.

― DylanK, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

all songs with handclaps are good! and some of them are...

odb - got yr money
annie - the greatest hit
boogie wonderland!

― minna, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

curse my slow fingers

― minna, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

horrible man but gary glitters rock and roll parts 1 and 2 has good hand claps

― born clippy, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

'Clapping Music' - Steve Reich

― Andrew L, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

'The handclapping song' by The Meters

― Jacob, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"The Death of Ferdinand de Saussure" by The Magnetic Fields.

― angela, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i was just about to put the meters.

also - gary glitter - rock n' roll / human league - rock n' roll

― stirmonster, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

oops - that was already up too, ilm - where someone always beats you to it.

gary glitter may have been a (very horrible man but i don't think his music should become taboo as really, he had almost nothing to do with the sound of the glitter band.

― stirmonster, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Force Mass Motion - Esthesis (on the "Escape" E.P.)

Clap-tastic!!

― Nick, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

the glitter band as such has been tainted - id find it diff to listen to the hits of kenneth noye or jonathan king without thinking what a grubby bugger they were

― born clippy, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"1969" by the stooges

― unknown or illegal user, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Hey Lover" - The Aislers Set

― Mr Swygart, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Pretty much any song with handclaps is a good song. Blah off the blah top of my head blah: Miles Davis - Black Satin
The Auteurs - Bailed Out
Martin Circus - Disco Circus
Carl Craig - Televised Green Smoke
Morgan Geist - Resolved
Metro Area - Atmosphrique
Theo Parrish - Lake Shore Drive

― Andy K, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm sure some of these records must not have used real paws, but instead the wonderfully-named 'Claptrap' electronic clapping apparatus.
And I vote for this with the 1980 Stewart/Blunstone cover of 'What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted' (which, incidentally, Green Gartside turned down the chance to perform on...)
I bet by now there's a sample CD somewhere with 25 different handclaps on it.

Gary Glitter: yeah, music rendered creepy by associative guilt. Read a thread here somewhere which indicated the general view of ILMers was these things could comfortably be kept seperate, as long as they weren't contributing financially to anyone/thing they disapproved of.
Legacy of the 80's I suppose - 'I vote with my money'.

― Ray M, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i was just thinking of starting a similar thread the other day!

theres loads, but i can't think!

Red Planet ~ Star Dancer

― gareth, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I remember going into a studio about 1980 and when we said we wanted to do some handclaps the engineer supplied us with two pieces of wood each to bash together. He insisted that this was how the 'professionals' got a good handclap sound. I think maybe the Gary Glitter ones could have been done that way (this engineer seemed locked into slightly old methods so 1972 would've been about right). Anyway I didn't like the results particularly. Next time I insisted we used our hands and it sounded very nice - much more disco-ey.

― David, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i was watching the real gary glitter last night and it showed a line of wigan casino-esque fellows clapping out the rock and roll intro with hands so unless this was mocked so that the secrets of the studio stay in the studio i believe they were real hands in that there clap

― born clippy, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The Beatles excelled at this (good example: the anthology version of "I'm Looking Through You."

Sun Ra's "Kingdom of Not."

It's extremely common in the more upbeat styles of Arabic music (e.g., Milhem Barakat, Samira Tewfic), but I've also heard it, for instance, on the last Farida CD, although she is doing Iraqi classical music.

Very predictable answers from me.

― DeRayMi, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

'Umbabarauma' by Jorge Ben. The funkiest clappiest song ever

― dancity, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"I've Lost COntrol" by Sleazy D. Loads of lovely, slightly phased 808 claps.

― Microkomputer, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Wait a minute - it's been a while, but hasn't CV's 'Sensoria' got these great electronic handclappy noises all the way through ?

― Ray M, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Shake Appeal" -- Iggy & the Stooges.

― Colin Meeder, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Come Out 2 Nite"!

(Kenickie)

― Graham, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

le tigre -- deceptacon

― drake, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

quite a few Boo Radleys songs. Their cover of "There She Goes", for one . . .

― Ess Kay, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

the danielson family loves to clap along quite frequently

― petite verte, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Roller Skating Child", Beach Boys

― dleone, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"My Best Friend's Girl" by the Cars, "We Will Rock You" by Queen.

― Matt Riedl (veal), Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Sensoria"!!!! I was going to say that!

Instead, I'll say "Pacific" by 808 State, "It Must Be Obvious" by Pet Shop Boys and "The Dream" and "La Ment" by The Cure.

― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Chick Corea knows how to rock the handclaps. Witness "Spain" from Light as a Feather or some of the songs from My Spanish Heart (don't have the titles in front of me).

― o. nate, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Private Eyes" by Hall and Oates is the best all-time hand-clapper. Everyone knows that.

― maria, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

there's gotta be a numan track. ned?

― dyson, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"devotion" ten city.

― Aaron G!, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Ms. Lady Evans by Redd Kross gets my vote!

― Manny Parsons, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

So, how long were y'all planning this thread to go on before someone mentioned "Summertime Blues"?

― Jeff W, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

It's already been suggested, but it needs to be repeated: "The Death of Ferdinand de Saussure" by the Magnetic Fields. The handclaps on that song are devastating.

The Reich piece is great, and there's an odd and small early John Cage piece called (I think) "Chant with Clapping" that I'm overly fond of. But those aren't the delightful "cheezy" handclaps...

― Chris Piuma, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"The Boy with the Arab Strap" by Belle and Sebastian. How could that song not put a grin on your face?

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Lazy:X-Press2 & David Byrne

― dek1, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Don't Bring Me Down - The Pretty Things

Being Boiled (second version) - Human League

― baxter wingnut, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

New I can't believe it's not been mentioned yet answers:

Undertones - Teenage Kicks

Oh, and all electro - evah!

― Bill E, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

HAND CLAPPING MAKES A GOOD SONG... AND THATS FINAL

― sonicred, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

i like the handclaps in Polvo's "tiara fetish"/"watch the nail"... very minimal... only 4 claps in the entire song, but stretched out so far apart...

― gygax!, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Neptunes remix of "Grindin" by the Clipse

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 31 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

five months pass...

"Everybody's Gonna Be Happy" Kinks

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 15:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Meredith Monk, certainly, *must* have a number of hand-claps-accompanied songs - but i can't recall even one of them by name right now (which is a shame)

there's a rather beautiful whistle-and-handclaps passage amidst Jethro Tull's "Pibroch (Cap In Hand)"

(the most un-happening clap-musician? Eric Clap''' ?)

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Tuesday, 28 January 2003 18:52 (twenty-two years ago)

Skipping 123 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

So many great suggestions upthread. Too many to mention, but of the ones I hadn't heard before, I really enjoyed the Kathem Alsaher. Of the ones I knew, the Jose Gonzalez one is lovely.

― Daniel Giraffe, Saturday, 8 December 2007 12:11 (seventeen years ago)

Oh God "It Tango" "It Tango" "It Tango"

― Noodle Vague, Saturday, 8 December 2007 16:24 (seventeen years ago)

Chic generally, "Good Times" particularly.

― Geir Hongro, Saturday, 8 December 2007 17:07 (seventeen years ago)

What I Like About You - the Romantics (okay, I think the clapping's only at the very beginning, but it's important)

also I'm really surprised people aren't mentioning more girl-group stuff. "My Boyfriend's Back" is the most obvious example.

― babyalive, Sunday, 9 December 2007 00:00 (seventeen years ago)

oh whoops, someone DID mention that song. sorry!!

― babyalive, Sunday, 9 December 2007 00:01 (seventeen years ago)

suede -- animal nitrate

they come in towards the end. and, not that there's anything especially good sounding about them, it's just the fact that they are there - that i love. there - in the most sexually tormented song ever, just giving the beat a hand. oh, i fucking love it.

― andi, Sunday, 9 December 2007 02:23 (seventeen years ago)

Low - Breaker Perhaps one of the most disturbing songs to use hand claps. The 2 people clapping are slightly out of sync adding to the displaced feeling.

― that's not my post, Sunday, 9 December 2007 07:37 (seventeen years ago)

two months pass...

mary j -- just fine

― Surmounter, Tuesday, 4 March 2008 15:07 (seventeen years ago)

Faust, Läuft...Heißt das es läuft oder es kommt bald...Läuft

― Tom D., Tuesday, 4 March 2008 15:09 (seventeen years ago)

I'm starting to think about baseball and my beloved Red Sox again, so I'll go with "Centerfield."

― Jazzbo, Tuesday, 4 March 2008 15:18 (seventeen years ago)

The answer as ever is

'Ever' by Flipper.

Once more they surpassed their extreme low quality with this TWO man -slightly out of time and tune - clap assault(probably Bruce Lose and Will Shatter)

― Fer Ark, Tuesday, 4 March 2008 18:02 (seventeen years ago)

Tim Buckley-"Hong Kong Bar"

― C. Grisso/McCain, Tuesday, 4 March 2008 18:05 (seventeen years ago)

Lollipop - The Chordettes

― craven, Tuesday, 4 March 2008 20:33 (seventeen years ago)

the Who - "My Generation"
Parliament - "Flash Light"

― Sara Sara Sara, Tuesday, 4 March 2008 20:56 (seventeen years ago)

Maybe I Know - Lesley Gore

― craven, Monday, 17 March 2008 02:57 (seventeen years ago)

Billy Squier - "The Stroke" !!

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 17 March 2008 03:23 (seventeen years ago)

The handclaps at the end of Elastica's "Connection" are pretty great.

― Matt Armstrong, Monday, 17 March 2008 20:42 (seventeen years ago)

a month later, and i'm still in awe of "369"

Fits somewhere in my top 10 songs of the year. There's this one point where I'm afraid it's about to lose its steam, but then B.o.B. comes in and saves the day. AWESOME

-- Tape Store, Monday, March 17, 2008 5:06 AM (15 hours ago) Bookmark Link

^^^songs with great handclaps

-- Jordan, Monday, March 17, 2008 2:57 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Link

― Jordan, Monday, 17 March 2008 20:43 (seventeen years ago)

be your own pet- kelly affair

― J0rdan S., Monday, 17 March 2008 20:44 (seventeen years ago)

A dozen favorites hopefully not repeated upthread

Ramones - "I Can't Make It On Time"
Radio 4 - "Get Set To Fall Out"
Stooges - "No Fun"
L7 - "Fast and Frightening"
Adam and the Ants - "Deutscher Girls"
Gary Numan - "I Die: You Die"
Martha & the Muffins - "Indecision"
The Sussed - "I've Got Me Parka"
Bis - "I'm a Slut"
Papas Fritas - "Way You Walk"
Four Jacks & a Jill - "La La Song"
From Bubblegum to Sky - "Hello Hello Hi"

― zaxxon25, Monday, 17 March 2008 20:49 (seventeen years ago)

Al Hamdo Lak عاليه حسين / الحمد لك

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8UhLjxN4HQ

make it until 1:48

― Milton Parker, Monday, 17 March 2008 21:34 (seventeen years ago)

oo i wanna hear when i get home.

― Surmounter, Monday, 17 March 2008 21:35 (seventeen years ago)

Yeah, "cool handclaps" is redundant.

― billstevejim, Monday, 17 March 2008 21:42 (seventeen years ago)

Arabs own cool handclaps, as I've said before. Oh yeah, they just hit it. I love that stuff. Not crazy about the singer. Is this Kuwaiti? The clapping seems Kuwaiti but I'm probably not nearly expert enough to be that specific.

― _Rockist__Scientist_, Monday, 17 March 2008 21:45 (seventeen years ago)

Here's more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO77koJKcYA

― _Rockist__Scientist_, Monday, 17 March 2008 21:49 (seventeen years ago)

Also don't forget this link from before, even though it's one of those corny Arab videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EN-Th_4g5E&mode=related&search=

― _Rockist__Scientist_, Monday, 17 March 2008 21:57 (seventeen years ago)

Not rhythmically interesting, but the hybrid clap-snaps that run through Soft Cell's ver of "Where Did Our Love Go" are ripe for sampling.

― derelict, Monday, 17 March 2008 22:53 (seventeen years ago)

Errrrm. Every song that uses a 909.

Also Bubo Pronsato - At Home I'm a Tourist

and the first song off A Chance To Cut is a chance to Cure by Matmos. The actual name has slipped me.

― mehlt, Tuesday, 18 March 2008 00:40 (seventeen years ago)

eight months pass...

More killer khaleeji clapping:

― _Rockist__Scientist_, Thursday, 11 December 2008 20:08 (sixteen years ago)

I cannot believe that nobody has posted this song yet:
Maxine Nightingale - "Right Back Where We Started From"
There's almost no other percussion except handclaps. It's FANTASTIC.
― Kate G., Friday, December 30, 2005 4:43 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark

I think about this post often.

Kate, so OTM

― my name is crap jones (PappaWheelie V), Thursday, 11 December 2008 20:10 (sixteen years ago)

Nobody mentioned David Bowie "Secret Life Of Arabia"...

― sonnyboy, Thursday, 11 December 2008 21:33 (sixteen years ago)

Some of the coolest handclaps I have heard were in early electro-ish stuff like Madonna's "Holiday" and similar.

― Geir Hongro, Thursday, 11 December 2008 21:37 (sixteen years ago)

Jaggerz: The Rapper

― ＴＥＥＮＡＧＥＤＩＡＬＥＣＴＩＣＳ (libcrypt), Thursday, 11 December 2008 21:40 (sixteen years ago)

Electric Light Orchestra - Summer & Lightning

Doesn't the Santa Esmerelda cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" go handclap crazy in the middle?

― Hideous Lump, Thursday, 11 December 2008 22:34 (sixteen years ago)

Also Bubo Pronsato

What the hell was I doing when I typed this?

― This time, or I'll perc you later (mehlt), Thursday, 11 December 2008 22:44 (sixteen years ago)

one year passes...

Yeasayer's "Tightrope" on the "Dark Was The Night" compilation adds some terrific handclaps as the song progresses.

Also, Matt and Kim's terrific songs "Spare Change" and "Cutdown" give good clap.

The best I can think of that I haven't seen mentioned here is Nina Simone's "Sinnerman", which has an absolutely the best handclapping section about six minutes into it.

― senorguinn, Sunday, 19 September 2010 16:42 (fifteen years ago)

Flat Duo Jet's "Go Go Harlem Baby" and the mid section of "Better Get It In Your Soul" by Charles Mingus. Two mighty fine examples of hand-clappery.

― Damo Suzuki's Parrot, Thursday, 23 September 2010 20:55 (fifteen years ago)

ten months pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJQ5Ox0q77M

― № (am0n), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 21:05 (fourteen years ago)

Rapper Dapper Snapper

― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Wednesday, 27 July 2011 21:21 (fourteen years ago)

jj + blackhearts - i love r&r

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 27 July 2011 23:36 (fourteen years ago)

B52's: Love Shack

― kokokeho, Thursday, 28 July 2011 11:48 (fourteen years ago)

You gotta wait for them, but they're great when they show up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=182ec49VktQ

― BIG HOOBA aka the stankdriver (Phil D.), Thursday, 28 July 2011 12:36 (fourteen years ago)

Wire, Champs

― R. Stornoway (Tom D.), Thursday, 28 July 2011 12:40 (fourteen years ago)

seven months pass...

Revive!!

love love love handclaps

Cecilia - Simon & Garfunkel
Don't Bring Me Down - ELO (though I think they're synth claps but w/e)
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - Santa Esmeralda

― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 21 March 2012 22:22 (thirteen years ago)

one year passes...

I still love handclaps fyi

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 9 May 2013 22:30 (twelve years ago)

ooh and a vote for Ladies Night - Kool and The Gang for the triple handclap intro

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 9 May 2013 23:58 (twelve years ago)

three years pass...

Tried to start a new thread about this song. Maybe it's just as well that I can't, but I finally found the best song, the Samira Toufic song I've been trying to ID for a couple decades now. I think of it as Samira Toufic doing the Bealtes and XTC. Handclaps at the beginning! Guitar at 1:48!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU0-CMdkgjk

― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 25 March 2017 15:38 (eight years ago)

Samira Toufic is so underrated, seriously.

― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 25 March 2017 15:42 (eight years ago)

Denim - The Osmonds, great handclaps near the end. Glam pastiche with exemplary genre signifiers.

― gass mccoombes (qiqing), Monday, 27 March 2017 01:24 (eight years ago)

"Remember (Walking in the Sand)" - The Shangri-Las (minimal but perfect)

"Subway Joe" - Joe Bataan

― Josefa, Monday, 27 March 2017 04:14 (eight years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.