ADVANCED ANALYTICS IN MUSIC PART 2
Get a Grip: The Top 10 Hand Clapping Songs of All Time
These artists have given us the best hand jobs (musically speaking, of course) in the history of Rock ’N’ Roll!
As we enter month nine of the shutdown, a crazy project like ranking the top 10 hand-clapping songs of all time doesn’t seem so crazy.
The bad new is I didn’t comprehend the depth of this rabbit hole going in, so it took forever to finish this two-part quasi-treatise. The good news is, by the time you finish reading it, we may be out of quarantine.
Believe it or not, hand clapping and pandemics go way back. According to the Guardian, hand clapping dates back to 1473 with the first outbreak of cholera as a signal to let others know you were infected.
Then, in the early 17th century, Gospel music began using hand-clapping and foot-stomping as a rhythmic accompaniment to unite the entire congregation in religious fervor. Four hundred years later, the hands still can’t be beat when it comes to staying with the beat.
Following the example of professional sports, I used advanced analytics to grade the songs using four criteria (see appendix for point breakdowns), with ratings from 1–5 in each category:
A. How big a hit was the song?
B. How many handclaps are heard throughout the song?
C. How important are the handclaps in the mix?
D. How creative or innovative is the use of the handclaps?
THE TOP 10
I tried to pick the best song of each music genre and from the perspective of how well the old classics hold up in present times. Songs 11–20 feature quick bursts of hand clapping heaven, and you can find the link to those rankings at the bottom of this article.
TIER 1: Hands Down, the Greatest Ever (1–5)
This is the Mount Rushmore + 1 when it comes to modern hand-clapping songs. These songs created unforgettable musical memories, and show the evolution of hand clapping as an art form.
#1. “We Will Rock You” by Queen: 5+4+5+3 = 17
Stomp! Stomp! Clap! is all you need to hear to identify Queen’s classic a cappella song “We will rock you” by Brian May. It is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll,” and is ranked #330 on Rolling Stone’s “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
But that simple percussion beat elevated the song beyond the music world as it has become one of the most popular sports anthems in the world, played in stadiums and arenas all over the world.
In an NPR interview, Brian May explained the genesis of the song and how he created the sound of thousands of people stomping and clapping through his knowledge of physics and sound waves.
“I was thinking of it more as a rock anthem and a means of uniting an audience … enjoying the fact that an audience is united. I didn’t realize that it would translate to sports… have kind of transcended the normal framework of where music is listened to and appreciated — they’ve become part of public life…” — Brian May
How ironic that the hand clap has again risen to unite huge, diverse groups of people in the spiritual reverie of modern professional sports. — 5 points.
The entire song is driven by hand clapping. While the hand-clapping is slow and steady, the driving beat produces 90 claps over the two-minute song, for 45 claps per minute (cpm). — 4 points
The first thing you hear is the hand-stomp percussion and it never loses its power, even while Freddie Mercury is singing. I can name that song in one bar. — 5 points
Clapping pattern: Even though the clapping pattern of single claps on the beat is simple, the double foot stomp creates a powerful syncopated rhythm. Queen’s novel approach to a cappella percussion merits a bonus point. — 3 points
#2. (tie) “I Saw Her Standing There” by The Beatles: 5+5+3+3 = 16
“A one, two, three, fo’!” begins the hand-clapping rocker that launched the British Invasion of the 1960s.
While some people might think of The Beatles as elevator muzak, this group started out rocking harder than any other band in the world.
In 1963, The Beatles rocked the world with “I Saw Her Standing There” at a time when the Rolling Stones sound like a bluesy 1950s cover band or a vacuous pop band from 1960. In 1964, Mick Jagger covered a Beatles song. The Stones finally found Rock ’n’ Roll satisfaction in 1965, after they couldn’t get any.
By 1965, The Beatles had moved on and cycled through pop, rock, sitar, harpsichords, ballads, guitar reverb, and all the studio effects that created the psychedelics. Heavy metal would have to wait until 1968 to be born with “Helter Skelter.”
The question is not who ruled rock in 1963, but how well the music rocks today. Listen to the song when it’s sung by McCartney at age 21, not when he’s old enough to be your grandfather.
At 160 beats per minute (bpm), “I Saw Her Standing There” fits right in with punk rockers and 80s rock bands.
For context here are the beats per minute for several high energy tunes: “I Wanna Be Sedated” by the Ramones (163 bpm); “Vacation” by the GoGos (157 bpm) “Heartbreaker” by Pat Benatar (156 bpm); “Born to Run” by Springsteen (144 bpm); and “Pride” by U2 (136 bpm).
How crazy is it that “I Saw Her Standing There” is ranked #139 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, but was only the B-side of the Beatles’ first single released in the United States?
Maybe not so surprising when you find out the A-side of the single was “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” ranked #16 all-time by Rolling Stone.— 5 points.
The entire song is driven by hand clapping, almost to the point of it being too much of a good thing. The clapping is fast and frenetic, driving the beat at a hand-melting 105.1 claps per minute (cpm). — 5 points
The handclaps help drive the beat of the song like a drummer. But the clapping intermingles with Paul’s frenetic bass so it does not stand out as much as “We Will Rock You.” — 3 points
Clapping pattern: This is a simple 2-pause-1 pattern, a classic rock beat that adds an extra clap off the beat. — 3 points
#2. (tie) Where Did Our Love Go” by The Supremes: 5+5+5+1 = 16
Of all the hand-clapping songs by the girl groups of the early 1960s, the Supreme’s “Where Did Our Love Go,” by Motown’s Holland–Dozier–Holland belongs on our Mount Rushmore.
More polished and modern sounding than the high school sound of the Marvellete’s “Mr. Postman,” or the Angels’ “My Boyfriend’s Back,” this single for the Supremes hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and on the Cash Box R&B singles chart in 1964.
The historical significance of the song is even larger, per Wikipedia:
The Supremes’ version is ranked #475 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry in 2016 due to its “cultural, historic, or artistic significance.”[6][7] Billboard named the song #4 on its list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.[8]
This was the first of five Supremes songs in a row to reach #1. — 5 points.
The entire song is accompanied by hand clapping. Even though this not considered a rocker at 136 bpm, the hand-clapping persistence of the beat generates a palm-pulsing total of 136 cpm!— 5 points
The first thing you hear is a cappella percussion supplied by handclaps, and that continues for the entire song. When the second bar starts with “Baby,” you know the song.
At the end of the song, when Diana Ross sings the phrases “you wanna leave me behind” and “all by myself,” the other instruments pause, leaving us with the haunting echoes of only the handclaps and backup singers. — 5 points
Clapping pattern: a single clap on the beat. — 1 point
#4. “Car Wash” by Rose Royce: 3+4+5+3.5 = 15.5
Car Wash was the theme of the 1976 film of the same name, as part of the Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album. The Song hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Hot Soul Singles charts. It was one of the best-remembered hits of the disco era from the 1970s. — 3 points.
We hear hand-clapping throughout the entire song. Despite the dynamite intro, the song only registers at 69 cpm. — 4 points
Hands down, this is an absolute clapping masterpiece, but it doesn’t have the same historical significance as the top 3. The song opens with about 40 seconds of a cappella hand clapping, as the bass, guitar, keyboards, and conga layers enter the groove. The song is instantly recognizable from the first couple of bars because of the distinctive hand-clapping pattern. — 5 points.
Clapping pattern: There are two different clapping patterns. The famous opening starts with a syncopated clapping pattern beat of 1-pause-1-pause-1–2345. It’s very cool, but not quite as cool as The Temptations (see below), so I gave it a half-point bonus for innovation. During the rest of the song, there is a single clap on the beat. — 3.5 points
#5. “Happy” by Pharrell Williams: 4+5+4+2 = 15
“Happy” was written for the film Despicable Me 2 and became the best-selling song of 2014 in the United States, with 6.45 million copies sold for the year. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. A live rendition of the song won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. — 4 points
Although the first 30 seconds of the song don’t include hand-clapping, once they start, they make up for it in an amazing bridge filled with rapid-fire clapping. I tried to count all the claps of the top songs and this one gets the bonus for an astounding 406 claps for 101.5 cpm. — 5 points
The whole point of the song is spelled out in the lyrics of the chorus as each phrase starts with, “clap along…” But you can’t name that tune in the first two bars because there’s no hand clapping. — 4 points
Clapping Pattern: most of the song is a single clap on the beat, while the bridge contains a rapid sequence of claps following the beat. — 2 points
TIER 2: All Hands on Deck! (6–10)
These hits are so overflowing with hand-clapping goodness you could say our clap runneth over.
#6. Hound Dog” by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller: 5+4+2+3 = 14
This twelve-bar blues song was originally recorded by Big Mama Thornton in 1952 and hit number one on the R&B charts. Her recording is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll”, and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in February 2013.
The 1956 version recorded by Elvis Presley is ranked #19 in Rolling Stone’s “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and became one of the best-selling singles of all time and a symbol of the rock ’n’ roll revolution. The Elvis version has the distinction of simultaneously being #1 in the U.S. pop, country, and R&B charts. Presley’s 1956 RCA recording was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1988, and is listed as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll”. I don’t know if any other song covered twice has received this acclaim. — 5 points.
Three-quarters of the song is accompanied by hand clapping. — 4 points
A reader pointed out this song to me, and I had to listen to it again as all I remembered about the song was the classic rock ’n’ roll bass run and the drum fill at the end of each stanza. The bass runs parallel to the hand-clapping pattern which is why it didn’t stand out as much as on the other songs.
When Elvis played the song on the Ed Sullivan Show you can barely hear the claps but you can see the four guys behind him clapping! The song still sounded great, so the clapping didn’t have as great an effect on the music as the songs in the top 5. — 2 points
Clapping pattern: Elvis heard a version of the song by Freddie Bell and the Bell Boys that featured a Latin riff form known as a “Habanera rhythm,” a 4-clap sequence with some syncopation. You can hear the beat here and in the bass of the Carmen opera song “Habanera.” Elvis just accelerated the beat and added the rock guitar and percussion. The rest is history. — 3 points
#7. “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” by The Temptations: 5+3+1.5+4 = 13.5
Writer Norman Whitfield reworked the instrumentals for The Temptations’ version of this song and it went on to become #1, win three Grammy Awards, and end up at #169 on Rolling Stones’ 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. — 5 points.
The song is punctuated by handclaps in four parts of the song. — 3 points
This song is so brilliant it’s easy to forget about its awesome hand clapping. There are so many layers: that powerful bass, high hat, the disco/funk rhythm guitar, violins, cellos, and the singing harmonies of The Temptations. — 1.5 points
Clapping pattern: there were two different patterns, one with single claps both on the beat and a second complex clapping pattern (1–2–123) off the beat at a couple of places in the song. — 4 points
#8. (tie) “Jack and Diane” by John Mellencamp: 3+3+5+1 = 12
How important is hand clapping? If you ask John Cougar Mellancamp, he might say it is everything. Mellencamp said that the clapping was used only to help keep time and was supposed to be removed in the final mix, but realized the song would not work without it.
Without producer and guitarist Mick Ronson, this song was getting a big thumbs-down from Mellencamp. From a Classic Rock magazine interview, Mellencamp said:
Mick was very instrumental in helping me arrange that song, as I’d thrown it on the junk heap.
Per Wikipedia:
…this song was released as the second single from Mellencamp’s 1982 album American Fool and was chosen by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) as one of the Songs of the Century. It spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982 and is Mellencamp’s most successful hit single
All it took was a helping hand. — 3 points.
All told, four sections feature hand-clapping that total less than half the song. — 3 points
The song intro is like mano from heaven, with 30 seconds of hand-clapping accompanied only by sparse guitar and drums. Even better, the video shows disembodied hands clapping in case people didn’t know what they were hearing or what they should do during the song. The song can be recognized in the first bar, so it gets the bonus point. — 5 points
Clapping pattern: single claps on the beat. — 1 point
#8. (tie) “HandClap” by Fitz and The Tantrums: 2+3+4+3 = 12
As I scoured the internet for great hand-clapping songs, I found a gem ignored by all the Top 10 lists. Fitz and The Tantrums is categorized as an indie-pop and neo-soul band. While the song didn’t break the top 50 on Billboard’s Hot 100 rankings, it ranked #2, #5, #7, and #29 on other Billboard charts. — 2 points
What makes this song stand out from so many other dance-pop songs is how much rest time there is between the driving beat of the intro, the verse, and the chorus. — 3 points
Not only is clapping the foundation of the song, but it is also the subject of the song. Without it, the song couldn’t exist. — 4 points
Clapping pattern: This song features at least two distinct clapping patterns. First, there is a single clap using during the intro and verses, then a beautiful 6-clap response (5-pause-1) to the call “I can make your hands clap.”
In other parts of the song, there are unique rhythm patterns, but I don’t know if it’s a snare drum or a sampled clap played by a synthesizer. In the second bridge, they reintroduce the hand claps and increase the number of claps per beat as the song builds to the final chorus. For that reason, I’ve got to call this a sequence of claps on the beat and give it a bonus point for innovation. — 3 points
#10. “Stuck in the Middle with You” by Stealers Wheel: 1+4+3+3.5 = 11.5
Sometimes a knock-off sounds so good people think it’s the real thing. “Stuck in the Middle” was a song written by Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan but it sure fooled a lot of people. According to Wikipedia:
“Rafferty’s lyrics are a dismissive tale of a music industry cocktail party written and performed as a parody of Bob Dylan’s paranoia (the vocal impression, subject, and styling were so similar, listeners have wrongly attributed the song to Dylan since its release)
The song reached #6 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and has been used in numerous movies and TV shows. — 1 point
The hand-clapping is present in most of the song. — 4 points
The hand-clapping fills up most of the song as part of the percussion but isn’t used as a featured instrument. — 3 points
Clapping pattern: This song features three distinct clapping patterns. First, there are syncopated 3-clap sequences (1 on the beat-pause-2 quick claps) for the first two verses. Then, like the drunken Scotsmen, they probably were, they changed the clapping pattern to a syncopated 4-clap sequence (1 on the beat-pause-3 quick claps). It doesn’t make any difference in the way the song sound, but it’s an interesting quirk. Finally, there’s a short bridge with single claps on the beat. — 3.5 points
Honorable Mention: “With the Beatles” by The Beatles
The album “With the Beatles,” released in November 1963, contains four hand-clapping songs — Roll Over Beethoven, Please Mr. Postman, Hold Me Tight, and Money — with some fun trivia to share, even though none of the songs should make the list by themselves.
Roll Over Beethoven was a groundbreaking rock and roll song by Chuck Berry. In 1972, John Lennon finally met his hero when they played together on The Mike Douglas Show and introduced Berry as follows.
“If you had to give rock and roll another name, you might call it Chuck Berry.” — John Lennon
Believe it or not, The Beatles had to slow down the song to 2:46 from the original version that Berry burned through in 2:22. There are only 24 seconds when you are not engulfed by hand-clapping madness.
I wish they could have replaced the ancient-sounding percussion on Berry’s original with Ringo’s work on the high hat and those rocking 2.5 claps per second — 30% faster than any song I researched.
One last obscure listening fact: Hold Me Tight, a song held in low esteem by Lennon and McCarthy, contains one of the most interesting clap sequences I’ve heard. Listen to the bridge of the song at the 1:00 mark. There is a waltz-like rhythm introduced with a 5-clap phrase (1-pause-1 pause-1–2–3).
Clapping pattern: 1 single clap on the beat, but Lord did the Fab Four revolutionize the sound of pop music.
Honorable Mention: “The Clapping Song” by Lincoln Chase
Shirley Ellis recorded this dance song that might have been fun in 1965. It incorporates the song “Little Rubber Dolly” from the 1930s, which became a song kids would sing while skipping rope. The composer then added instructions for a clapping game. It peaked at #8 in the U.S. and was covered again by the Belle Stars in 1982 and by Pia Zadora in 1983.
Not only is clapping the foundation of the song, but it is also the subject of the song. Without it, the song couldn’t exist.
THE TOP 20
I found so many great songs, my all-time top 10 became a top 20. Songs number 1–10 go mano a mano because hand-clapping fills the entire song. Songs number 11 through 20 offer quick bursts of hand-clapping nirvana and can be found in part 1.
Here’s to another kind of applause…
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APPENDIX
Here is my rating system in detail:
A. How big a hit was the song?
You may love a particular song, but if no one else knows it, I’m not going to consider it in these ratings. Scoring: album cut or single outside the top 50 (0 points), top 50 on Billboard (1 point), Billboard top 10 (2 points), Billboard #1 (3 points), a huge hit with record-level sales (4 points), plus a bonus point if it is part of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs Ever (5 points).
B. How many handclaps are heard throughout the song?
It doesn’t matter how awesome the claps are, if we only hear them once at the beginning, the song is not going to make the top 10. Scoring: claps only at the beginning (1 point); claps at beginning and end (2 points); claps for every verse or chorus (3 points); claps during 75% or more of the song (4 points); and a bonus for the highest number of average claps (5 points).
C. How important are the handclaps in the mix?
Whether you’re a musician or a fan when you think of each song, what part do you remember? If the handclaps aren’t the first thing you remember, the song doesn’t make the cut. How much do the handclaps stand out or get lost in the mix? Scoring: claps mostly lost in the background (1 point) up to the song couldn’t exist without the handclaps (4 points), plus a bonus point if you recognize the song in the first two bars (5 points)
D. How Original or Innovative is the use of the handclaps?
Scoring: single clap on the beat (1 point); a sequence of claps on the beat (2 points); clapping off the beat (3 points); complex sequence of claps off the beat (4 points); bonus point for being a hand clap pioneer (5 points)
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