Hidden Treasures - Hand Clappers

[Scott]

It’s not easy coming up with a Hidden Treasures playlist idea week after week. Sometimes ideas come easy and sometimes it feels like some form of writers block. Still, it’s a ton of fun going through my collection and it never seems to get old. This week’s idea is not mine, but it was so irresistible that I had to go with it. So giving credit where credit is due, Jon’s comments on last week’s post mentioned hand-clapping songs and it struck me as a great idea and certainly a gap in the SHT thematic history. So that’s what we’re hearing today.


A few songs came to mind immediately, like “Jack and Diane”, "Bennie and the Jets", “Centerfield” and a couple others… then as I traversed the albums in my collection I found some really cool stuff! Some obvious, and some not so obvious... But I decided to throw caution to the wind and allow everything into the mix this week. This means hit songs, deep album cuts and even out-of-the box genre considerations were made. Then I whittled this playlist down to these 4 tunes, which are a very cool mixed bag of deep cuts and obvious hand clapping songs - 2 of each...


And then...


The news of David Bowie broke, so I amended my playlist to replace one of the obvious hand clappers with Under Pressure as a tribute. Even though I was never a big fan, I do appreciate the influences and legacy of those who impacted our favorite genres of music.


Thanks Jon! Considering this idea and the famous “Closers” playlist which I was the undisputed first one to ever post, were now even when it comes to exceptionally brilliant ideas!


PLAYLIST --> http://www.podsnack.com/CA69EFD9E8C/av7tivxz

	Porcupine Tree In Absentia 2002 1 - Trains This is a band I've yet been able to put down since discovering them a couple years ago. This takes a few minutes for the hand claps to come in, but the song is totally worth it. Sonically gorgeous and deceivingly complex, In Absentia has the most immediate appeal of anything Wilson has released under this moniker up to this point. By keeping the songs at manageable lengths and avoiding the avant-garde electronica flourishes of the band's early days, Porcupine Tree has grown into a fully realized pop group without cutting any of the elements that also make them an important force in the neo-prog movement.
	Santa Esmeralda Don't Let Me Be Misundertood 1977 2 - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood This has been showcased before in a SHT list but its worthy of it again due to the subject matter, plus its a cool song. Although the disc had originally been titled Santa Esmeralda Featuring Leroy Gomez, Casablanca renamed it to capitalize on the hit single "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood." The old Animals classic covered an entire side of the original vinyl album; "Esmeralda Suite" was simply a reworking of the hit.
	John Fogerty Centerfield 1985 3 - Centerfield Now were onto the obvious hand clappers... Admit it, this song was one of the first to come to your mind when you seen the title of this weeks post. For as knowingly nostalgic as Centerfield is, deliberately mining from Fogerty’s childhood memories and consciously referencing his older tunes, the album is steeped in the mid-‘80s, propelled too often by electronic drums -- the title track has a particularly egregious use of synthesized handclaps -- occasionally colored by synths and always relying on the wide-open production that characterized the ‘80s…plus, there’s no denying that this is the work of a middle-aged baby boomer, romanticizing TV, rockabilly, baseball, and rock & roll girls. Since Fogerty always romanticized a past he never lived, these sepia tones suit him but it also helps that he’s written a clutch of terrific songs: that giddy ode to his beloved game, the equally sunny rocker “Rock and Roll Girls,” the snappy Sun tribute “Big Train from Memphis,” the gently swaying “I Saw It on TV,” the rip-roaring “I Can’t Help Myself” (only slightly undone by its hyper-active drum programming) and, of course, “The Old Man Down the Road,” a callback to CCR’s spooky swamp rock so successful that Saul Zaentz, the then-president of Fogerty’s former label Fantasy, sued John for plagiarizing himself.
	Queen w/ David Bowie Hot Space 4 - Under Pressure Made my short list but initially left it off in favor of another prominent hand clapper. But with the news of Bowies death, it got put in its rightful place this week as the playlist closer. Thank you Mr. Bowie for your contributions to the music I love... Anybody who was a little dismayed by the pop inclinations of The Game would have been totally distressed by Queen's 1982 follow-up, Hot Space, an unabashed pop and dance album. But the album's undeniable saving grace is the concluding "Under Pressure," an utterly majestic, otherworldly duet with David Bowie that recaptures the effortless grace of Queen's mid-'70s peak, but is underscored with a truly affecting melancholy heart that gives it a genuine human warmth unheard in much of their music. Frankly, "Under Pressure" is the only reason most listeners remember this album.

[RJhog (Admin)]

More Than A Feeling, doesn't that have some subtle hand

clapping in it?

[Scott]

Indeed it does, as do many many Boston tunes...  I pulled Feelin' Satisfied to make a place for Under Pressure

[RJhog (Admin)]

It was just the first one that jumped into my head.

Should be able to check this out tomorrow.

[Jon]

So, when I click on the player link, it states that "The page you are trying to access does not exist." What's up with that?

[Scott]

Fixed, not sure what was going on yesterday, I had several issues getting this posted... but it all seems to be fine now

[Jon]

Actually, no. "Centerfield" was not the first song that came to mind when I saw the title of this week's SHT.

What came to mind was "Clap For The Wolfman". Not only does that song contain the word "clap" in the title, it also has clapping. So, you were wrong again. I would point out something else that is wrong, but we know the real truth about THAT, don't we?

"Under Pressure" actually first appeared a year earlier on "Greatest Hits". I don't know if that was the first GH comp to feature a brand new song, it seems quite doubtful, but who knows. That's the main reason why I picked up that album when it came out. Now you could have included that other Queen song that features clapping, but you're probably saving it for Part 2.

Is that real hand clapping on "Centerfield" or is computer generated? Odd question, I know. But, even though I've noticed it before, it just doesn't seem real.

"In Absentia" was the first PT album I picked up, and I believe it was at.......Fry's? Circuit City? I don't remember where, but there was something on the cover that made me want to buy it even though I had never heard of the band before. It was a sticker, and it mentioned something about the recording, maybe 5.1. I can't remember, dammit, but I had to have the disc to test out the SOMETHING it was advertising. And then the rest is history, I guess. 

Santa Esmeralda. They were disco or something. I remember them, but never picked up one of their albums. His albums. An album by Santa Esmeralda.  

Man, they clapped really fast back in the 40's. No wonder, they were probably all coked up. 

 

[Scott]

I should have noted that these songs are all hand-clap agnostic.  The staff at SHT did not care if they were real or electronic....

No WWRY will appear in a SHT list, probably the most overplayed track ever!  And on second thought maybe thats a good playlist to put together...  Glad I thought of it...  I guess its now 2-1 in favor of me...  

[Niels (Mod)]

PT - Yeah, this is a good track from a good album. I don't know, which PT-album is my favorite, but probably this one or Deadwing......or is it Fear Of a Blank Planet? Wilson has really surpassed Neal Morse as my very favorite artist at the moment. I just saw, that Morse & band were writing on a new album, and that's nice, but I wish it was Wilson. Yeah, I know he's releasing an EP or something next week, but I don't think it will be THAT great, outtakes and stuff. Nice track to start off with.

Santa Who? - Never heard of these dudes, but I know the song, of course. Not really my scene. Holy shit, what a looong song.........................................there, it's done. Very nice or whatever.

JOHN FOGERTY - Never was a fan of Creedence, but Fogerty has a GREAT rock'n'roll-voice. No, I didn't think of this song, when I saw the topic. It was either "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" or "Another One Bites The Dust". This is a good song, but I doubt, I ever will be a fan. The music is too simply for my taste.

QUEEN/BOWIE - Ah yeah, very nice pick, considering the sad news. As I recall it, I heard this song way before "Hot Space" was released, or at least a bit before it was released. I didn't really like the song, and thought it sounded like a demo (I kind of still do). It was not at all as good as anything from The Game, but it became the absolute best song on Hot Space (I HATE that album). Off course, now it has a totally different "meaning", when also Bowie is no more. Two legends on the same song. Two legends, that wrote my two favorite songs of alltime.

Keep up the good work, my friend. I allways enjoy SHT......or most of the times.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Listened to this yesterday.  You really like that Steven Wilson guy, don't you? He has his moments.  That second song, I've heard it before, but is this the version that was played on the radio?  It's been a long time since I've heard it and it seemed kind of long.  But, that being said, I really liked it.

Who doesn't love and appreciate the hand clapping greatness of Centerfield.  After many years, Fogerty hit it big with what has turned out to be an iconic song.  One that you hear at ever single ball park in the United States.  Not sure if they play it in the Dominican Republic, but whatever.

And the tragedy of the loss of David Bowie has touched everybody this week.  It's still kind of surreal.  Add that to the loss of Freddie Mercury 25 years ago and you probably could have just posted this one four times.   They both put forth a masterful performance, even with the hand clapping.

Nice list this week Scott.  And those people are clapping really, really fast.