Clap Hands! Here Comes Charley!

Clap Hands! Here Comes Charley! is a popular song that was written by Billy Rose, Ballard MacDonald and Joseph Meyer and was first published in 1925. The song was recorded by several popular singers of the era, including a version by Billy Murray[1] in 1925, but the most popular version at that time was by Johnny Marvin.[2] In the 1930s the song became the theme tune of British dance band pianist Charlie Kunz.[3]

Ella Fitzgerald included the song on her album Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie! (1961)

The song saw a revival, of sorts, in the 1970s, when reworked versions appeared in two TV commercials:

  • in the United States for a Hormel product ("Clap hands / Here comes chili / Hormel / The good time chili...")
  • in the UK for Cadbury’s drinking chocolate ("Cup hands, here comes Cadbury's!") [4]

Music

  • On The Electric Light Orchestra's self-titled debut album, the Jeff Lynne-penned piano instrumental "Manhattan Rumble (49th Street Massacre)" has Roy Wood singing "Clap hands 'cause here comes Charley" at the 2:56 mark, although it is more audible in the 2012 remaster of the album.[5]

Theatre

  • Award winning British playwright Peter Barnes wrote a play with almost the same title, though he spelled "Charley" with an -ie and omitted the exclamation points. Barnes wrote the first act in the 1960s and the second act in the 1990s. The comedy features a trumpet player, Charlie, whose theme song is "Clap Hands! Here Comes Charley!"

References
  1. "archive.org". archive.org. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 300. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  3. Ades, David; Bickerdyke, Percy; Holmes, Eric (July 1999). This England's Book of British Dance Bands. Cheltenham: This England Books. pp. 11–13. ISBN 0-906324-25-4.
  4. Walsh, Irvine, Skagboys, Random House 2012, ISBN 1409028232
  5. Exposing Secrets - Jeff Lynne Songs

See also
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