The Clapping Song

"The Clapping Song" is an American song, written by Lincoln Chase, originally arranged by Charles Callello and recorded by Shirley Ellis in 1965. The song was released shortly after Ellis had released "The Name Game". The lyrics of "The Clapping Song" were borrowed from the song "Little Rubber Dolly", a 1930s song recorded by the Light Crust Doughboys, and also feature instructions for a clapping game. The song made it to #8 on the charts.

The song returned to the charts in 1982, when the Belle Stars' version charted at number 11 in the U.K. This version did not chart in the U.S.

Covers

The song has been covered several times:

• Female Mexican pop singer Yuri recorded a Spanish version of the song in 1980 entitled Bailad (The Clapping Song).
• The Belle Stars covered the song in 1982.
• Pia Zadora's cover of the song entered the top 40 in 1983.
• Aaron Carter released a cover of the song on his 2000 album Aaron's Party (Come Get It). A music video was produced for the song.
• Lil' Kim performed the song (as Shirley Ellis) on the NBC drama American Dreams October 12, 2003 and danced to the song on the ABC show Dancing With The Stars April 20 and 21, 2009.
• Gary Glitter covered this song on 3 albums: Glitter in 1972, Glam Years 1991, and Gary Glitter in 1995.
• The Rotters Club recorded a cover which was featured on Skins Secret Party Special.
• The Hip-hop gospel Congolese group Makoma has covered the song.
• Izza Kizza samples the chorus in his song "Walk The Dawg".
• R&B Singer Cupid did a cover of the song with B.O.B on the Step Up 2 OST which samples Ellis' version
• Operator Please covered the song for the Australian Independent teen film Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger.
• The Young Punx covered the song for the Buffet Libre 'Rewind 2' project in late 2008, featuring Laura Kidd on vocals and Guthrie Govan on guitar.
• Mother and The Addicts released a cover of this song as the B-side to 2004 single "Who Art You Girls?"
• UK X Factor contestant, Cher Lloyd, performed the song on the final of the show in December 2010.
• On Season 1 of The X Factor US, the group InTENsity performed the song during the first live show.

Legacy and in the media

• The song, with lyrics advertising backpacks and back to school gear, was played in a 2005 Zellers commercial.
• Radiohead's "Pyramid Song" quotes the line "And we all went to Heaven in a little row boat."
• Tom Waits song "Clap Hands" quotes the line "(they) all went to heaven in a little row boat." (in the live version of the song on Big Time, he prefaces the song by reciting the entire first verse)
• Buck 65's "1957" quotes the line "we all go to Heaven in a little row boat."
• In "Loco Mosquito"(Soldier,1980) Iggy Pop quotes some lines from "The Clapping Song".
• UB40's rendition of Red Red Wine includes includes the lines "The line broke, the monkey get choked".
• Spank Rock's mix tape Couche-Tard samples "The Clapping Song" on track "Five".
• James May attempted to parallel park a Lamborghini Countach to the song on an episode of Top Gear
• The song was used in an advertising campaign for Matalan in the UK.
• The song was featured in the hip hop documentary Scratch as part of a story where DJ Jazzy Jay recalls Afrika Bambaata passing him a 45 single with a drum break he later discovered was from "The Clapping Song".
• The song was featured on the soundtrack of the movie "Because of Winn-Dixie" 20th Century Fox, 2005. According to The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) www.imdb.com The song was written by Lincoln Chase, Kay Werner-Kent and Sue Werner-McCarthy and performed by Shirley Ellis.
• The song is featured in a 2011 advertisement for the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle.