Clap Your Hands

 

In 1983, Katrina and the Waves released one of the best pop songs of the early 1980's. It was written and composed by Kimberley Rew, who had already shown a knack for such songs whilst with the Soft Boys, although none of them were ever as successful as this one. 

There’s not much more to be said about the Boomtown Rats’ biggest hit and what inspired it. It’s sad enough that, even nearly 50 years later, pupils are still killing people with semi-automatic weapons in American schools.

In 1978, Chic released one of the biggest disco hits of the time, featuring a sensational guitar riff. The story behind its creation is also fascinating. Wiki tells 

On 30 December 1977, the two musicians Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers received a phone call from the singer Grace Jones, who asked them if they wanted to meet her at the New Year’s Eve party at Studio 54 in New York, where Jones was performing. When the two arrived at the club’s backstage door, the bouncer didn’t believe them and turned them away, saying, ‘Fuck off.’

Annoyed, they returned to Rodgers’ flat, which was very close to Studio 54. They let off steam during an impromptu jam session, singing “Fuck off – Fuck Studio 54” over an improvised riff. As they immediately liked the sound and the melody, they changed the lyrics and turned it into “Ah, freak out – Le freak, c’est chic”. The lyrics also include the line “just come on down to 54, find a spot out on the floor” as a reference to the song’s origins.