{{Short description|Dance using only the hands}} {{About|the dance performed using only the hands|the swing dance|Hand dancing|the 1993 album by John Scofield|Hand Jive (album)|the juggling move|Mills' mess}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
The '''hand jive''' is a dance particularly associated with music from the 1950s, rhythm and blues in particular. It involves a complicated pattern of hand moves and claps at various parts of the body. It resembles a highly elaborate version of pat-a-cake. Hand moves include thigh slapping, crossing the wrists, fist pounding, hand clapping, and hitchhike moves.
In 1957, when filmmaker Ken Russell was a freelance photographer, he recorded the teenagers of Soho, London, hand-jiving in the basement of The Cat's Whisker coffee bar, where the hand-jive had been invented by Leon Bell of Leon Bell and the Bell Cats.<ref>''https://twitter.com/robnitm/status/620716114964836353''</ref> According to an article in the ''Daily Mirror'',<ref>''Daily Mirror'', 1 April 1957</ref> "it's so crowded [at The Cat's Whisker] the girls hand-jive to the band as there's no room for dancing." Russell told interviewer Leo Benedictus of ''The Guardian''<ref>''The Guardian'', 8 January 2009</ref> that "the place was crowded with young kids... the atmosphere was very jolly. Wholesome... everyone jiving with their hands because there was precious little room to do it with their feet... a bizarre sight. The craze fascinated me. It seemed like a strange novelty; I used to join in."
==Songs referring to "Hand Jive" == His Master's Voice licensed Capitol Records to release the song "Hand Jive 6-5" in the U.S., backed with "Ramshackle Daddy" (3937), by British group Don Lang and his "Frantic Five" in March 1958.<ref>''Billboard'' 17 March 1958. "Reviews of New Pop Records". p. 34.</ref> This recording does not feature the Bo Diddley rhythm.
In April 1958, the UK record label Decca Records, released a song called "Hand Jive" by Bud Allen, performed by the Betty Smith Group. The song lyrics describe the hand dance the title refers to.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz-CXCyNsAE Hand Jive by Betty Smith released in April 1958]</ref>
The hand jive was popularized in the United States by Johnny Otis's "Willie and the Hand Jive", described as a "funky blues rendition in a Bo Diddley styling" and "another approach to the growing Stateside interest in the British originated hand dance."<ref>''Billboard'' 28 April 1958. "Reviews of New Popular Records". p. 34.</ref>
This song exhibited the Bo Diddley beat, a rhythm that originated in Afro-Latin music and was brought into mainstream American music by Bo Diddley. It has since influenced generations of musicians.
Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis has a track titled "Hand Jive," written by drummer Tony Williams, on the album ''Nefertiti'' from 1967.
===Versions=== Eric Clapton did a version of the Johnny Otis song in 1974 that reached the Top 40.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ericclaptonfaq.com/songs/top-forty-singles-top-40-hits.html |title=Eric Clapton Top 40 Singles |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821201028/http://www.ericclaptonfaq.com/songs/top-forty-singles-top-40-hits.html |archive-date=21 August 2006 }}</ref>
Additionally, "Willie and the Hand Jive" was played on several occasions by the New Riders of the Purple Sage featuring Jerry Garcia from the Grateful Dead.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2006/11/the-new-riders-of-the-purple-sage-willie-and-the-hand-jive.html | title=The New Riders of the Purple Sage – Willie and the Hand Jive | magazine=Paste | date=November 2006 | accessdate=25 March 2018 }}</ref><ref>http://new.music.yahoo.com/new-riders-of-the-purple-sage/tracks/willie-and-the-hand-jive--1144532 {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref>
George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers recorded a version of "Willie and the Hand Jive" and a music video.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-hUpMZxlXk| title=George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers music video on YouTube|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}</ref>
==Other uses: in music== The hand jive is also featured prominently in the Broadway musical ''Grease'' (1971) through the song "Born to Hand Jive"; in the movie adaptation of the musical, the song is performed by Sha Na Na. On a DVD audio commentary for the movie, choreographer Patricia Birch mentions that the dance also went by the much more risque name "hand job", but the title was changed as Grease was aimed at a family audience.
The hand movements are also featured in John Waters' 1988 film ''Hairspray'', as the special education class does this behind the teacher's back during the Pledge of Allegiance.
Jazz fusion guitarist John Scofield's 1993 album is called ''Hand Jive''.
The long-running Walt Disney World musical ''Festival of the Lion King'' (1997) uses this{{clarify|date=May 2014}} during the song "Hakuna Matata," and the performers and audience do it while singing the song. The audience is taught the hand jive sometime before the show begins.
The 2005 album ''Midnight Boom'' by the band The Kills features the hand-jive rhythm in the song "Sour Cherry." The band's goal while writing the album was to write rhythms inspired by old-school schoolyard hand claps.
Contestants of the British version of ''Blockbusters'', a television game show, would perform a hand-jive over the theme tune during the closing credits. It was started by a bored contestant awaiting his turn.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bob Holness: Veteran TV and radio presenter who achieved vast popularity as host of the quiz programme Blockbusters |url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/africa-travel/south-africa/cape-town/bob-holness-xkvdwx2mlrm |access-date=23 December 2023 |work=The Times |date=7 January 2012}}</ref>
==See also== *Juba dance (hambone) *Manualism (hand music) *Bo Diddley beat
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Dance crazes