# Tell me your favorite clavinet songs! (other than Superstition) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [April 14, 2026, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271 "2026-04-14T17:29:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/1 "2026-04-14T17:29:48Z")
No, not the clarinet, silly. And not the clavichord! I mean the clavinet, that funky keyboard of the sixties popularized by Stevie Wonder. It’s an instrument that creeps into most bands’ repertoires at some point, yet it’s obscure enough that Discourse is trying to spellcheck me on it. [![](https://i.imgur.com/5vYuMOO.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/5vYuMOO.png) I’m not going to link to Superstition because you’re already hearing it in your head at this very moment. Instead, a few other favorites: First, Pink Floyd’s “Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Pts 6-9)”; the clavinet kicks in during the back half and carries a funky beat: [Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 6-9)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur4J7hhhto8&list=RDur4J7hhhto8&start_radio=1) Next up: Jeopardy, by the Greg Kihn band. Didn’t see that one coming, did you? [The Greg Kihn Band - Jeopardy (Official Music Video)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJCWdqZ0RSg) Finally, this one is distinctly obscure and aimed at @EinsteinsHund, but the German band Die Sterne features a lot of clavinet, including one of my favorites, Trrrmmr, a song about (checks notes)…um, having sex in the rubble: [Trrrmmer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqcyhTnjTAM&list=RDgqcyhTnjTAM&start_radio=1) So, whatcha got? Bring that funky beat! ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/2 "2026-04-14T17:38:39Z")
I’ll cherry-pick a few other clavinet gimmes: **[“Heartbreaker”, The Rolling Stones](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqUiWpGGCmI)** **[“Trampled Underfoot”, Led Zeppelin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vamReLUOlrA)** **[“You Make Loving Fun”, Fleetwood Mac](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJo3Rq5Fubc)** The Red Hot Chili Peppers are sometimes credited with using a clavinet on their cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground”, but I always thought that was Flea hammering all those notes out on his bass. Gotta look into that. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/3 "2026-04-14T17:51:59Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Finally, this one is distinctly obscure and aimed at @EinsteinsHund, but the German band Die Sterne features a lot of clavinet, including one of my favorites, Trrrmmr, a song about (checks notes)…um, having sex in the rubble: Yeah, die Sterne are an example of a really funky German band, if that can figure out at all. Jan Delay is another funky German, and I’m wondering if he ever used a clavinet, but don’t know his work close enough to remember a clavinet song. And I have another clavinet song (not from a German band) in the back of my brain, but for the life of me can’t exactly remember it. Give me time. I love the clavinet. Btw., my spellchecker in Chrome also marks the word “clavinet”. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/4 "2026-04-14T18:00:22Z")
[Piece Of The Rock](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAgqvNUXgow&list=RDcAgqvNUXgow&start_radio=1), Mother’s Finest (the finest funk band ever founded). ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/5 "2026-04-14T18:05:02Z")
Up On Cripple Creek by The Band. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/6 "2026-04-14T18:06:45Z")
Yeah, that was the song I had in the back of my mind. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/7 "2026-04-14T18:13:28Z")
[Baby Love](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC7_LAklaHo&list=RDaC7_LAklaHo&start_radio=1), Mother’s Finest (the finest funk band and clavinet band ever founded). ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/8 "2026-04-14T18:18:31Z")
[Mickey’s Monkey](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWwcZRA8_4U) a cover of a Smokey Robinson/Miracles song, borrowing the guitar hook from Led Zeppelin’s Custard Pie, by [Mother’s Finest,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Finest) which again I’ll emphasize is the incontrovertible queen of all funk/clavinet bands. Really I don’t think mashups get any better than that. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/9 "2026-04-14T18:22:18Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > [Piece Of The Rock](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAgqvNUXgow&list=RDcAgqvNUXgow&start_radio=1), Mother’s Finest (the finest funk band ever founded). The music is great, but that doesn’t look or sound like a clavinet, but like a typical synthesizer of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/10 "2026-04-14T18:25:09Z")
And yet, I’m pretty sure it’s a Hohner Clavinet D6. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/11 "2026-04-14T18:27:38Z")
Free Ride / Edgar Winter ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/12 "2026-04-14T18:27:46Z")
Ok, I admit that I’m no expert at all, I just thought that the clavinets I saw had a smaller keyboard/fewer keys and just sounded differently, more akin to a bass guitar. ETA: this is a response to @Maserschmidt. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/13 "2026-04-14T18:31:27Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > The music is great, but that doesn’t look or sound like a clavinet, but like a typical synthesizer of the time. I hear the clavinet, but you could be right about the instrument seen in the video. Maybe the soundtrack is of a recording or different performance. YouTubers have been known to mash things up. I’m pretty sure it’s in there though, because many of their songs feature one (also linked). If they’re not playing it, it’s definitely onstage somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/14 "2026-04-14T18:34:01Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > The Red Hot Chili Peppers are sometimes credited with using a clavinet on their cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground”, but I always thought that was Flea hammering all those notes out on his bass. Gotta look into that. No clavinet on the Chili Pepper’s cover – that’s all Flea. There may be some confusion because Billy Preston himself played clavinet on a different Chili Peppers’ track, **[“Warlocks”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB7pbWwqEXU)**. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/15 "2026-04-14T18:34:04Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Free Ride / Edgar Winter What?? I have no idea how I missed that one, but yes. It’s so distinct now that I hear it! > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > > The music is great, but that doesn’t look or sound like a clavinet, but like a typical synthesizer of the time. > > I hear the clavinet, but I think you’re right, the instrument you see may not be it. > > I’m pretty sure it’s in there though, because many of their songs feature one (also linked). If they’re not playing it, it’s definitely onstage somewhere. I’ll say again, I’m pretty sure that’s the D6, and I do hear a clavinet being played at a higher register. You can definitely see the Hohner label. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/16 "2026-04-14T18:36:55Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I do hear a clavinet being played at a higher register. Maybe that’s what confused me. Typical clavinet songs are played in lower registers, and in this case it sounded like a synth. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/17 "2026-04-14T18:37:24Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/1dOGSrktygw/hqdefault.jpg "G.DUKE B.COBHAM - HIP POCKETS") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dOGSrktygw) ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/18 "2026-04-14T18:38:43Z")
How about other Stevie Wonder songs? Are they allowed? I think it’s funny that Hohner decided that the world needed an electric clavichord. When was the last time a clavichord was a popular instrument? In Mozart’s time? And then they accidently created one of the funkiest instruments around. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/19 "2026-04-14T18:39:03Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I’ll say again, I’m pretty sure that’s the D6, and I do hear a clavinet being played at a higher register. You can definitely see the Hohner label. I know what they sound like, but couldn’t identify one by sight if it bit me on the ass. So I’ll have to take your word on that. > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Maybe that’s what confused me. Typical clavinet songs are played in lower registers, and in this case it sounded like a synth. I think you might be partially right. There’s something odd going on in that video. You can actually hear a piano, synth, and a clavinet, they’re a big-instrumentation band. But whatever that keyboard is, his hand motions seem synced to the piano part. I’m starting to think that wasn’t a live performance, it sounds almost note for note like the studio album. This was actually not their most clavinet-heavy song anyway, it’s just my favorite one. The other 2 I linked are more clavinet-forward. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271/20 "2026-04-14T19:12:56Z")
I’ve never heard of Cobham or Duke, but I quite like this, and I see John Scofield in the middle of it as well. > [@RitterSport](#): > > How about other Stevie Wonder songs? Are they allowed? Absolutely, I was just sparing folks the first one likely to come to mind. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-your-favorite-clavinet-songs-other-than-superstition/1029271.md?page=2)