"The Name Game" is a song co-written and performed by

Shirley Ellis Shirley Marie O'Garra (stage name Shirley Ellis, married name Shirley Elliston; January 19, 1929 – October 5, 2005) was an American soul music singer and songwriter of West Indian heritage. She is best known for her novelty hits "The Nitty Grit ...

as a rhyming game that creates variations on a person's name.The Shirley Ellis Name Game Page
/ref> She explains through speaking and singing how to play the game. The first verse is done using Ellis's first name; the other names used in the original version of the song are Lincoln, Arnold, Tony, Billy, Marsha, and Nick.

History

Written by American singer Shirley Ellis (who based the song on a game she played as a child) and

Lincoln Chase Lincoln R. Chase (June 29, 1926 – October 6, 1980) was an American songwriter and occasional recording artist. As a writer, his most notable songs were "Such a Night", "Jim Dandy (song), Jim Dandy", and several of Shirley Ellis' hits in the ...

, Ellis's recording, produced by

Charles Calello Charles Calello (born August 24, 1938) is an American arranger, composer, conductor, record producer, and singer born in Newark, New Jersey. Calello attended Newark Arts High School and the Manhattan School of Music, in New York City. His track r ...

, was released in late 1964 as "The Name Game". The record scored third on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, and fourth on the magazine's R&B charts during 1965. The record was re-released in 1966 and again in 1973. A R&B singer for 10 years before that success, Ellis was also successful with "The Clapping Song (Clap Pat Clap Slap)" (#8 pop and #16 R&B), and "The Nitty Gritty" (#8 on the Hot 100 and #4 on the

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

R&B chart). Ellis performed on then-major television programs, including '' Hullabaloo'', ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

'' and ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, May 10, 1965 to July 4, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 a ...

''. It later became a popular children's singalong.

Rules

Using the name ''Katie'' as an example, the song follows this pattern: :Katie, Katie, bo-batie, :Bonana-fanna fo-fatie :Fee fi mo-matie :Katie! A verse can be created for any name with stress on the first syllable, with ''X'' as the name and ''Y'' as the name without the first consonant sound (if it begins with a consonant), as follows: :(''X''), (''X''), bo-b (''Y'') :Bonana-fanna fo-f (''Y'') :Fee fi mo-m (''Y'') :''(X)''! If the name starts with a ''b'', ''f'', or ''m'', that sound simply is not repeated. For example: ''Billy'' becomes "Billy Billy ''bo-illy''"; ''Fred'' becomes "bonana fanna ''fo-red''"; ''Marsha'' becomes "fee fi ''mo-arsha''" The song as originally performed gives no indication of what to do with names where the stress falls on a syllable after the first, like Anita or Antoinette; however, the cover version on the workout video '' Sweatin' to the Oldies 3'' (vocals by Donna Miller) suggests that the first syllable should be dropped after the name is first said; the name

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

is sung as "Madonna-donna-bo-bonna," etc.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Name Game, The 1964 singles 1965 singles Laura Branigan songs Songs written by Lincoln Chase Patter songs 1964 songs Stacy Lattisaw songs Novelty songs

History

Rules

See also

References