That's Not My Name
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"That's Not My Name" is the debut single of British musical duo
the Ting Tings The Ting Tings are an English indie pop duo formed in Salford, Greater Manchester, in 2007. The band consists of Katie White (vocals, guitar, bass drums, bass guitar, cowbells) and Jules De Martino (drums, lead guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, ...
. The song was originally released as a
double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...
with " Great DJ" by independent record label Switchflicker Records on 28 May 2007. After heavy promotion from
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
and the ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'', the single was re-released individually on 12 May 2008 on
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
. It was later included on their first studio album, ''
We Started Nothing ''We Started Nothing'' is the debut studio album by English indie pop duo the Ting Tings, released on 16 May 2008 by Columbia Records. The US edition has a different cover image in several background colours. The album was also released in the ...
'' (2008). Following the Columbia re-release, "That's Not My Name" debuted atop the UK Singles Chart, seeing off competition from well-established acts like
Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...
,
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
, and
will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...
. The song was a
sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...
in North America, peaking within the top 40 of the charts in the United States in August 2009. The single has sold over a million digital copies.


Composition

"That's Not My Name" is written in the key of
E major E major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, F-flat maj ...
with a
tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
of 145 beats per minute. The vocals in the song span from G3 to G5. Vocalist
Katie White Katie Rebecca White (born 18 January 1983) is an English musician and member of the indie pop duo the Ting Tings. After some success with a girl group punk trio TKO, which supported Steps and Atomic Kitten, her father David White brought in Ju ...
stated that the song was written "with me ranting about my frustrations with the record industry."


Music videos

The song has three music videos, all of which are
live action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games o ...
. The first features the Ting Tings with white background, performing the song on a set, with alternating scenes of White with blue and red backgrounds. This version of the video was used to promote the song and album upon its 2007 release. The video was directed by
Sophie Muller Sophie Luise Elisabeth Muller (born 31 January 1962) is an English music video director who has directed over 300 music videos. She won a Grammy Award for Annie Lennox's 1992 ''Diva'' video album, and an MTV Video Music Award for Lennox's song " ...
and Stacey Hartly and is visually similar to the video for
Toni Basil Antonia Christina Basilotta (born September 22, 1943), better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer, choreographer, dancer, actress, and director. Her cover of the song " Mickey" topped the charts in the US, Canada and Austral ...
's "
Mickey Mickey is a given name and nickname, often a short form (hypocorism) of Michael, Michaela, and Michelle, and occasionally a surname. Notable people and characters with the name include: People Given name or nickname Men * Mickey Andrews (bor ...
". By November 2023 the video had gained more than 82 million views on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. Columbia produced a 2008 video for the US release, directed by
David Allain David Vital Allain (October 8, 1870 – April 15, 1945), son of Vital Allain and Mary Auger born in Neguac, New Brunswick, was a New Brunswick businessman and politician. He was married twice: first to Hélène Allain, then to Emilie Sivret a ...
and with the band performing a different set, with more equipment and flashing lights in the background. The video premiered on mtvu.com on 26 January 2009. Another video was made for the acoustic version. The third music video, known as the alternate video, was directed by AlexandLiane and features the Ting Tings in a desert ghost town. Double Dutchers,
cheerleader Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ent ...
s,
marching band A marching band is a group of instrumental musicians who play while marching. Historically they were used in armed forces and many marching bands remain military bands. Others are still associated with military units or emulate a military sty ...
drummers and
sign spinner A human billboard is someone who displays an advertisement on their person. Most commonly, this means holding or wearing a sign of some sort, but also may include wearing advertising as clothing or in extreme cases, having advertising tattooed on ...
s come out from the woods wearing black clothes with reflective material. The Ting Tings perform the song, while behind them the double dutchers skip rope, the cheerleaders cheer, the drummers drum, and the sign spinners spin signs featuring the names from the song's lyrics.


Reception


Critical

The single received favourable reviews from critics upon re-release, with the ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' describing it as "no-flab electro-pop nugget", while '' Q'' magazine described it as "a snatch of Hey Mickey-style handclaps and a gobbily staccato vocal, stitched together to fashion a groove that's as instant and familiar". ''
Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...
'' compared the single to a "well-shaken can of cola", and added "
he track is He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter call ...
brimming with sticky, yummy, fizzy goodness".


Commercial

In the United Kingdom, the single entered at the top of the UK Singles Chart on 18 May 2008 – for the week ending dated 24 May 2008 – ending
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
and
Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...
's four-week reign at the top with "
4 Minutes "4 Minutes" is a song by American singer Madonna from her eleventh studio album ''Hard Candy'' (2008), featuring vocals by fellow American singer Justin Timberlake and American producer Timbaland. It was released as the lead single from the al ...
". The following week, however, it slipped to number two after
Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...
's " Take a Bow" climbed to number one. In
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, it peaked at number two for five consecutive weeks. In Australia, after slowly rising up the singles chart, it eventually peaked inside the top 10, and was certified Platinum in 2009. On the Australian Physical Singles Chart, it peaked at 20, and on the Australian Digital track chart at number eight. In the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, "That's Not My Name" peaked at number 39 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, giving the band their first top 40 there. The song was certified Gold on 2 April 2009, selling over 500,000 copies.


Covers and usage in media

Dizzee Rascal Dylan Kwabena Mills (born 18 September 1984), known professionally as Dizzee Rascal, is a British rapper and MC. He is often credited as a pioneer of British hip hop and grime music and was ranked by ''Complex'' as one of the greatest British ...
performed a version of this song in the
Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cott ...
on
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
, changing the chorus to: "They call me 'blood'/ They call me '
rude boy Rude boy is a subculture that originated from 1960s Jamaican street culture. In the late 1970s, there was a revival in England of the terms ''rude boy'' and ''rude girl'', among other variations like ''rudeboy'' and ''rudebwoy'', being used t ...
'/They call me oi/They call me mate/ ...They use the '
N-word In the English language, ''nigger'' is a racial slur directed at black people. Starting in the 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been increasingly replaced by the euphemistic contraction , notably in cases where ''nigger'' is Use–menti ...
' like it's a game/ That's not my name..." During the
Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...
'
Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...
run in 2009, Pittsburgh radio station
WDVE WDVE (102.5 FM) is a classic rock music-formatted radio station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States at 102.5 MHz. It is often referred to by Pittsburghers as simply "DVE". Its studios and offices are located on Abele Rd. in Bridgevil ...
did a spoof of the song titled "That Is My Name" about Penguins player
Evgeni Malkin Evgeni Vladimirovich Malkin ( rus, Евге́ний Влади́мирович Ма́лкин, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ˈmalkʲɪn; born 31 July 1986) is a Russian professional ice hockey Centre (ice hockey), centre and alternate captain (ice hockey ...
, in which a man sounding like Malkin sang about his multiple nicknames. The song was also parodied as "He's Got My Name" for
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
's ''
Johnny Test ''Johnny Test'' is an animated television series created by Scott Fellows, originally produced in the United States by Warner Bros. Animation and later produced in Canada by Cookie Jar Group, Cookie Jar Entertainment. It premiered on Kids' WB ...
''. Additionally, the song was used in a parody music video by Norwegian
comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
duo
Ylvis Ylvis () are a Norwegian comedy duo consisting of brothers Vegard and Bård Ylvisåker. They debuted as professional variety artists in 2000 and have appeared in several countries in variety shows, comedy concerts, television shows, radio sho ...
on their talk show ''I kveld med YLVIS (Tonight with YLVIS)'', titled "Jeg Heter Finn" ("My Name Is Finn"). The instrumental of the track was used in a UK cinema advert for
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
during the summer of 2008. A remixed version of the song was also used as the music for the PINK segment of the 2008
Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing and beauty products, beauty retailer. Founded in 1977 by a Stanford graduate student and his wife, Roy Raymond, Roy and Gaye Raymond, the company's five lingerie stores were sold to Les Wexner i ...
Fashion Show (remixed by Cho Dongho). The song is also used in Slovenian mobile operator Mobitel's commercial for their subscription package, Itak Džabest. "That's Not My Name" was used in the trailer for the 2009 summer film ''
Post Grad ''Post Grad'' is a 2009 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Vicky Jenson (in her first solo and live-action directorial film) and starring Alexis Bledel, about a recent college graduate who moves back in with her family while she fi ...
'', and on the shows '' 90210'' on The CW, '' Brothers & Sisters'' on ABC, '' Taking the Stage'', and '' The City'' on MTV, as well as in the films ''
Fired Up! ''Fired Up!'' is a 2009 American teen sex comedy film directed by Will Gluck (in his directorial debut) who is also credited with writing the film under the pseudonym Freedom Jones. The film's plot revolves around two popular high school footb ...
'' (2009) and ''
Horrible Bosses ''Horrible Bosses'' is a 2011 American black comedy crime film directed by Seth Gordon, written by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, and Jonathan Goldstein, from a story by Markowitz. It stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, ...
'' (2011), in which
Charlie Day Charles Peckham Day (born February 9, 1976) is an American actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing Charlie Kelly (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Charlie Kelly on the FX Networks, FX dark comedy ''It's Always Sunny in Phila ...
's character Dale sang it in a car while on cocaine. The song was featured in '' CSI: NY'' as track of the beginning of the episode "
Point of No Return The point of no return (PNR or PONR) is the point beyond which one must continue on one's current course of action because turning back is no longer possible, being too dangerous, physically difficult, or prohibitively expensive to be undertaken. ...
". The song was also used on the '' Skins'' series 3 episode "Katie and Emily". This song often appears in the E4 sitcom ''
The Inbetweeners ''The Inbetweeners'' is a British coming-of-age television sitcom, which originally aired on E4 from 2008 to 2010 and was created and written by Damon Beesley and Iain Morris. The series follows the misadventures of suburban teenager Willi ...
'' and appeared in ''
The Inbetweeners Movie ''The Inbetweeners Movie'' (known simply as ''The Inbetweeners'' in North America) is a 2011 British Coming-of-age film, coming-of-age teen film, teen adventure film, adventure comedy film based on the E4 (channel), E4 sitcom ''The Inbetweeners' ...
'' (official soundtrack). Furthermore, the song was featured in ''
Suburgatory ''Suburgatory'' is an American television sitcom created by Emily Kapnek that aired on ABC from September 28, 2011, to May 14, 2014. The series originally aired on Wednesday nights at 8:30/7:30 Central following '' The Middle''. The title is a ...
''. American
avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
and
experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...
band
Xiu Xiu Xiu Xiu ( ) is an American experimental rock band, formed in 2002 by singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart in San Jose, California. Currently, the line-up consists of multi-instrumentalists Stewart (the only constant member since formation), Angel ...
used lines from "That's Not My Name" in a cover of " Only Girl (In The World)" by
Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...
. The lines were altered to say "You call me
Jamie Jamie is a unisex name. Traditionally a masculine name, it can be diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names and is of Scottish English origin. It is also given as a name in its own right. Since the mid-20th century it has been used a ...
, that's not my name." The song was also used in commercials and advertisements for ''
Despicable Me 2 ''Despicable Me 2'' is a 2013 American animated comedy film produced by Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment, and distributed by Universal. It is the sequel to '' Despicable Me'' (2010) and the second installment in the '' Despi ...
'',
Joe Fresh Joe Fresh is a Canadian fashion brand and retail chain created by designer Joe Mimran for Canadian food distributor Loblaw Companies, Loblaw Companies Limited. It was formed in 2006. The label includes adult and children's wear, shoes, handbags, ...
, ''
The Lego Movie ''The Lego Movie'' is a 2014 animated adventure comedy film written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. Based on the Lego line of construction toys, the film stars the voices of Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will ...
'',
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...
, and
Amazon Alexa Amazon Alexa is a virtual assistant technology marketed by Amazon and implemented in software applications for smart phones, tablets, wireless smart speakers, and other electronic appliances. Alexa was largely developed from a Polish speech s ...
. It has also been used in the films ''
La Famille Bélier (released as ''The Bélier Family'' in Australia) is a 2014 French-Belgian coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Éric Lartigau. The film received six nominations at the 40th César Awards, winning Most Promising Actress for Louane Emer ...
'', ''
Gnome Alone ''Gnome Alone'' is a 2017 animated Comedy film, fantasy comedy musical film directed by Peter Lepeniotis and written by Michael Schwartz and Zina Zaflow, from a story by Robert Moreland. Produced by Vanguard Animation and 3QU Media, the film star ...
'', '' Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway'', and ''Nimona''. The Israeli TV series ''Ha-Yehudim Ba'im'' used the song as a basis for a satire regarding the Jewish law forbidding the pronunciation of the
tetragrammaton The TetragrammatonPronounced ; ; also known as the Tetragram. is the four-letter Hebrew-language theonym (transliteration, transliterated as YHWH or YHVH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four Hebrew letters, written and read from ...
, where God complains about calling him with various names that are not truly His. On 15 January 2022, the song first went viral on
TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
when it appeared on videos among famous pet accounts. Four days later, on the 19th, celebrities such as
Alicia Silverstone Alicia Silverstone ( ; born October 4, 1976) is an American actress. She made her film debut in the thriller ''The Crush (1993 film), The Crush'' (1993), earning the 1994 MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance, and gained further pro ...
and
Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, talk show host, and businesswoman. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she has received multiple List of awards and nominations received by Drew Barrymore, awards a ...
began to post videos using the song set to photos of their previous notable roles. The 2023 film Meg 2: The Trench features a version of the song with lyrics sung in Thai language by the actress and singer Pimprapa Tangprabhaporn. The 17 June 2024 episode of ''
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert'' is an American late-night talk show, late-night news satire, news and liberal political satire talk show hosted by Stephen Colbert, which premiered on September 8, 2015. Produced by Stephen Colbert, Spartin ...
'' opened with a spoof called "That's Not His Name," set to a supercut of
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
mispronouncing names and words.


Track listings

UK 7" # "That's Not My Name" - 3:17 # "TNMN Your Mix" - 5:03 UK CD # "That's Not My Name" - 5:11 # "That's Not My Name" (Soul Seekerz Radio Mix) - 3:22 Digital EP # "That's Not My Name" - 5:11 # "That's Not My Name" (Soul Seekerz Radio Mix) - 3:22 # "TNMN Your Mix" - 5:03 # "That's Not My Name" (Live from the Mill) - 5:24 Remix Bundle # "That's Not My Name" (L.A. Riots Remix) - 5:47 # "That's Not My Name" (Soul Seekerz Club Mix) - 7:10 # "That's Not My Name" (Soul Seekerz Dirty Radio Remix) - 3:14 # "That's Not My Name" (Soul Seekerz Dirty Dub No Vox Mix) - 6:46 # "That's Not My Name" (Tom Neville's Nameless Vocal Dub) - 7:20 # "That's Not My Name" (Tom Neville's Nameless Vocal Mix) - 7:32 Skeet & Tito Remix # "That's Not My Name" (Skeet & Tito Remix) (feat.
Wale Wale or WALE may refer to: Places * Wale, Devon, a hamlet in England * Wale, Tomaszów Mazowiecki County, a village in Poland People * Wale (surname) *Wale (rapper), stage name of American rapper Olubowale Victor Akintimehin Radio and televisi ...
) - 4:12


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


Release history


References

{{Authority control 2007 songs 2007 debut singles 2008 singles Columbia Records singles Music videos directed by Sophie Muller Number-one singles in Scotland Songs written by Jules De Martino Songs written by Katie White The Ting Tings songs UK singles chart number-one singles