Fay McKay (August 10, 1930 – April 4, 2008) was an American entertainer, best known as a singer of comedic songs. She spent the majority of her career in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

. Born as Fayetta Gelinas in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is a city in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, United States. It is the most populous city in New Hampshire. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 115,644. Manchester is, along with Nashua, one of two seats of New Ha ...

, she won the 1951 ''Ted Mack Amateur Hour'' award and toured with the group.Obituary: "R.I.P. FAY MCKAY"
'' Las Vegas Review-Journal'', April 5, 2008. She was an opening act for

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...

and toured with Mickey Finn. While touring with Liberace, on one occasion when his trumpet player had called in sick, McKay stepped in to vocally perform the trumpet parts. She also performed shows at Las Vegas venues such as The Dunes"Vaudeville is still alive in Vegas". ''

Milwaukee Journal The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

'', March 21, 1972. the Landmark and the Stardust, and undertook independent touring as a headlining act. She appeared on television talk shows, including ''

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' was an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went into natio ...

'', ''

The Dick Cavett Show ''The Dick Cavett Show'' was the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including: * ABC daytime, (March 4, 1968–January 24, 1969) originally titled ''This Morning'' * ABC prime time, Tuesdays, We ...

'' 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 ...

'', and took a voice acting role as a supporting character in

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

's English edition of ''

Galaxy Express 999 is a Japanese manga series. It is written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto, later adapted into a number of anime films and television series. It is set in a spacefaring, high-tech future in which humans have learned how to transfer ...

'' in 1980. She released two albums, ''A-Live at the Dunes'' and ''Winter Favorites''.

''The Twelve Daze of Christmas''

She is most well-known for "The Twelve Daze of Christmas", a parody of the Christmas carol " The Twelve Days of Christmas" in which her true love gives her various forms of alcohol each day. *12 dry

Martini Martini may refer to: * Martini (cocktail) * Martini (vermouth), a brand of vermouth * Martini (surname), an Italian surname * Martini (automobile company), a Swiss automobile company * Automobiles Martini, a French manufacturer of racing cars * M ...

s *11

Bloody Mary Bloody Mary originally referred to: * Mary I of England (1516–1558), Queen of England and Ireland, so called because of her persecution of Protestants Bloody Mary may also refer to: Film * '' Urban Legends: Bloody Mary'', a 2005 horror fi ...

s *10 dry

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

s *9

Margarita A margarita is a cocktail consisting of Tequila, triple sec, and lime juice often served with salt on the rim of the glass. The drink is served shaken with ice (on the rocks), blended with ice (frozen margarita), or without ice (straight up). ...

s *8 sweet Old Fashioneds *7

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky now owned by Diageo that originated in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire. The brand was first established by grocer John Walker. It is the most widely distributed brand of blended Sc ...

s *6

Cuba Libre Rum and Coke, or the Cuba libre ( , ; literally "Free Cuba"), is a highball cocktail consisting of cola, rum, and in many recipes lime juice on ice. Traditionally, the cola ingredient is Coca-Cola ("Coke") and the alcohol is a light rum such ...

s *5 dry Rob Roys *4

Old Fitzgerald Old Fitzgerald is a brand of wheated bourbon distilled in Louisville, Kentucky by Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. History Old Fitzgerald was first produced in 1870 for rail and steamship lines and private clubs located primarily in the south by ...

s *3

Old Crow Old Crow is a low-priced brand of Kentucky-made straight bourbon whiskey distilled by Beam Suntory, which also produces Jim Beam and several other brands of whiskey. The current Old Crow product uses the same mash bill and yeast as Jim Beam, but ...

s *2

Cutty Sark ''Cutty Sark'' is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period ...

s *And a Partridge in a Pear Tree As the song progresses, McKay varies the wording and pronunciation to simulate becoming progressively more inebriated. As examples, at various points in the song "margaritas" becomes '

Roto-Rooter Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Water Cleanup (formerly called Roto-Rooter Plumbing & Drain Service) is a Cincinnati-based company providing plumbing repair, sewer & drain services, and water damage cleanup services to residential and commercial customer ...

s", "Cutty Sarks" becomes "City Parks", "martinis" becomes "martoonis", and the "partridge in a pear tree" becomes "

The Surrey With the Fringe on Top "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" is a show tune from the 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''Oklahoma!''. The piece was recorded in 1952 by jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal, which influenced trumpeter Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, ...

". She also switches songs which include "

A Tree in the Meadow A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

" and "

Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...

Death

McKay died in Las Vegas, Nevada, aged 77, from undisclosed causes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mckay, Fay 1930 births 2008 deaths Singers from New Hampshire People from Manchester, New Hampshire American jazz singers American comedy musicians American voice actresses American people of French-Canadian descent 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American women