Shirley Marie O'Garra (stage name Shirley Ellis, married name Shirley Elliston; January 19, 1929 – October 5, 2005) was an American

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...

singer and songwriter of West Indian heritage. She is best known for her

novelty Novelty (derived from Latin word ''novus'' for "new") is the quality of being new, or following from that, of being striking, original or unusual. Novelty may be the shared experience of a new cultural phenomenon or the subjective perception of an ...

hits " The Nitty Gritty" (1963, US no. 8), "

The Name Game "The Name Game" is a song co-written and performed by Shirley Ellis as a rhyming game that creates variations on a person's name. She explains through speaking and singing how to play the game. The first verse is done using Ellis's first name; t ...

" (1964, US no. 3) and "

The Clapping Song "The Clapping Song" is an American song, written by Lincoln Chase, originally arranged by Charles Calello and recorded by Shirley Ellis in 1965. The single sold over a million copies, and peaked at number eight in the United States and number s ...

" (1965, US no. 8 and UK no. 6). "The Clapping Song" sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.

Career

By 1954, Ellis had written two songs recorded by the Chords. She was originally in the group the Metronomes and married the lead singer, Alphonso Elliston. All her solo hits were written by her and her manager, record producer, and songwriting partner Lincoln Chase. Ellis had recording contracts with the

Kapp Records Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp (who set up American Decca Records in 1934). David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca and RCA Victor. Kapp licensed its records to L ...

subsidiary

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

and later

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

and

Bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

, but retired from the music industry in 1968. In August 2020, "The Clapping Song" was used in a TV commercial for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7, and in April 2021 her "I See It, I Like It, I Want It" was in another Samsung commercial, this time for the Galaxy Z Flip 5G and Galaxy Z Fold2. In 2021, "The Clapping Song" was used in the movie "Ghostbusters: Afterlife".

Personal life

Shirley O'Garra was born to William H. and Petra (Smith) O'Garra. Her father was a native of Montserrat, and her mother was born in the Bahamas. Shirley had three full siblings, Joyce, Bertram and William Jr., and four half siblings, Reginald, Suzanne, Joycelyn and Berbian. O'Garra married her husband, Arnold Alphonso Elliston (October 21, 1929 – August 23, 2009; professional name: Alphonso Elliston), in Florida on August 3, 1949. She died on October 5, 2005 in New York City at the age of 76.

Cover versions

Cover versions of her hits have been recorded by

Madeline Bell Madeline Bell (born July 23, 1942) is an American soul singer, who became famous as a performer in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s with pop group Blue Mink, having arrived from America in the gospel show ''Black Nativity'' in 1962, with the ...

the Belle Stars The Belle Stars were an all female British pop/rock band. Formed in 1980, they are best known for their 1983 hit single " Sign of the Times". Career After The Bodysnatchers broke up, guitarists Stella Barker and Sarah-Jane Owen, saxophon ...

, Laura Branigan,

Aaron Carter Aaron Charles Carter (December 7, 1987November 5, 2022) was an American singer and rapper. He came to fame as a teen pop singer in the late 1990s, establishing himself as a star among preteen and teenage audiences during the first years of th ...

Gary Glitter Paul Francis Gadd (born 8 May 1944), best known by his stage name Gary Glitter, is an English former singer, songwriter, and record producer. He achieved success during the glam rock era of the 1970s and 1980s, and his career ended after he ...

, Ricardo Ray, Pia Zadora,

Southern Culture on the Skids Southern Culture on the Skids, also sometimes known as SCOTS, is an American rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Originally a straightforward roots rock band, they became known as a tongue-in-cheek "party band" with an exaggerated " wh ...

Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American R&B, soul and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early 1950s. Starting out as simply ...

(a version of "The Nitty Gritty", produced by

Norman Whitfield Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. allmusic Biography/ref> He has been credited as one of the creators of the Mo ...

), and

Divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

, Harris Glenn Milstead (a

hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the ...

version of "The Name Game"). In addition, her song "Soul Time" was sampled by the UK band the Go! Team for their single "Bottle Rocket". In 2011, “The Name Game” was covered by Jessica Lange and the cast of '' American Horror Story: Asylum'' and was featured in the episode of the same name.

Discography

Studio albums

*''In Action'' (1964,

) *''The Name Game'' (1965, Congress) *''Sugar, Let's Shing-a-Ling'' (1967,

)

Compilation albums

*''The Name Game'' (1988, MCA Special Products) *''The Very Best of Shirley Ellis'' (1995, Taragon) *''The Complete Congress Recordings'' (2001, Connoisseur Collection) *''Three Six Nine!: The Best of Shirley Ellis'' (2018, Ace)

Singles

References

External links

Shirley Ellis Three Six Nine! The Name Game/Soul Time Home Page
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Shirley 1929 births 2005 deaths American people of Bahamian descent American people of Montserratian descent American people of West Indian descent American soul musicians American rhythm and blues singers People from the Bronx Songwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American singers Kapp Records artists 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American women