"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; 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", and several of Shirley Ellis' hits in the early 1960s includi ...

. 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 ''

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, and fourth on the magazine's R&B charts during 1965. The record was re-released in 1966 and again in 1973. An R&B singer for 10 years before that success, Ellis was also successful with " The Clapping Song (Clap Pat Clap Slap)" (No.8 pop and No.16 R&B), and "The Nitty Gritty" (No.8 on the Hot 100 and No.4 on the ''

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

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'' and ''

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

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it reached No. 2.

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 ''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''"; ''Martha'' becomes "fee fi ''mo-artha''" 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, but during the live rendition of the song on ''

'', Ellis uses the same rules as explained above ("Tallulah, Tallulah, bo-ballulah"). 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, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

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

Laura Branigan version

Laura Branigan Laura Ann Branigan (July 3, 1952 – August 26, 2004) was an American singer. Her signature song, the platinum-certified 1982 single " Gloria", stayed on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 36 weeks, then a record for a female artist, peaking a ...

covered the song for her 1987 fifth studio album ''

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''. It was released in 1988 in the

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as the last single from the album. The single's B-side is " Cry Wolf", which was the third single from the album.

Track listings

*Philippines 7-inch single #"Name Game" (edited version) – 3:44 #" Cry Wolf" (LP version) – 4:48 *Philippines 12-inch single #"Name Game" (extended version) – 6:32 #"Name Game" (edited version) – 3:44 #"Cry Wolf" (LP version) – 4:48

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Name Game, The 1964 songs 1964 singles 1965 singles 1988 singles Laura Branigan songs Songs written by Lincoln Chase Atlantic Records singles Patter songs Stacy Lattisaw songs Novelty songs

History

Rules

Laura Branigan version

Track listings

See also

References