"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.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, Ellis's recording, produced by Charles Calello, was released in late 1964 as "The Name Game". The record scored third on the ''

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'' Hot 100, 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 R&B chart). Ellis performed on then-major television programs, including ''

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'', ''

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'' and '' The Merv Griffin Show''. 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 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