Shirley Ellis
| Shirley Ellis | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Shirley Marie O'Garra |
| Also known as | Shirley Ellis |
| Born | 19 January 1929 Bronx, New York City, NY, US |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Bronx, New York City, NY, US |
| Genres | Pop, soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Voice |
| Years active | 1958–1968 |
| Labels | Congress, Kapp, Columbia, Bell |
| Associated acts | The Metronomes |
Shirley Marie O'Garra[1] (stage name: Shirley Ellis; married name: Shirley Elliston;[2] 19 January 1929 – 5 October 2005[3]) was an American soul music singer and songwriter of West Indian origin.[4][5] She is best known for her novelty hits "The Nitty Gritty" (1963) (US no. 8), "The Name Game" (1964) (US no. 3) and "The Clapping Song" (1965) (US no. 8 and UK no. 6). "The Clapping Song" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[6]
By 1954 she had written two songs which were recorded by The Chords.[5] Ellis was originally in the group The Metronomes and she went on to marry 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 subsidiary Congress and later Columbia and Bell, but retired from the music industry in 1968.
Contents
Cover versions
Cover versions of her hits have been recorded by Madeline Bell, The Belle Stars, Laura Branigan, Aaron Carter, Gary Glitter, Ricardo Ray, Pia Zadora, Southern Culture on the Skids, Gladys Knight and the Pips (a version of "The Nitty Gritty", produced by Norman Whitfield) as well as a 1980s high energy dance version of The Name Game by actor and personality "Divine" aka. Harris Glenn Milstead.[5] In addition, her song "Soul Time" was sampled by the UK band, The Go! Team for their single "Bottle Rocket".[7]
Personal life
Shirley O'Garra was born to William H. and Petra O'Garra. Her father was a native of Montserrat and her mother was born in the Bahamas.[4] Shirley had three full siblings; Joyce, Bertram and William H Jr and four half siblings Reginald, Suzanne, Joycelyn and Berbian. O'Garra married her husband, Arnold Alphonso Elliston (professional name: Alphonso Elliston) on 3 August 1949 in Florida.[1] It is not known if she had children.
Discography
Albums
- 1964: In Action
- 1965: The Name Game
- 1967: Sugar, Let's Shing a Ling
- 1995: The Very Best of Shirley Ellis
- 2001: The Complete Congress Recordings
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions[8] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B |
UK[9] | ||||
| 1963 | "The Nitty Gritty" | 8 | 4 | — | ||
| 1964 | "(That's) What the Nitty Gritty Is" | 72 | 14 | — | ||
| "Shy One" | 130 | 43 | — | |||
| "The Name Game" | 3 | 4 | — | |||
| 1965 | "The Clapping Song (Clap Pat Clap Slap)" | 8 | 16 | 6 | ||
| "The Puzzle Song (A Puzzle in Song)" | 78 | — | — | |||
| "I Will Never Forget" | — | — | — | |||
| "You Better Be Good, World" | — | — | — | |||
| 1966 | "Ever See a Diver Kiss His Wife While the Bubbles Bounce About Above the Water?" | 135 | — | — | ||
| "Birds, Bees, Cupids and Bows" | — | — | — | |||
| 1967 | "Soul Time" | 67 | 31 | — | ||
| "Sugar Let’s Shing-a-Ling" | — | — | — | |||
| 1978 | "The Clapping Song" (re-release) | — | — | 59 | ||
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart | ||||||
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Whitburn, J. (2010). The Billboard book of top 40 hits. New York: Billboard Books. p. 214. ISBN 0307985121
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Articles with hCards
- Pages using Template:Infobox musical artist with unknown parameters
- 1929 births
- 2005 deaths
- American female singers
- 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
- 20th-century American singers
