Shirley Ellis

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Shirley Marie O'Garra (stage name: Shirley Ellis; married name: Shirley Elliston; 19 January 1929 – 5 October 2005) was an American soul music singer and songwriter of West Indian origin. 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.

By 1954 she had written two songs which were recorded by The Chords. 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.

Cover versions

Nitty Gritty

Glen Augustus Holness (1957–24 June 1991), otherwise known by his stage name Nitty Gritty, was a popular Reggae singer. Born in the August Town section of Kingston, Jamaica, he was the second of eleven children born to religious parents.

Biography

Holness formed The Soulites in the early 1970s and recorded his first solo single in the early 1980s for producer Sugar Minott. He worked on the Zodiac sound system and recorded further singles, working with George Phang before moving on to King Jammy in 1985, with whom he had his breakthrough success with "Hog inna Minty", a Jamaican folk song. Nitty Gritty was the first to record the song and was an instant success. He enjoyed further successful singles produced by Jammy, and his debut album, Turbo Charged was released in 1986, as was the split album with King Kong, Musical Confrontation. He moved to live in London before relocating to New York City, where he continued to record but less frequently. Further albums followed with General Penitentiary (1987), Nitty Gritty (1988), and Jah in the Family (1989).

The Nitty Gritty

The Nitty Gritty is a restaurant with two locations in Wisconsin: one in Madison and one in Middleton. The Madison location was opened in October 1968, whilst the Middleton location was opened in September 2002.

The Nitty Gritty is a popular venue for residents of Madison and Middleton to celebrate their birthdays and is known by the local moniker, the "Official Birthday Place". The Nitty Gritty offers guests who are celebrating a birthday free soft drinks or beer (if of legal age to consume alcohol). Birthday guests are able to access free beverages, served in a memento mug, throughout the day. Similarly, birthday guests are offered a free mini-dessert sundae to accompany their meal.

The Nitty Gritty began to promote its Madison premises as "Madison's Official Birthday Place" on August 22, 1985. In 2009, readers of the Wisconsin State Journal voted as The Nitty Gritty as providing the best burger in Madison.

References

External links

The Clapping Song

"The Clapping Song" is an American song, written by Lincoln Chase, originally arranged by Charles Callello and recorded by Shirley Ellis in 1965. The song was released shortly after Ellis had released "The Name Game". The lyrics of "The Clapping Song" were borrowed from the song "Little Rubber Dolly", a 1930s song recorded by the Light Crust Doughboys, and also feature instructions for a clapping game. The song sold over a million copies and peaked at #8(US) & #6 (UK).

The song returned to the charts in 1982, when the Belle Stars' version charted at number 11 in the U.K. This version did not chart in the U.S. though a version by Pia Zadora charted there at number 36 in 1983.

Covers

The song has been covered several times:

Shirley

Shirley may refer to:

Places

Other uses