associated_acts death_date death_place years_active alias birth_place label name background birth_date instrument genre article_title birth_name occupation
the metronomes 5 october 2005 bronx , new york city , ny , us 1958 -- 1968 shirley ellis bronx , new york city , ny , us congress , kapp , columbia , bell shirley ellis solo_singer 19 january 1929 voice pop , soul shirley ellis
 shirley marie o'garra singer
shirley ellis

shirley marie o'garra -lrb- stage name : shirley ellis ; married name : shirley elliston ; 19 january 1929 -- 5 october 2005 -rrb- was an american soul music singer and songwriter of west indian origin .
she is best known for her novelty hits `` the nitty gritty '' -lrb- 1963 -rrb- -lrb- us no. 8 -rrb- , `` the name game '' -lrb- 1964 -rrb- -lrb- us no. 3 -rrb- and `` the clapping song '' -lrb- 1965 -rrb- -lrb- us no. 8 and uk no. 6 -rrb- .
`` 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 .
