"Attack of the Name Game" by Stacy Lattisaw

Song#:  1216
Date:  10/16/1982
Debut:  86
Peak:  70
Weeks:  6
Genre:  R&B, Rap, Novelty



Pop Bits:  This teenager was doing quite well with three R&B Top 10's and two pop Top 30's to her name including the #2 R&B hit remake "Love on a Two Way Street" (#26 pop). Her fourth LP, "Sneakin' Out," extended the streak when "Don't Throw It All Away" reached #9 at R&B. The song failed to reach the pop chart, but this second single would do the trick. It didn't spend a lot of time on the chart, but would do better at R&B getting to #14.

ReduxReview:  Hmm. Well, I guess this is kind of cute for kids, but other than that...yikes. For something that has "attack" in the title, it sounds pretty lazy. The tempo probably had to be set in order to do the rap/rhyme/game, but it still could have sounded a bit more upbeat. Like many a novelty song, I only needed to hear this once. And that was plenty.

ReduxRating:  2/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) Although not a remake, the idea for this song has its roots in a hit from 1964. Shirley Ellis reached #3 that year with "The Name Game," a novelty-style song that uses a rhyming game to create variations on a person's name.  2) Mariah Carey used a sample of this song in her 1999 #1 hit "Heartbreaker."

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