Those of a certain age may remember a series called "The Comedians" which was broadcast on UK TV from the late 60s and into the 70s. It featured a collection of old-fashioned stand-up comics and launched a number of them into long and successful careers. The comedians included Mike Reid, Les Dawson, Frank Carson and others. In the popular northern club-circuit style of the time, the humour was not something many people would applaud these days - racial jokes were popular, and were even told with glee by Charlie Williams, the only black comedian on the show and a rarity in the profession at the time. Frank Carson, a northern Irishman, told Irish jokes. Bernard Manning was abusive towards everyone, which made him very popular at the time.

Anyway, the point of all this is that one of the Comedians - I think it was Frank Carson, but I'm open to correction - released a single based on that rhyme around 1970, which received some airplay on BBC Radio 1 - then the coolest station to listen to, despite employing Tony Blackburn. The lyrics went:

Eenie meenie mackeraka, om pom packeraka
Eenie meenie mackeraka, om pom push (x2)

Ip dip, chibberdy dip, you clap your hands and begin to skip
Ip dip, chibberdy dip, you can't wait around all day.

... and that was pretty much it. The "ip dip" bit suggests the lyrics (so to speak) were written around childish methods of deciding who was "it". I can't find any reference to the song (so to speak) but I know that I could never imagine anything quite like it, so it must be real. Anyone else remember this odd cultural item?