Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker was the unrivaled king of the rock & roll dance craze; although most of the dances his records promoted -- the Pony, "the Fly," and the Hucklebuck, to cite just three -- have long since faded into obscurity, his most famous hit, "The Twist," remains the yardstick against which all subsequent dancefloor phenomena are measured. Born Ernest Evans on October 3, 1941, in Spring Gulley, South Carolina, he worked in a local poultry shop while in high school, and while on the job often entertained customers by singing and cracking jokes. His workplace antics helped win an audition with the local Cameo-Parkway label, who signed the fledgling singer in 1959; at the suggestion of no less than Dick Clark's wife, the portly youth was re-christened Chubby Checker, the name a sly reference to Fats Domino.
Checker's first single, "The Class," showcased his skills as an impressionist; while the record became a minor novelty hit, none of its immediate follow-ups were successful. In 1960, however, he recorded "The Twist," a cover of a 1958 Hank Ballard & the Midnighters B-side; Checker's rendition de-emphasized the original's overtly sexual overtones, focusing instead on the song's happy-go-lucky charms. The single rocketed to number one during the autumn of 1960, remaining on the charts for four months; some time after it dropped off, it slowly returned to prominence, and in late 1961 it hit number one again; the only record ever to enjoy two stays at the top more than a year apart. After "The Twist" first made Checker a superstar, he returned to the top in 1961 with "Do the Pony"; that same year, he also reached the Top Ten with "Let's Twist Again," which assured the dance's passage from novelty to institution.
In addition to 1961's "The Fly," Checker's other Top Ten hits included three 1962 smashes: "Slow Twistin'," "Limbo Rock," and "Popeye the Hitchhiker." He even starred in a pair of feature films, Twist Around the Clock and Don't Knock the Twist. In total, Checker notched 32 chart hits before the bubble burst in 1966; as interest in dance novelties dwindled, he briefly turned to folk music, and became a regular on the nightclub circuit. From the 1970s onward, he was a staple of oldies revival tours; in 1982, more than a decade after his last studio LP, he signed with MCA and issued the disco-inspired The Change Has Come, scoring a pair of minor hits with the singles "Running" and "Harder Than Diamond." In 1988, Checker returned to the Top 40 for the first time in a quarter century when he appeared on the Fat Boys' rap rendition of "The Twist," and he continued touring regularly throughout the decade to follow.
© Jason Ankeny /TiVo
Similar artists
-
Easter on the Catwalk
Pop - Released by Archive & Catapulte on Apr. 10, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chubby Checker: Singles Bs
Rock - Released by Ancien Prodige on May 8, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best Hits
Jazz - Released by The Most Wanted Hits on Jul. 1, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
In Love with Chubby Checker
Pop/Rock - Released by Mack The Knife on Sep. 6, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Back to the Roots
Pop - Released by 69 and digital on Oct. 11, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Easter Dance
Pop - Released by Archive & Catapulte on Apr. 7, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Misirlou - 30 Great Hits
Rock - Released by CTS Digital on Apr. 10, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Masked Ball
Pop - Released by more nature oldies rec. on Mar. 25, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
Les idoles américaines du rhythm and blues : Chubby Checker, Vol. 1
Pop - Released by Mon patrimoine musical on Apr. 14, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
All The Hits For Your Dancin' Party
Pop - Released by PnR on Oct. 1, 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Surf Party (Original Hit Recordings)
Pop - Released by JB Production on Aug. 24, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
That's The Way It Goes
Pop - Released by JB Production on Sep. 7, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
-
-
Something To Shout About
Pop - Released by JB Production on Sep. 7, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Runaround Sue (1962)
Rock - Released by JB Production on Jan. 9, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo