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
-
The Twist / Let's Twist Again (Rerecorded)
Pop/Rock - Released by K-Tel on 28 Feb 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Limbo Rock / Let's Limbo Some More (Rerecorded)
Pop/Rock - Released by K-Tel on 28 Feb 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Campfire Songs
Rock - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 18 Nov 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Class (Billboard Hot 100 - No 38)
Rock - Released by Music Manager on 23 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chubby Checker's Folk Scene
Folk - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 23 Sep 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Folk Hootenanny
Pop - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 30 Jun 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Twist-a-Long with Chubby Checker
World - Released by TP4 Music on 6 Jan 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
60's Dance Craze Vol. 2
Rock - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 15 Oct 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
60's Dance Craze Vol. 1
Rock - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 8 Oct 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Let's Limbo Some More
World - Released by TP4 Music on 6 Jan 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
1960s Calypso Party
Pop - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 10 Mar 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
60's Party Time Vol. 1
Rock - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 13 Aug 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
One & Only - Chubby Checker
Rock - Released by Starcode on 1 May 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Twistin' USA (Singles As & Bs 1959-1962)
Rock - Released by Jasmine Records on 24 Jan 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chubby Checker: Singles Bs
Rock - Released by Vinyle Numérique on 8 May 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
Chubby - Hit After Hit
Rock - Released by Ap music on 29 Oct 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chubby Checker Six Pack
Rock - Released by That Philly Sound on 1 Sep 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -