 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 dance floor phenomena are measured. Born
Ernest Evans on October 3, 1941, in Philadelphia, 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.
Chubby 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;
Chubby 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
Chubby 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,"
Chubby 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,
Chubby 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,
Chubby 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, All Music Guide Contact
Grabow for more information or to book
Chubby Checker for your next corporate or private event.
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