Chubby
Checker
Ernest
Evans was born in South Carolina, but grew up in Philadelphia,
where he lived with his parents and two brothers. When he was
a small boy, his mother took him to see Sugar Charles Robinson,
a child piano prodigy. Ernest was so impressed, that he vowed
to someday enter show business and took his first step toward
that goal by forming a street corner harmony group when he was
only eight years old.
By the time
he entered high school, Ernest had learned to play the drums,
piano and could do a number of vocal impressions. He also made
up little dances and along with his friend, Fabian Forte, who
would have show business success of his own, entertained classmates
whenever he could. He also sang and cracked jokes at his after
school job at a Ninth Street meat market.
The store
owner, Henry Colt, was so impressed, he began showing off his
employee to anyone who would listen. Eventually, he arranged for
young Ernest to sing on a private recording for Dick Clark. The
result was a Yultide novelty tune called, "The Class",
on which Ernist did several impressions of top recording stars.
Dick Clark sent it out as a Christmas greeting in 1958, and it
got such good response that Cameo-Parkway released it commercially
and signed Ernest in early 1959.
During the
recording session, Clark's wife askes Ernest what his name was.
"Well", he replied, "my friends call me 'Chubby'".
As he had just completed a Fats Domino impression, she smiled
and said, "As in Checker"? That little play on words
got an instant laugh and stuck, and from then on, Ernest Evans
would use the name "Chubby Checker".
While all
this was going on, a band called Hank Ballard and the Midnighters
were playing at an Atlanta roadhouse called the Peacock Club.
To liven up their show, they had worked up a little dance routine.
Hank wrote a tune to go with it, and three weeks later, on November
11, 1958, the band recorded the original version of "The
Twist".
King Records
put the song on the "B" side of "Teardrops On Your
Letter", which made the R&B top ten in the spring of
1959. In those days, flipping a record over to hear the other
side, was a common practice of DJs and "The Twist" started
to get some air play. Teenagers loved the song and Dick Clark
was quick to notice. He booked Hank Ballard and the Midnighters
on his show, but the band made what must have been the greatest
mistake of their career...they failed to show up. Dick then suggested
that someone else record the song and recommended it to Danny
and the Juniors, of "At The Hop" fame. When the recording
session failed to produce any positive results, Henry Colt stepped
in, and asked that his protege be given a chance at it. Chubby
sang his vocal over a pre-recorded instumental track.
Bernie Lowe,
president of Cameo-Parkway Records, was not impressed with Chubby's
recording and felt that it might be suitable for a "B"
side at best. For that reason, it took nearly fourteen months,
from June, 1959, to August, 1960, for the Checker version of "The
Twist" to catch on. Chubby worked hard at promoting the record,
undertaking a non-stop round of interviews, TV dates and live
performances. After three weeks of demonstrating the Twist, he
had lost nearly thirty pounds.
"The
Twist" became a dance sensation and scores of twist tunes
followed, like "The Peppermint" Twist", "The
Oliver Twist" and dozens of variations. This opened up a
floodgate of new dances. The Fly, The Hully Gully, The Popeye,
The Jerk, The Bugaloo, The Philly, The Locomotion, The Swim, The
Hucklebuck and The Funky Broadway were just a few. Many of these
were first introduced by Chubby Checker, who also kicked off the
next really big dance craze, "The Pony".
A song called
"Pony Time" was written in 1960 by Don Covay and John
Berry and was released on the tiny Arnold label by a group called
"The Goodtimers". When the song began to take off locally,
it was brought to Chubby Checker's attention, and he covered it
right away. Chubby's version went all the way to number one and
stayed on the charts for sixteen weeks, in 1961.
In the fall
of 1961, record industry history was made, when Checker's original
hit record, "The Twist", re-entered the charts and by
January of 1962, it was back in the number one position. No other
record before or since has accomplished that feat. Combining it's
1960 run with it's 1961/62 return, "The Twist" spent
an amazing nine month total on the U.S. best seller charts.
Chubby Checker
merchandise was everywhere, and included, T-shirts, shoes, ties,
dolls, rain coats, and chewing gum. His success continued for
years with the release of one dance record after another, with,
"The Fly" and "Let's Twist Again", for which
he won a Grammy for the "Best Rock Performance". More
hit records followed. "Slow Twistin'", "Dancin'
Party", "Popeye the Hitchhiker", and "The
Limbo Rock" all came along in 1962.
1963 saw Checker
return to the hit parade with, "Birdland" and "Twist
It Up", after which he followed with "Loddy Lo"
and a series of other novelty type tunes. Eventually, teens moved
away from dance type songs, but Chubby Checker made a permanent
impression in the pages of Rock and Roll history. Chubby married
a former Miss World and still tours to this day.
Chubby
Checker's Top 40 Hits
1 (#38)...The Class-1959
2 (#1)...The Twist-1960
3 (#14)...The Hucklebuck-1961
4 (#1)...Pony Time-1961
5 (#24)...Dance The Mess Around-1961
6 (#8)...Let's Twist Again-1961
7 (#7)...The Fly-1961
8 (#1)...The Twist (re-release)-1961
9 (#21)...Jingle Bell Rock (with Bobby Rydell)-1961
10 (#3)...Slow Twistin' (with Dee Dee Sharp)-1962
11 (#12)...Dancin' Party-1962
12 (#2)...Limbo Rock-1962
13 (#10)...Popeye The Hitchhiker-1962
14 (#20)...Let's Limbo Some More-1963
15 (#15)...Twenty Miles-1963
16 (#12)...Birdland-1963
17 (#25)...Twist It Up-1963
18 (#12)...Loddy Lo-1963
19 (#17)...Hooka Tooka-1964
20 (#23)...Hey, Bobba Needle-1964
21 (#40)...Lazy Elsie Molly-1964
22 (#40)...Let's Do The Freddy-1965
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