| CHUBBY
CHECKER (ARTIST BIOGRAPHY)
Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans on October 3, 1941)
is an American singer-songwriter best known for popularizing the The
Twist with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard's R&B hit "The Twist".
In September 2008, "The Twist" topped Billboard's list of the most
popular singles to have appeared in the Hot 100 since its debut in
1958.
Born in Spring Gulley,
South Carolina, the son of a tobacco farmer. His family moved to
Philadelphia, and as a young boy, Checker worked various jobs
shining shoes, selling ice and assisting in a butcher's shop.
Because of his heavy build, he got his nickname, Chubby, while
working as a teen at Tony Anastazi's Produce Store. With a natural
gift for imitation, he enjoyed impersonating the styles of his
musical heroes Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elvis Presley. He
began performing in churches and on the streets with his singing
group, The Quantrells, and soon attracted the attention of music
executives in Philadelphia.
Checker signed with
Cameo-Parkway Records in 1959. His first two singles, "The Class"
and "Dancing Dinosaur" were minor hits. Cameo encouraged him to make
his own version of "The Twist," a song originally written and
performed by Hank Ballard, which was already having modest success
on the charts. But it was Checker's version and his accompanying
dance routine that gave the song new life. He was dubbed "The King
of the Twist." In fact, it was Dick Clark's wife who came up with
the name Checker, a reference to the similarity between the portly
singer and Fats Domino.
As a dance movement,
the Twist revolutionized popular culture by giving couples the
freedom to break apart on the dance floor. An appearance on Dick
Clark's American Bandstand launched Checker's version of "The Twist"
to the No. 1 billboard spot in August 1961, where it remained on the
charts for 18 straight weeks. In November of that year, it reentered
the charts again for a record-breaking 21 weeks. With this
formidable achievement, "The Twist" became the first and only 45
single to ever appear in the No. 1 spot in two different years. He
also starred in two films featuring the twist sensation, Twist
Around the Clock (1961) and Don't Knock the Twist (1962).
Banking on the huge
popularity of the twist, Checker followed his hit tune with a
succession of similar songs, including "Twistin' USA," "Let's Twist
Again," "Twist It Up," and "Slow Twistin," and had six Top Ten hits
between 1961 and 1963. Though the singer tried to inspire such dance
crazes as the hucklebuck, the pony, the fly, the slop, and the limbo,
like many other U.S. musical acts of the 1960s, he suffered from the
impact of British groups on the music industry. Nevertheless,
Checker enjoyed continued success as a club performer. "I got a
trailer, four musicians, and hit the road," he recalled to Boulware.
"I realized that if I was going to continue to make bucks in this
business, I had to forget about the stardom and start at the bottom."
Checker made a
recording comeback in 1982, releasing the album The Change Has Come
under the MCA label, but fans seemed more interested in hearing him
perform his older songs at nostalgia concerts than having him put
out new material. Like other musical acts of his heyday, Checker has
profited from a revival of interest in early rock and roll,
tirelessly touring over 300 days a year with his band the Wildcats.
But the singer still finds time for recording; he saw a re-release
of "The Twist"--performed with the rap group Fat Boys--break into
the Top 20 in 1988.
Prominent advertisers
have also borrowed the twist concept. In the early 1990s, for
instance, Nabisco featured Checker twisting the Oreo cookie,
resulting in one of the company's most successful promotions ever.
Chubby Checker has been waiting decades for the recognition he knew
he deserved, and in September 2008, he finally got it. In
commemoration of its 50th year, the Billboard Hot 100 Chart released
a list of the most popular singles in its history. The Associated
Press reported that Checker’s “The Twist” came in at number one. In
response to the announcement, the artist had only to say, “I’m glad
they finally recognized it.”
(info edited from
numerous sources mainly www.biography.com) |
