Music Notes by Paddy McCarthy
I’m especially hoping you’re getting ready for the holiday season. So here we go with a blast from the past to enhance the celebration. Who remembers Chubby Checker? Or better yet, the Twist? The American rock ‘n roll singer and dancer popularized many a dance style including the twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters‘ R&B hit “The Twist” and the Pony with hit “Pony Time.”
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, an honor which was maintained for an August 2013 update of the list. The Southern-born singer also popularized the “Limbo Rock” and its trademark limbo dance, as well as other dance styles such as The Fly.
Born Ernest Evans on October 3, 1941, in Spring Gully, South Carolina, he became known as Chubby Checker as his musical alter-ego. Raised in South Philadelphia’s projects, he lived with his parents, Raymond and Eartle Evans, and two brothers. By the time he was eight, Evans formed a street-corner harmony group, and took piano lessons at Settlement Music School. He entertained his classmates by doing vocal impressions of popular entertainers such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and Fats Domino. Fabiano Forte was his classmate and friend at South Philadelphia High School; he later become Fabian, a star in the late ’50s and early ’60s. After school, Evans entertained at his various jobs with songs and jokes, including Fresh Farm Poultry in Ninth Street’s Italian Market and at the Produce Market. “Tony A” — his boss at the Produce Market — gave Evans the nickname “Chubby”.
Henry Colt, owner of Fresh Farm Poultry, was so impressed by the boy’s performances that he, along with colleague and friend Kal Mann, a songwriter for Cameo-Parkway Records, arranged for Chubby to do a private session for American Bandstand host Dick Clark. It was during this session that Evans got his stage name from Clark’s wife, who asked Evans what was his name. “Well,” he replied, “my friends call me ‘Chubby’.” Since he had just completed a Fats Domino impression, she smiled and said, “As in Checker?” That little play on words (“chubby” describing a degree of fatness and “checkers” being, like “dominoes,” a tabletop game) got a laugh, and it stuck.
From then on, Evans became “Chubby Checker” and had a Number One single on Billboard’s dance chart in July 2008 with “Knock Down the Walls.” The single also made the top 30 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Incidentally, Wishbone Ash’s Roger Filgate played lead guitar on the recording.
In 2009, Checker did a public service announcement (PSA) for the Social Security Administration to help launch a new campaign to promote recent changes in Medicare law. In that PSA, Checker encourages Americans on Medicare to apply for Extra Help, “A new ‘twist’ in the law makes it easier than ever to save on your prescription drug plan costs.”
On February 25, 2013, Checker released a new single, the ballad “Changes,” via iTunes; it was posted on YouTube and amassed over 160,000 views. “Changes” was produced by the hill & hifi and reached 43 on the Mediabase Top 100 AC Chart and 41 on the Gospel Chart. Checker performed it on July 5, 2013, on NBC’s Today show In 2015, Checker joined forces with Howard Perl Entertainment and Hard Rock Rocksino to produce “Rock and Roll to The Rescue” — a show designed to raise funds and adopt rescue animals in need.
Checker has had his career ups and down but sadly, in the June 25, 2019 New York Times Magazine, Checker was listed among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire. Nonetheless, the long-enduring performer has made his mark. So there you have it.