name | Chubby Checker |
---|---|
background | solo_singer |
birth name | Ernest Evans |
born | October 03, 1941 |
origin | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
instrument | Vocals |
genre | Rock and roll |
occupation | Singer-songwriter |
years active | 1959–present |
label | Parkway, MCA |
website | ChubbyChecker.com |
notable instruments | }} |
Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He also popularized the dance style 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.
After school, Evans would entertain customers at his various jobs, including Fresh Farm Poultry on Ninth Street and at the Produce Market, with songs and jokes, and it was his boss at the Produce Market, Tony A., who gave Evans the nickname "Chubby". The storeowner of Fresh Farm Poultry, Henry Colt, was so impressed by Ernest's performances for the customers that he, with his colleague and friend Karl Mann, who worked as a song-writer for Cameo-Parkway Records, arranged for young Chubby to do a private recording for American Bandstand host Dick Clark. It was at this recording session that Evans got his stage name from Clark's wife, who asked Evans 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 ('chubby' meaning 'fat', and 'checkers', like 'dominos', being a game) got an instant laugh and stuck, and from then on, Evans would use the name "Chubby Checker".
"The Twist" had previously peaked at #16 on the ''Billboard'' rhythm and blues chart, in the 1959 version recorded by its author, Hank Ballard, whose band The Midnighters first performed the dance on stage. Checker's "Twist", however, was a nationwide smash. The song was so ubiquitous that Checker felt that his critics thought that he could only succeed with dance records typecasting him as a dance artist. Checker later lamented:
Despite Checker's initial disapproval, he found follow-up success with a succession of up-tempo dance tracks and produced a series of successful dance-related singles, including "The Hucklebuck" (#14), "The Fly" (#7), "Dance the Mess Around" (#24), and "Pony Time", which became his second #1 single. Checker's follow-up "twist" single, "Let's Twist Again", won the 1961 Grammy Award for Best Rock and Roll Solo Vocal Performance. A 1962 duet with Dee Dee Sharp, "Slow Twistin'", reached #3 on the national charts. "Limbo Rock" reached #2 in the fall of 1962, becoming Checker's last Top Ten hit.
Checker is the only recording artist to place five albums in the Top 12 all at once. The performer has often claimed to have personally changed the way we dance to the beat of music, as when he told ''Billboard'', "Anyplace on the planet, when someone has a song that has a beat, they're on the floor dancing apart to the beat. And before Chubby Checker, it wasn't here." Clay Cole agreed: "Chubby Checker has never been properly acknowledged for one major contribution to pop culture—Chubby and the Twist got adults out and onto the dance floor for the very first time. Before the Twist dance phenomenon, grownups did not dance to teenage music."In 1964, he married the Dutch Catharina Lodders, who was Miss World in 1962. Checker continued to have Top 40 singles until 1965, but changes in public taste ended his hit-making career. He spent much of the rest of the 1960s touring and recording in Europe. The 1970s saw him become a staple on the oldies circuit, including a temporary stint as a disco artist. In 1983, he fathered a daughter, Mistie, with Pam Bass. Mistie Bass is currently a professional women's basketball player in the WNBA.
He also recorded a psychedelic album in the early '70s that was initially only released in Europe. Originally the album was named "Chequered!", but renamed "New Revelation" in later releases. To this day, Checker dislikes talking about the album.
Despite his mixed feelings towards his biggest hit single, Checker has always been able to capitalize on its enduring popularity. In 1987, he recorded a new version of "The Twist" with rap trio The Fat Boys. The lyrics to this new version implied he was pleased with his association with it. Checker also sang the song in a commercial for Oreo cookies in the early 1990s. In 2008, he performed "The Twist" in venues ranging from the Daytona 500 to ''The Opie and Anthony Show''.
In 2002, Chubby Checker protested the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his hit The Twist receiving lack of airplay, claiming that "Peppermint Twist receives more airplay". Seymour Stein, president of the Rock Hall's New York chapter and member of the nomination committee, claimed "I think that Chubby is someone who will be considered. He has in certain years."
In 2008 Chubby Checker's "The Twist" was named the biggest chart hit of all time by Billboard magazine. Billboard looked at all singles that made the charts between 1958 and 2008.
Checker had a #1 single on Billboard's dance chart in July 2008 with "Knock Down the Walls". He also continues to perform on a regular basis.
In 2009, Checker recorded a public service announcement (PSA) for the Social Security Administration to help launch a new campaign to promote recent changes in Medicare law. In the 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.”
("Knock Down the Walls" topped the dance chart in July 2008; it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100.)
''Joel Whitburn's Top R&B; Singles 1942-1988,'' Record Research Inc., P.O. Box 200, Menomonee Falls WI, 1988 (ISBN 0-89820-069-5)
Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:African American musicians Category:African American rock musicians Category:American male singers Category:Musicians from South Carolina Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Grammy Award winners Category:People from Georgetown County, South Carolina Category:People from Williamsburg County, South Carolina Category:Gullah
cs:Chubby Checker cy:Chubby Checker da:Chubby Checker de:Chubby Checker es:Chubby Checker fr:Chubby Checker gl:Chubby Checker ko:처비 체커 hr:Chubby Checker id:Chubby Checker it:Chubby Checker nl:Chubby Checker no:Chubby Checker pl:Chubby Checker pt:Chubby Checker ru:Чабби Чекер simple:Chubby Checker sv:Chubby Checker uk:Чаббі ЧекерThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Name | Dee Dee Sharp |
---|---|
Background | solo_singer |
Birth name | Dione LaRue |
Born | September 09, 1945Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Instrument | Vocals |
Genre | R&B;Soul |
Occupation | Singer |
Years active | 1961–present |
Label | Cameo, Atco, Atlantic, Gamble, Philadelphia International |
Website | }} |
She had a brief career resurgence during the disco era: as a member of the Philadelphia International All Stars (which also included Lou Rawls, Billy Paul, Teddy Pendergrass, The O'Jays and Archie Bell) she had a minor hit with "Let's Clean Up the Ghetto."
In 1981 she spent four weeks at number one on the Hot Dance Club Play chart with "Breaking and Entering" / "Easy Money," from her album ''Dee Dee''.
More recent appearances included a performance at Pontins in the UK for the Northern Soul Show, and at the 2008 Detroit Jazz Festival. In May 2009, she appeared in Belgium at the Salle De L'Hotel de Ville.
Category:1945 births Category:Living people Category:American female singers Category:American rhythm and blues musicians Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Philadelphia International Records artists Category:Northern soul musicians
de:Dee Dee Sharp fr:Dee Dee Sharp gl:Dee Dee Sharp nl:Dee Dee SharpThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
name | Dee Sharp |
---|---|
background | solo_singer |
birth name | Derrick Trought |
born | 1956 |
instrument | Vocals |
genre | Reggae, lovers rock, soul |
years active | 1980–present |
label | Fashion, RCA |
associated acts | Buzzz |
notable instruments | }} |
In 1981 he joined the Brit funk group Buzzz as lead singer, the band signing to RCA Records and appearing on the BBC television show ''Ebony''. The group were moderately successful and Sharp was the cover star for the 31 July 1982 issue of ''Melody Maker''. Sharp left the band in 1982 and resumed his solo career, having further local reggae hits in 1983 with "Rising to the Top" and "Give It All You've Got".
In 1984 he contributed a rap to Nick Heyward's song "Warning Sign", performing with Heyward on ''Top of the Pops''.
He continued to record and perform both reggae and soul into the 1990s.
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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