TOM MOFFATT Chubby Checker has been performing since the 1950s, and stopped in Hawaii after scoring a hit with Hank Ballard's "The Twist." Here, he shows local promoter Tom Moffatt how to shake it.

Chubby still twistin’,
shakin’ and groovin’

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By Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.com

Before Alexander Graham Bell, there was no telephone; before Thomas Edison, no electric light; before Henry Ford, no V-8 engine; before Walt Disney, no animated characters, and before me no dancing apart to the beat," says Chubby Checker from his office in Philadelphia.

So announced Checker, 60, who some 40 years after the release of "The Twist" spends about 300 days a year on the road, performing more than 100 concerts.

Checker exploded onto the music scene in 1960 to become known as the "King of the Twist." "The Twist" came out in 1960 and has sold more than 250 million records, placing him at the No. 56 spot in record sales of all time.

Chubby Checker In concert, also featuring Deedee Sharp and Yvonne Elliman Where: Blaisdell Arena When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday Tickets: $25 and $35 Call: 526-4400

Checker, born Ernest Evans on Oct. 3, 1941, in Spring Gulley, S.C., is the only person on the planet who has had the same single record go No. 1 twice in different years, as well as the only artist ever to have nine double-sided hit records.

Question: How did you get the name Chubby?

Answer: When I was a teenager I got a job in a produce market in Philadelphia. When I applied for the job the boss called me Chubby. I was a fat kid.

Q: Where did your musical career start?

A: I got another job working in a chicken store. The man who owned the shop liked to set up a microphone so I could sing songs of the '50s while people shopped. The owner had a friend who was a songwriter associated with the most recognized recording studio in the Philadelphia area. When Dick Clark asked Kal Mann to write a song and recommend a singer for a musical Christmas card based on "Jingle Bells," Mann suggested me.

Q: What about the name Checker?

A: While I was in that studio, Dick Clark's wife Barbara walked in and said to me, "Chubby ... Chubby Checker. You're going to be Chubby for Fats and Checker for Domino."

Q: What was your first record?

A: I was still attending South Philadelphia High School when I recorded "The Class." Then, just before I graduated from high school, the record company told me they had a song that had been done by someone else, but they wanted me to record it over again. It was "The Twist," written and originally recorded by Hank Ballard in 1958.

Q: How significant is "The Twist" to rock 'n' roll?

A: Probably the most important of all time when it comes to dancing. Every dance where people don't touch one another started with that Chubby Checker song. It's still the biggest thing in the music business today. All the dances that people are doing today came out of that thing and what is that thing? Dancing apart from the beat. And who started that thing. Chubby Checker and it's documented on television. I want to make sure the legacy never dies, which is why I've branched out into other products.

Q: Like what?

A: Well, Weaver Meats is now exclusively offering Chubby Checker Beef Jerky. We have Sugar Twist Jerky, Invisible Strength Hickory, Hot Twist Jerky, Young People's Flavor: Smooth Hickory and Young People's Flavor: Sugar Twist Check out.

Q: How would you describe "The Twist?"

A: Putting out a cigarette with both feet; coming out of the shower and wiping off your bottom with the beat of the music.

Q: Do you ever get tired of singing "The Twist?"

A: How could I get sick the most important song that ever happened in rock 'n' roll history? It is almost like discovering crude oil. From "The Twist" there must be a thousand derivatives, like aerobics. Before Chubby Checker there was no such thing. When you go to clubs and see girls dancing on these pedestals, before me it wasn't here. The miniskirt became a big deal after "The Twist" because now girls could show their legs. Anyone who goes on the floor to dance to Britney Spears or Michael Jackson, what they are really doing is the Chubby Checker. Dancing apart to the beat is the wheel that rock rolls on.

Q: Are you surprised by your continuing popularity?

A: It's not enough. Chubby Checker is not where he should be. Every radio station on the planet should play Chubby Checker at least once a week because I have given the people what they enjoy: dancing apart from the beat. There's nobody else on stage like Chubby Checker. Sometimes I feel like James Brown and say to myself "Jump back and kiss myself, hey!"

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