Rant #2,458: Let's Twist Again

Welcome to October 3, the 276th day of the year (the 277th in leap years).

Just 89 days remain until the end of 2019.

And today is Ernest Evans' 78th birthday.

If you don't know who Ernest Evans is, well, if you are a Baby Boomer, shame on you.

But just twist.

Let's twist again.

And then, twist some more.

Yes, the unassuming name of Ernest Evans is the real name of Chubby Checker, rock and roll's original dance pioneer, the guy who made "The Twist" the most popular dance in the world for the period and for evermore.

Sure, we have had "The Jerk," "The Frug," and even the line dance, but have any of these dances ever been more popular than "The Twist?"

I doubt it. And a lot of that has to do with Checker, his continued popularity, and his endurance.

Heck, he even tired to imitate its success with "Pony Time" and "Limbo Rock," but even the master himself could not outdo "The Twist."

Evans was just 18 years old when the song hit the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100. This happened in 1960, when Evans was 18 years old going on 19.

The single took the world by storm, and it was so popular, that a separate release of the original single also rose to No. 1, the only single to do that in the history of Billboard Magazine's singles charts.

Evans became "Chubby Checker" due to his close business relationship with Dick Clark. Evans had some girth at that time, and in a way, he resembled Fats Domino, so Clark's wife came up with the monicker "Chubby Checker" and it stuck, even though Evans hasn't had a tremendous girth for decades.

The song was originally a throwaway that was recorded by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, but Clark helped Checker find the song, and the rest is history,

The popularity of the Twist--it was even done in the White House by Jackie Kennedy herself--is that it is so simple, and anyone who can move their body even a little can do it. It also cut across all ethnic groups, and got people to dancing, moving and getting their butts off sofas and onto the dance floor.

Evans, now Checker, rode that song to fame, and there were many variations of it by other artists, including "The Peppermint Twist" by Joey Dee and the Starlighters.

Checker also did variations of the original song, led by "Let's Twist Again," and there were many others that he did to capitalize on his biggest hit, including "Slow Twistin',"and "La Paloma Twist," all of which cribbed the original song in one way or the other.

And the public loved all of them.

Even into the 1980s and beyond, performers were doing the latest variation of "The Twist," including the Traveling Wilburys, who do their own take on the song with "The Wilbury Twist."

And who can forget Checker having another hit with a rap version of the song, sung with the comic rappers the Fat Boys?

Checker became a major figure in rock and roll because of that song, and had many, many other hits up until about 1965, when the British Invasion took over the charts and public interest began to wane on his type of dance music.

He has always stayed active, and continues to be a huge concert draw even nearly 60 years after his biggest hit single hit the top spot on the charts.

Even though "The Twist" opened up the doors for other dance revolutions in popular music, including disco, Checker has been discredited by the overall rock/pop music community for being nothing more than the voice that propelled that song, a copycat artists mimicking his own success, and little else.

Thus, he is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is really a shame.

Besides "The Twist," Checker had about two dozen other hit singles, and his LPs also reached a high level of popularity during that interesting period when Elvis cooled off and the Beatles were ready to take over.

That 1960 to 1964 period is often a neglected one, and these were Checker's biggest years.

He has been very vocal about his absence from the HoF, and has on more than one occasion derided the HoF for his omission, which probably hasn't helped him get in in the first place.

And yes, it is a great omission.

Checker has strived and survived longer than most performers in the rock era, and his dominance on the charts during his peak period really should be his calling card into the HoF.

But sadly, it hasn't led to his entrance.

With new leadership of the HoF just announced, it is hoped that Checker, and other artists from the pre-Beatles era like Lesley Gore, will finally get their due.

But even if they don't, Checker will still be "Twistin'" until he can't do it anymore, which, hopefully, isn't anytime soon.

Happy birthday, Chubby. We hope you finally get your due honors really soon.