European Film Star Postcards: Chubby Checker

09 June 2023

Chubby Checker

American singer-songwriter Chubby Checker (1941) popularised 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.

Vintage postcard, no. 6.

Dutch promotion card by Bovema, Heemstede. Photo: Columbia.

German postcard by Krüger, no. 902/273. Photo: Ariola.

The uncrowned King of Twist

Chubby Checker was born in 1941, in Andrews of Spring Gulley, South Carolina, as Ernest Evans. From an early age, he learned to play the piano, played the drums and imitated several singers. At South Philadelphia High School where Frankie Avalon also attended, he made up dances for school performances with his school friend Fabian Forte.

Initially, Ernest worked at a poulterer's, where the owner (Henry Colt) took every opportunity to demonstrate Ernest's singing skills. After appearing on a Christmas gift record in late 1958, imitating various stars (Fats Domino, the Coasters, Elvis Presley, Cozy Cole and The Chipmunks), he was offered a contract with Cameo-Parkway in early 1959, where the record 'The Class' was immediately released on single.

He got his stage name from his childhood nickname, "Chubby," and his Fats Domino imitations, which gave rise to the pun and alliteration Chubby Checker (checkers is as well as domino a game). Hank Ballard and the Midnighters recorded the original version of 'The Twist' as the B-side of 'Teardrops on Your Letter' in 1958.

This record was accompanied by a dance to liven up their performance at The Peacock Club in Atlanta. Although the song seemed to appeal to the audience, several attempts to do something with it came to nothing. When Chubby sang the song in June 1959, Cameo-Parkway rated it a B-side.

Through Checker's persistence, he not only lost 15 kilos by performing a lot, but 'The Twist' eventually became a number 1 hit in 1960, and the record stayed listed for over 16 weeks. It sparked a dance craze that swept the nation. The song gave Checker his breakthrough and his title as the uncrowned King of Twist. In 1961, 'The Twist' rose to number one for a second time and stayed there for 18 weeks. The song has since been covered by numerous artists.

Vintage postcard, no. 362.

Dutch postcard by Gebr. Spanjersberg N.V., Rotterdam. Sent by mail in 1964.

Vintage postcard, no. 662.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Chubby Checker's success with 'The Twist' was followed by numerous variations on the twist and similar dances. When Don Covay and John Berry released 'Pony Time' with The Goodtimers in 1960 and achieved some local success with it, it was almost immediately covered by Chubby Checker. Checker's version rose to number 1 and stayed listed for 16 weeks in 1961. Checker went on to have other hits, including 'Let's Twist Again' and 'Limbo Rock'. His success with 'The Twist' also led to several television appearances, including on American Bandstand with Dick Clark.

Chubby Checker made his film debut as a performer in the musical Teenage Millionaire (Lawrence Doheny, 1961) with Rocky Graziano and Zasu Pitts. It was followed by Twist Around the Clock (Oscar Rudolph, 1961) with Dion and Don't Knock the Twist (Oscar Rudolph, 1962) with Mari Blanchard. After 1963, the dance hype was a bit over and Checker concentrated on Europe, which was a bit behind the US in terms of music. There he performed in the Austrian film Die ganze Welt ist himmelblau/The whole world is sky blue (Franz Antel, 1964) with Johanna Matz and Peter Weck and the British film The Comedy Man (Alvin Rakoff, 1964) with Kenneth More and Dennis Price.

At the German Bierfeste, he met Dutch Catharina 'Rina' Lodders, the 1962 Miss World. En passant, following Elvis Presley with 'Muss I denn' (Wooden heart), he recorded the German children's folk song 'Good old Schwäbische Eisenbahn', better known as 'Troola, troola, troola la'. The b-side is 'Autobahn Baby'. He married Lodders in 1964. From the marriage, three children were born and the family lived in a Philadelphia suburb. Together with the Dutch pop group ZZ en de Maskers, he recorded the 1965 hits 'Baby Baby Balla Balla' and 'Stopping in Las Vegas', which ZZ and the Masks previously recorded as 'Sloppin' in Las Vegas'.

He continued to perform and record throughout the 1960s and beyond. In 1970, Checker and three others were arrested near Niagara Falls when drugs were found in their car. In 1983, his illegitimate daughter Mistie Williams was born. She later made it to professional basketball player with the Houston Comets in the Women's National Basketball Association. In 1986 Chubby was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 1988, 'The Twist' became a hit for the third time, this time with the Fat Boys. The song reached 16th place in the charts.

He incidentally appeared on the screen as himself in such films as Purple People Eater (Linda Shayne, 1988) with Ned Beatty and Calendar Girl (John Whitesell, 1993) with Jason Priestley. In 2000, he started a wholesale snack business called The Last Twist, Inc. and Chubby Checker Snacks. He also introduced the Checkerlicious Express, a driving snack roadshow with Checker himself at the wheel. In 2007, 'Knock Down The Walls' became a hit in the US. Today, Chubby Checker is still performing and is regarded as a rock and roll pioneer and a cultural icon of the 1960s.