Bill O’Boyle: Chubby Checker is still 'twisting'

Oct. 22—It's not often that we get to talk to a legend, an icon, but last week, I had that opportunity.

I interviewed Ernest Evans — we all know him as Chubby Checker.

Chubby was to headline Joe Nardone's "Oh! What a Night of 60s Rock 'n Roll" concert at the F.M. Kirby Center on Saturday, Oct. 21, but the event was canceled. Nardone said it will be rescheduled for September 2024.

So the preview story about that event did not run, but I did get to talk to Chubby and oh, what an interview it was.

I have met Chubby and I have attended several Chubby concerts, each time I walked away amazed at the energy, showmanship and talent that is and always will be Chubby Checker.

Chubby is now 83 years old, yet his youthful exuberance is still there. He is an absolute consummate professional who knows how to entertain.

What is sad about Chubby and his iconic career, is that he is still not in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. His most famous song, "The Twist," is in the Hall, but not Chubby.

Talk about injustice.

That song — "The Twist" — was named the top song of all time. It changed the world — it was the first song where dance partners did not have to touch each other to dance to it. Dick Clark's American Bandstand was also changed forever — and for the better.

When I talked to Chubby last week, I asked how he was doing.

"I'm doin' great!" he said. "I want to get up there and shake it up a bit."

One of Chubby's daughter lives and works in Wilkes-Barre and he visits her often. Chubby loves appearing in Wilkes-Barre and at the Kirby Center.

Chubby was quick to point out that "The Twist" is in its 61st year and has been the longest running song on the charts from day one.

"'The Twist' gave us the dance floor," Chubby said.

And then there were all those hits that followed.

Chubby grew up in South Philadelphia and formed a street-corner harmony group at age 8. He said he learned to play piano at Settlement Music School and went to South Philadelphia High School, where he entertained classmates, including Fabian Forte, with vocal impressions of Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis and Fats Domino.

After school, he worked at Produce Market, where his boss was so impressed with his customers' enjoyment of Chubby's singing impressions that he had him record a version of "Jingle Bells" in which he imitated popular recording stars.

Dick Clark sent the song as a Christmas greeting to his business associates, and Cameo Parkway Records signed Chubby. In 1959, "The Class" was his first hit record. "The Twist" was originally a "B" side, but Chubby tirelessly promoted it on TV, in interviews and in performances.

By the summer of 1960, "The Twist" became a No. 1 hit, introducing the concept of couples "dancing apart to the beat" and leading to a revolution in dancing with one dance craze leading to another — the Jerk, the Hully Gully, the Boogaloo, Limbo Rock and more. Chubby was also at the forefront with "The Fly," "The Pony" and "The Hucklebuck."

For the first time in record history, "The Twist" re-entered the charts and, by January of 1962, it was No. 1 again on the Billboard charts.

Chubby Checker is the only act to have five albums in the top 12 at the same time.

Chubby looks and sounds young and he continues to display his historic dance moves.

His fans love to twist and "throw there hands in the air like they just don't care" when Chubby takes the stage.

"That's why I still do it," Chubby said. "I make it happen."

Chubby said Tony Anastasi owned that market at 9th and Christian Street where Chubby worked and he called Ernest Evans "Chubby."

"I didn't like it," Chubby said. "Then six years later Dick Clark's wife suggested I be called Chubby Checker because Fats Domino was very popular."

Chubby said he still loves what he does and he still sings in the same key when he started out.

"When I come to Wilkes-Barre, I hope people come out and enjoy the show," he said. "Remember, Chubby put us on the dance floor and we're still dancing apart to the beat."

Chubby Checker is a part of the fabric of America and he certainly did change the way people danced.

He's still "Twisting" like we all did "last summer" for 61 years.

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.