Chubby Checker

Chubby Checker was originally Ernest Evans, but was re-named because of his resemblance to a young Fats Domino. He scored a minor hit with The Class, but his recording of The Twist (originally recorded by Hank Ballard as a 1959 B side) took off like a whirlwind after prime time TV exposure. It became the biggest dance craze since the Charleston, and the steps were so easy that anyone could do The Twist . . . and everybody did!

Checker spent the next few years achieving more hit records based on further dances such as The Hucklebuck, The Limbo and The Hitchhike. None succeeded like the original however, and after Let's Twist Again rekindled the fire, a re-issue of The Twist returned to Number One at the end of 1961. By the end of 1965 Checker was running out of ideas.