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King Of The Twist! | |
| The resulting Christmas novelty, "The Class" (which featured impressions of popular singers by Checker), attracted the attention of the Cameo-Parkway label, which decided to release the record commercially (Parkway 804; 1959). His breakthrough came when Clark advised Cameo-Parkway to record "The Twist," a dance number written by r & b singer Hank Ballard and released as the B-side of "Teardrops on Your Letter" (King 5171; 1959), by Ballard and his group, The Midnighters. Checker sang his parts over an already-recorded instrumental track; released June 1959 (Parkway 811; 1960), the record took nearly fourteen months to reach the charts. Checker�s nonstop itinerary of interviews, TV dates, and live appearances (he is said to have lost thirty pounds during one three-week stretch of demonstrating the Twist) ultimately paid off, however, when the single reached top of the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1960. The Twist phenomenon inspired a rapid succession of additional dance fads. Due to his close relationship with Clark and a savvy record label, Checker was well positioned to continue as the King of Dance King. His dance hits included "The Hucklebuck" (Parkway 813; 1960), "Pony Time" (Parkway 818; 1961), ""Dance the Mess Around" (Parkway 822; 1961), "Let�s Twist Again" (Parkway 824; 1961), "The Fly" (Parkway 830; 1961), "Slow Twistin�" (Parkway 835; 1962), "Limbo Rock"/"Popeye the Hitchhiker" (Parkway 849; 1962), "Let�s Limbo Some More" (Parkway 862; 1963), "Birdland" (Parkway 873; 1963), and "Twist It Up" (Parkway 879; 1963). When the dance craze subsided, Checker managed to record additional hits, most notably "Loddy Lo"/"Hooka Tooka" (Parkway 890; 1963) and "Hey, Bobba Needle" (Parkway 907). However, his popularity was ultimately eclipsed by the British Invasion and American Renaissance styles such as surf music, soul, and folk-rock. Checker has continued to perform extensively, occasionally attempting large-scale comebacks. [Gilbert and Theroux. 1982.] � | |
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