1959 CHUBBY CHECKER 78 THE CLASS /SCHOOLDAYS OH SCHOOLDAYS TOP RANK M-

	£		42
	$		56

A REALLY EXCELLENT COPY OF THIS ULTRA RARE 1959 UK TOP RANK 78 FROM CHUBBY CHECKER 

THE CLASS  /  SCHOOLDAYS, OH, SCHOOLDAYS

Ernest Evans was born in South Carolina, but grew up in Philadelphia, where he lived with his parents and two brothers. When he was a small boy, his mother took him to see Sugar Charles Robinson, a child piano prodigy. Ernest was so impressed, that he vowed to someday enter show business and took his first step toward that goal by forming a street corner harmony group when he was only eight years old.

By the time he entered high school, Ernest had learned to play the drums, piano and could do a number of vocal impressions. He also made up little dances and along with his friend, Fabian Forte, who would have show business success of his own, entertained classmates whenever he could. He also sang and cracked jokes at his after school job at a Ninth Street meat market.

The store owner, Henry Colt, was so impressed, he began showing off his employee to anyone who would listen. Eventually, he arranged for young Ernest to sing on a private recording for Dick Clark. The result was a Yuletide novelty tune called, "The Class", on which Ernest did several impressions of top recording stars. Dick Clark sent it out as a Christmas greeting in 1958, and it got such good response that Cameo-Parkway released it commercially and signed Ernest in early 1959.

During the recording session, Clark's wife asked Ernest what his name was. "Well", he replied, "my friends call me 'Chubby'". As he had just completed a Fats Domino impression, she smiled and said, "As in Checker?" That little play on words got an instant laugh and stuck, and from then on, Ernest Evans would use the name "Chubby Checker".

While all this was going on, a band called Hank Ballard and the Midnighters were playing at an Atlanta roadhouse called the Peacock Club. To liven up their show, they had worked up a little dance routine. Hank wrote a tune to go with it, and three weeks later, on November 11, 1958, the band recorded the original version of "The Twist".

King Records put the song on the "B" side of "Teardrops On Your Letter", which made the R&B top ten in the spring of 1959. In those days, flipping a record over to hear the other side, was a common practice of DJs and "The Twist" started to get some air play. Teenagers loved the song and Dick Clark was quick to notice. He booked Hank Ballard and the Midnighters on his show, but the band made what must have been the greatest mistake of their career...they failed to show up. Dick then suggested that someone else record the song and recommended it to Danny and the Juniors, of "At The Hop" fame. When the recording session failed to produce any positive results, Henry Colt stepped in, and asked that his protégé be given a chance at it. Chubby sang his vocal over a pre-recorded instrumental track.

Bernie Lowe, president of Cameo-Parkway Records, was not impressed with Chubby's recording and felt that it might be suitable for a "B" side at best. For that reason, it took nearly fourteen months, from June 1959, to August 1960, for the Checker version of "The Twist" to catch on. Chubby worked hard at promoting the record, undertaking a non-stop round of interviews, TV dates and live performances. After three weeks of demonstrating the Twist, he had lost nearly thirty pounds.

"The Twist" became a dance sensation and scores of twist tunes followed, like "The Peppermint" Twist", "The Oliver Twist" and dozens of variations. This opened up a floodgate of new dances. The Fly, The Hully Gully, The Popeye, The Jerk, The Boogaloo, The Philly, The Locomotion, The Swim, The Hucklebuck and The Funky Broadway were just a few. Many of these were first introduced by Chubby Checker, who also kicked off the next really big dance craze, "The Pony".

A song called "Pony Time" was written in 1960 by Don Covay and John Berry and was released on the tiny Arnold label by a group called "The Goodtimers". When the song began to take off locally, it was brought to Chubby Checker's attention, and he covered it right away. Chubby's version went all the way to number one and stayed on the charts for sixteen weeks in 1961.

In the fall of 1961, record industry history was made, when Checker's original hit record, "The Twist", re-entered the charts and by January of 1962, it was back in the number one position. No other record before or since has accomplished that feat. Combining it's 1960 run with it's 1961/62 return, "The Twist" spent an amazing nine month total on the U.S. best seller charts.

Chubby Checker merchandise was everywhere, and included, T-shirts, shoes, ties, dolls, rain coats, and chewing gum. His success continued for years with the release of one dance record after another, with, "The Fly" and "Let's Twist Again", for which he won a Grammy for the "Best Rock Performance". More hit records followed. "Slow Twistin'", "Dancin' Party", "Popeye the Hitchhiker", and "The Limbo Rock" all came along in 1962. 

DISC DETAILS:

UK TOP RANK JAR 154 10" 78rpm  HEAVY VINYL

A SIDE:- THE CLASS

B SIDE:-  SCHOOLDAYS, OH, SCHOOLDAYS

CONDITION - M-/EX+   COMES IN TOP RANK SLEEVE

ONE ONLY AVAILABLE

THIS ONE IS ULTRA RARE SO

DON'T MISS OUT - BID NOW!!

On 31-Jan-07 at 14:38:06 GMT, seller added the following information: