Twisting With Great Balls of Fire

Twisting the Night Away

He came into this world as Ernest Evans and later became an American singer and songwriter changing his name to Chubby Checker. He is best known to have made the dance craze "the twist" a household word and got everyone twisting, His hit "The Twist" came out in 1958 and went right up to the top of the charts. He also came up with the trademark limbo dance when he released "Limbo Rock."

While Chubby Checker was looking to make a career for himself he made a recording, especially for Dick Clark. In it he portrayed a school teacher with a class that did not obey him consisting of well-known performers. In this unusual recording singing the song "Mary Had a Little Lamb" Checker imitated such artists as Fats Domino, Cozy Cole, Elvis, Ricky Nelson, Frankie Avalon, Fabian, and The Coasters. When he received the recording Dick Clark sent it to his friends as a Christmas greeting. With favorable responses, Checker was signed to the record label Cameo-Parkway. It was in 1960 that he first introduced "The Twist" at the Rainbow Club in Wildwood, New Jersey and became a success at the age of 18.

Checker decided the fun did not have to stop there and he came out with other dance singles such as "The Fly," "The Hucklebuck," "Dance the Mess Around," and "Pony Time."

Of all of these singles, it was "Pony Time" that became his second number one hit. In 1961 Checker received the 1961 Grammy Award for Best Rock and Roll Solo Vocal Performance. He recorded a follow-up to "The Twist" called "Let's Twist Again." People took to the dancefloor to do just that.

Checker did a duet with Dee Dee Sharp "Slow Twistin'" in 1962. The song made it to number three on the music charts while his previous hit "Limbo Rock" was at number 2.

With the British Invasion and all the British rock groups making their way to the US, Checker tried one more time for a big hit. In 1965 he came out with "Let's Do the Freddie" which was a variation on a dance tune by English beat band Freddie and the Dreamers. Times were changing and he was not very successful with this song.

Checker succeeded in being the only recording artist to have five albums in the Top 12 at the same time. By the time he was 22 he was popular and a millionaire. The rest of the 1960s Checker toured and recorded in Europe and was featured in a special The Chubby Checker Show filmed in Stockholm, Sweden in 1963.

Checker recorded a psychedelic album first released only in Europe and titled Chequered and then renamed New Revelation. In 1987 Checker re-recorded his biggest hit "The Twist" with the rap trio The Fat Boys. He also sang the song in an Oreo cookie commercial in the 1990s.

Then Checker performed "The Twist" in many different places from the Daytona 500 to The Opry, and The Anthony Show in 2008. Other recordings he made were "Knock Down the Walls" also in 2008 and this made it to number one on the Billboard dance chart.

Checker recorded an inspirational ballad "Changes" in 2013. He continues to perform.

Great Balls of Fire

With his wild performing style and dynamic presence American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist, Jerry Lee Lewis got the nickname "The Killer." Lewis was among the pioneers of rock and roll music. His first recording was issued in 1956 "Crazy Arms."

It was in 1957 that Lewis came out with some of his most popular hits. "Whole Lotts Shakin' Going On" made him a rock and roll star. Other hits followed like "Ball of Fire," "Breathless," and "High School Confidential." Lewis was riding on a high wave when he made the mistake of his life and put a damper on this career. At the age of 22, he married his 13-year-old cousin.

Lewis tried hard to salvage his career and released the album Live at the Star Club in Hamburg, Germany in 1964. The album was considered to be one of his wildest and greatest rock and roll concert albums.

Then in 1968 he switched music genres and started coming out with country music hist like "Another Place, Another Time." Other successful country hits were “To Make Love Sweeter For You”, “There Must Be More to Love Than This”, “Would You Take Another Chance On Me”, and “Me and Bobby McGee”.

Lewis continued to perform and toured all over the world. His bestselling album became Last Man Standing which included cover versions of songs like "Pink Cadillac" and "Sweet Little Sixteen." He followed this up with another album Mean Old Man featuring duets with other artists. Among the songs are "Dead Flowers" with Mick Jagger and "Bad Moon Rising" with John Fogerty.

During his career, Lewis had dozens of gold records in both country and rock and roll. He won several Grammy Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award. Lewis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 1986.

In 1989 his life story was made into a movie "Great Balls of Fire" starring Dennis Quaid. At the age of 86 Lewis is the last surviving member of the Sun Records Million Dollar Quartet and the Class of '55 that included such well-known performers as Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley.