60th anniversary of “The Twist,” Chubby Checker and the legendary Cameo Parkway

by Al "Beto"

HOLLYWOOD (Perfect Music Today) 9/24/20/—“The Twist” by Chubby Checker first went to #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles Chart this week in 1960. In celebration of this anniversary, ABKCO has prepped an official music video that is being launched today.  It incorporates footage of Chubby’s October 21, 1961 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show as “The Twist” reascended the charts, going back to #1 on the Hot 100 in January of 1962, a feat never equalled in the decades that followed.

Please click here to view the video and we hope you’ll follow the instructions contained therein: https://youtu.be/-CCgDvUM4TM

“The Twist” video directed by Lucy Dawkins and Tom Readdy at Yes Please Productions

Link to stream and order ABKCO’s Cameo Parkway and Chubby Checker releases out this Friday, September 25: https://abkco.lnk.to/chubbychecker

 

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“THE TWIST” at 60 CELEBRATED WITH PHYSICAL RELEASES OF ORIGINAL TWIST WITH CHUBBY CHECKER ALBUM + NEW DANCIN’ PARTY: THE CHUBBY CHECKER COLLECTION (1960 – 1966) + “THE TWIST” 7” EP 

 

ABKCO Records has announced a celebration of the 60th anniversary of “The Twist,” Chubby Checker and the legendary Cameo Parkway labels with commemorative releases September 25th. The definitive album Twist With Chubby Checker album has been remastered and will be made available for the first time on vinyl since the 1960s this September. The date dovetails with the 60th anniversary of “The Twist” having first reached #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 on September 24, 1960. A special 45 rpm 7” vinyl of “The Twist” with two B-sides will also be available along with the physical editions of the new, definitive Dancin’ Party: The Chubby Checker Collection (1960 – 1966) on both CD and LP.  Dancin’ Party collects twenty-one tunes that includes seventeen Top 40 hits, twelve of which hit the Top 20; seven hit the Top 10 with two going to #1, including the pinnacle recording of “The Twist,” a single that two trips to the top.

Twist With Chubby Checker has also been remastered for a digital release, with the single for “The Pony” available immediately to stream and as an “instant grat” track with pre-orders of Twist With Chubby Checker.

CD versions of two other newly compiled Cameo Parkway sets, You Got The Power: Cameo Parkway Northern Soul 1964 -1967 and You Can’t Sit Down: Cameo Parkway Dance Crazes 1958 – 1964 are also being made available on September 25.

In summer of 1960 “The Twist” was released and first hit the Billboard chart on August 1st, sixty years ago this week.  The tune raced to the #1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 on September 24th a matter of weeks later.  Most remarkably, after the song was re-released in late 1961, it again arrived at the #1 spot on January 13, 1962, making “The Twist” the first record to occupy the #1 slot in two different run-ups, a feat unequaled to this day. The first release of the single in 1960 included “Toot” on the flip side and the 1961 version carried “Twistin’ USA” on its B-side.  In recognition of that singular achievement the newly remastered version of “The Twist” EP includes both “Toot” and “Twistin’ USA.”

At the 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony in Cleveland, a new class was inducted, this time in recognition of their respective impact on music and culture. First among these in terms of cultural and commercial transcendence was “The Twist” by Chubby Checker. Steven Van Zandt had the honor of inducting “The Twist,” recalling the song would, “along with The Pill, Hugh Hefner’s Playboy philosophy and Helen Gurley Browns’ ‘Sex and the Single Girl,’ be credited with starting the sexual revolution.”

When Billboard celebrated the 50th anniversary of its Hot 100 singles chart in 2008, “The Twist” was declared the number one song of that half century span.  That designation was bestowed on the record again in 2013 and 2015 and, yet again, when The Hot 100’s 60th year was observed.  Each time, “The Twist” held on to the top spot among over 27,000 individual titles by more than 7,500 artists.  “The Twist” by Chubby Checker is in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame more than 20 years ago.  In its own time, “The Twist” was recognized by the Recording Academy as the Best Rock & Roll Recording at the 1961 Grammy™ Awards.

Concurrent with the massive success of “The Twist,” Cameo Parkway became one of the industry’s most successful independent companies on par, in that era, with Motown.  It accrued a vast artist roster with a strong emphasis on dance-oriented hits and its shares were even traded on the American Stock Exchange, a first for a record label. Checker’s initial follow-up, “Let’s Twist Again” was emblematic of this as were his many other dance floor and chart successes which are all collected on Dancin’ Party: The Chubby Checker Collection (1960 – 1966).  

You Can’t Sit Down: Cameo Parkway Dance Crazes 1958 -1964, features well known dance repertoire by the full spectrum of Cameo Parkway stars. Among whom are The Orlons, Dovells, Dee Dee Sharp, Bobby Rydell, The Applejacks and others along with Chubby Checker. Highlights are seven Top 10 hits including The Orlons’ “Wah-Watusi,” Dee Dee Sharp’s “Mashed Potato Time,” “The Bristol Stomp” and “You Can’t Sit Down” by the Dovells, “Slow Twistin’” by Chubby Checker and Dee Dee Sharp as well as Bobby Rydell’s “Cha Cha Cha” plus sixteen more.  As with the Dancin’ Party, You Can’t Sit Down includes liner notes by British music historian and author John Broven, author of Record Makers and Breakers (University of Illinois Press).

You Got The Power: Cameo Parkway Northern Soul 1964 -1967, a more specialized set, highlights the fact that numerous Cameo Parkway singles would go on to become part of the soundtrack of Britain’s Northern Soul lifestyle phenomenon. Northern Soul’s emphasis was on obscure yet danceable records, a number of which became the focus of a cult-like worship years after they were first issued.  Singles by Frankie Beverly & The Butlers, Bunny Sigler, The Orlons, Evie Sands, Candy and the Kisses, Christine Cooper and Eddie Holman are highlights of the 20-track collection.  The set includes liner notes by Ady Croasdell, DJ-founder of London’s 6Ts Rhythm ‘N’ Soul Club, home of Britain’s longest-running Northern Soul night.

ABKCO’s September 25 Cameo Parkway releases

Twist with Chubby Checker (Remastered) – vinyl and digital

  1.    Twistin’ U.S.A.
  2. The “Ooh Poo Pah Doo” Shimmy
  3. The “C.C. Rider” Stroll
  4. The Strand
  5. The Chicken
  6. The Hucklebuck
  7. The Twist
  8. The Madison
  9. “Love Is Strange” Calypso
  10. The “Mexican Hat” Twist
  11. The Slop
  12. The Pony

The Twist (Remastered) 7’’ EP and digital

  1. The Twist
  2.  Toot
  3. Twistin’ U.S.A.

Dancin’ Party – The Chubby Checker Collection: 1960 – 1966 – CD 

  1. The Twist **
  2. The Hucklebuck
  3. Pony Time**
  4. Dance The Mess Around
  5. Let’s Twist Again **
  6. The Fly **
  7. Dancin’ Party
  8. Slow Twistin’ **
  9. Popeye The Hitchhiker **
  10. Limbo Rock **
  11. Let’s Limbo Some More
  12. Twist It Up (single version)
  13. Birdland (single version)
  14. What Do Ya Say!
  15. Loddy Lo
  16. Hooka Tooka
  17. Hey, Bobba Needle
  18. Lazy Elsie Molly
  19. (At The) Discotheque
  20. You Just Don’t Know (What You Do To Me)
  21. Hey You! Little Boo-Ga-Loo

**DENOTE CHARTS IN TOP TEN

You Can’t Sit Down: Cameo Parkway Dance Crazes 1958-1964 – CD 

  1. The Twist – Chubby Checker
  2. The Wah-Watusi – The Orlons
  3. Bristol Stomp – The Dovells
  4. Mashed Potato Time – Dee Dee Sharp
  5. You Can’t Sit Down – The Dovells
  6. The Third House (In From The Right) – Bobby Rydell
  7. Do The Bird – Dee Dee Sharp
  8. Slow Twistin’ – Chubby Checker w/Dee Dee Sharp
  9. Shimmy Shimmy – The Orlons
  10. The 81 – Candy And The Kisses
  11. (Everybody Do) The Swim, Pt 1- The Marlins
  12. The Popeye Waddle – Don Covay
  13. Do The New Continental – The Dovells
  14. Baby, Do The Froog – Dardenelles
  15. Rocka-Conga – The Applejacks
  16. The Hucklebuck- Chubby Checker
  17. The Mash – Tom Young & The Hippies
  18. Mexican Hat Rock – The Applejacks
  19. The Cha-Cha-Cha – Bobby Rydell
  20. When You Dance – The Turbans
  21. Everybody South Street – The Taffys
  22. Twistin’ U.S.A. – Chubby Checker

You Got The Power: Cameo Parkway Northern Soul 1964-1967 – CD 

  1. You Got The Power – The Four Exceptions
  2. Because Of My Heart – Frankie Beverly & The Butlers
  3. (Whoa, Whoa) I Love Him So – Nikki Blu
  4. Girl Don’t Make Me Wait – Bunny Sigler
  5. It’s Rough Out There – Jerry Jackson
  6. Envy (In My Eyes) – The Orlons
  7. Picture Me Gone – Evie Sands
  8. Country Girl – Vickie Baines
  9. Night Owl – Bobby Paris
  10. Village Of Tears – Ben Zine
  11. You Just Don’t Know (What You Do To Me) – Chubby Checker
  12. The 81 – Candy And The Kisses
  13. Shake And Shingaling (Part 1) – Gene Waiters
  14. S.O.S. (Heart In Distress)  – Christine Cooper
  15. Eddie’s My Name – Eddie Holman
  16. Pass Me By – Hattie Winston
  17. The Grass (Will Sing For You) – Lonnie Youngblood
  18. (Your Love Was Just A) False Alarm – Tari Stevens
  19. Who Do You Think You Are – The Soul City

 

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