Chubby Checker: 'Dancing apart to the beat'
You probably know Chubby Checker for "The Twist."
But the S.C. native says the phenomenon born from his lips and hips in the 1960s was the start of way more than just a twice-No.1 chart topper. It was the start of "dancing apart to the beat," he says, which is still hip today.
"It's the biggest event in the music business," he said.
Whatever you want to call it, it has been around for half a century and it's coming to Myrtle Beach this week.
Checker will twist into town to perform during the Beach Music Festival on Saturday in downtown Myrtle Beach and lead an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the most people doing "The Twist." The previous record was setJuly 17, when 1,692 people twisted for at least five minutes while Checker performed in Glendale, Calif.
Folks have been dancing to "The Twist" ever since it became all the rage in the 1960s, hitting No. 1 on the charts twice, in 1960 and '62 - it's still the only song to do that. But when Checker talks about his trademark hit, he refers to it as more than a song, or even just a dance move, but a movement he calls "dancing apart to the beat" and one that's still going strong in various forms today.
And Checker is still touring strong - Saturday's performance here will be his ninth stop this month, with more on tap through the rest of the year, including Canada and Germany next month, according to the singer's website.
Checker, who was born in Spring Gully near the Georgetown-Williamsburg county line, but grew up in Philadelphia, is on tap to perform on the oceanfront stage between Eighth and Ninth avenues North from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
"Tell everybody to get ready," Checker said. "We are taking no prisoners."
Also on tap to perform Saturday: The Spinners, The Embers, The Catalinas, Atlantic Groove and The Craig Woolard Band. There also will be a beer garden, beach games and fireworks to finish out the festival. Activities run from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Checker took a break while on tour in Montreal, Canada, last week to chat with The Sun News. Here are some excerpts:
Question | Do you think Myrtle Beach has a shot at breaking the Guinness World Record for the most people doing "The Twist?"
Answer | The record is broken every day. People don't really realize that. People say, they always talk about breaking the world record. Do you understand that everything has a definition? The Twist is a word that has a definition when it comes to dance - "dancing apart to the beat." When the twist came on the scene, that style of dancing ... it's what people do to everybody's music everyday. It's the biggest event in the music business, the way we dance to the beat. ... So actually in reality, the world's record for "dancing apart to the beat" is being broken every day.
When you do the twist, you can recognize it because you know nothing else looks like that but in reality, if someone is dancing to Lady Gaga at one of the clubs tonight, they will be dancing apart to the beat.
In the old days before the twist, when you went to a dance, a girl needed to show her wares and a guy needed to show his wares. So what did they do? They got up and went to the bathroom so they had a chance to see what they looked like. When the twist came along, ha ha ha. ... Now he's looking at her in her tight whatever she's wearing, heels, sexy clothes, whatever she's got on. ... By the time the song is over, the person who has never seen that person before now has seen everything because now she's got a chance to turn around, bend over, all those sexy things.
And this is what we are celebrating. We are celebrating 50 years of dancing apart to the beat.
Look, the old people owe me for the twist. The young people owe me for the boogie.
Q. | Did you think you'd still be performing "The Twist" today when you recorded it back in the '50s?
A. | I never thought that much [about it]. When Walt Disney did Mickey Mouse in 1920 or whenever it was, do you think he knew he'd have Disney World like we have today? This man gave us animated cartoons ... and his animation is still giving us what we enjoy today and it's world famous.
Dancing apart to the beat is as old as my career, and everybody does it to everybody's music. ... It mixes it up and may have other combinations to suit their personalities. But the basis of all of it is as old as my career ... This dancing apart to the beat, this music we call rock 'n' roll - rock, pop, hip hop- the office it is done in is called "Chubby Checker Land."
And it was the biggest event in the music business the day it appeared.
I mean if you go to the grocery store, the convenience store, they will tell you how much they love the twist because they name their products after the twist.
Q. | Do you come back to South Carolina much?
A. | I come to South Carolina all the time - always in Myrtle Beach with my uncle. ... I'm always there four or five times a year. It's home. I live in Philadelphia but I'm coming home. It's always been that way. I think July 2 we will be coming down because of a family reunion. They are cooking a hog or something right there. I'll be hanging out with them, but I'm looking forward to coming to Myrtle Beach.
Q. | Do you ever get tired of performing "The Twist?"
A. | I just don't come on stage and do "The Twist" for 75 minutes, ya know? Forget that. Understand something, do you realize what we put on this planet is bigger than I will ever be? I'm like an ant compared to the state of Texas. ...
I'm bringing it to Myrtle Beach. The people need to come see what we still do and we do it very well and I don't want them to miss it.
It might never happen again. I'm 69 years old. Come see it while you still can, kids.
This story was originally published April 25, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Chubby Checker: 'Dancing apart to the beat'."