Chubby Checker is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song "The Twist", and the pony dance style with the 1961 cover of the song "Pony Time". His biggest UK hit, "Let's Twist Again", was released one year later ; that year, he also popularized the song "Limbo Rock", originally a previous-year instrumental hit by the Champs to which he added lyrics, and its trademark Limbo dance, as well as other dance styles such as The Fly. In September 2008, "The Twist" topped Billboard's list of the most popular singles to have appeared in the Hot 100 since its debut in 1960, an honor it maintained for an August 2013 update of the list.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1962.
The twist is a dance that was inspired by rock and roll music. From 1959 to the early sixties it became a worldwide dance craze, enjoying immense popularity while drawing controversies from critics who felt it was too provocative. It inspired dances such as the Jerk, the Pony, the Watusi, the Mashed Potato, the Monkey, and the Funky Chicken, but none were as popular.
Cameo-Parkway Records was the parent company of Cameo Records and Parkway Records, which were major American Philadelphia-based record labels from 1956 and 1958 to 1967. Among the types of music released were doo-wop, dance hits, popular/rock, rockabilly, big band, garage rock, soul and novelty records.
David Appell was an American musician, musical arranger and record producer born in Philadelphia.
Kal Mann was an American lyricist. He is best known for penning the words to Elvis Presley's "Teddy Bear", plus "Butterfly", a hit for both Charlie Gracie and Andy Williams, and "Let's Twist Again", sung by Chubby Checker, which won the 1962 Grammy Award for Best Rock & Roll Recording.
"Bristol Stomp" is a song written in 1961 by Kal Mann and Dave Appell, two executives with the Cameo-Parkway record label, for The Dovells, a doo-wop singing group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who recorded it for Cameo-Parkway late that year. Appell also produced and arranged the track and his Cameo-Parkway's house band served as the studio musicians.
Rock Around the Clock is a 1956 musical film featuring Bill Haley and His Comets along with Alan Freed, the Platters, Tony Martinez and His Band and Freddie Bell and His Bellboys. It was produced by B-movie king Sam Katzman and directed by Fred F. Sears.
Dee Dee Sharp is an American R&B singer, who began her career recording as a backing vocalist in 1961.
The Dovells were an American doo-wop group, formed at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1957, under the name 'The Brooktones'. The original members were Arnie Silver, Len Borisoff, Jerry Gross, Mike Freda, and Jim Mealey. Their first single "No, No, No" was a local hit for The Brooktones.
Twist Around the Clock is an American musical film released in 1961. It was a remake of Sam Katzman and Robert E. Kent's Rock Around the Clock. Like Rock Around the Clock, which was followed by a sequel titled Don't Knock the Rock, the film was followed by a sequel titled Don't Knock the Twist.
Hairspray: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a soundtrack of the 1988 John Waters film, Hairspray.
"Let's Twist Again" is a song written by Kal Mann and Dave Appell, and released as a single by Chubby Checker. One of the biggest hit singles of 1961, it reached No.8 on the U.S. Billboard pop chart in August of that year and subsequently reached No.2 in the UK in the spring of 1962. The song refers to the Twist dance craze and Checker's 1960 single "The Twist", a two-time U.S. No.1 single.
In 1959, radio and television personality and television producer Dick Clark organized and produced a concert tour of rock and roll and rhythm and blues artists, many of whom had appeared on his music performance and dance television program, American Bandstand. The show was billed as Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. Its success prompted additional tours. The last of the concerts toured in 1966.
James Gene Barge is an American tenor and alto saxophonist, composer in several bands, and actor.
Bo Diddley is the eighth studio album by American rock and roll pioneer Bo Diddley, not to be confused with the 1958 album of the same name. The 1962 album was released as Checker LP-2984 in August 1962 and featured the Willie Dixon-penned classic "You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover", which was released as a 7" 45 rpm single in July 1962.
"Slow Twistin'" is a song written by Jon Sheldon, and recorded by American rock and roll musicians Chubby Checker and Dee Dee Sharp. Released as a single in 1962, it peaked at number 3 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the R&B singles chart.
"The Fly" is a song written by John Madara and David White and performed by Chubby Checker. The song was produced by Kal Mann.
For 'Teen Twisters Only is the fifth album by Chubby Checker and was released in 1961 by Parkway Records.
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