Let me tell you one thing.  I’ve had enough of Chubby Checker telling anyone who will listen that he belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This issue crossed my path a few times recently and it’s time to look at the facts. Most recently I stumbled across a YouTube video of Chubby who was claiming that the reason he’s not in the Hall is racism. If that’s the case will somebody please explain to me how Chuck Berry, Little Richard, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino and Robert Johnson were inducted with the first class in 1986? And there was only one year, 2014, when no African-American artists were inducted. These inductees are talented artists who made a significant contribution to rock and roll. The music simply would not be the same if they had not laid the foundation in the 50′s and 60′s. Does Chubby really think he belongs in this company? Even if Chubby Checker had not existed we would still have his major contribution because he covered Hank Ballard’s song “The Twist” almost note for note. In fact Hank Ballard said that when he first heard Chubby’s version he thought it was the version he cut. By the way, Hank Ballard has been in the Hall since 1990 and he deserves to be. He originated “The Twist” not Chubby.  Speaking of originality, even his name Chubby Checker is just a variation of the name Fats Domino. 


Secondly, Chubby, in a recent Philadelphia Magazine interview said people who think he’s a one hit wonder are “sick”. He went on to claim that he has had 34 hits. He is right if you call a song that charts anywhere in the Hot 100 a hit. But the standard definition of hits are those that chart in the top 40 not the top 100. So technically he has had 34 “hits” but no reasonable person would consider his song “Black Cloud” that rose to the lofty position of 98 on the hot 100 a hit…except Chubby.


And finally, Chubby has publicly demanded to be inducted into the Hall and took out a full-page ad in Billboard magazine proclaiming himself to be the most important figure in rock and roll. Why?  Because, according to Chubby, he invented dancing apart from your partner since before he came along no song had a beat you could dance to. That claim is so outrageous that nobody should dignify it with a response. He also asked the Hall to erect a statue of him in their courtyard on a pedestal of around 30 feet in an area where he will be apart from all the other inductees.  “The Twist” is on the Hall of Fame’s list of the 500 songs that shaped rock and roll and that’s as good as it should get for Chubby.


Bottom line: Chubby Checker recorded a novelty tune which does not constitute an original or significant contribution to the development of rock and roll. His behavior concerning induction has been childish and embarrassing.


Case closed.