'Twist' named top song of Billboard Hot 100 era

By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, AP Music Writer 46 minutes ago

NEW YORK - How's this for a twist: Of all the No. 1 songs in the 50 years of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, Chubby Checker's "The Twist" ranks as the most popular single.

Elvis and the Beatles didn't even make the top five.

Checker's ranking may come as a surprise to some, but not to the classic rocker.

"I'm glad they've finally recognized it," said Checker of his early 1960s hit.

He compared "The Twist" — named by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum as one of the 500 songs that shaped rock 'n' roll — to the creation of the telephone as a groundbreaking moment because he said it was the first time people were dancing "apart to the beat."

"Anyplace on the planet, when someone has a song that has a beat, they're on the floor dancing apart to the beat, and before Chubby Checker, it wasn't here, and I think that has a lot to do with me being on the charts," he said.

Santana's "Smooth," featuring Rob Thomas, is the No. 2 most popular, followed by Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife," Leann Rimes' "How Do I Live" and "The Macarena" by Los Del Rio.

The Beatles did make the top 10, coming it at No. 8 with "Hey Jude." But Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" and Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life" are ahead of that hit. Rounding out the top 10: Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" at No. 9 and Toni Braxton's "Un-break My Heart" at No. 10.

Geoff Mayfield, director of charts at Billboard magazine, acknowledged that the list might not jibe with some fans' personal thoughts of the most popular songs of the past 50 years.

"This is simply a chronicle of how each of these songs performed in their era on the Hot 100. We're not saying these are the most memorable songs of your life. That would be something that's almost impossible to determine," said Mayfield. "Everyone has a subjective frame of reference."

The Beatles do top Billboard's all-time Hot 100 artists, followed by Madonna, Elton John, Elvis Presley, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and the Rolling Stones. Billboard.com is breaking out some of the other chart achievements (the list of most No. 1 singles by an act is topped by the Beatles) on its Web site.

The Billboard Hot 100 chart measures airplay and sales information (and more recently digital downloads) in determining the nation's most popular songs. To determine the most popular song of the Hot 100 era, Billboard used a formula to determine the top song — not always relying on weeks at No. 1 since the data was reported differently in its early days.

Initially, Billboard relied on stations to report the most popular songs, and got sales surveys from record stores. But Mayfield said stations often stopped reporting on a song's popularity if it was no longer a priority for record labels. And in 1991, Billboard began relying on sales data from Nielsen SoundScan and airplay data from Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems. So Billboard weighted certain songs from different eras to make sure all songs were on an even playing field.

"We went through each era, and we looked through the rate of turnover. The rate of turnover was very high in the late '50s and early '60s, and we had to put a weight on that to make the chart runs of that era equal to the chart runs that can be accomplished since 1991," he said.

Checker's "The Twist" spent a total of only three weeks at the top of the charts, but did so twice in two separate runs more than a year apart.

"It's the only song that was ever No. 1 in two different chart runs," he said.

Checker said he was gratified that Billboard noted the popularity of "The Twist," and lamented that both the song and his career have been at times overlooked.

"My music is less played that any performer that has been a No. 1 chart man on the planet," said Checker, who also had hits with "Pony Time," "The Fly" and "Let's Twist Again," which earned him a Grammy. "I don't get the respect that Rod Stewart gets, or the Rolling Stones, or Frankie Valli. ... But I have to deal with it."

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Funny how Chubby give himself all the credit but he was really singing the same style that the song's original performer and writer Hank Ballard did, talking about he don't get the respect. Uh, dude, what you think? You're known for a novelty hit written by a TRUE ROCK LEGEND (who's in the Hall of Fame). GTFOOH!

Here's my fuck you salute to Chubby:

This asshole:

http://www.freetimes.com/...by-checker

Chubby Checker
Inventor

Chubby Checker didn't write the song "The Twist," but he helped make the tune and the dance a national sensation. The golden oldie, who performs Wednesday at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and then signs copies of his new CD, won't let you forget about his place in rock history. They don't call him Chubby for nothing. Checker (Ernest Evans) hawks snacks through The Last Twist Inc. when he's not sweating off the calories performing. The 66-year-old musician spoke about his influence in a recent phone interview. — Ed Condran

The last time we talked you compared yourself to Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison and George Washington Carver. That's pretty serious company.

They're all inventors. I'm an inventor. I'm an important person because of "The Twist." It changed the music business. No one danced apart from the beat before the Twist happened. It was No. 1 twice (in 1961 and 1962) and who else has done that?

The Beatles did it.

Dick Clark once said, "The three most important things to happen in the music business are The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Chubby Checker."

That was then. Is that still so now?

Yes. I've had quite an influence.

How?

Look at the dances I invented, and I'm not just talking about the Twist. There's the Fly and the Pony. Kids are doing the Fly and they don't even know that they're doing it. It's raise your hands in the air and wave them like you just don't care. The Pony, two on one side and two on the other, is the biggest dance of the last century. I would say that's pretty important and influential.

So should you be a running attraction at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Yes, I want my flowers now. I can't smell them when I'm dead.

The press you've received hasn't been that flattering.

The bottom line is that my fans are loving it but for some reason most publications just knock me down. For some reason they can't say, "He was great." They have to come up with some negative angle. They'll say all the people who come out to see me have gray hair. That's who they'll focus on when I'm on TV. They show the Beatles music and it's all young people listening to it. I don't understand it. Thankfully though, that's not what matters most to me. What is most important to me is the music and getting out there in front of the fans.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to become the next Chubby Checker?

The toughest thing in this business is to have patience but you got to have it. The other hard thing to do while being patient is to behave yourself. You also have to work hard. That's what I've always done. I wouldn't be where I am if I didn't work so hard.

You have The Last Twist Inc. but do you also own Checkers and Twist pretzels?

No. Everybody thinks I own these places and I don't. I'm not angry with these people that own them. They love me. It's all good for me. I have fun doing whatever I do. It's great for me because singing goes along with eating. It's good times.

How difficult was it growing up in gritty South Philadelphia?

It wasn't easy. Kids would want to get into fights with me because I had manners. It wasn't an easy place for a kid who was trying to be good to grow up. But I have lots of great memories.

But the memories of performing on American Bandstand must be a lot better.

Yeah. They're just really different too. I had a good childhood and once things started breaking for me, look out. I had a ball. I wouldn't trade anything for nothing. It all worked out for me. I have no complaints. I look back at things fondly.

Any plans to retire from performance?

Anyone who is in the rock 'n' roll business is between 62 and the graveyard. The Rolling Stones are all over 60. Eric Clapton, Aerosmith, Willie Nelson. It's the same thing. They're all just going to sing until they dry up, and I'll be right there with them. There's no reason to stop. That's the great thing about being an entertainer. You can go as long as you want to go. I still have fans from all over the place that want to see me do my thing.

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What did he invent actually?

Sure he made "The Twist" POPULAR and by all accounts it is his song but technically the rights to the song belong to John Henry Kendricks, a/k/a Hank Ballard, who is sometimes not regarded as one of the rock & roll pioneers but he should be regarded as one. Hank Ballard practically INVENTED "The Twist" yet this fool wants to steal all the credit from him. That's why I despise him and his played-out version, which actually is a copycat of Hank's. Fuck him and his "inventions".