Chubby Checker Said an Angel Predicted the Success of ‘The Twist’
TL;DR:
Before releasing “The Twist,” Chubby Checker was worried he was a has-been.
A prophecy from an angel gave him encouragement.
Checker revealed why he wanted to record “The Twist.”
One of the most famous classic rock songs from the early 1960s is Chubby Checker’s “The Twist.” It wasn’t Checker’s first hit. After finding some success, Checker worried his career was in shambles. Subsequently, a prophecy from an angel said otherwise.
‘The Twist’ was not Chubby Checker’s 1st hit song
Checker’s first hit was “The Class,” which charted in 1959. The song reached No. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for seven weeks. During a 2020 interview with Forbes, Checker said he thought his success would be fleeting.
“We had a little success on the charts,” Checker said. ‘I came back and did a few more songs. I’m still in high school. But nothing happened. Nothing. I thought, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to be a has-been at 17 or 18 years old.'”
Chubby Checker’s mother had a dream about an angel
Checker looked to the divine for guidance. “So I said, ‘Mom, you know, you have a close hook up with the Lord. Why don’t you ask God to help me out? Please, mom. I don’t know what to do,'” he remembered.
Checker’s mother had faith in her son. “So she said, ‘I had a dream about you, Chubby. An angel came to me and told me that you were going to have a song that’s going to cover the whole world. It was not going to be your song. It could be someone else’s song. But it’s gonna change the whole world. You’re gonna be a big singer,'” he recalled.
The hit version of ‘The Twist’ includes a musical mistake
Checker revealed a producer named Dave Appell gave him an opportunity. “Dave gave me a call and said, ‘Chubby, I want you to come up here and sing ‘The Twist,'” he recalled. Checker noted “The Twist” was written by rock ‘n’ roll musician Hank Ballard. Checker was excited to record the track because he was a fan of Ballard’s risque songs.
The singer recorded “The Twist” a few times. He said he and Appell completed their version of “The Twist” in 45 minutes. Appell wanted Checker to sing the line “Daddy’s sleeping and momma ain’t around” one last time because he felt it sounded flat. Checker decided to go home instead because he had to do his homework. Little did he know the version of the song with the flat note would become a massive hit.
“The Twist” became one of the most famous dance songs of all time and its success was proceeded by an angelic dream.
