CHUBBY CHECKER
In 1959, singer-songwriter Hank Ballard introduced "The Twist." He wasn't the first to come up with such a body-gyrating move; similar dances had existed for years, decades even, maybe centuries. While he supplied the name, it was the teenagers of the late '50s who popularized the dance he'd envisioned. The Buddy Deane Show, a weekday after school dancefest on Baltimore's channel 13, WJZ-TV, has been credited as the place where the Twist was first seen. Shortly afterwards, Dick Clark of Philadelphia's American Bandstand (airing nationally on ABC-TV), having taken note of the fresh new trend, made a suggstion to the city's top record company, Cameo-Parkway, that a cover version of Ballard's song with a promotional push (including featured ... MORE ››
