Ernest Evans is in town

Ernest Evans appeared as a headliner at a famous club in New York City last week. Big deal, right? But what if I were to tell you that Ernest Evans is the real name of...Chubby Checker! Now do I have your attention? Okay, well even if I don't, there he was, all 68 overweight years of him (chubbier than ever), donned from top to toe in blue denim, burdened just a bit by the legacy of all those twistin' songs, but still eager to sing 'em, not to mention such follow-up hits as "Pony Time," "The Hucklebuck," and, back to more familiar territory, "Limbo Rock." I don't know about you, but the Hucklebuck eluded me entirely the first time around, but according to the New York Times, Chubby has now cleverly updated it by illustrating this latest rendition with a "provocative pelvic thrust."

But the real excitement the other night was the twist itself. Chubby's resonant baritone may have lost much of its timbre, but despite his paunch, Chubby still dances a mean twist. This, in turn, inspired the patrons to follow gladly in his footsteps. People were twisting on the dance floor, twisting on the tabletops, twisting atop the bar, even twisting in the bathrooms. Once you start twisting, you know, it's pretty hard to stop. Chubby sang and twisted as long as the people continued to enjoy it, and that meant they pretty much ended up twistin' the night away. There were even a few brave souls who jumped up on stage and twisted right along with the King of Twist himself. I guess you could say the King and his court were at it again, giving everything they had, royally speaking, to that most famous of early 60s dances - the twist!