Synopsis

Suzi Quatro profiles six more figures from the rock 'n' roll era. In tonight's opener, she talks to Chubby Checker in a programme that first broadcast in 2007, on the musician's 66th birthday.

Chubby Checker first made his name as a teenager with his vocal impressions of the stars of the day. He was in the eleventh grade at school when he enjoyed his first hit record The Class, in which he mimicked singers including Elvis Presley and Fats Domino. As he tells Suzi, he received his name from the wife of Dick Clark - the host of American Bandstand: "Chubby - like Fats: Checker - like Domino".

It was his fourth single that changed everything - a cover version of Hank Ballard's minor hit The Twist. Chubby's record sparked a dance sensation and was an American number in September 1960 and January 1962. Chubby recalls how he famously described how to do the twist; "It's putting out a cigarette with both feet while coming out of the shower and wiping your bottom off with a towel - to the beat. This is when dancing apart to the beat became the standard". His many million-sellers released on the Cameo Parkway were variations on the winning formula, such as Let's Twist Again, Pony Time, The Fly' and Slow Twistin'.

In this lively conversation, Chubby reveals to Suzi that he finds it hard to understand why his name is often forgotten when the 1960s are reviewed. "From the time Elvis went in the army to the time the Beatles got off the plane at JFK - I owned the planet! So where's my airplay?". He also reveals that he wants his tombstone to read: "Until dancing apart to the beat stops, he's all around you".