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I am very much saddened to have to post this information.
On 26th November, 2006 in the Sydney Sunday Telegraph,
Chubby was reported as claiming the following:
"pioneering local singer Johnny O'Keefe sabotaged his career"
"I know Australia created a guy, Johnny O'Keefe,
to sing all my song so I wouldn't reign king in Australia"
"I love your country, but I speak the truth and you have to deal with it", he
said.
The Truth I
can live with, this rubbish I cannot.
Below please find my response to the above claims...Hank
Putting The Record Straight
by Hank Facer
Australian FanSite Of Chubby Checker (1996- )
I
refer to the Sydney Sunday Telegraph November 26, 2006.
Sixties rock and roller Chubby Checker claimed,
“pioneering local singer Johnny O’Keefe sabotaged his career”,
Checker went on to say,
“I know Australia created a guy, Johnny O’Keefe, to sing all my songs so I
wouldn’t reign king in Australia”.
If Checker was reported accurately, he needs to go back to his informant and get
the true details on the matter.
Checker’s claims are absolutely absurd and historically inaccurate.
Let me explain:
The first Checker single to be released in
Australia was “The Twist” his fourth single (Aussie release HMV EA-4399-1960),
I might point out that this tune was originally a hit in the US for it’s
composer Hank Ballard (#28 / 16 weeks on King Records 5171 – July 1960). Anyway
back to Checker & his outlandish claim against our true KING of Rock & Roll,
Checker must keep in mind that he was only King of The Twist, a sub genre of
Rock & Roll.
By the time the ‘Twist’ was released our Johnny
O’Keefe had already racked up 12 Top 40 hits: The Wild One, Over The Mountain,
So Tough, That’ll be alright, I ain’t a gonna do it, Peek-a-boo, What da ya
know, Why do they doubt out love, Swan- ee River, Shout, She’s my baby, It’s too
late & Don’t you know pretty baby. So Johnny O’Keefe was well established as our
“King of Rock & Roll”. It is true that O’Keefe had copied songs/hits from US
Artists: Johnnie & Joe, Al Kasha, Isley Brothers just to name three.
‘But O’Keefe prevented Checker from being King in
Australia’, no, the record buying public prevented him from being King here.
It is strange that Checker should make this claim, he himself had copied songs
that already had been hits by other artists,
for example: The Twist – Hank Ballard, Pony Time – Don Covay, The Hucklebuck –
Frank Sinatra (1949), Black Cloud – Louis Armstrong etc etc etc.
As you can see Johnny O’Keefe has been blamed for
something that is & was totally incorrect.
Johnny did record a few of Checker’s songs: only single was “Twist It Up”
(Leedon LK-493 / 1964)
it did not chart and followed the Checker version by 6 months, the Checker
version had already been a hit in the US
& had every chance to chart here, but the fans said NO.
The other Checker songs O’Keefe recorded were:
LP “Twist” LL-30747 Mid 1962 – The Twist, The
Hucklebuck. Twistin’ Australia Way (Twistin’ USA), Pony Time.
Let’s Twist Again was released on “Twist The Limbo With The Stars” Compilation
album.
These albums were recorded after Checker had his
chance to chart here,
anyway the O’Keefe versions were pretty poor (sorry John).
After Checker’s ridiculous claims, it’s a shame
that the KING is dead, long live Our KING.
Interesting Links/Files on this matter
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