I want a Statue!

[h]

here are the highlights of an article i saw today... should be entitled "Chubby Checker publicly declaring that he's losing his mind"

Chubby Checker demands statue at Rock Hall

In an open letter to the entertainment industry, Checker demanded a statue of himself in the courtyard of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. If he doesn't get one, he said he'll refuse induction into the hall, although he hasn't been voted in.

"I want my flowers while I'm alive. I can't smell them when I'm dead," he wrote. "I will not have the music business ignore my position in the industry."

Checker, who will be 60 on Wednesday, debuted "The Twist" -- a cover of the song by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters

"Rock 'n' roll did not have a dance until Chubby Checker went on 'American Bandstand' and did 'The Twist,"' he told The Associated Press

Terry Stewart, president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame -- "The idea that we could elevate one individual with a statue out front would suggest I would have to do likewise for all the rest of the people in the pantheon," Stewart said. "It's just not a reasonable request."

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Actually, to be fair... he did have more than a few hits, and almost all of them promoted a 60s dance, the pony, the Fly and the Hucklebuck etc...

"In total, Checker notched 32 chart hits before the bubble burst in 1966; as interest in dance novelties dwindled, ..."

but still, can we say "dementia"?...

[bouche]

He's probably one of those freaks that will have his funeral while he's alive so he can hear all the good things people have to say about him.

- "I remember the first time I did the twist. It was so refreshing coming from years of represive dance moves like the Charleston, Can Can, and the Bicycle. I will never forget Chubby Checker."

- "I used idolize Fats Domino. But, then along came some new kid, who had the incredible creativity to slightly shift the meanings of this great musician's name. Fats becomes Chubby, the game Domino's becomes Checkers, and Chubby Checker was born. I'm just glad that he wasn't known as 'Obese Othello'"