We left off with some twistin' versions of "Jingle Bells" and we don't stray far from that field with this team-up of popular recording stars Bobby Rydell and Chubby Checker!
We start with their 1961 hit remake of Bobby Helm's 1957 "Jingle Bell Rock" on the Cameo label:
That's a fun version, perfect for the 1961 teen market!
What draws our interest in the "Jingle Bells" field is the flipside:
That's a wacky thing, isn't it? I think it's fun but I don't need to listen to it too often.
It definitely shows off the talent of Bobby and Chubby, however.
Bobby in particular does a spot-on Bobby Darin, with Darin's recent hit version of "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey" as the template. I think Bobby R was/is really talented and could have handled a wider variety of material, but his teen-oriented records were so popular, why fix what ain't broke?
Bobby Rydell was the big star for Cameo Records as Chubby Checker was for Parkway Records and since Parkway was a subsidiary of Cameo, why not team them up?
The guys had another team up in 1962, with this amusing song:
Bobby even throws in a Jerry Lewis imitation!
The inspiration for the "Jingle Bells Imitations" track would be Chubby's 1959 recording "The Class," which was his first hit:
Of note is that the Chipmunks' name is misspelled on the label and the label doesn't mention the take-off of Cozy Cole's "Topsy II" from 1958.
Hey, I love "Topsy II" so let's hear it:
Awesome! Best drums ever?
Oh, and Chubby got top billing on some issues of the record we started off with:
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