Come on, baby! Checker marks 50 years of the Twist

Fifty years to the day after the release of the hip-swiveling tune "The Twist," the man who made it famous celebrated the occasion in his hometown.

Chubby Checker performed Friday at a free noontime concert at Philadelphia City Hall. About 1,000 people joined in on the gyrations, some even invited onstage by the South Philadelphia-bred singer.

"The Twist," released as a single on July 9, 1960, burst into the rock 'n' roll stratosphere after Checker performed it for Dick Clark on his Philadelphia-based "American Bandstand."

Checker's 1960 cover version of the Hank Ballard and the Midnighters song — released a year earlier to mild success — became a smash hit and turned the dance into a pop culture touchstone. It remains the only single to reach No. 1 on the U.S. charts during two separate runs, in 1960 and again in 1962.

The dance popularized couples dancing apart to the beat of the music, a revolutionary idea that's now the norm, Checker said.

"When you're on the floor dancing to Lady Gaga, Chubby Checker is there," he said.

The trim 68-year-old singer, clad in a denim jacket and skintight jeans, performed some of his other dance-craze hits including "The Fly," "Pony Time" and "The Hucklebuck," a dance with some suggestive hip thrusts that Checker executed with ease.

"Back in the 60s, you couldn't do the hucklebuck because it was nasty," Checker told the crowd. "It's 2010; everything's nasty, so we're going to do it."

Checker brought groups of fans onstage throughout the concert. Ages, sizes and senses of rhythm varied widely, but no one was short of enthusiasm.

He also sang a medley of other singers' hits from the era, from Chuck Berry and Little Richard to The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There."

The finale, of course, was "The Twist," which kept the crowd going despite temperatures around 90 degrees.

"If you ain't moving to this, well, then, you've got to be dead," said Martin Jackson, 59, as he held his cell phone aloft so his sister in Washington, D.C., could listen in. "This is the 12-bar blues right here. That's what it's all about."

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Celine Dion says her expected twins are boys

Celine Dion says the twins she's expecting are boys.

The superstar singer revealed the sex of the babies in a brief statement Friday on her website.

Dion already has a son, Rene Charles, with her husband and manager, Rene Angelil (ahn-ZHUH'-leel).

The 42-year-old singer had undergone several rounds of in-vitro fertilization to become pregnant again and has spoken openly about her difficulties having children.

A representative for the singer was not immediately available to comment on the posting.

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'80s hitmaker El DeBarge ready for "Second Chance"

In one of the more surprising events at the 2010 BET Awards, El DeBarge performed a medley of '80s hits by DeBarge, the family group he once sang lead for.

Having resurrected "All This Love," "Time Will Reveal" and the dance jam "Rhythm of the Night" that evening, the singer-songwriter is hoping to parlay the moment -- heralded by fans and critics alike -- into a successful comeback bid with his first album since 1994.

Due September 28, the aptly titled "Second Chance" not only launches DeBarge's new deal with Geffen, but it also signals his return after several run-ins with the law involving domestic violence and drug abuse. Having served a two-year term in California state prison after a 2008 bust for drug possession, DeBarge says he's ready to face the music.

"When I got locked up, that was my 'Oh, wow' moment," he says. "And the minute I stepped up to the mic after I was released, I rediscovered who I am and what I can do."

Still blessed with a three-octave range, DeBarge is co-writing and co-producing songs with such collaborators as Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Babyface (who worked on DeBarge's 1994 set "Heart, Mind and Soul"), Mike City, Geffen chief Ron Fair and the Avilia Brothers. He performed the album's title track on BET, and says a formal first single will be announced shortly. Among the other tracks slated to appear on the album are "How Can You Love Me So Much, Girl?," "Serenading You" and "Switch Up the Formats," a club song with 50 Cent.

"There's music to dance to and make love to, music to cry to," DeBarge says. "I'm starting from scratch, coming fresh. But my sound still embodies the same soulful, intricate harmonies."

In addition to logging collaborative credits with DJ Quik and RZA, DeBarge has watched his back catalog covered or sampled by artists ranging from the Notorious B.I.G. to Patti LaBelle. After leaving the family act in the mid-'80s, DeBarge logged several of his own hits -- including "Who's Johnny" and "Love Always" -- as well as a guest stint on Quincy Jones' 1990 No. 1, "The Secret Garden."

Confessing that he was nervous before being embraced by the BET audience, DeBarge has since opened for R&B singer Vivian Green and performed a surprise duet with Keri Hilson of the 1982 DeBarge family hit "I Like It" at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. He's now taking "a chill pill from the media" and settling down in the studio to finish the album.

"There's a certain missing feeling, a void out there that I'm more than happy to fill," the singer says. "Without criticizing what's out there now, I'm just going to do El DeBarge."

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Lady Antebellum leads album sales for 1st-half 2010

Country trio Lady Antebellum tops the midyear tally of album sales.

The group's "Need You Now" is the year's biggest-selling album so far with 2.4 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures through the week ended July 4.

Thanks to Eminem's recently released "Recovery," five albums -- compared to last year's four -- have sold at least a million copies in the first half of 2010.

Justin Bieber's "My World 2.0" is in second place with sales of 1.4 million, and Sade's "Soldier of Love" is third with a little over 1.2 million. Lady Gaga's "The Fame" is fourth with 1.2 million. "Recovery" has moved 1.1 million in just two weeks' time, placing it at No. 5 on the midyear list of best-selling albums.

Eminem and Gaga also made it into the quartet of million-sellers at the midyear point of 2009. The rapper's last release, "Relapse," was the third-best seller with 1.2 million, while Gaga's "The Fame" was fourth with 1 million. Taylor Swift's "Fearless" topped the list with 1.4 million, and the "Hannah Montana: The Movie" soundtrack was second with a little over 1.2 million.

Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" also reigns as the year's best-selling country set, while Sade's "Soldier of Love" is the biggest R&B/hip-hop album. Eminem's "Recovery" is tops among rap efforts, and Jack Johnson's "To the Sea" (481,000) is the biggest rock album. Rounding out the genre rundown, Aventura's "The Last" is the largest seller among Latin albums (100,000), and Kings of Leon's "Only by the Night" is the best-selling catalog title (248,000).

Year-to-date album sales stand at 154.0 million, down 11 percent from the year-earlier period.

The best-selling digital song for the six months is Train's "Hey, Soul Sister," with 3.4 million, making it the only tune to shift more than 3 million this year. Another 13 tracks sold more than 2 million each. At this point of 2009, three songs had moved more than 3 million -- Flo Rida's "Right Round," Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" and the Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" -- while another five had done more than 2 million apiece.

Year-to-date track sales are at 597.4 million, down less than 1 percent from the year-earlier period.

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Website posts recording of racist Gibson rant

Mel Gibson is heard using a racial epithet and calling his ex-girlfriend a "whore" in a recording released by a celebrity news website Friday.

The two-minute recording posted by RadarOnline.com includes segments in which a voice sounding distinctively like the Academy Award-winner is heard telling his then-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, that she is dressing too provocatively and that it would be her fault if she were raped. He uses the N-word at one point, and the recording is laced with his profanity.

Grigorieva recorded the actor-director because she was afraid he might harm her, the website reported. The actor is heard on the recording harshly criticizing Grigorieva for the way she dresses. He accuses her of lying to him about having breast implants.

"They just look stupid," Gibson tells her at one point in the recording. "Keep them if you want to. They look like a Vegas bitch, a Vegas whore."

"You look like a (expletive) bitch in heat, and if you get raped by a pack of (N-word), it will be your fault," Gibson is heard telling Grigorieva. "You provoked it. You are provocatively dressed."

Alan Nierob, a spokesman for Gibson, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A phone message left for Grigorieva's attorney, Marci Levine, was not immediately returned.

It is unclear when the recording was made or in what context. It opens with Gibson discussing breast feeding of their now 8-month-old daughter. Toward the end, Gibson indicates he is done with the relationship.

"I don't trust you," the actor is heard saying. "I don't love you. I don't want you."

The recording has shades of another scandal for Gibson — his use of anti-Semitic and sexist remarks during a drunken driving arrest in 2006. The actor-director later apologized for the statements, which were included in a report by a sheriff's deputy who arrested Gibson that was obtained by celebrity website TMZ.

Also on Friday, Gibson's talent agency, William Morris Endeavor, dropped the actor, The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.com reported.

The former couple have been locked in a bitter custody dispute in Los Angeles. The 40-year-old singer has accused Gibson of domestic violence, and sheriff's officials have launched an investigation.

Records in the court case, which may include the audio recordings, remain sealed.

RadarOnline has been posting text excerpts since July 1 of roughly 30 minutes of recordings of Gibson that she made before the pair broke up in April. Friday's posting was the first time that audio of the encounters had been released.

The recording released Friday is unlikely to be RadarOnline's last word on Gibson. Site founder and Executive Vice President David Perel told The Associated Press that more excerpts of audio that Grigorieva recorded will be posted to the site in coming days.

The site has posted text transcripts that include threats of violence and other racial slurs.

Perel said that RadarOnline has heard "a significant portion" of the recordings. He said the site has verified it is Gibson on the recording.

The website, owned by American Media Inc., which also owns the National Enquirer, did not say how it obtained the tapes. Perel told the AP the site did not pay for the recordings and that they did not come from Grigorieva.

Perel said the site felt it was an important story to publish, despite the disturbing content. He said in some of the recordings, Gibson and Grigorieva's 8-month old daughter can be heard screaming in the background.

The screaming is not present in the audio released Friday.

"We felt it was so newsworthy and so explosive we simply had to report what we heard," Perel said.

Rita Smith, executive director of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said Gibson was exhibiting the behavior of a "typical batterer."

She said there is likely to be significant backlash against Gibson, but whether there are real consequences for the actor remain to be seen.

"I think that people will be similarly outraged for awhile, like they were with Chris Brown, like they were with Alec Baldwin," Smith said. "This is one story out of thousands we hear every day."

Brown remains on felony probation for beating his then-girlfriend Rihanna last year. Baldwin was widely criticized for berating his young daughter in a phone message that was leaked during his divorce from Kim Basinger.

Smith said she hoped the incident would increase awareness of the dire straits of domestic violence shelters around the country, which are facing budget cuts.

"I think it would be better for Mel and for Oksana and for their future partners if there were some real consequences and some real change," she said.

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