Chubby Checker "Karate Monkey" b/w "Her Heart" Parkway 1966

Chubby Checker "Karate Monkey" b/w "Her Heart" Parkway 1966

I'm upfront about the fact that I believe a monkey can make any song better. My collection of simian-based singles is significant, and if it's got an ape, monkey or some other primate in the title, I'm probably going to at least consider it if I see it in a for sale box somewhere. I guess DC Comics was on to something when they stated that in the 1950s and 60s, adding a gorilla to the cover would increase an issues sales dramatically.

But we don't stop at the inclusion of a monkey in this jaunty foot stomper by the man who decided to take Fats Domino's stage name, and make it his own by simply plugging in new adjectives for obesity and popular table top games. This is a monkey who knows martial arts! This is about as fun a song as you can press to wax, and it had been on my want list for a long time after hearing it on a compilation somewhere. We sign on for the title, and honestly, that's all we get. There are no lyrics about a monkey actually doing karate, we just get Double C making some generic karate noises ("Hoo" "Hah") and reiterating the title of the tune a whole bunch. Still, A-1 material as far as I'm concerned!

The B-side is a strangely un-Checkerlike folk tune with a calypso glaze, that sounds like it could have been included on "More Of The Monkees". In a breath of progressive fresh air from all the Rolling Stones' "I wanna bang that girl" or "that girl is a stupid bitch" tunes of the time, "Her Heart" provides a pop sermon on the importance of respecting a lady's mind and body as a whole and maybe treating her like a fellow human being instead of just something to spear with your genitals. Funny how "Don't be a misogynistic asshole" just got pushed to the B-side of "so there's this monkey that can do a roundhouse kick".

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