"The Fly" is a song written by

John Madara John L. Medora (born May 28, 1936), also known as John or Johnny Madara, is an American singer, songwriter, composer and record producer best known to have teamed up with David White and Arthur Singer to write the 1957 hit song "At the Hop". ...

and David White and performed by

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song " The Twis ...

. The song was produced by

Kal Mann Kal Mann (born Kalman Cohen; May 6, 1917 – November 28, 2001)
- accessed June 2010 was an American

U.S. pop chart, #11 on the U.S. R&B chart, #5 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and #35 in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1961. It was featured on his 1961 album '' For 'Teen Twisters Only''. The song ranked #70 on ''Billboard'' magazine's Top 100 singles of 1961.

Other versions

* Brendan Bowyer with The Royal Showband Waterford released a version of the song as a single in 1966, but it did not chart.

In popular culture

*Checker's version was featured in the 1962 film ''

Don't Knock the Twist ''Don't Knock the Twist'' is a 1962 comedy musical film starring Lang Jeffries, directed by Oscar Rudolph and produced by Sam Katzman for release by Columbia Pictures. It is a sequel to the 1961 film '' Twist Around the Clock'', featuring ...

'' and was included on the soundtrack. *Checker's version was featured in the 1988 film ''

Hairspray Hairspray may refer to: * Hair spray, a personal grooming product that keeps hair protected from humidity and wind * Hairspray (1988 film), ''Hairspray'' (1988 film), a film by John Waters ** Hairspray (1988 soundtrack), ''Hairspray'' (1988 soundt ...

'', however, due to licensing restrictions with

Cameo-Parkway Records Cameo-Parkway Records was the parent company of Cameo Records and Parkway Records, which were major American Philadelphia-based record labels from 1956 (for Cameo) and 1958 (for Parkway) to 1967. Among the types of music released were doo-wop, ...

, was not included on the soundtrack. *The song was mentioned in the Ernie Mareska song "

Shout! Shout! (Knock Yourself Out) "Shout! Shout! (Knock Yourself Out)" is a song written by Ernie Maresca and Thomas F. Bogdany, and originally recorded by Maresca in 1962. The single was released on Edward Kassner's fledgling Seville Records label. It also appeared on Maresca' ...

" (1962) *The song is mentioned in

The Orlons The Orlons are an American Rhythm and blues, R&B group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that formed in 1960. The group won Music recording sales certification, gold discs for three of their single (music), singles. Career The quartet consisted ...

song "Wah Watusi". (1962)

References

1961 songs 1961 singles 1966 singles Songs about dancing Songs written by John Medora Songs written by David White (musician) Chubby Checker songs Cameo-Parkway Records singles His Master's Voice singles {{1960s-single-stub