 But he played it on his show. And again, the kids went wild. So Dick Clark tried to get Hank Ballard to appear on his show to perform this dance song. But the deal fell through somehow. Instead, Clark found someone to re-record the song. A local singer named Ernest Evans. As the story goes, Dick Clark's wife gave Ernest a new name. Sort of a play on Fats Domino. Called him Chubby Checker. And he remade Hank Ballard's hit.