They started out in the late 1950s as
cha-cha-cha band, and had a Belgian No. 1 in 1958 with "Eso es el amor", Once the great wave of
Afro-Cuban inspired rhythms had passed, the Chakachas transitioned in 1961 to the
yéyé genre and they ventured into the "
Twist" craze with tracks like "Twist-Twist" (1961), "Hawaiian War Twist" (1962), "Big Strong Madison" and "Madison 62" (1962). In 1962, they reached the UK Singles Chart for the first time with "Twist Twist", peaking in the
UK Singles Chart at number 48. They also began to use the English language, and even occasionally German with "Der Twist ist passé" and "Mitternachts Hully-Gully" (1963). which sold over one million copies in the
United States, and was awarded a
gold disc by the
R.I.A.A. in March 1972. It also reached No. 8 in the
US Billboard Hot 100. The song was featured in the
movie Boogie Nights and on the
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas soundtrack, being played on fictional radio station
Master Sounds 98.3. It was
sampled on the songs "Put Her in the Buck" on the
As Nasty as They Wanna Be album by
2 Live Crew, "Rock Freak" on
Natural Ingredients by
Luscious Jackson,
Ambassador's "Honor and Glory",
Antoinette's "I Got an Attitude",
Beatnuts' "Story 2000",
CEO's "Hit Me with the Beat", and
Public Enemy's "Cold Lampin' with Flavor". More recently,
Louie Vega used the track as the basis for a
remix incorporating new vocals by American poet
Ursula Rucker on
The Elements of Life (2004). The Chakachas song "Yo Soy Cubano" from their 1970 album,
Jungle Fever, was sampled in the
Mighty Dub Katz' song "Magic Carpet Ride" ("Son of Wilmot Mix") in 1995. More recently, the "ah-ring-ting-ting" vocal was sampled as the hook in the 2012
Kendrick Lamar song "Backseat Freestyle". In 2013, the song "Stories" was featured as an in-game radio station track in the
eighth-generation console and PC release of
Grand Theft Auto V. This song was also covered by the band
Cake, renamed as "Thrills" in their album
B-Sides and Rarities.. It was also covered by IZIT (UK vocal/instrumental group) in 1989. It was also covered by the band Dope Lemon, renamed "Home Soon" in 2017. Gaston Bogaerts died on 9 December 2022, at the age of 101. Kari Kento (born Caridad Hernandez y Penalver) died on 16 May 2005 in Cuba. ==References==