Chubby Checker - Hooka Tooka (Original!)

[justpeachy4me]

Love this song!!

[ADonovan43]

The Hooka would of tooka all my money but I hid it in my sock.Take care ADonovan43

[Vau4040]

(with all due respect:) Chewbacca would like this song, especially at 0:12

[galeeka]

How annoying having to look at that web site & blog.

[ViennaForever]

Chambers Brothers did a funked up version of this that made it a whole new song. Funky, funky. I think in the late 60's or early 70's on an album. Wish it was posted here. Great harmonica on the version by the Chambers Brothers.

[TheSluggishRuggish]

shit slaps

[MultiCBGB]

Great song, I remember it clearly from 1963. Had a lot of difficulty aquiring it throughout the years.......Thanks for posting.

[dmnqcampbell]

its a good song i love it i wish i had some soda cracker!!!!!!!!! lol

[Seazer009]

Cool tune, I remember this one well. I used to chaw tobacca, but I quit...Thanks..

Wayne..

[9thWardJukeBoxAnX]

@Seazer009 Yeah, I gave up cigarettes over 6 years ago. Stopped cold turkey after what seems like 101 years. I miss them and enjoyed them even though I knew they would eventually kill me. Now I refuse to even take a puff....my nicotine free days mean a lot to me. I don't wanna start over with "1 day". Not because it was all that hard....I just treasure my accomplishment.

[charliekucharski]

Hey, you're right. This version is the real version. It's hard to recreate the feel and enthusiasm that was in the studio when you do a re-make. I love the beat and the chorus and Chubby's singing on this cut. Thanks for taking the time to post this.

[Armydicked]

I like Chubby Checker. He, like Elvis Presley, was at his top game in NOV1963. Then he saw JFK killed and the Beatles break out and was put out to pasture. Too bad he didn't re-invent himself as a 3d world Reggie Artiste as this song suggests 

[9thWardJukeBoxAnX]

@Armydicked I saw Chubby about 12 years ago (ugh, seems like yesterday) at the Treasure Chest Casino in Kenner, LA, a suburb of New Orleans. He sounded and looked great and had maintained a slimmer version of himself. He has a website and appears to perform but at a much more scaled back pace. Sort of crappy to sell his autograph photos on his website but I'm sure he didn't get rich even with all those hits on Parkway Records so I suppose I shouldn't judge him so harshly for that.

[Bopalena]

@9thWardJukeBoxAnX - 12 years ago WAS yesterday! Wait'll you're old enough to think 20 years goes by like a NY blink and then you'll know you're getting up there! Oh well, I may be getting old, but I got to see all the cool bands!

[gottabeshari1961]

OMG, i loved this song as a kid! gotta love youtube for the great memories!

[9thWardJukeBoxAnX]

@gottabeshari1961 Give some of dat love to me and Chubby too!!!!

[onefineeagle]

one of my favorite Chubby songs

[ecnalubma696969]

I don't know the basis of your rule not to post anything you know is already on YouTube, but I would say duplicate or "mirror" postings have been around as long as the Internet and they pose a practical use. So please, post them anyway if you otherwise would want to.

[9thWardJukeBoxAnX]

@ecnalubma696969 Well, I have so much stuff to post t6hat has not been on Youtube, I see no need to but every once in a while, I get tempted. Thanks for the encouragement.

[Azizip17]

Thanks for posting this version! My opinion is that this song is closely related to "Green Green Rocky Road" & before that, several other songs such as "Green Oak Tree Rocky O" & "Walking On The Green Grass". The story about Hooka Tooka being used to alert prostitutes may have been just a one time use of this singing game. For examples, comments, & videos (including this one) of Hooka Tooka and the related song Green Green Rocky Road, Google Cocojams Green Green Rocky Road & Hooka Tooka.

[9thWardJukeBoxAnX]

@Azizip17 I'm to busy to google. Between running three channels on Youtube, looking at porn and denying everything my wife accuses me of; well there are only so many hours in a day. However, your comment is great info. My impression has been that this song started in the Caribbean. Am I wrong?

[Azizip17]

@9thWardJukeBoxAnX , given that many nations in the Caribbean were colonized by the British, it wouldn't be surprising if there were early examples of acabaka soda craker & other children's rhymes that can be traced to Walking On The Green Grass etc. But I doubt if Hooka Tooka specifically is from the Caribbean.

As to you being busy because you're denying everything your wife accuses you of, shame on you! You could at least admit to SOME thngs. As to you looking at porn-No comment.

[9thWardJukeBoxAnX]

@Azizip17 Well, I may be wrong about Hooka Tooka and it's origins. As for any sort of admission.....it's like when I got married....they made me say for better or for worse. They need to clarify that. They never said I couldn't go out on dates. Guess what? I can't!!!

[Azizip17]

@9thWardJukeBoxAnX

Okay. I'm convinced. You are a comedian. I like your sense of humor.

Hopefully, you won't ever need to sing Hooka Tooka Soda Craka for the reasons that some people believe it was sung.

Best wishes!

[montecarlo0]

@9thWardJukeBoxAnX I like your comment on youtube`s Chubby Checkers song Hooka Tooka.

[comicbookinker]

I remember my brother and I singing along to this back in the day!!

[9thWardJukeBoxAnX]

@comicbookinker It's a great song. Look up the version by Judy Henske.

[speedy45rpm]

@9thWardJukeBoxAnX I'm glad so many other people recall this song. Growing up outside of Philly, we were always hearing the Cameo/Parkway stuff. Ernest "Chubby Checker" Evans is indeed an under-rated talent who had his share of off-beat hits, like this one, mixed in with his conventional dance tunes. He is also first-rate in concert. Thank you for posting this wonderful oddity.

[9thWardJukeBoxAnX]

@speedy45rpm You're very welcome. It's so good to see the Cameo -Parkway Catalog finally in "legitimate" print. I saw Checker in concert at the Treasure Chest Casino in Kenner, La about 15 years ago. God, it's hard to believe it's been so long ago since I went to see what was considered an "oldie" act even back then! He was really fantastic.

[strangerNpilgrim]

Freaking Fantastic!

[9thWardJukeBoxAnX]

@strangerNpilgrim Gled you enjoyed it!

[CPRox100]

Love it! My Mom wouldn't let me listen to this song back in the day...she thought it was "inappropriate." But she did like "Loddy Lo"...I just never told her they were both from the same 45.

[Zarem51]

When I was about 13 this song was on an old jukebox at our Grange Hall. It was on the flip side of one of Chubby's hits. I never thought I would ever find it again. Thanks so much for posting!!

[9thWardJukeBoxAnX]

@Zarem51 You're welcome. BTW, you are correct. It was the B-side of "Loddy Lo". Parkway got it wrong and hooka Tooka got all the airplay after a few weeks.

[OLDIEBUTGOODY57]

I thought i was goin crazy noone remembered this song and i tried on so many sites to find it. Thank You great song!!!!!

[clintonearlwalker]

I remember my grandma and my dad singing a song that went hooka tooka my soul a cracka, does your mama chaw tobbaca, about 40 years ago, I didn't think it was a real song so I just now looked for it. Sho' nuff"

[9thWardJukeBoxAnX]

@clintonearlwalker I am way too lazy to look this up but I think it may have come from the Caribbean, perhaps Jamaica and was a folk song. Someone seeing this, feel free to Google the facts and prove me wrong. It won't hurt my feelings. I'm use to it.  I have a wife!

[clintonearlwalker]

@9thWardJukeBoxAnX I looked on Wikipedia, a great deal about Chubby Checker, but very little about Hooka Tooka, except it went to #17 on the Billboard charts in 1963, nothing about it's origin.

[nitemove218]

For 50 years I have been looking for this song, if you told a DJ to find it for you they would say they don't know anything like that. Thanks for posting this version which I heard in 1963

[9thWardJukeBoxAnX]

@nitemove218 You're welcome. The Cameo-Parkway catalog remained out of print for nearly 50 years. Fortunately some real good boots came out of Europe on CD ripped from some pristine vinyl. I see now where it all appears to be available legally now. Not sure if they are using the actual masters or not. Whatever the case, artists can never (and should never) re-record their classics.

[CenaTv2]

thank you for uploading the original version, its even in stereo which is rare!

[9thWardJukeBoxAnX]

@CenaTv2 You're welcome. I see you use that Pink Floyd Album cover as your aviator. Bought "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" when it first came out. (Tower Label version.) Sold it on ebay a couple of years ago for $100 bucks. Now there's one time I wish i would have had a record in Mono. Was lucky enough to have had the 13 Floor Elevators' " The Psychedelic Sounds of..." LP in mint condition on International Artists and in splendid Mono (Green Label).

[checotahkid]

I first heard this song when I was in elementary school, KXOK 640 on you a.m. dial St.Louis. I would sing this song in school, but they did not play this song during the day, but late ( 9 p.m.) @ night, I would ask people if they heard the soda cracker song, they thought I was " nuts " there is no soda cracker song. Fooling around on you tube, typing in soda cracker song, and I found it nearly 50 years later.

[9thWardJukeBoxAnX]

@checotahkid Fantastic story. I wonder why it got no airplay during the day? "Hooka" or "tobacco" I guess. Wa played down here in New Orleans day and night.

Not sure about it now, but back then they were right next to WTIX 690 in New Orleans on the radio dial and at night we would get their signal. Thanks for sharing your story;congrats on your "find" but.....will people still think you are nuts? Have a great day!

[pbatommy]

A very UNDERRATED song from Chubby Checker

[9thWardJukeBoxAnX]

@pbatommy I've met Chubby Checker and seen him perform....he really is underrated as an artist. It's a shame he got labeled as a "dance song" musician.

[maximum1954]

My mom, who passed away in May, used to play this song when I was about 5 years old and we used to sing this song together and the world was OK. What a great song. What memories this song brings. Excellent post.

[montecarlo0]

ONE OF MY FAVORITES FROM CHUBBY