Ted Horowitz (born March 31, 1960, The Bronx, New York City, United States), who plays under the stage name of Popa Chubby (a play on the slang idiom "pop a chubby", meaning to get an erection), is an American electric blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
Born the son of a candy store owner, at age thirteen Horowitz began playing drums; shortly thereafter, he began listening to the music of the Rolling Stones and started playing guitar. Although he grew up in the 1970s, Horowitz was influenced by artists of the 1960s, including Jimi Hendrix and Cream, among others. In his early twenties, although he mainly played blues music,
he also worked as backing for punk rock poet Richard Hell. Horowitz first came to public attention after winning a national blues talent search sponsored by KLON, a public radio station in Long Beach, California. He won the New Artist of the Year award and as a result was chosen as the opening act at the Long Beach Blues Festival in 1992.
Horowitz played more than 200 club dates a year through the 1990s. His Sony/Okeh debut, Booty and the Beast, was produced by Atlantic Records engineer/producer Tom Dowd, who worked on recordings for artists such as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Wilson Pickett.
In 1994, Horowitz released several albums on his own Laughing Bear label, including It's Chubby Time and Gas Money, before he obtained a recording contract with Sony Music/Okeh Records for Booty and the Beast, his first major-label album, which was released in 1995. In 1996, was released a live recording of Horowitz's, Hit the High Hard One. Two years later, One Million Broken Guitars was released on Lightyear Records; Brooklyn Basement Blues followed in 1999.
In 2000, Horowitz signed with the Blind Pig label and released How'd a White Boy Get the Blues? in 2001. The disc turned out to be a slight departure from Horowitz's usual musical direction, incorporating elements of contemporary pop and hip-hop. The Good, the Bad and the Chubby, released in 2002, was an example of the development of Horowitz's songwriting skills and included the 9/11 commentary "Somebody Let the Devil Out." Blind Pig released a collection of early Horowitz recordings, The Hungry Years, in 2003. A year later, Horowitz released Peace, Love and Respect.
Two albums previously available only in France - Live at FIP and Wild - were compiled by the Blind Pig label and released as Big Man, Big Guitar in 2005, followed by Stealing the Devil's Guitar a year later. The Fight Is On, was Horowitz's first studio album after a two-year hiatus. It was released in February 2010 on the Provogue label in Europe, and Blind Pig in North America. A world tour followed.
In 2008, Horowitz and his life partner Galea, recorded Vicious Country, which was released on the Dixiefrog label. Vicious Country was chosen as 'Record of the Week' by the French Canal+ television station in March 2009.
Current line up Erik Boyd on bass and Sim Cain on drums.
Discography . . .
- The Hungry Years (a collection of early material)
- Gas Money (1994)
- Booty and the Beast (1995)
- Hit the High Hard One (Live) (1995)
- The First Cuts (1996)
- One Million Broken Guitars (1997)
- Brooklyn Basement Blues (1999)
- One Night Live In New York City (Live) (2000)
- How'd a White Boy Get the Blues? (2000)
- Flashed Back (feat. Galea) (2001)
- The Good, the Bad and the Chubby (2002)
- Live at FIP (2003)
- Popa Chubby and Friends Play Muddy, Willie and More (2003)
- Peace, Love and Respect (2004)
- Wild Live (2005)
- Big Man, Big Guitar - Popa Chubby Live (2005)
- Stealing the Devil's Guitar (2006)
- Electric Chubbyland (2006, 3CD box set)
- Deliveries After Dark (2007)
- Vicious Country (2008)
- The Fight Is On (2010)
- Back to New York City (2011)
- Universal Breakdown Blues (2013)
Theodore Joseph Horowitz (aka, “Popa Chubby”) is a very unique man that lives his life by his own set of rules and follows them to a fault. Chubby has built his life around his music and continues to strive for excellence in the Blues-Rock genre. I’ve never seen him LIVE yet, but I will most definitely catch him should he hit the Metro DC area during his next concert tour.
Next on my ‘Blues-Rock Hot List’ is another artist that is someone new to me and I hope to you too. I’ll be covering The Smokin’ Joe Kubek Band. Hope to hear that you enjoyed it !
MUSICIAN by Night
GOD Save “The Blues”
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