The twist

The Twist is a piece of music written by Hank Ballard , which in 1960 in the version by Chubby Checker developed into a symbolic song for the dance of the same name . The piece reached number 1 on the US pop hit parade twice and sold over three million times.

history

Hank Ballard & the Midnighters - The Twist

Hank Ballard had already recorded the piece with his group Midnighters on November 11, 1958, which was released in December 1958 on the Federal record label # 12345 and in January 1959 on King Records # 45-5171 as B-side. In April 1959 the piece was listed independently as B-side at number 16 on the Rhythm & Blues charts.

Dick Clark , host of the popular TV pop show American Bandstand , was intrigued by the song and suggested that Danny & the Juniors bring out a cover version of it . When there was no response, the influential Clark turned to the local record company Cameo-Parkway to record the song with Chubby Checker.

Chubby Checker - The Twist

In May / June 1960, Chubby Checker was recorded in an almost identical arrangement to the original The Twist on an existing music track with only three takes within 35 minutes, with Buddy Savitt (saxophone) and Ellis Tollin (drums). The recordings took place in the small Cameo Parkway studio and in the Reco Art studio in Philadelphia , the mastering took place in the Bell Sound Recording Studios . The single was released in July 1960 with the B-side Toot (Parkway # 811). Checker's version was so strikingly similar to the original that Hank Ballard thought it was his piece when he listened to the radio.

Chubby Checker then presented the song on the nationwide afternoon show American Bandstand on April 21 and September 28, 1960, where they also performed the new dance of the same name. There he explained the concept of "being able to dance independently of the beat" to the amazed audience. Checker also appeared on Dick Clark's evening version of the television show The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beechnut Show , on August 6, 1960 with The Twist . These popular teen music shows also acted as a vehicle for Checker to get the song to the top of the Billboard charts for a week for the first time on September 19, 1960 . The twist quickly developed into an international fashion dance, also because it consists of very simple sequences of movements.

Republication

By now the twist wave had swept across the western world as Checker's record company tried to duplicate this concept of a new dance and song. So “Hucklebuck”, “Pony Time” and “Mess Around” were created and songs were hastily composed before Chubby Checker once again reminded of the most successful dance with the song Let's Twist Again . In the TV show "Ed Sullivan Show" he revitalized the twist song and dance on October 22, 1961. Logically, Checkers The Twist was published again in December 1961 and on January 13, 1962 again reached the # 1 position, this time even for 2 weeks. Now the twist fever had taken full effect, because on January 27, 1962, Peppermint Twist by Joey Dee & the Starliters became number one on the charts.

statistics

The song The Twist received a BMI award and has been covered at least six times, apart from Chubby Checker. Among them was the version of the rap trio Fat Boys (with Chubby Checker) from June 1988 the most successful. According to Checker, he received the first platinum album in US music history for the LP Let's Twist Again (September 1961).

Individual evidence

↑ on the musicological analysis of the version by Chubby Checker see: Ansgar Jerrentrup, Development of Rock Music from Beginnings to the Beat , in: Cologne Contributions to Music Research, Vol. 113, 1981, also Diss. Phil. University of Cologne 1980, p. 196 f .; Score transcription of the version p. 229–232.

↑ Frank W. Hoffmann / Howard Ferstler, Encyclopedia Of Recorded Sound , 2005, p. 180.

^ ^A ^b Fred Bronson, The Billboard Book of Number One Hits , 1985, p. 74

^ Edward J. Rielly, The 1960s , 2003, p. 203

↑ Checker's "Twist" tops all-time singles chart . In: Reuters . September 13, 2008 ( reuters.com [accessed September 18, 2020]).

↑ Hoffmann says Checker's version was published in June 1959 and took almost 14 months to get into the charts; see Frank W. Hoffmann / Howard Ferstler, Encyclopedia Of Recorded Sound , 2005, p. 180.

^ Arnold Shaw, Dictionary of American Pop / Rock , 1982, p. 394.

↑ BMI entry for The Twist ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2
↑ for one million LPs sold; the RIAA itself only officially awarded the first platinum album in 1975 ("The Eagles: Their Greatest Hits" for over 25 million copies sold)

[1] the musicological analysis of the version by Chubby Checker see: Ansgar Jerrentrup, Development of Rock Music from Beginnings to the Beat , in: Cologne Contributions to Music Research, Vol. 113, 1981, also Diss. Phil. University of Cologne 1980, p. 196 f .; Score transcription of the version p. 229–232.

[2] Frank W. Hoffmann / Howard Ferstler, Encyclopedia Of Recorded Sound , 2005, p. 180.

[bronson-3] A ^b Fred Bronson, The Billboard Book of Number One Hits , 1985, p. 74

[4] Edward J. Rielly, The 1960s , 2003, p. 203

[5] Checker's "Twist" tops all-time singles chart . In: Reuters . September 13, 2008 ( reuters.com [accessed September 18, 2020]).

[6] Hoffmann says Checker's version was published in June 1959 and took almost 14 months to get into the charts; see Frank W. Hoffmann / Howard Ferstler, Encyclopedia Of Recorded Sound , 2005, p. 180.

[7] Arnold Shaw, Dictionary of American Pop / Rock , 1982, p. 394.

[8] BMI entry for The Twist ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2

[9] r one million LPs sold; the RIAA itself only officially awarded the first platinum album in 1975 ("The Eagles: Their Greatest Hits" for over 25 million copies sold)