#1 for week of September 19th, 1960, AND, January 13, and 20th, 1962.
Unless you have been living under a rock or you were raised strictly on Classical music your whole life, you HAVE to have heard this song. "The Twist" is more than just a monster hit, it caused a tidal wave of copycats for the next two years at least, and still entertains listeners to this very day.
Despite this initial dance craze occurring for the first couple of years of the 1960's, dance-specific music certainly still lives today. Although that's not particularly a good thing as now we have that dreadful, "Harlem Shake", which just proves our culture thrives on moronic stupidity. However back in 1960, during a time period where a lot of non-rock pop songs were charting big, Chubby Checker's cover of "The Twist", sounded like a revelation.
What makes "The Twist" so enjoyable is the pumping R&B flavored Rock And Roll groove, and Checker's one of a kind lead vocal. This song was so popular that by 1962, it was so widely accepted and loved that all groups of people were buying the record, thus shooting it back up to #1.
Dance-specific music was nothing new. In fact, this song was originally recorded by Hank Ballad And The Midnighters in 1958. Also, James Brown and his band released the rather silly but very enjoyable, "Mashed Potatoes", in 1960 under the name, "Nat Kendrick And The Swans". In case you're wondering where the mashed potato dance craze came from, that song's is its genesis.
So when Checker appeared on Dick Clark's American Bandstand with his cover of, "The Twist", everybody wanted to dance to it and the record's label, (Cameo-Parkway) spent the next two years churning out TONS of different dance-specific numbers. Everything from "The Popeye Waddle" to "Gravy For My Mashed Potatoes". It really did become overkill, although, we did get the fantastic "Twist And Shout" out of the deal so that's always a plus.
Regardless, the fact of the matter is none of these dance songs have a single drop of lyrical resonance, and Chubby Checker was basically typecast as a dance-specific singer for the rest of his life. Still though, for someone to go from working as a mere chicken plucker to becoming world famous in one year's time, is quite an accomplishment. The song is just a whole lot of fun, and sometimes you have to shake off the seriousness of life and just do the twist!
Final Verdict - The early 1960's dance crazy may have gotten a bit out of hand, and modern dance-specific music seems to exist just to annoy those with a decent IQ. However, "The Twist", still sounds great to this day, and I still find the song enjoyable after multiple listens.
Coming Up Next - "My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own" by Connie Francis.
Until Next Time - Dr. Rock -
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