Let's Twist - Again

I did a retirement party today and one of the songs played was The Twist.  It's still a timeless request that always seems to get young and old on the dance floor and reminds me of how enduring a song can be.

It was originally written by and recorded as the B-side to Hank Ballard's Teardrops On Your Letter in 1959 but didn't really ignite until Ernest Evans, aka Chubby Checker, released his version in 1960 where it shot to the top of the charts.  The song then spawned a "twist" craze heard 'round the world as countless song titles containing the word "twist" filled record bins and dance floors in the early 60s.

But Chubby's rendition of The Twist would become the most popular and enduring - to the point of re-charting and re-attaining the #1 position in 1962.  It's the only song to achieve this record to date and it's resurgence was due likely to Checker's 1961 follow-up hit Let's Twist Again. 

Chubby kept trying to get more mileage out of the twist craze by re-recording it several more times over the years to come, including a countrified version in the 1970s.   Those attempts weren't very successful but he finally managed to resurrect the craze one more time with The Twist (Yo! Twist) in 1988 when old school twisting met up with new school rapping with the help of The Fat Boys.

Today, in a bit of irony when reflecting back on Checker's Let's Twist Again, I inevitably find myself thinking of and playing the original, which is the legacy that Chubby has been pursuing since 1960.

And on a side note, today is First Lady Michelle Obama's 46th birthday and The Twist was #1 (again) on the day she was born. 

Soundtrack For Today:  www.redcross.org