The Twist was a rock and roll dance popular in the early 1960s and also the name of the song that originated it. It was the first major international rock and roll dance style in which the couples did not have to touch each other while dancing. Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ...

The song was written and originally released in 1959 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side but was a minor hit. The dance was first popularized by Chubby Checker in 1960 with a hit cover of "The Twist". His single became a smash hit, reaching #1 on the US charts. It also set another record, being the only single to reach #1 in two different chart runs (as it reached #1 in 1960, and then resurfaced, reaching #1 again in 1962). 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Hank Ballard (November 18, 1927 - March 2, 2003) was an American R&B singer and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ... In recorded music, the terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 7 inch vinyl records on which singles have been released since the 1950s. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Faced with explaining to the youthful audience how to do the dance, a member of Checker's entourage came up with the following description:

"It's like putting out a cigarette with both feet, and wiping your bottom with a towel, to the beat of the music."

In 1961, at the height of the Twist craze, patrons at New York's hot Peppermint Lounge on West 45th Street were twisting to the music of the house band, a local group from Jersey, Joey Dee & the Starliters. Their house song "Peppermint Twist (Part 1)," became the number one song in the United States for three weeks in January 1962. Sailors and hookers, hipsters and weekending Yalies danced alongside New York's social elite, including the Duke of Windsor, at the legendary Peppermint Lounge. Nickname: The Big Apple Motto: Official website: City of New York Location [[Image:|250px|250px|Location of City of New York, New York]] Location in the state of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R... Peppermint Lounge was a popular nightclub located in New York. ... Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David Windsor), later The Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), was the second British monarch of the House of Windsor. ...

In Latin America, the Twist craze was sparked in the 1960-62 period not by recordings by Checker or Ballard, but by Bill Haley & His Comets. Their recordings of "The Spanish Twist" and "Florida Twist" were major successes, particularly in Mexico, and the band were given the credit for starting the dance craze. Haley, in interviews at the time, was always quick to give credit to Checker and Ballard. Coincidentally, Checker appeared in two musicals that took their titles from the two films Haley made in the 1950s (the Checker films had the same producer): Twist Around the Clock (after Rock Around the Clock) and Don't Knock the Twist (after Don't Knock the Rock). Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... The original members of Bill Haley and His Comets, c. ... Dancers Earl Barton and Lisa Gaye take the stage in Rock Around the Clock as Bill Haley and His Comets play in the background. ... Dont Knock the Rock was a 1956 rock and roll film starring Alan Dale as a rock star who returns to his hometown to rest up for the summer only to find that rock and roll has been banned there by disapproving adults. ...

In the 1980s The Twist once again was popular all over the world, thanks to a new recording of the song by The Fat Boys featuring Chubby Checker. The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ...

Quotations

• "Come on, baby, let's do the twist!" -- opening line of "The Twist"
• "Take the world by the hand and do the twist!" - line from The Fat Boys version

The Fat Boys were a Brooklyn hip-hop music trio who emerged in the early 1980s. ...

External Links

[1] Lyrics [2] Lyrics to 1980s version