How 'Twist and Shout' Shook the World

UNLIKE MOST stories, this one begins with a twist. "Come on, baby," Hank Ballard commanded, "let's do the Twist," immortalizing a dance that was catching on when he recorded the song with his group the Midnighters in 1958. It was relegated to the B-side of a King 45, and there it might have remained if the shrewd cats at Cameo-Parkway Records in Philadelphia not decided to cover the song, and cop its arrangement, with their artist Chubby Checker. In the summer of 1960, the Checker record shot to #1; a year later came what might be rock'n'roll's first summer-sequel, 'Let's Twist Again,' and phase two of the twistin' craze was a pop phenomenon. By 1962, it was Twist Nation: 'Twistin' Postman,' 'Dear Lady Twist,' 'Twistin' the Night Away,' 'Hey, Let's Twist,' Everybody's Twistin'.' There were Twist albums, Twist movies, Twist dance classes (which you wouldn't think necessary: this was a dance equivalent of improv).