List of twist songs

Dancing Twist, Berlin, 17 May 1964

The following songs, in alphabetical order by year, are associated with the dance "The Twist" and the associated cultural craze:

1959

  • "The Twist" (Hank Ballard) – originally released by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side, but going to No. 1 in the US upon being covered by Chubby Checker (released 1959, charted in 1960 and 1962),[1] who would become the artist most associated with the Twist phenomenon. The song was subsequently covered numerous times, often by Checker himself, including a duet with the Fat Boys in 1988.

1960

  • "Kissin' and Twistin'" (Don Kirshner-Al Nevins) – Fabian
  • "Teen Twist" – Buddy Miller (Doyle Stone)
  • "Twistin' The Night Away" – Sam Cooke
  • "Twistin' USA" (Kal Mann) – Danny and the Juniors, released as a b-side by Chubby Checker in 1961.[2]

1961

Note: These last two are compound sequel songs, with "Tequila Twist" serving not only as a sequel to "The Twist", but also as a sequel to the Champs' 1958 hit "Tequila", and "Twist and Shout" serving as a sequel to both "The Twist" and the Isley Brothers' 1959 hit "Shout".

1962

  • "The Alvin Twist" (Ross Bagdasarian, Sr.) – The Chipmunks[5]
  • "Arkansas Twist" (B.L. Trammell) – Bobby Lee Trammell
  • "The Basie Twist" (Benny Carter) – Count Basie
  • "Big Bo's Twist" (W. Thomas) – Big Bo and the Arrows[6]
  • "Bristol Twistin' Annie" (Lewis-Styles) – The Dovells (No. 27)
  • "Do You Know How To Twist?" (Ballard-Redd-Nath) – Hank Ballard and the Midnighters (No. 87)
  • "Everybody's Twistin'" (Koehler-Bloom) – Frank Sinatra (originally released as "Ev'rybody's Twistin'")
  • "Double Twist" (Freddy Fowell, Derry Wilkie) – Howie Casey & The Seniors
  • "Dry Bones Twist" (Rudy Toombs) – The Drivers
  • "Hey, Let's Twist" (Glover-Dee-Levy) – Joey Dee & the Starliters (No. 20)
  • "Jungle Twist" (Miller-Jackson) – Camil & Sylvia
  • "La Leçon De Twist" (Danyel Gérard, Lucien Morisse, Giuseppe Mengozzi) – Dalida (France release)
  • "Let Me Do My Twist" (Henry Glover-Joey Dee-Morris Levy) – Jo Ann Campbell with Joey Dee & The Starliters
  • "Mama Don't Allow No Twistin' Here" (Connie St. John)/"Twistin' At The Waldorf" (D. Meehan) – Don Meehan
  • "Mama Don't Allow No Twistin'" – Barbara Dane (no songwriter credit; "Arranged and Adapted by Barbara Dane" on label)[6]
  • "Mister Twister" (C. Mapel), "Teach Me How to Twist" (E. Curtis), and "Kissin' Twist (Kiss 'n' Twist)" (Michael Canosa) – Connie Francis (multiple international releases)
  • "Muleskinner Twist" – (Rodgers) Ray Kannon & The Corals
  • "Oliver Twist" (Gladys Shelley, Rod McKuen) – Rod McKuen
  • "Percolator (Twist)" (Bideau-Freeman) – Billy Joe & the Checkmates (No. 10)
  • "Pop'eye Twist" (Caddy) – The Tornados
  • "Raunchy Twist" (Justice, Manker) – The G-Men
  • "Santa's Doing The Horizontal Twist" (Jess Hotchkiss) – Kay Martin
  • "Sister Twister" (Otis Blackwell) – Carl Perkins
  • "Slow Twistin'" (Jon Sheldon)/"La Paloma Twist" (Kal Mann) – Chubby Checker (Dee Dee Sharp credited on "Slow Twistin'" on album version only)[2]
  • "Soul Twist" – King Curtis
  • "Transylvania Twist" (B. Pickett, G. Paxton & J. MacRae) – Bobby (Boris) Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers
  • "Twist Enos Twist" (J. Testa, H. York) – The Page-Boys
  • "Twist Fever" (Alan O'Day) – Arch Hall, Jr. & the Archers (appeared in the 1962 film Wild Guitar, but remained unreleased as a recording until appearing on the 2005 album of the same name; also on the album was "Guitar Twist" (also written by O'Day).)
  • "Twist Lackawanna" (Walker, Fuqua, White) – Jr. Walker
  • "Twist-Her" (B. Black) – Bill Black's Combo (No. 26)
  • "Twist, Twist Senora" (Anderson-Barge-Guida) – Gary U.S. Bonds[3]
  • "Twistin' All Night Long" (Slay-Crewe) – Danny and the Juniors with Freddy Cannon
  • "Twistin' and Kissin'" (M. Weiss-E. Lewis) – Ronnie & the Hi-Lites
  • "Twistin' Postman" (Bateman-Holland-Stevens) – The Marvelettes

    Note: This record also served as a compound sequel, referencing not only "The Twist", but also the Marvellettes' 1961 number-one hit "Please, Mr. Postman"

  • "Twistin' Matilda (and the Channel)" (Norman Span) – Jimmy Soul (No. 22)
  • "Twistin' the Night Away" – written and originally released by Sam Cooke (No. 9), with a charting cover by Rod Stewart (No. 59, 1973 and 1987) and additional covers by the Marvelettes (1962) and Divine (1985)
  • "Twistin' with Linda" (R. Isley-R. Isley-O. Isley) – The Isley Brothers
  • "Twisting Bells" (Farina-Farina-Farina) – Santo and Johnny
  • "Twisting in the Jungle" (Earl Gary-Van Aloda)/"Twistology" – Buddy Bow (Belgium release)
  • "Twisting Time" – King Curtis
  • "Twisting with the King" – King Curtis
  • "Whole Lotta Twistin' Goin' On" (Dave "Curlee" Williams, Big Ed Hoyt) – Jerry Lee Lewis

1963

  • "Do the Twist" (Dale Hawkins) – The Isley Brothers (from the album Twisting and Shouting)
  • "Home on the Range Twist"/"Spaghetti Twist" – The Fortune Tellers (Japan release)[6]
  • "Twist It Up" (K. Mann-D. Appell) – Chubby Checker[2]
  • "Twist Train (Night Train)" (Washington, Lipkins, J. Forest) – The Brain Twist
  • "The Twister" (E. McDaniel) – Bo Diddley (UK release)
  • "Twisting & Shaking" – (J. T. Ratliff) J. T. Ratliff
  • "Wesoły Twist (The Gay Twist)" (F. Leszczyńska, H. Rostworowski) – Helena Majdaniec (Poland release)

1964–present

References in other songs

The following songs, while not songs specifically about the Twist or twisting, reference the dance/phenomenon in their lyrics.

Dance litany songs

Several pop songs have referenced the Twist among several other songs, sometimes calling on listeners/dancers to change their dance step when the singer calls out the name of a different dance.

See also

References

  1. ^ Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits, p.74. Billboard. ISBN 9780823076772.
  2. ^ a b c d Bronson (2003), p.85.
  3. ^ a b Bronson (2003), p.93.
  4. ^ Bronson (2003), p.107.
  5. ^ "The Chipmunk Songbook" at AllMusic
  6. ^ a b c 45Cat.com. Retrieved June 28, 2020.