The Twist (song)

The Twist (song)

"The Twist" is a song that gave birth to the Twist dance craze. The song was written and originally released in early 1959 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side (to "Teardrops on Your Letter") but his version was only a moderate 1960 hit, peaking at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song, and the dance the Twist, was popularized in 1960 when the song was covered by Chubby Checker. His single became a hit, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 19, 1960 (one week) and then setting a record by being the only single to reach #1 in two different chart runs when it resurfaced and topped the chart again on January 13, 1962 (two weeks).

In 1988, "The Twist" became popular once again, due to a new recording of the song by The Fat Boys featuring Chubby Checker. This version reached #2 in the United Kingdom and #1 in Germany.