Reply
Wed 5 Mar, 2003 02:21 am
Singer-songwriter Hank Ballard, the R&B legend who wrote and recorded The Twist with little fanfare only to see Chubby Checker turn the song into a rock 'n' roll dance sensation a year later, has died last Sunday.
Quote:Ballard will be forever remembered as the composer and original performer of The Twist, which became one of the biggest hits in rock 'n' roll and ignited a dance music craze popularised by Dick Clark's television show American Bandstand in the years before the Beatles burst on the scene.
"People think Chubby wrote it, but they're wrong," Ballard told the Los Angeles Times in a 1988 interview. "They call Chubby Checker the father of The Twist, but he's just the stepfather. I'm the father. It's my baby."
Do you remember Twist? Do you have still some favourite tunes?
Thanks Walter, I always thought it was Chubby's alone. I'm a bit too young to know its beginnings, but I remember the resurgence of 50s music in the early 70s, due in part at least to American Graffiti. Still have that album on vinyl.
Let's twist again - had to "learn" Twist by that in dancing school (btw: better, my parents had given me the money for that directly!).
Peppermint Twist - used to be a give-away (you remember those "plastic"-records?) to a popular teeny magazine here.
And of course I remember Tony Sheridan, "the king of Twist" in Germany, whose band later was called ... ... ... wait a minute ... ... ... now, I got it: The Beatles
I remember the name (Sheridan) from some Beatles documentary. Today I was watching the Hard Days Night DVD I just bought, and realized the photographer/girlfriend of one of the boys, Astrid, was in it. What a great movie - a very good DVD.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace