Checker marks 50 years of the Twist

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Thanks Harry I love much of Hank Ballards stuff it was a bit on the risky side in them days and likely why he didnt make it big with the original.
 
mmm so who is Hank Ballard ???
 
lol you fell right into that one :)

now ya showing your AGE there Thunder :)


love it :)
 
Readers Digest Condensed Version goes like this...Hank Ballard performing since the 40s, hitting big fame in the 50s and 60s. Some of his work was too risque at the time to be mainstream...but you have probably heard MANY MANY Ballard tunes, but thought they were Checkers...here is why...

Chubby Checker was a boy on the streets of Philly who got a rep for doing impersonations of the stars of the day. He landed a recording session with Phillys Dick Clark who needed him to do some impersonations. After doing a send up of Fats Domino, Clarks wife jokingly named him Chubby Checker.

The Twist was written and released as a B side by Ballard, who also created the dance. Checker covered it a year later impersonating Ballard...and has spent the last 50 years trying to strip that mine, LOL...
 
he seemed nice enough at MBLV a couple years back though he looked like a wax museum prop versus real. Sort of like Mae West, or Phyllis Diller looked in their later yrs.
 
I had the pleasure of meeting Hank Ballard in the 1980s. A very nice guy & a hell of a song writer & performer.

His music of the early 50s was years ahead of it's time. "Sexy ways" "Work with me Annie" "Annie had a baby" Etc. were not called rock & roll (which they clearly were) they were called "Race records". The lyrics were quite risque.

The man deserves as much credit as Little Richard & Chuck Berry for being the founding fathers of rock & roll. Too bad Chubby Checker received all the fame & credit for the Twist.

If you get a chance, listen to some of his stuff. It's good.

YouTube- Annie Had a Baby--Hank Ballard
 
I always seem to get a much better reaction to "Lets twist again" rather than "The Twist".The opening line to "Lets twist again" says it all! "Come on everybody, clap your hands , ah you're lookin good, im gonna sing my song, it wont take long, we're gonna do the twist & it goes like this......."
Anyone else find the same?
 
andywilson said:
I always seem to get a much better reaction to "Lets twist again" rather than "The Twist".The opening line to "Lets twist again" says it all! "Come on everybody, clap your hands , ah you're lookin good, im gonna sing my song, it wont take long, we're gonna do the twist & it goes like this......."
Anyone else find the same?
Click to expand...

I prefer "Let's Twist Again" because it just sounds better. "The Twist", depending on which version you have, either comes on too weak or too strong/loud/crashy.
 
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