WORDS BY DAVID BURKE
I
gave the world the biggest dance craze ever,” boasts Hank Ballard in Ron Mann’s 1992 documentary, Twist. However disputable the claim – and that’s a dispute best mediated by dance connoisseurs – there’s no doubt that Ballard’s song, The Twist, remains one of rock’n’roll’s defining moments.
Unfortunately for Ballard, that moment was defined not by his version, but by Chubby Checker’s, which went to No.1 Stateside on two separate occasions in 1960 and 1961, and also topped Billboard magazine’s all-time Hot 100 singles chart. Furthermore, it has been added to America’s National Recording Registry in the Library of Congress for longterm preservation.