Peppermint Twist

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"Peppermint Twist"
Single by Joey Dee and the Starliters
from the album Doin' the Twist at the Peppermint Lounge
B-side"Peppermint Twist (Part 2)"
Released1961
GenreRock and roll
Length4:05 (Parts 1 and 2 combined)
LabelRoulette
Songwriter(s)Joey Dee, Henry Glover
Joey Dee and the Starliters singles chronology
"Face of an Angel"
(1960) 		"Peppermint Twist"
(1961) 		"Shout"
(1962)
"Peppermint Twist"
Single by Sweet
from the album Sweet Fanny Adams
B-side"Rebel Rouser"
Released1974
Recorded1974
GenreGlam rock
Length3:29
LabelRCA (Europe)
Songwriter(s)Joey Dee, Henry Glover
Producer(s)Phil Wainman
Sweet singles chronology
"Turn It Down"
(1974) 		"Peppermint Twist"
(1974) 		"Fox on the Run"
(1975)

"Peppermint Twist" is a song written by Joey Dee and Henry Glover, recorded and released by Joey Dee and the Starliters in 1961.[1] Capitalizing on the Twist dance craze and the nightclub in which Dee performed ("The Peppermint Lounge"), the song hit #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in early 1962. The original recording of the song was considered too long for release on a 45 rpm single, so it was split into two parts. It was this first part, "Peppermint Twist (Part 1)", with a length of 2:03, which became the #1 hit; the mostly instrumental second half of the recording is rarely heard today.

"Peppermint Twist" replaced Chubby Checker's "The Twist," the song that sparked the Twist fad, at the #1 position. A version by Bill Haley & His Comets was recorded for Armed Forces Radio in 1962, but was not released until 2000.

The lead singer in the Starliters' version is David Brigati, whose brother, Eddie Brigati, was a singer for the 1960s pop group the (Young) Rascals.[2] The other personnel on the record included Carlton Lattimore on organ, Billy Butler on guitar, Jerome Richardson on sax, and Don Martin on drums.

The song was covered by the 1970s glam rock band Sweet, whose version topped the Australian singles chart in 1974,[3] and was included in their successful album Sweet Fanny Adams. Catarina Valente reached #8 in Germany with her cover version in 1962.

In popular culture[]

  • The Meteors covered the song in Italy in 1964.
  • The Joey Dee and the Starliters recording features in the film American Graffiti (1973).
  • Chubby Checker performed a variation, "The Super Bowl Twist," in medley with his hit during the halftime show of Super Bowl XXII on January 31, 1988. [4]
  • Kidsongs covered the song with their 1994 release, "I Can Bop With The Biggles."
  • The song also inspired a New Zealand TV show of the same name set in New Zealand in the 1960s, which aired on TVNZ from 1987-88.

Chart performance[]

All-time charts[]

Chart (1958–2018) Position
US Billboard Hot 100[5] 244

See also[]

  • Twist songs

References[]

  1. ^ Breihan, Tom (April 13, 2018). "The Number Ones: Joey Dee And The Starliters' "Peppermint Twist – Part 1″". Stereogum. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  2. ^ Pinchot, Joe (July 13, 2000). "Light still shines on Joey Dee". The Herald. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  3. ^ Buckley, Peter; Buckley, Jonathan (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides p. 2075. ISBN 978-1-8582-8457-6.
  4. ^ youtube.com/watch?v=HoGAshRemXM
  5. ^ "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved May 9, 2019.


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