"Peppermint Twist" is a song written by

Joey Dee Joey Dee and the Starliters (also credited as Joey Dee and the Starlighters) is an American popular music group. The group is best known for their million-selling recording "Peppermint Twist" (1961).The group's most notable lineup is considere ...

and

Henry Glover Henry Bernard Glover (May 21, 1921 – April 7, 1991) was an American songwriter, arranger, record producer and trumpet player. In the music industry of the time, Glover was one of the most successful and influential black executives. He gain ...

, recorded and released by

Joey Dee and the Starliters Joey Dee and the Starliters (also credited as Joey Dee and the Starlighters) is an American popular music group. The group is best known for their million-selling recording " Peppermint Twist" (1961).The group's most notable lineup is consider ...

in 1961. Capitalizing on the Twist dance craze and the nightclub in which Dee performed ("The

Peppermint Lounge The Peppermint Lounge was a popular discotheque located at 128 West 45th Street in New York City that was open from 1958 to 1965, although a new one was opened in 1980. It was the launchpad for the global Twist craze in the early 1960s. Many cla ...

"), the song hit No.1 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in early 1962. It replaced

Chubby Checker Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song " The Twis ...

's " The Twist", the song that sparked the Twist fad, at the No. 1 position. It should not be confused with "The Peppermint Twist", which is a different song written by Danny Lamego, whose group Danny Peppermint and the Jumping Jacks had a #54 Billboard hit with it in December 1961. Danny Peppermint performed at that time at The Peppermint Lounge in Manhattan, after which both songs are named, as did Joey Dee And The Starliters who went on to have the bigger hit.

Background

The lead singer in the Starliters' version is

David Brigati David Brigati (born October 29, 1940) is an American singer. He is sometimes known as "the fifth Rascal". Biography Early life Brigati was born in Passaic, New Jersey and raised in Garfield, New Jersey. Hi-Fives Brigati got his musical sta ...

, whose brother,

Eddie Brigati Edward Brigati Jr. (born October 22, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was the co-lead vocalist, along with Felix Cavaliere, and percussionist in the rock group The Young Rascals from 1964 to 1970. Prior to his stint with The Young Ra ...

, was a singer for 1960s

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band the (Young) Rascals. 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 No.1 hit; the mostly instrumental second half of the recording is rarely heard today.

Chart performance

Personnel

- lead vocals * Billy Butler - guitar *Don Martin - drums *Carlton Lattimore - organ *Jerome Richardson - sax

The Sweet version

The song was covered by English

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists d ...

band

the Sweet Sweet (known as the Sweet until the early 1970s) are a British glam rock band who rose to prominence in the 1970s. Their best-known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bassist Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott and drummer ...

on their second album ''

Sweet Fanny Adams Fanny Adams (30 April 1859 – 24 August 1867) was an eight-year-old English girl who was murdered by a solicitor's clerk, Frederick Baker, in Alton, Hampshire, in 1867. Her murder was extraordinarily brutal and caused a national outcry i ...

''. It was released as a single in 1974, but only in Australia, New Zealand and Japan, reaching No. 4 on the weekly chart and No. 26 on the 1975 year end chart in the former. A

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

song with swirly vocal harmonies, "Peppermint Twist" is the last example of the band's

bubblegum Bubble gum (or bubblegum) is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble. Composition In modern chewing gum, if natural rubber such as chicle is used, it must pass several purity and cleanliness tests. However, ...

sound. It's been criticized as out of place on ''Sweet Fanny Adams'', a

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

album.

Chart performance

Personnel

Brian Connolly Brian Francis Connolly (5 October 1945 – 10 February 1997) was a Scottish singer-songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead singer of glam rock band Sweet between 1968 and 1979 and known for his charismatic stage presence and di ...

– lead vocals, handclaps^, tambourine^ *

Steve Priest Stephen Norman Priest (23 February 1948 – 4 June 2020) was an English musician who was the Bass guitar, bassist (and, later, co-lead vocalist) of the glam rock band The Sweet. Early life Priest was born in Hayes, Hillingdon, Hayes, Middlese ...

– bass guitar and 6-string bass^ *

Mick Tucker Michael Thomas Tucker (17 July 1947 – 14 February 2002) was an English musician, best known as the drummer of the glam rock and hard rock band Sweet. Personal life Mick Tucker was born on 17 July 1947 in Kingsbury, North West London, the s ...

– vocals, timpani^, tubular bells^, gong^, effects^ * Andy Scott – guitars, piano^, cello^ ^credited only

References

1961 songs 1961 singles 1962 singles 1974 singles The Sweet songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Number-one singles in Australia Songs written by Henry Glover Roulette Records singles RCA Records singles Twist (dance) Songs about dancing {{1960s-rock-song-stub

Background

Chart performance

Personnel

The Sweet version

Chart performance

Personnel

See also

References