The Twist, of course, was the most popular topic for rock & roll dance songs when dance-craze tunes briefly became a dominant trend in popular music in the early '60s. So it's not too hard to compile an entire CD of Twist songs from the era, though you might think it another matter to make such a thing too listenable. But Ace Records, as usual, comes through with a well-selected and smartly annotated volume of 24 such tracks with Land of 1000 Dances: All Twistin' Edition, though the limited subject matter does make this a little bit of a novelty compilation even if you're a big oldies collector. Some of the core classics of the mini-genre are here, starting with Hank Ballard & the Midnighters' original version of "The Twist," though nothing by the guy who stole his thunder, Chubby Checker, is here due to licensing difficulties. (Such hurdles unfortunately also prevented the inclusion of any material from Sam Cooke, who did one of the greatest Twist hits, "Twisting the Night Away"). But as compensation, a couple other big smashes are here, namely Joey Dee & the Starliters' "Peppermint Twist, Pt. 1," the Marvelettes' "Twistin' Postman," and Danny & the Juniors' less mammoth (yet still entertaining) "Twistin' USA," along with Petula Clark's British Top 20 hit "Ya Ya Twist" (sung in French!). The emphasis, however, is more on rarities you probably haven't heard before, like the Top Notes' original version of the Isley Brothers/Beatles classic "Twist and Shout"; "Double Twist" by Howie Casey & the Seniors, a Liverpool band that actually released its first records before the Beatles put out "Love Me Do"; Les Chats Sauvages' "Twist St. Tropez," from France; a horror Twist novelty in Tyrone A'Saurus & the Cro-Magnons' "The Monster Twist"; and Murray "The K"'s entertainingly awful "The Lone Twister," done under the pseudonym of the Lone Twister. There are also early rock & rollers trying to cash in on the craze (Bill Haley & His Comets' "Spanish Twist") and even non-rock & rollers trying the trend on for size (Louis Prima's "Twist All Night"). Admittedly, a lot of these non-hits are somewhat in the fun-for-a-listen-or-two category instead of being first-class tracks in their own right, the major exception being the Isley Brothers' terrific "Twistin' with Linda." ~ Richie Unterberger
