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This was written by Hank Ballard, who originally recorded it in 1959 with his group The Midnighters. Ballard was an influential musician who blended Rock, Country and Gospel in the '50s and '60s. He died in 2003.

Ballard got the idea for the song by watching his backup group, The Midnighters, on stage. To Hank the group often moved onstage like they were "trying to put a cigarette out." In a sense, they were twisting. Thus, the title of the song.

Ballard's original version was the B-side to "Teardrops On Your Letter," a song that was covered by many Country musicians. "The Twist" went over very well live and Ballard thought it was a hit, but his record company thought "Teardrops On My Letter" would do better. In Philadelphia a deejay named Buddy Dean had a TV dance party show and played the song. The kids' reaction was excellent and Buddy recommended the song to Dick Clark. Clark was impressed enough to play the song on American Bandstand and saw the incredible reaction - the kids went nuts. He tried to get Ballard to introduce the song on American Bandstand, but the deal fell through. Checker (real name: Earnest Evans) was a chicken plucker who liked to sing on the job. He was a great impersonator and kept everyone at the chicken plant laughing as he'd do his impersonations of the popular stars of that time like Fats Domino, Elvis, The Coasters and the Chipmunks. His boss thought he was great and just happened to be a close friend of Dick Clark. Clark was impressed enough by what Checker's boss said about him to invite Chubby to sing a Christmas Card greeting record he sent out to his friends. When he couldn't get Ballard on this show, Clark thought of Ernest Evans, the chicken plucker. He hired musicians and Evans to duplicate the Ballard version of "The Twist," which they did almost exactly: Same key, same tempo, and Evans sounded just like Hank Ballard. Clark was going to release the record but wanted Ernest to think up a stage name. Clark's wife suggested that he use a take off on Fats Domino: Fats=Chubby Domino=Checker. Ernest Evans became Chubby Checker. When Hank Ballard first heard the song on the radio he thought it was him - "They cloned it" were Hank's words.

This started a dance craze that got so popular because it was so easy to do. Even the severely rhythm-challenged could do the twist. This helped bridge a generation gap, since both kids and adults could do it.

Ballard was not bitter toward Checker or Clark when his version was left behind. As the songwriter, he earned massive royalties when Checker's version became a huge hit. (Thanks to Ron Foster for above 4. More from Ron at www.oldiesradioonline.com.)

Ballard based the melody for "The Twist" on a song he recorded the year before called "Is Your Love For Real?" which in turn borrowed from The Drifters' 1955 song "What 'Cha Gonna Do?" (thanks, Bertrand - Paris, France)

This hit #1 in the US when it was released in the summer of 1960, and again when it was re-released in the winter of 1961. It is the only song to hit US #1 twice with identical versions.

Before recording this, Checker was known for his imitations of other artists. His 1959 song "The Class" featured imitations of Fats Domino, Elvis, and The Coasters. The name "Chubby Checker" is a parody of "Fats Domino."

Checker capitalized on this by releasing "Let's Twist Again" in 1961 and "Slow Twistin'" in 1962. He went on to release a bunch of other songs with dance themes, including "The Mess Around," "The Hucklebuck" and "The Fly." By the end of 1965, Checker had an amazing 22 Top-40 hits in the US. He stayed off the charts until 1988, when he teamed up with comic Rap group The Fat Boys to release yet another variation of signature hit, "The Twist (Yo Twist!)." This version was a big hit in England, going to UK #2. It hit #16 in America.

The second time this was released, it got a big boost when Checker performed it on The Ed Sullivan Show in a medley with "Let's Twist Again."

When this was released for the second time in 1961, 3 of Checker's albums entered the US top 10 at the same time. It was the first time this had been done in the Rock era.

Checker was in the movies Don't Knock The Twist and Twist Around The Clock. He was not shy about leveraging the marketing opportunities of The Twist.

After this was released, many other groups incorporated The Twist in their songs. The Isley Brothers had "Twist And Shout," Joey Dee And The Starlighters had "The Peppermint Twist," and Sam Cooke released "Twistin' The Night Away." "The Peppermint Twist" replaced this at #1 in 1961.

The Twist craze didn't catch on in England until 1962, after this was released for the second time. That's when it charted in the UK.

The Twist was a worldwide phenomenon. Checker recorded versions in Italian, German and French.

Comments:

In the fall of 1960 Chubby Checker was touring with Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. On October 29th, 1960 they played in Utica, NY. Chubby only sang one song, The Twist of course, when he walked on stage they turned up all the all house lights and everyone in the place got up and danced. After he finished the song the crowd keep yelling and screaming that they brought him back out to sing the song again!!! Jimmy Charles, of 'A Million to One' fame, followed Chubby and had a difficult time settling down the audience...
- Barry, Sauquoit, NY

Agreed with Brett, Edmonton, Canada
- Caitlin, Upper Township, NJ

Chubby's cover og Hank Ballard's song was so good that Ballard thought it was his (Hank's) record when he first heard it on the radio.
- Don, Newmarket, Canada

The stage name "Chubby Checker" was in homage to Fats Domino, not parody.
- Shell, Riverdale, GA

Chubby Checker flogged this dead horse another time when he performed different lyrics for this in an Oreo cookie commercial in 1990. In the commercial he was twisting apart the cookie from the creme filling.
- john, seattle, WA

"Let's Twist Again" features heavily in "That's What I Like" a remix of 60's songs by Jive Bunny and the Master Mixers.
- Katie, Goulburn, Australia

I actually prefer "Let's Twist Again" to "The Twist"- it's catchier and has more "soul", in my opinion.
- Brett, Edmonton, Canada

Checker married a Dutch girl, Rina Lodders, a former Miss World.
- Bert Van De Kamp, Den Bosch, Netherlands