40TH ANNIVERSARY OF `THE TWIST'

40TH ANNIVERSARY OF `THE TWIST'

PHILADELPHIA (Wireless Flash) -- Today is a really twisted anniversary: it's the 40th anniversary of the Chubby Checker hit, "The Twist." The twisted tune was first released to the airwaves on August 1, 1960 -- and hit No. 1 on the charts the very next month. The song soared back to the top of the charts in January, 1962, after socialites were spotted dancing the Twist in New York's Peppermint Lounge -- making it the only recording to hit No. 1 in two separate chart runs. These days, "The Twist" is considered the most successful single of all time -- which isn't bad at all for a song that took just 35 minutes to record. According to Checker -- who just performed at the Republican National Convention -- "The Twist is like the wheel. You can't reinvent it, but you can put steel belts on it."