Peppermint Twist

"Peppermint Twist" is a song written by Joey Dee and Henry Glover, recorded and released by Joey Dee and the Starliters in 1961. Capitalizing on the Twist dance craze and the nightclub in which Dee performed ("The Peppermint Lounge"), the song hit number one 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 No. 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 craze, at the number one 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 hit pop group, the (Young) Rascals. The other personnel on the record featured 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. Catarina Valente reached #8 in Germany with her cover version in 1962.

In popular culture
The Joey Dee and the Starliters recording features in the film American Graffiti (1973). Kidsongs covered the song with their 1994 release Kidsongs: Boppin' 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.