The compilation 'On The Dancefloor With A Twist', released last year, was such a success that the German Bear Family Records decided to follow it up with 'On The Dancefloor With A Twist Again'. Again we get 23 tracks that musically supported the twist craze from the sixties. The uncrowned emperor of the quarrel was Hank Ballard, while Chubby Checker usurped the crown. Together with his The Midnighters, Hank is therefore present twice, namely with 'Do You Know How To Twist' and 'Miss Twister'. If you don't know Darron Lee, no problem because it was actually the same person as Billy Riley. Here he puts down a clever 'Everybody's Twisting'. The conquest of space inspired Chuck Dallis for his 'Moon Twist'. Nice harmony vocals adorn The Sprouts' 'Twisting On Bandstand'. Who transforms the twist in a beautiful way to another music genre is the Cajun Trio with 'Cajun Twist'. Blues artists who were seduced by the twist were Smokey Smothers and Freddy King. Smokey's 'Twist With Me Annie' still has a high blues level due to the blues harp. Freddy King does it instrumentally with 'The Bossa Nova Watusi Twist'. More instrumental songs come from Jimmy Spruill, Phil Baugh and surf guitar king Dick Dale.
The instrumental clapper, however, comes with 'Chicken Twist-part II', recorded in 1962 by Paul Livert and The Lions, which filled an entire side of an LP. Here you get the integral 20.15 minute instrumental song, which sounds very varied due to the alternating presence of sax, guitar, steel guitar, piano, harmonica and Hammond.
With 'On The Dancefloor With A Twist Again' Bear Family Records has a great thematic album in its catalog.

​For the second release in the series 'On The Dancefloor With….' the German Bear Family Records goes back to the dance that took over in no time the world in the early sixties. Hank Ballard and his Midnighters carefully kneaded the twist dough, after which Chubby Checker only had to pop it in the oven and his ‘bun was baked’. In other words, Hank Ballard was not properly rewarded for unleashing ‘the twist’. Unlike Checker, who struck a gold mine with Ballard's cover and was only too happy to be crowned the king of the twist.
With the real twister Hank Ballard, this 25-track compilation starts with not as might be expected 'The Twist', but with the 1962 recorded 'Good Twistin' Tonight'. In addition, you get 24 tracks that all have the twist as their subject. Well-known and lesser-known names give the best of themselves.
'On The Dancefloor With A Twist' is the perfect soundtrack to master those 'twist moves' in a funny way and don’t forget…… ‘Keep On Twistin'!’

​The popular dance ‘the twist’ may have originated in America, but when it rains in the U.S. then it drips in England. This is just to indicate that the dance managed to conquer the world in no time. The American Chubby Checker is the man who put the dance on the map with his ‘Let’s Twist Again’. Although Hank Ballard set fire to the twist fuse, Checker, as king of the twist, scored a mega hit in 1961. A hit that also spread its bed for the rest of his life. But elsewhere in the world, including in the United Kingdom, the song inspired artists to give it their own ‘twist’. 35 of those songs found their way into this compilation.
It was impossible to match the success of Checker's ‘Let's Twist Again’, although Cyriel Stapleton & His Show Band made a nice instrumental version of it and the British artists delivered some not bad ‘twistin’ tunes’.

​Chubby Checker may, rightly or wrongly, be seen as the King of the Twist, but fact is that Joey Dee and his companions, in the early sixties, were very close behind him. Jasmine bundled 29 danceable tracks, which inevitably reminds us of the slogan ‘twistin 'time is here’.

​I say no more than 'twistin' time is here'. Enjoy!

I do not take into account who is now entitled to claim the title ‘Twistin’ King’. Should Jack Hammer not be eligible for this, then this compilation released by Jasmine does prove that Jack's repertoire should not be inferior to that of other ‘twisters’.