In The Trashcan Records
GARBAGE07
"Chubby Checker had hits with The
Twist and all kinds of variations. Especially in Belgium the twist was the
most important dance craze in the early 60's, hence the large number of
Belgian 45's on this volume. There's even a German translation of a Belgian
twist song."
Everybody in Belgium liked to twist and latin rhythm kings Les Chakachas decided to release a few twist EP's. This one even reached the Billboard charts, four years after their huge success with "Eso es el amor". This EP contains another twister: "Hawaiian war twist". If you want to know more about this band: check 'em out in volume 31.
You know what I already told you about Teeny Records. Here's another proof of that commercial exploitation label. This time it's a German translation of the Chakachas song played by studio musicians with the help of Jimmy Brown, whoever that might be. The other side is "Der Liebestraum als Twist".
And here he is again: the American singer-drummer-actor-painter-composer who left his country and decided to live in Belgium where he started a second career after being a Platter. He was discovered by Ronnex record boss A Van Hoogten (whose brother Rene started in New York the label Moonglow). The flip is the fantastic "Electricity" (see volume 31). No wonder he was being called Mr. Show Business!
Can you feel the early 60s vibe when you're watching "Les Gendarmes de Saint-Tropez" (the one with Louis Funes)? The twist was very popular in France and the French developed their own style and it was called ye-ye. This French twist song is one that has escaped the attention of the compilers over the years. Stella Zelcer wrote the four tracks on this EP and this one is the best. It was the first release of this teenager.
Teeny and Stella were two sublabels of Decca used especially to release covers of hit records played by studio musicians. Ronnex owner Albert Van Hoogten tried to launch the career of his son Ronny and let him sing on the tapes that were lying around at Teeny Records. Result: his son received a little bit of recognition and his own Ronnex releases got more airplay (and thus more money for the family!). "Crazy twist" is a perfect example of this strategy: the song was already released on Ronnex by Jack Hammer. Exactly the same for the flip "Come twist around the clock".
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If you have the "Twistin' time vol 1" compilation, then you know his "Celebrity twist", a great twist song from 1961. Well, this is the A-side of that 45. Charles Dickens would've been proud.
And this went on during the early 70s. Jack Hammer's "The wiggling fool" being covered by Ronn Clay and the flip "Twist & freeze" by Ann Sue, both released on Ronnex itself. Vano in need for money? "Twist and freeze", a minor hit single of Bob Keene on surf label Del-Fi, is twice featured on this volume. Hear the difference between this version and the one by Orlie & The Saints.
And here it is: the weird version of "Twist and freeze" by Orlie & the Saints. The flip "King Kong" is featured on volume 11. And yes, this is the original version. After this debut release followed only one other 45 "Annette".
"Tiger twist" is an instrumental twist song with a big band supporting and it's before a "live" audience. In fact it's an excerpt from a movie called "Tropico di notte". The flip was also featured in the movie.
For the last time Ronnie Van Hoogten aka Ronn Clay and again it's a Jack Hammer song he's singing. Jack released it as a flip to his "Kissin' twist". The flip of "Boogie woogie twist" is another Jack Hammer tune : "Twist in the morning" which is also on this volume.
Twanging guitars, at last! This fast vocal twister is a good example of the mix of two popular early 60s styles: the twist and the madison.
This is something special. It's a French sung cover version of Lavern Baker's "Voodoo voodoo". The flip also features a French cover: "Searchin'" has become "Chérie".
A superb instrumental twist song, straight from Hawaii! Aloha twist or hula twist or whatever you should call this kind of exotic twist. It should have been on the fabulous compilation "Twistin' time", released on Knight Records a few years back. It's a cover actually: the first recording was done by Stan Applebaum, yes the guy from "Bikini" (see volume 1).
At first coupled with "Come twist around the clock" it was later reissued together with "Tell the gang goodbye". His recording output for Ronnex was ten 45s, three EP's and one album. But in the late 60s and the 70s there were many reissues and that's why he will always be known in Belgium as the Twistin' King. He was born in New Orleans and lived in New York and after 3 Hollywood movies and writing hit tunes for Jerry Lee Lewis, Nat King Cole, Nina Simone and several others he decided to follow Mr. Van Hoogten to Belgium. And as Jack Hammer he played all over the world: from Las Vegas, New York and Hollywood to London, Rome, Paris and every major city in Europe. Not Chubby Checker but Jack Hammer was the Twistin' King. So party all night long and twist in the morning.
All his songs are written by Earl Burroughs and A. Vano; it's obvious who Earl is, but A. Vano must be an alias for Albert Van Hoogten, one of the three sons of a father who owned the very first real record shop in Belgium (pre-World War 2). Albert Van Hoogten (or A. Vano???) started his own record shop after the war and called it Ronny's which later changed into a record label called Ronnex. And why Ronny's? It's the name of his son who also recorded as Ronn Clay and as Ronnie Angel.
This volume started with Les Chakachas with one of their twist 45s. This is the best twist song from Belgium. Exotic twist by six gentlemen and one lady from a rainy country. If you want to know more about the musical surprises of this tiny country, you have to check out vol 3, vol 26 and vol 31.
