Song #7 on the Popdose Top 100 Covers list is “Twist And Shout”, originally by The Isley Brothers and covered by The Beatles. Here’s the original:
Dave Barry has written about how much he prefers this version to the Beatles’ version – he called it the kind of song that if it comes on the radio while you’re driving, “if you turn it up loud enough, [it] can propel you out of the car to dance with toll-booth attendants”. That was the column that ultimately led to his famous Book Of Bad Songs, after numerous readers strongly objected to his disparaging remarks about Neil Diamond. Oh, and see here for the excellent Jeff MacNelly cartoon that accompanied that column. How’s that for a digression? Now here’s the Beatles:
The ratio of song groovability to stiffness of the singers is just off the charts, isn’t it? Of course, if you’re of a certain age, you can’t help but associate that song with this movie:
I guess that proves Dave Barry’s point about dancing. I saw that in the theater back in the day with my college roomie and best friend Greg. Not long after, I wound up at Rice, in The MOB, where an arrangement of that was one of our staples. Yes, we danced, and sang the AAAAAAAH part, and we got everyone at Notre Dame’s football stadium to do it along with us in 1988, and it was all kinds of awesome. So yeah, positive memories with this song.