While
Joey Dee is generally looked upon as the quaint bearer of the twist to a mass audience (clean covers of R&B tunes palatable to White audiences), the truth is that
Dee had a racially integrated band (in 1961, no less) that not only delivered the goods, but put some high voltage energy into the tunes as well. Although this 18-track compilation brings together all the chart hits ("Peppermint Twist," "Shout," "Everytime," "What Kind Of Love Is This," "I Lost My Baby," "Dance, Dance, Dance") from
Dee and the
Starliters' brief run for the gold, it omits several barnburning covers from the second live album, and opts for the edited 'Part One' version of "Shout," as opposed to the six-minute-plus workout that's on the Doin' the Twist album. That said, it's still a wonderful introduction to the music of this seldom-lauded rock & roll pioneer. ~ Cub Koda