Tune Tuesday

Happy Heavenly Birthday to Michigan’s own Hank Ballard! He was born on this day in 1927. He, of course, wrote and recorded the original version of The Twist. The song will be forever associated with Chubby Checker. He also had hits with Work With Me Annie, Annie Had a Baby and more.

I have featured Hank on this blog before with the 2021 Song Draft

I’d like to feature two of my other favorite Hank songs. I played both of these when I was working at Honey Radio in Detroit.

“Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go” (also known as “There’s a Thrill on The Hill”) is a 1960 pop and R&B single written by Hank and performed by Hank and the Midnighters.

The single was the last of the Midnighters’ three number one singles on the US Billboard R&B Chart, staying there for three non-consecutive weeks. “Let’s Go, Let’s Go, Let’s Go” is also Ballard & the Midnighters’ most successful pop single, peaking at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. The record sold in excess of one million copies. In Canada the song reached number 16.

“Finger Poppin’ Time” is a song that was written by Ballard and reached number two on the US Billboard R&B chart. It reached number seven on the pop chart in 1960. It was featured on their 1960 album Mr. Rhythm and Blues.

The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance in 1961. It lost to Ray Charles “Let The Good Times Roll.” It ranked #49 on Billboard’s list of Top 100 songs for 1960.