1994 Chaka Demus & Pliers: Twist And Shout

It can come as a surprise to find out that The Beatles neither wrote nor were the first to record 'Twist And Shout'; i'ts a song become so closely associated with the fab four that they may as well have done both. So much so that when listening to any version, I'm always on tenterhooks for Lennon's 'wooooo's; they're as much part of the song as the lyrics for me and I miss them when they don't arrive. They don't arrive here either - Chaka Demus & Pliers reggae take shifts the song back towards its wannabe 'La Bamba' origins (as recorded by The Top Notes in 1961) with the toasted ad-libs from Pliers adding colour, verve and a sense of spontaneity to the mix that's lacking from most of the piledriving rock and roll versions. Yet at heart though, it still just a reggae version of a popular song that was never crying out for such a makeover and in so doing it gives both the song and the act a jokey, almost novelty feel that diminishes the credibility of the medium more than it spreads the word. And while there's more heart and sheer enjoyment contained within than in anything UB40 had released in the previous ten years, it's still more of an inessential release than not.