With his group,
Joey Dee and The Starliters, helped launch the "Twist" craze in 1961 with
their hit song "The Peppermint Twist". They were signed to a short gig
at a New York City nightclub, The Peppermint Lounge, but their song and
their act clicked and began to draw the celebrity crowd, with
politicians, movie and TV stars and "high society" types regularly
attending, and the group's "short" gig turned into a 13-month
engagement.
