It's time to visit The Dovells once more. Whereas in a previous entry, we had the sequel to "You Can't Sit Down," now we go back a little earlier for the sequel to their first big smash, "The Bristol Stomp." And as can be expected, it's got the same fast beat as "Stomp" but there's definitely a bit more studio polish this round. That said, it's still a swingin' number.
You all know about the endless amounts of sequels we continue to get to movies, right. Well, the record business, especially in the 50s and 60s, was not immune to sequel-itis. It was a common practice to produce a sound-alike of the previous hit for an artist or group's follow-up. The idea was, if it was a hit the first time, something similar would also be a hit, such as The Swingin' Medallions' follow-up to "Double Shot of My Baby's Love," "She Drives Me Out Of My Mind."
Often, though, the sound-alike would be more like a continuation of the last record. Countless examples of this include Chubby Checker's "Let's Twist Again" and "Let's Limbo Some More," Bobby Freeman's "S-W-I-M," Shelly Fabares' "Johnny Loves Me," Dee Dee Sharp's "Gravy" (for her Mashed Potatoes)and on and on. Which brings us to The Dovells. This "Stomp" follow-up came shortly after "Do The New Continental" and did about as well as that one did, peaking on the Billboard charts at #27.
The gist of the song can be adequately summed up by its first verse:
She's got a shape like Rin Tin Tin
and has a face like my Uncle Ben
But when she's doing the twist of the bop
Everybody calls her the Queen of the Hop
Bristol Twistin' Annie
Lay your twistin' down!
And there ya go! They take a little break for a quick sax solo, but for the most part, it's the guys singing the praises of this dance hall queen. Like most sequels, it's not as boss as its predecessor and it's certainly not my favorite Dovells record of all time, but it still hangs in there on its own anyway and sometimes that's more than enough.
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