Let’s get one thing out of the way regarding “Twist and Shout”: if those opening moments don’t instantly instill a desire within you to hijack a German parade, I don’t think I want to know you.

And if hearing “Stuck in the Middle With You” doesn’t immediately compel you to cut off someone’s ear, we need to talk.

 

If memory serves me, my initial interest in seeing Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was because of the Beatles connection, and it became my second favorite movie of all time and I recreated Ferris’s day off shortly after moving to Chicago, so I owe a lot to “Twist and Shout.” And to think, the decision to record it was a last-minute one. Most of the Beatles’ first album was recorded in a single day, and at the end of the session, they chose “Twist and Shout” because it was a familiar part of their stage act and they knew that once John ripped his way through it, he could do no more. Two takes were recorded, but the first made the record. By the second, his voice was shot.

Whether it’s fair or not, any cover that the Beatles recorded automatically has an uphill battle against their original songs. Had the songwriting credits on “Twist and Shout” read Lennon/McCartney, there’s no doubt I would put it higher because it’s undeniably a banger. But alas, that’s the way it goes. However, there’s still one cover left in the running…