Catholic Bishop Bans The Twist
Buffalo, New York, Catholic Church Bishop Joseph A. Burke on this day banned the popular dance craze, The Twist, from being heard or danced to at any area Catholic school or event.
The announcement on this day was one of many in the early years of rock and roll in which authority figures were convinced that the music would undermine public morals: May 17, 1955; May 22, 1955; and September 9, 1956.
Watch Chubby Checker do The Twist on American Bandstand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbK0C9AYMd8
Learn more: Eric Nuzum, Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America (2001)
The “Sixties” really began in the mid-1950s and ended in the early 1970s. Read: Christopher B. Strain, The Long Sixties: America, 1955-1973 (2016)
Find links to book, articles and more on censorship of rack and roll at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame here