Though Alvin Welch, better known as Alvin Cash, didn’t record too many 45’s, both him and the Crawlers will forever be remembered for popularising that super-smooth dance, The Twine!
Alvin Cash was US singer, actor (who appeared in several blaxploitation films) and a fine mover and groover. Setting off to Chicago in 1962 with three of his brothers, they started out performing as a dance act and later secured a recording contract with Andre Williams, the house producer at One-der-ful Records.
Performing as The Crawlers, their first 45 was today’s ear-groove, Twine Time! Created to promote a popular teen dance which was all the rage on the south side of Chicago in 1963, this record was issued on One-derful’s subsidiary label, Mar-V-Lus in 1964. By January 1965 this was hit which also featured instrumental backing by a band called the Nightliters (from Louisville, Kentucky).
The “ooh-aah” opening was edited out on some radio stations as they thought it too suggestive for their audience…funny how things change, eh!
It would take another five years before Twine Time became popular in the UK Northern soul scene, but when it got there, it hung around for a quite sometime! In fact, such was its funkiness that the likes of De La Soul and Lords of the Underground sampled it! It was also covered a few times too!
Enjoy….and if you fancy seeing the band in ‘action’, you can watch a slinky live performance of Twine Time below!
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