[2] The song references a number of dance styles/moves including the Twist, the Alligator, the Mashed Potato, the Watusi and the Pony.
77 on the Billboard chart in 1963, mentions 16 dances: the Pony, the Chicken, the Mashed Potato, the Alligator, the Watusi, the Twist, the Fly, the Jerk, the Tango, the Yo-Yo, the Sweet Pea, the Hand Jive, the Slop, the Bop, the Fish, and the Popeye.
This 18 seconds was left off the single release to facilitate radio airplay, and the phrase "Land of 1000 Dances" never appeared in any subsequent recording.
[5] The song's best-known version was by Wilson Pickett, who recorded the song during his first set of sessions at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama,[7] backed by the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and the Memphis Horns.
In 1989, the earlier Pickett version was ranked number 152 on Dave Marsh's list of The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made.