Peppermint Twist: The Mob, the Music, and the Most Famous Dance Club of the '60s

Front Cover
Macmillan, Nov 13, 2012 - True Crime - 304 pages

The never-before-told story of The Peppermint Lounge, the famed Manhattan nightspot and mobster hangout that launched an era

The Peppermint Lounge was intended to be nothing more than a front for gambling and other rackets but the club became a sensation after Dick "Cami" Camillucci began to feature a new kind of music, rock and roll. The mobsters running the place found themselves juggling rebellious youths alongside celebrities like Greta Garbo and Shirley MacLaine. When The Beatles visited the club, Cami's uncle-in-law had to restrain a hitman who was after Ringo because his girlfriend was so infatuated with the drummer.

Working with Dick Cami himself, Johnson and Selvin unveil this engrossing story of the go-go sixties and the club that inspired the classic hits "Twisting the Night Away" and "The Peppermint Twist."

 

Selected pages

Other editions - View all

Peppermint Twist: The Mob, the Music, and the Most Famous Dance Club of the '60s
John Johnson,Joel Selvin,Dick Cami
Limited preview - 2012

Common terms and phrases

agent American asked Ball Ballard band Beach became believe boys brought called Cami Checker Chubby close club crowd dance decided Dick Dick’s didn’t door eyes face finally five floor Frank front gave Genovese girls give going hand happened head Hotel Italy Joanie Johnny Johnny’s keep killed knew known later living look loved Mafia manager meeting Miami months Morris Levy moved movie never night once opened Peppermint Lounge play record restaurant rock rock-and-roll roll running Scatsy side singing song South started story Street talking tell thing thought told took turned Twist Vinny walked wanted watch week wife York young

About the author (2012)

The son of a steel worker, JOHN JOHNSON, JR. attended Whittier College and UC Riverside. An award winning journalist, Johnson has worked for The Los Angeles Times for twenty-two years.
JOEL SELVIN, co-author of the #1 bestseller Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock with Sammy Hagar, has covered pop music for the San Francisco Chronicle since 1970 and written several other books about pop music including the bestselling account of San Francisco in the '60s, Summer of Love, an award-winning biography of Ricky Nelson and a landmark oral history on Sly and the Family Stone.

Both reside in California.

Raised in a musical family in the Bronx, DICK CAMI married the daughter of Mafia kingpin Johnny Biello, owner of the famed Peppermint Lounge. Cami later was an acclaimed restaurateur in South Florida, where he entertained high-ranking mafiosi, FBI agents, athletes and show business celebrities.

Bibliographic information

TitlePeppermint Twist: The Mob, the Music, and the Most Famous Dance Club of the '60s
AuthorsJoel Selvin, John Johnson, Jr., Dick Cami
PublisherMacmillan, 2012
ISBN1250013534, 9781250013538
Length304 pages
Subjects ›  ›  › 

History / United States / State & Local / Middle Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA)
True Crime / Historical
True Crime / Organized Crime
  
Export CitationBiBTeX EndNote RefMan