Bill Haley and His Comets lit up the skies of world popular culture with a meteoric new sound once they recorded “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” in New York City on this day in historical past, April 12, 1954.
“Rock Around the Clock” topped the U.S. Billboard singles chart for an unbelievable eight straight weeks in the summer season of 1955 and was a significant hit in the United Kingdom earlier that 12 months.
“We premiered it,” Haley advised Rolling Stone Magazine in 1967.
“We put country & western together with rhythm & blues, and that was rock. The first three years were ours, all ours, ’til [Elvis] Presley came along.”
Bill Haley and his Comets carry out onstage in 1955 in New York. They recorded “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock” in New York City in 1954. (PoPsie Randolph/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
“It was not the first recording of ‘Rock Around the Clock,’ nor was it Bill Haley’s first rock and roll record,” music scholar David Deacon-Joyner wrote for the Library of Congress.
“It was, however, the seismic event that kicked off the rock revolution.”
“We put country & western together with rhythm & blues, and that was rock.” — Bill Haley
The 12-bar blues tune with bouncy bass beat and blistering guitar solo, which might develop into a signature of the style, was the first rock tune heard by tens of millions of individuals round the world.
“Rock Around the Clock” was recorded as an afterthought for Decca Records at Pythian Temple Studios, 135 West seventieth St. on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
Bill Haley and His Comets rehearse at the Dominion Theatre in London, the place they are going to open their British tour. The Comets embrace accordion participant Johnnie Grande, bassist Al Rex, and saxophonist Ruddy Pompilli.(Getty Images)
The session was “arrange not for the recording of ‘(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock,’ however of a tune referred to as ‘Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town),'” reports History.com.
“It took the group nearly all of their scheduled session to get a useable take of “Thirteen Women’ … With time running out and no chance of extending the session, Haley and his Comets were eager to lay down the song they’d been enjoying dwell for a lot of months to enthusiastic viewers response.”
That song, “Rock Around the Clock,” was recorded in just two takes that “had been synchronized later and combined onto a 3rd tape” by producer Milt Gabler, Deacon-Joyner wrote.
It was remarkable engineering for its time.
“I assumed, (*1*) and fell in love with the now-famous B-side,” notes History.com.
A poster for George Lucas’ 1973 comedy “American Graffiti” starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard and Paul Le Mat. (Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images)
“That child, Peter Ford, occurred to be the son of actor Glenn Ford, who was slated to star in the upcoming teenage-delinquency drama ‘Blackboard Jungle.’”
The film was launched in March 1955 with “Rock Around the Clock” as its rebellious teen anthem.
The energetic tune inspired kids to dance spontaneously in theater aisles and “made the tune grew to become a worldwide smash,” Marty Ostrow wrote of the song on behalf of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“It was … a seismic occasion that kicked off the rock revolution.” — David Deacon-Joyner, music scholar
Liverpool teenager Richard Starkey, later known as Ringo Starr, was among the youngsters on both sides of the Atlantic blown away by the movie theme song and the reaction it inspired.
“They ripped up the cinema!!! They simply threw the chairs and went loopy,” Starr said in 2021, after recording and releasing his own version of “Rock Around the Clock.”
“I assumed, ‘WOW this is great!!!!’ I keep in mind that second prefer it was yesterday, it was unbelievable. And the tune simply rocks.”
Legendary rock guitarist Joe Walsh plays the signature solo on Starr’s recent remake.
Bill Haley and His Comets, featuring Al Rappa standing on his double bass, perform on “Thank Your Lucky Stars” TV show at Aston Studios in September 1964 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Image is part of David Redfern Premium Collection. (David Redfern/Redferns)
“Rock Around the Clock” enjoyed a rebirth in the 1970s as the opening song to 1950s period movie “American Graffiti” and the original theme song of the popular TV hit it inspired, “Happy Days,” which debuted in 1974.
“Other records could lay declare to actually being the first,” writes music history outlet Rebeatmag.com, “however ‘Rock Around the Clock’ was the first heard by tens of millions round the world.”
