These new acts’ popularity was a direct result of Bill Haley and His Comets clearing a path for rock and roll in America. They lost a big part of their audience to sexier and wilder acts like Little Richard and Elvis Presley Ed Sullivan Show appearances. The lively performance and crowd pleasing antics really captivated Ed Sullivan’s audience that night.įollowing their two appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, Bill Haley and His Comets’ popularity began to decline. At one point, both musicians were lying on the ground playing their instruments. The two went back and forth, one playing the saxophone behind his back and the other holding his double bass like a guitar while spinning in circles. Next thing the audience knew, he was playing his bass while lying on top of it. The bass player joined in, straddling his bass as he plucked the strings. The saxophonist opened with an incredible solo, holding his sax way up above his head and dropping to his knees. All eyes were on the antics of the bassist and the sax player. The boys really rocked the audience with an astounding and fervent performance to close out the show. The band then came out at the end of the show and wowed the crowd with the instrumental rock and roll hit “Rudy’s Rock.” They opened with the big band number “40 Cups of Coffee.” The performance was highlighted by the enthusiastic saxophone player, who arched his back to almost a 90 degree angle. Following their 1957 UK tour, on ApBill Haley and His Comets returned to The Ed Sullivan Show. With the success of “Rock Around The Clock” and “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” the band became an international success. That evening Bill Haley and His Comets caught the attention of people in living rooms throughout the country and introduced them to the growing rock and roll revolution. Haley gave a playful performance, rolling his eyes and smiling to the audience during his frantic delivery of the lyrics.
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Following Ed’s introduction, Haley, with his spit curl and plaid dinner jacket, took the stage with His Comets for an energetic performance of “Rock Around The Clock.” The Comets were all dressed in matching suits and bobbed back and forth to the music. On August 7, 1955, Ed Sullivan’s Toast of the Town was held at the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut.
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In 1955, “Rock Around The Clock” spent 24 weeks at #1 on the Billboard charts and became the anthem for rebellious Fifties youth. The song, released in the spring of 1954, made the Billboard charts, but was initially overshadowed by their hit “Shake Rattle and Roll.” However, following the use of “Rock Around The Clock” in the opening credits of the film Blackboard Jungle, the song really took off. However, it was “Rock Around The Clock,” released in 1954, that marked the arrival of a cultural shift to the new musical genre. And in 1953, they became Bill Haley and His Comets, in reference to Halley’s Comet.īill Haley and His Comets had their first national success in 1953 with the release of “Crazy Man, Crazy.” It was the first recognized rock and roll song to appear on the US charts. In 1951 they recorded a cover of “Rocket 88,” making it the first rock and roll recording by a white artist. This new sound was being recognized as rock and roll.
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On January 28, 1956, the group entered the US album chart with an LP also entitled Rock Around The Clock, a Decca compilation featuring that and other Haley hits.īuy or stream “Rock Around The Clock” on Bill Haley and his Comets’ Universal Masters Collection.Originally called “Bill Haley and the Saddlemen,” the group started mixing blues with country and western.
#BILL HAYLEY AND THE COMETS ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK MOVIE#
That last outing came after the song was prominent in the movie smash American Graffiti, which also took it back to No.39 in America. As subsequent generations learned of its importance, it went to No.20 in 1968 and No.12 in 1974. Then “Rock” showed its staying power, charting again in Britain in September 1956, when it hit No.5. That success, on Decca, prompted a re-release on Brunswick in the UK, and this time, the song really took off, spending three weeks at No.1 in November and December. Listen to the 50s playlist for more by Bill Haley and his Comets and other key acts of the decade. After being featured in the 1955 movie Blackboard Jungle, it then made the American survey in May, and went on to spend eight weeks at No.1, widely hailed as the first chart-topper of the rock’n’roll era. “Rock Around The Clock” was first recorded by Sonny Dae on the Arcade label in 1954, with Haley’s version (cut three weeks later) following that May, but only as the B-side of another track from the same session, “Thirteen Women (And Only One Man in Town.” In fact, “Rock” was a chart record in Britain before it was in the US, if only for those two weeks.