Friday 21 November 2014

7. Rock Around The Clock. Bill Haley & His Comets. May 1954.
He may have ripped off everybody musically but, as noted previously, he was the provider of the first white rock record. But, had Rock Around The Clock not come along he may have drifted into obscurity. Even at the onset it didn't seem a biggie.
When first release it sold a relatively modest 75,000 and went into retirement. Then it was chosen as the opening theme 'The Blackboard Jungle'. The film's teenage revolution theme allied to Haley's music over the opening credits, played loudly from cinema speakers proved mind blowing. The gap between generations opened up as never before and the kids turned the kiss curled Haley into an unlikely hero of the revolution.
When the song was used as the basis for 'Rock Around The Clock, the first rock n roll film proper, teens who felt they were unrepresented by a world of adults, took the film and song as their battle cry and vented their frustrations by ripping upthe cinema seats and danced in the aisles.

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