YouTube Gold: Rock Around The Clock

Live on the Ed Sullivan show

The early days of rock ‘n roll are long gone and all the early rockers are gone. Jerry Lee Lewis was the last of the big stars and he passed away in 2022.

One of the earliest stars was Bill Haley, who rose to popularity as Bill Haley and His Comets.

Haley came from Detroit but his family moved to Pennsylvania when he was seven. His parents were both musicians and Haley came of age when a lot of influences were swirling and they were all accessible by radio: R&B, big band, jazz and Western swing were all influences on his style.

His first big hit, and his most enduring one, was Rock Around the Clock, which was released originally in 1954 and re-released in 1955, when it became a much bigger hit.

It probably wasn’t the first rock ‘n roll song - as Fats Domino said, the style had been in New Orleans for 15 years - but it was the first one to hit big nationally.

Very soon after, Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Lewis, Carl Perkins and Buddy Holly would burst on the scene and Haley and his Comets would fade.

But they never went away. When the show Happy Days debuted in 1974, Rock Around the Clock was the theme song and it was a hit again. It was also used in the movie American Grafitti.

That was part of a ‘50’s revival that boosted his later career, but Haley developed some serious health problems. It wasn’t entirely clear what went wrong other than alcoholism, but the last part of his life was very difficult. He passed away at 55 in 1981. His music still sounds pretty keen, especially perhaps Rock Around The Clock.