Bill Haley & The Comets with previously unissued recordings from 1955.
1.Birth of the boogie 2.Huckleberry 3.That's what you're doing to me 4.Let's all rock together 5.Ole man river 6.Deed I do 7.Big mamou 8.I've told every little star 9.Rock around the clock 10.Dim dim the lights 11.Shake rattle and roll 12.Mambo rock 13.Rock the joint 14.Straight jacket 15.Crazy man crazy 16.Rock around the clock
Bill Haley & The Comets
"When 'Rock around the clock' hit number One on the American charts in the summer of 1955 (and in Britain in November of that year), most historians say it was the start of the rock'n'roll era and the beginning of the whole pop music revolution. 'Rock around the clock' by Bill Haley & The Comets was one of the biggest-selling singles in history, returning to the record charts on repeated occasions and clocking up an eventual worldwide total in excess of 20 million copies. Not bad, considering that Haley only recorded the song as a favour to his manager, who had co-written and published it acouple of years earlier without success. Bill Haley was born in Detroit in 1925, and moved to Pennsylvania at the age of four. He grew up with C&W and hillbilly music, and turned professional during the early forties. Haley spent the rest of the decade playing in those styles with various small-time bands. In the early fifties, he took the bold decision to record some black rhythm and blues songs and adapt them for the white market - these included, most notably, 'Rocket 88' and 'Rock the joint'. This fusion of white C&W with black R&B became known as rock'n'roll - Haley was one of the first to do it, and the first to succeed with it. In 1953, Bill Haley & his Comets (as they had just been christened) reached the US national charts with Bill's own compilation, 'Crazy man crazy'. During 1954-5 he recorded songs from a variety of sources, and when 'Shake rattle and roll', 'Dim dim the lights' and 'Mambo rock' began appearingin national Top 20's on both sides of the Atlantic alongside names like Doris Day and Frankie Laine, the music business smelt the whiff of a new musical revolution. This was confirmed by the arrival of Rock around the clock, which had actually been recorded in April 1954 but did not make its impact till the second half of 1955. Its elevation to legendary status was fuelled by its use as the theme for the seminal '55 youth movie 'Blackboard jungle'. During the remainder of 55 and 56, Haley's Comets chalked up a prolific string of hits, often featuring the word 'rock' somewhere in the title. They were especially popular in Britain, where 'Rock around the clock', 'Rock a-beatin' boogie', 'See you later alligator', 'The saints rock'n'roll', 'Rockin' through the rye', 'Razzle dazzle', 'Rip it up' and 'Rudy's rock' combined to give Haley a golden 1956 and, according to the Guinness book of Hit Singles, the best year for any act in UK chart history. When Bill arrived in Britain in February 1957, he was given an overwhelming reception. Paradoxically, the tour also helped to kill his short career stone dead - fans suddenly realised that he was a somewhat podgy married man in his early 30's. British youngsters quickly followed the leads of their American counterparts by crowning the frenetic 22-year-old Elvis Presley as king of rock'n'roll. During the 60's and 70's Haley remained an active international touring performer, although these tours were latterly interrupted by sporadic periods of semi-retirement. Successful re-issues of 'Rock around the clock' also helped keep him in the public eye. Another European tour was being planned when Haley died of a heart attack in February 1981 in Harlingen, Texas; he was 55, and had recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of 'Rock around the clock'." Bob MacDonald
Bill Haley & The Comets with previously unissued recordings from 1955.