Bill Haley, twentieth century Shaker

On this day in 1955 the recording Rock around the Clock by Bill Haley and the Comets reached number one in the Billboard listings. It was not the first Rock’n Roll record, nevertheless it is widely considered to be the song that brought Rock’n Roll into mainstream culture around the world. In 1955 the Second World War was a recent memory. In Britain, rationing had ended a few months previously and austerity was still much in evidence. The impact of this recording was huge and its influence for change massive. Though it sounds dated today, in the fifties it caused riots among teenagers in schools and cinemas and opened the world to pop culture. Rock’n Roll moved on to Elvis, Little Richard and others. Bill Haley and the Comets were s...

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