FIRST TIME REACTING TO | Billy Haley & His Comets - "ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK"

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[@davidsimon9303]

First rock song to go to #1 in the Billboard chart Theme song from 'Blackboard Jungle' (Sidney Poitier's 1st movie)

[@stevenewton4110]

And later for the early seasons of Happy Days

[@michaelway7936]

Sidney's first movie was in 1950(I believe the name was No Way Out)

[@raymoles]

It was not Sidney Poitier's first movie. His first movie was "No Way Out" in 1950. His Co-star was Richard Widmark. Check it out.

[@stevedennis937]

Blackboard Jungle was the rebel movie of the day when I was twelve years old. Loved the baseball into the blackboard while Glen Ford was teaching class.

[@phillipblades6784]

It was the first song in the movie “American Graffiti” too. Plays while the main characters are showing up at Mel’s drive-in.

[@pebblehilllane]

Yes, this is early rock & roll. For a very long time most musicians didn't see 'color.' All they cared about was talent.

[@lilamuzik3385]

So very true!

[@thomasmacdiarmid8251]

The musicians didn't, but unfortunately the radio program directors and the venue owners did. It enforced segregation and it took powerhouse acts like Elvis to force many venues to accept black performers and crossover acts like Otis Redding, Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix and Nat King Cole to open up radio. Many of the young people were listening to the 'race' stations (as the black stations were known), but to listen to the same songs around the older adults, they would listen to the bland watered-down versions of songs by musicians like Pat Boone (I can't blame him for taking that opportunity, and he introduced a lot of people to the songs that black musicians were writing).

[@Trebor74]

​@@thomasmacdiarmid8251* American radio programmers,etc.

[@tommack9395]

@@thomasmacdiarmid8251 Depends. I mean when you look at so many artist who came before, Louis Armstrong, the Duke, the Bird, Ella etc... were all well respected and famous. btw Nat King Cole "Sweet Lorraine" was his first hit, and that was 1940. In 1953 he performed for the ninth Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Chicago to a sold out stadium and in 1956 The Nat 'King' Cole Show first aired on television. Rock and Roll music had a different issue at first ... due it's reputation.

[@redtick79]

As an aside, this is the opening theme song to "Happy Days" a sit com set in the 50's. With the great Henry Winkler as Fonzi and Ron Howard as Richie Cunningham. Happy days came out on the late 70's. Loved it! A spin off from the movie America Graffiti. What a time!

[@leeyaferguson9019]

YEP.

[@LaptopLarry330]

“Happy Days” came out in 1973 and ran until 1984.

[@redtick79]

I should have looked it up, It was actually 1974. I remember watching it in high school.

[@JamesLachowsky]

It was used as the Happy Days opening theme only for the first two seasons.

[@ericzeichert511]

If you want a quick and absolutely amazing review of 1950's and very early 60's rock and roll (without Elvis) the American Grafitti Soundtrack is a TOTALLY MUST listen album. 41 of the biggest early rock songs.

[@seansersmylie]

Bill Haley is often credited as bringing Rock n Roll to the masses as this song was played on tv in 1953. Bo Diddley blew everyone away on the Ed Sullivan show in 1955, you should check him out. Others of the era are Little Richard, Eddie Cochrane, Buddy Holly and The Crickets, 'The Killer' Jerry-Lee Lewis and of course Elvis was the biggest star of the time. Both Little Richard and Jerry-Lee were great at climbing all over pianos🤣

[@chuckwilson4186]

Well said !

[@P-M-869]

Don't forget Wanda Jackson. She was called the female Elvis.

[@thomastimlin1724]

How can you NOT mention Chuck Berry?

[@db90990]

Wasn't it 1954 vs '53?

[@shawnmosley8412]

The song was first recorded in 52 but not by Haley. Haley recorded it in April 54 but it didn't really do much until it was performed in Black Board Jungle. Interestingly enough, Haley is sometimes to referred to the Father of R&R because of this song. Yet it was recorded only 3 months before Elvis' That's All Right.

[@4stringtim]

This was the original theme song for the "Happy Days" TV show.

[@NCthorn]

GMTA

[@felixdk8727]

This is great music. Yes Bill Haley was definitely in the delivering room with Elvis, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Wanda Jackson, Connie Francis and host of others when rock 'n' roll was born. Some of his musicians were of italian descent. Swing, jive, jitterbug dancers could easily adapt to rock 'n' roll. The music was a mixture of hillbilly, rythm & blues, gospel and had some subgenres like rockabilly, doo-wop, and swingband style like Bill Haley.

[@thomastimlin1724]

Chuck Berry Chuck Berry, Chuck Berry!!! Hello? Chuck Berry!!! Bo Diddley, Carl Perkins, all those. But Bill Haley came first....See You Later Alligator, Skinny Minnie, Shake Rattle and Roll...

[@kenhellberg7973]

excellent explination

[@felixdk8727]

@@kenhellberg7973 Thank you very much.

[@felixdk8727]

@@thomastimlin1724 Na, Bill Haley didn't come "first" "Rock Around The Clock" only became a hit in 1955, the same year that Chuck Berry had his first hit. But a national hit is not necessarily an indicator of having great ideas or influence. Those that I mentioned all were at it at around the same time.

[@ws3764]

What a joy watching young people like yourself having these wonderful reactions to the past. So awesome 👍

[@scottgorski7931]

Young girl, you need to watch the movie American Graffiti.

[@martinmckowen1588]

Was thinking exactly this!!!

[@andynieuwenhuis7833]

​@@martinmckowen1588 She should watch Chuck Berry doing Johny B Good.

[@Stefan_der_Oberfranke]

@@andynieuwenhuis7833 right. But Bill Haley was two years before Chuck Berry (maybellene).

[@G-MAN1958]

This song was featured in the movie, "The Blackboard Jungle," which also featured a very young Sidney Poitier. ☮

[@yugioht42]

Absolute classic rock like this was built from jazz and the sounds of the big band era. You kinda hear it in the melodies. classic rock also helped spawn surf music with its guitar riffs and fun atmosphere.

[@yugioht42]

One of the first ever rock songs. The song actually first came with a movie and kids would just line up for the song and leave to do something else after the song. The theaters made bank when they were showing the movie. This song helped launch Elvis’ career as he used the sounds to base his music on.

[@thomastimlin1724]

Wasn't just the first ever, it was officially the first. They released the record the year before and it went nowhere. When the movie Blackboard Jungle used it as their movie theme the next year, kids went in droves to see the movie about a teacher dealing with juvenile delinquents. They heard the song and went out a bought it... the record took off like a rocket. It was the first rock and roll record that went #1. Truly the song that kick started Rock and Roll Music big time. Kids finally had their own music instead being forced to listen to their parents' music.

[@andrewandreas2063]

this song had nothing to do with elvis career . get your facts right

[@les4767]

@@andrewandreas2063 No kidding...I'd say the only artist you can really see a direct connection to Bill Halley would be Brian Setzer.

[@andrewandreas2063]

@@les4767 whats that supposed to mean

[@les4767]

@@andrewandreas2063 It means that the only artist I can think of who took the idea of electric rockabilly guitar with a full swing big band after Bill Halley was Brian Setzer.

[@michelm306]

Chuck Berry, among many others, was very influencial in shaping Rock 'n Roll as well

[@andreadeamon6419]

I'm so glad my mom raised me listening to this type of music. She would blare her favorite songs for most of the neighborhood to enjoy - and we'd be dancing away. Thankful i lived by the rock and roll hall of fame for a while. Going back this summer to see what's new. Easily spend the whole day in there

[@EdwardGregoryNYC]

Just checked up on your question, and yes, the Comets are considered the first truly integrated rock band. It certainly would have limited some of their venues - especially in the South. It would also have complicated what hotels and restaurants they could visit on their tours. Great catch!

[@user-gz5xt1lj4t]

So funny, I was a kid in elementary when this song came out, and I was a majorette in the band and we marched to Rock Around the Clock in a parade in Norfolk Virginia, I thought I was so cool. thanks for the great memories, Britt, you do things well. Your 80 year old fan, Mary

[@lisafiraben2589]

This was also the theme song from Happy Days, another 70's sitcom which was about a group teenagers in the 50's. There are so many great shows from the 70's to react to!!

[@sassyjintheuk]

Awesome talent. That guitar is awesome.

[@tchampagne1494]

They are jitterbugging. My mother, born in 1931, was an enthusiastic jitterbugger. Some are dancing The Swing. This was the transition from the big band sound to rock-n-roll. Rock-n-roll was the natural progression with the introduction of the electric guitar and drums. I was born in 1953 with the birth of rock-n-roll and this song. The music scene exploded, like the big bang, with transistor radios in everyone's hands, music became a huge money machine. Suddenly, within a few short years there were so many genres of music available widely to the public. The demand for records was a huge force that kept musicians working on coming up with the newest sound for 45s and albums and for the growing radio audience. It was an exciting time to grow up.

[@billwell9266]

grew up listening to this era of rock music with my dad , played a lot of it on drums in HS/college, and still love it

[@jilljohnson6982]

This is the start of rock, before Elvis, not swing, that was 1930's to 1940's.

[@barbaramorant6673]

You are so right. This was the beginning of Rock and Roll .

[@highpath4776]

"western Swing" was the crossover bridge to forming rock and roll

[@crsounddoctor4937]

Hey Britt, This song also became the theme song for the TV Hit Show Series: "HAPPY DAYS" back in the 70's, but the show was about life in Mid-West America during the 50's!!!

[@schuberttim]

There were integrated bands in Jazz going back to the 1920s and 30s. Many people think Rock and Roll was purely the offspring of Blues, or Country and Western and Blues, but there was a bit of a Jazz inspired ethos also around in Rock and Roll. It became even more pronounced with the improvisational nature of Progressive Rock in the next generation of Rock musicians. That was one of the best things about bands like the Beatles, they listened to everything from Country to Blues to Jazz and Rockabilly and were influenced by everything they ever heard and liked. They used to play artists like Fats Waller and Big Bill Broonzy in their early live sets.

[@richdiddens4059]

Some musical historians claim the first notes of rock and roll were played by a band called the Maddox Brothers and Sister Rose in the late 1930's. They called it Hillbilly Boogie. When a song of that title came out in 1946 the genre began to be called Rockabilly. The structure of this song is really a 12-bar blues song at a faster tempo. The emerging rock and roll was a mix of mostly rockabilly and blues, with a little swing, jazz, and gospel thrown in. P.S. The record companies didn't really like rock and roll and made a concerted effort to supplant it with things like calypso and samba music that would be an easier transition for their legacy big names to transition to.

[@jimsteinmanfan80]

I've read some books about rockabilly but I have never before heard of "people" starting to call Hillbilly boogie Rockabilly in 1946. Do you have any reference of ANYONE doing this?

[@richdiddens4059]

@@jimsteinmanfan80 My apologies. A clearer statement would be that hillbilly boogie was a genre. In 1946 a song called Guitar Boogie was also commonly called Hillbilly Boogie and the genre began to be called country boogie. Country boogie was one of the major contributors of what became Rockabilly. Rock from Rock and Roll and Billy from hillbilly boogie and hillbilly music. Much of this is from a few Wikipedia articles on Country Music, Guitar Boogie, and The Maddox Brothers and Sister Rose. Some other came from listening to stories by a radio DJ in Modesto with the air name of Smokey Silver, real name Elmer Kunkle.

[@jimsteinmanfan80]

Oh, ok @@richdiddens4059 "began to be called country boogie" and "began to be called rockabilly" is a bit of a difference, that's what I was surprised by.

[@robertrichardson2617]

This was the theme song to the TV show Happy Days where are we all met the Fonz or Fonzi.

[@mettfury6204]

AAAyyyyY!

[@P-M-869]

I remember when this came out. Our father just bought my sister a Hi-Fi and this album too. First came Rock-a-Billy which evolved into Rock & Roll. My sister taught me to Jitterbug to this music. What you were calling swing is the Jitterbug. Sock Hopes we dances at school and you would take off your shoes in the Gym.

[@rs-ye7kw]

Swing/rock and roll music. The dance was called the jitterbug.

[@Eyes-of-Horus]

Rock and Roll is a mixture of many different music styles: Jazz, Swing, Country, Gospel, Blues, R & B. As you listen to the music especially from the 50s and into the 60s you'll hear all of it coming through. Bill Haley is the light hair guy with the "spit curl" and guitar. At first he had an accordion. The guitar came later because the accordion didn't look good. "Rock Around the Clock" was the first really big Rock and Roll hit. It spawned a film of the same title in 1956. Many of the Doo-Wop groups were integrated. When I was in high school I had a singing group made up of 3 Black guys doing back-up and I was the lead singer. Didn't really go anywhere . BTW, the girl at the end in the black tights was an actress named Lisa Gaye. She was a professional dancer and actress. She did several of the Rock and Roll movies at the time. She was pretty hot.

[@harvey1954]

I come from Bill Haley country. His house, Melody Manor, is two miles from where I live. I use to take guitar lessons from one of his lead guitarists. His music was rock, but with swing elements. You can jitterbug to early 50s rock and Big Band. The Comets were white, but there were some integrated bands like the Del Vikings in the 50s. Bill did try to pitch one of his rock tunes to the Treniers, another early rock band that was all black, because Bill was still country and thought his audience might not be ready for rock. The dance moves in the air are called aerials. Bill and the Comets did two takes (they only had half an hour to record RATC) to make this record, but it was only a B-side. It was later when it was used for the film The Blackboard Jungle that it became a hit. Bill wasn't swing, but his rock and roll certainly did swing. Franny Beecher, his lead guitarist, hired after RATC hit, had played with Benny Goodman.

[@jaybo2023]

Thank you.... I love the fact you go everywhere on your/our musical journey, I've heard this song a hundred plus times...I'm glad you brought a great song back to me...again thank you

[@jeremiahrose4681]

Awe those oldies but goodies, grew up on those and I was born in 71'. Love those old rock songs. Makes me feel happy every time I hear them.

[@Canucklehead557]

Bill Haley has a great catalogue. Dive in to the drive in. Awesome tunes from back in the day when love was true and music was too.

[@phillipblades6784]

Makes me picture the beginning of “American Graffiti”. The movie is set in 1962, but made in 1973. It made this music popular again for my generation. For a 5 year old me at least, and it’s still one of my favorite kinds of music.

[@howarddukor2891]

Rock ‘n’ roll is the combination of jazz blues swing that’s what started everything every music you listen to start it up there

[@douglassellers7528]

Yes the 50's and I around 3-4 when this came out. Love it!

[@brittreacts]

Rock on!

[@lindaw8958]

My dad played guitar in a band called The Key Notes, and they toured with Bill Haley and The Comets for a few weeks in the Oregon/Washington area. My dad has some great stories from touring in the 50’s. Then he met my mom, who was a chorus line dancer, and they got married and left show business. Had me a year later.

[@prettyboyfloydms]

This song was originally used for the 1st season of the 70s sitcom Happy Days (which had The Fonz as their "leather cladded cool guy).

[@kenhellberg7973]

This was the 1st "Rock & Roll" record to be a hit. I saw them live at an Alan Fried Rock & Roll Show at the Brooklyn paramount theater in the mid 50's. Yes we dressed and danced like that and it was referred to as the devils' music. Rock and roll was colorblind. Blacks and whites developed it in different ways. Bo Diddly (at the same concert, introduced african rhythms. There were about maybe 7 TOP acts there. A wonderful experience. I wish I had kept the program.

[@eddietorres1000]

This was The Theme Song for the 70's TV Show "Happy Days" for the first Few Seasons which took place in the 1950's

[@kjetilknyttnev3702]

The godfather of early rock, and set the stage for the later rockabilly era. The style was called "jitterbugging" and was a musical liberation. They were controversial, because the instrumentations are quite simplistic, and music up until then was mostly about proficiency and talent, or soulfulness. This was just pure energy and fun, and that was unheard of at the time.

[@ambisinistral]

I actually saw the Comets, or what was left of them, in a small bar in the 1980s. The standup bass and sax players were the originals, the rest were filled out by young guys. It was a good show. After their sets I invited them to my table for a beer. Didn't get rid of them until they drank up all the money in my wallet, but it was worth it. Good guys with a lot of stories.

[@TrevorRamone]

One of the first songs I ever learned on guitar. My next door neighbor when I was growing up was a guitar player and he played in Bill Haley's band (not the original guitar player). He taught me how to play the guitar solo and I would practice it every day until my fingers hurt. That guitar solo was a face melter back in his day. :)

[@TheHessian123]

I saw that you enjoyed "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and his Comets. There is a great song who's cover is done by a group called Sha Na Na. The original was performed by a group named "The Silhouettes" The sang is called "Get a Job". Its a 1950's song. Great tune.

[@douglasswicegood4420]

Most kids just said let's rock 'n' roll! Swing is faced paced forties swing this is rock swinging free style.

[@JesseOaks-ef9xn]

A sock hop was a dance in the school gym. You couldn't wear street shoe so they took them off and danced in their socks. In the 1950s I lived a short distance from the school, it had the high school and grade school next to each other. We had a full size gym and they had hops (dances) in the gym. I was in grade school but did get to see the high school kids dancing. Rock Around the Clock got played as well as other lively dance songs. Even though there was segregation, it wasn't so much when it came to music. Black musicians and singer had a lot of major hits. If you ever watched Happy Days on television, you would hear this song every week.

[@clintlandrum9498]

I loved how much britt appreciated the dancing.

[@SteveZilliox-vq9xp]

"Sock Hop"... the original meaning. Back in the 50's, dances were held in the school gym on the basketball court. Coaches were so protective of their wood gym floors that they did not allow "street shoes" on the floor. Everyone was required to remove their shoes and dance in their sox. Hence the term "Sock Hop". Bill Haley was a pioneer in pure Rock & Roll music. This is Rock at it's purest and best. I was there, and YES, that's how we danced.

[@gerdmechnich8698]

Although records of rock'n'roll music had already been released before, the recording of the track "Rock around the Clock" by Bill Haley & the comets on April 12, 1954 is considered the birth of rock'n'roll. This song was the first international rock 'n' roll hit. The history of rock'n'roll began in America in the 1920s: swing and blues emerged as new styles of music and dance styles. Both types of music are based on the 4/4 time, which is also the basis of boogie-woogie. What are the three roots of rock n roll? Their roots lie in the spirituals, gospel and blues songs of the African-American slaves as well as in rhythm & blues and jazz.

[@marcelkuijper8240]

This was my mom and dad's favourite song when they were dating in the 1950's. Whenever I see footage of teenagers of that era dancing to something like this, I can't help watching my parents having so much fun. They have fond memories of that time.

[@johnnyd5285]

This was the first big “Rock & Roll “ song to hit the charts. It was used in the film “Black Board Jungle”, and teens went to see the movie just to hear the song!

[@user-iu8uw8ux1r]

The dance style is "jitterbug", which began in the swing era of the '30s and '40s and continued into the '50s.

[@Judy0910]

This is true rock and roll of the 50's. Yes, we danced at sock hops. Straight skirts, full dresses with layers of crinoline slips. Capri pants were also in. Bill Haley, Elvis, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and many more were big back then.

[@user-David-Alan]

Swing was 40's and this is early rock in the 50's. The dance is called the jitterbug. Stay well and be safe.

[@db90990]

Bill Haley - another friend of Elvis Presley-elvis respected Bill for helping him to open the doors to r & roll & no doubt it was mutual 🎹🎙🎼🎸🪕

[@stevedahlberg8680]

I was fortunate enough to be playing in a rockabilly band in the early nineties when there was a huge swing resurgence, and people would sometimes dress the part and come out, and some of them really knew how to dance like this. It was so amazing to be playing while people danced to it. My drummer and his sister were actually incredibly talented at this as a dancing couple, and so if we were opening for a national touring act, then when we were done and their part of the show had started, we would come down from the Green Room and participate, and I'd get to watch my drummer and his sister just go off, along with lots of other people.

[@jasonlmeadows]

Bill Haley and his Comets are considered by many to be the first rock n roll band. I love the heavy sound of that stand up bass. I have also said that the guitar solo in this, even though it not at the speed or complexity as we are use to today, considering the time period strikes me as an early form of "shredding." There are many forms of rock music and its origins are from a variety of sources. A lot of influence came from blues and jazz. There is a lot of influence also from performers of the African American community. Two very early rock legends were Little Richard and Chuck Berry. I use to teach a class on the history of Rock N Roll and Heavy Metal. It was a fun topic to teach.

[@nickicribb4299]

This recording is acknowledged by the experts" and historians as the "The First Rock&Roll record." I could argue their expertise, but this is still a classic example of the roots of Rock&Roll.

[@stevedennis937]

That song was a cover of a Sonny Dae and the Knights cover in 1953. First Rock and Roll song was Ike Turner and "Rocket 88"in 53

[@rockinbones8508]

​@@stevedennis937 There's a dozen or more songs that can be called early RnR that predate Turners song. Turners is one of many contenders

[@stevedennis937]

That statement is more of a tabula rasa. Blanket statements aside what are your contenders?@@rockinbones8508

[@user-bz3de9to8x]

@@stevedennis937 Sonny Dae actually recorded his version about 2 weeks before Haley did. I doubt it had even been released yet. It was once thought they had recorded it in 53 but it's now known it was in March 1954. And Brentson's recording is rhythm and blues; compare it to Haley's recording from the same year which is more traditional rock and roll, though as rockinbones correctly states below, there were numerous songs of numerous genres that had the building blocks. See Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by the Andrews Sisters, for example, or Noah by the Jubilaires (a.k.a. the first rap song). Even Judy Garland recorded a song about how people would "rock" at a show for the MGM musical Thousands Cheer in 1943!

[@stevedennis937]

God invented it on day one, it just took awhile to catch on. I first heard it in 53 or 54 on KETZ Sweet 16 in St. Louis at that time as a young lad and that station played nothing but rocking tunes that were not on radio in that area for years. In other white folks were not listening to these songs on pop stations. It was great to be a kid then. Very innocent and fun.@@user-bz3de9to8x

[@angelomaurizio1668]

The story went prior to this song Bill Hailey and His Comets were a Country Western band. In early 1954, Bill Hailey recorded this song but everyone hated the song. It wasn't until 1955 when a movie called 'Blackboard Jungle' used the song for its opening. The movie was a social drama film filled with troubled high school students and featured a young Sidney Poitier. Not only was the movie a success but the song 'Rock around the Clock' created a phenom and Rock n Roll was born. Many parents did not like their children listening to Rock n Roll music because of Blackboard Jungle's influence that featured bullying, gang violence and robbery. In the end, Rock Around The Clock made Bill Hailey the Godfather of Rock n Roll.

[@sirrex9982]

this is good ole fashioned pure Rock n Roll! early rock has roots in jazz blues swing and do wop

[@highpath4776]

In 1954 Bill had written Rock a Beating Boogie for the Esquire Boys (recorded twice by them) 2nd recording included Danny Cedrone (lead guitar), (also a Comet member until his untimely death ) Bob Scaltrito (rhythm guitar), and Frank Virtue (bass). Frank would later form The Virtues, who scored, in 1959, with "Guitar Boogie Shuffle," a tune that The Esquire Boys had also recorded in 1953. And again a lot of Arthur Smith's Guitar Boogie influenced Rock and Roll music

[@user-ur1jp9uv6j]

the 50's had so much fun music, you never heard a disparidging remark about anything it was all about having fun and getting along with one-another

[@terryaustin5976]

There were previous R&R songs but this is said to be the first R&R "HIT" ever recorded.

[@stevedahlberg8680]

Rock and roll, and for that matter rockabilly, which is very very related to this feel and instrumentation here, can either be swung or played straight. But this absolutely works as swing dance music.

[@carolcliff5150]

'sock hop' is correct! Quintessential '50s rock 'n roll. Definitely fun music.

[@dawg897]

Swing, Blues, and Jazz was the biggest influneces in the begining of Rock n Roll.

[@dougsusie2319]

This is probably the first rock and roll song that took over nation in 1953. Before Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Buddy Holly. This song started it all as far as I'm cocerned. Peace ❤

[@MrTech226]

Britt Bill Haley and his Comets might ushered in Rock N Roll, but it was pioneering radio DJ named Alan Freed coined Rock N Roll in Cleveland (Home of Rock Hall of Fame).

[@MikeWebb-lx3pu]

I was there, I'm 80 years old. Yes it was Rock, Swing, Jitterbug, Stomp, Pony, Sock Hop, Twist etc. etc., on and on, I still Jitterbug...Mike

[@chrislofotos]

Great memories for me, I remember my older brothers jiving to this dressed in his teddy boy gear, winkle picker shoes and long sideburns 😀

[@ivansavoie3190]

This song was used in the opening of the show Happy Days, great reaction

[@roycoxe7870]

While this song was popular, we were dancing to "The Wallflower" (Dance With Me Henry).

[@jeffdetmer4681]

That was rock n roll. A lot of what you described as loud and maybe a bit harsh is different. There are multiple genres of rock. The 50s 60s were really about rock n roll. As much as I love that older stuff, I believe that the later 60s and all the 70s was the best time for music. I can remember being at the beach or driving around and listening to that good old AM radio. You would hear the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys (3 of the biggest groups of the era and well ever). But you would also hear Motown, soul, some of the old doo wop from the 50s, the British Invasion. The 70s in my mind was the decade of the singer/songwriter. James Taylor, Carole King, John Denver, Jim Croce and so many more. You would also hear great folk songs from people like Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Judy Collins and others. Great bands and groups as well. It was a great time for Country music as well. Swing dancing is typically done to more of a jazzy kind of sound. there is an amazing band that does New Orleans jazz. They are called Tuba Skinny. There are a lot of their videos on YT. There are groups of swing dancers on some of those videos who go to wherever Tuba Skinny is playing (very often on the street) and dance to their music. Britt you should check out some old vids of a TV show called American Bandstand. It used to be on every afternoon and they played the hits of the day and had a live audience of kids many of whom would do the dances of the day as well. You would probably like it a lot. Also Britt I am leaving you a link below. I know you reacted to a Cab Calloway song. This is Cab and his orchestra playing and the Nicholas Brothers dancing to Jumpin Jive. Trust me Britt. Gonna love it!!! kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6Cwk5h6naxsnLc

[@badbob6689]

I'd almost be willing to bet Dick Clark from American Bandstand still looks 30 years old.

[@jackempson3044]

Shuffles and swings are in a lot of rock songs still today. As a musician they're fun to play to.

[@merlinathrawes746]

The first big rock hit ever. Also the original theme song for Happy Days.

[@MarySiddell]

this was the very beginning of rock n roll. yes was the mid to late fifties. Great music. this was the first album i had.

[@johnbrookes3261]

This is rock n roll Britt the dancing is called the JIVE or Jiving . Bill Haley made great Jiving music as you can see by the dancers . Jerry Lee Lewis Chuck Berry Elvis and lots more made the 50s great great time . Try Reacting to the Platters You will be surprised how good and Unique they sound . Thanks Britt for bringing the 50s into your channel there are lots of brilliant artists from back then I know you have already brought country music from then . bur its nice to hear the rock and roll which influenced modern music. Thanks Britt good to c you Bak . John

[@user-yo9td7sx8m]

The birth of rock and roll. In my opinion, Bill Haley is the single most important figure in the greatest genres of music in history.

[@JB-yb4wn]

No, not the Beatles, oh no, they were shit amateurs compared to Billy Boy. Yes sir, how many hits did Billy have? Did he write "Rock Around the Clock"? Did he write "Shake, Rattle and Roll"? No he didn't. Did the Beatles write their own tunes? They sure as shit did.

[@user-yo9td7sx8m]

@@JB-yb4wn The Beatles did not birth rock and roll. Far from it. Were they one of the most influential bands, yes. Important to the birth of the genre, no.

[@JB-yb4wn]

@@user-yo9td7sx8m Not what you wrote

[@NCthorn]

This was the 'theme song' of the tv show Happy Days too for the first season.

[@jaybrower9009]

That is rock and roll They were doing the jitter bug. When we werfe inn the fifth grade, our teacher had a record player and rock and roll records So at recess we could dance in the room She was really cool. We did the jitter bug and the stroll. It was a blast. I was about 11.

[@badbob6689]

The dancing was swing and a continuation from the 40's but the music was Rock and roll or Rock a Billy from the mid 50's. This song is a couple of years older than me so I alway called it a "golden oldies". In many respects it was music that got the civil right movement "a rockin and a rolling" and opening up opportunities based solely on talent.

[@SadPuppySoup]

My first rock idols were Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry (yeah I'm old) I sang Maybellene at a school concert and had everyone dancing. I love that era of music and the blues and blue grass, man what a time to be alive musically

[@bradjbourgeois73]

This is considered the first rock song, but you can surely hear the swing influence!

[@terrybangley2281]

It’s considered the beginning of the rock era because it was the first “rock and roll” song to go to number 1,

[@jbear3562]

This is where American Rock and Roll Started. Our parents called it Heathern, lascivious and smutty. We called the most fun you could have wearing clothes.

[@bobblynes3926]

"Swingin' into Rock 'n Roll" indeed, Sweetie! Haley was one of the pioneers, among Fats Domino, Little Richard and Elvis (Happy 89th Birthday) who changed music forever! Keep on educating you and your followers. (Why hasn't Hollywood called you yet?)

[@shirleydurr411]

"loud and aggressive" describes hard rock. This song is rock and roll in its early days. Dances held in school gyms were sock hops -- you couldn't wear shoes in the gym.

[@TruckerMike_FL]

This song was released in 1949 & is considered one of the first rock & roll hits.

[@MichaelScott-jy2si]

Most bands from the 50's were very multi races That's how they made such great sounds This is music at its best

[@josephkondrat6478]

The TV Show that used this song was called Happy Days which portrayed the average life of teenagers in the 1950's.

[@craigfleshman2715]

You mentioned Drive In Theaters. Back in the 1970's there was over 4,000 Drive In theatres. Today there is a little over 300.

[@chuckschulze6877]

A "sock hop" happened at the high school. It was called a sock hop because you can't wear regular shoes on the basketball court. Schools had dances and everyone had to wear socks

[@olbillythekid]

It's been almost 600 years since this song came out. Barney Rubble wrote this song in 1427.

[@stevedennis937]

This song is a cover of the song recorded in 1953 by Sonny Dae and his Knights.

[@joeconcepts5552]

My mom was in high school in this era. Poodle skirt, and everything. She always says she wishes her kids or grandkids could just live a day back then. At least for her and some people it was a simpler time. No era is perfect but she’s always nostalgic for it. But also don’t forget, this kind of music was actually considered wild kids’ music back then.

[@janeshure]

I was in grade school when that song came out. Shortly after Elvis came out.. The swing era was coming to an end, that was the glen miller and benny goodman era. Listen to a song called in the mood. You may like that also.

[@qkahunaq]

Thank you, that's a great review of my all-time favorite song!

[@ProdigyBowlersTour]

This is one of the very first rock 'n roll songs. It's complicated, and I won't try to go into all the details here (there are documentaries that'll explain it), but rock 'n roll sort of came out of swing music of the World War II era, as well as jazz and R&B of that time. Artists like Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Jerry Lee Lewis were among the first, along with Bill Haley and the Comets and others, to popularize this new genre. (You really need to listen to Little Richard's "Tooty Fruity" and the iconic "Good Golly Miss Molly." They're classics.) Honestly, true "swing" music is generally thought of along with the "Big Band" music of the '30s and '40s by bands like the Glenn Miller Orchestra (check out their song "In the Mood") and the Benny Goodman Orchestra, among others. While on the subject of "Big Band" (swing) music, I would be remiss if I didn't point you to Cab Callaway and his orchestra. Check out their legendary piece, "Jumpin' Jive" featuring the Nicholas Brothers. If you do no other reaction video this month, do this one. I promise you won't regret it or forget it. This song was the final scene in the 1943 motion picture 'Stormy Weather," which was noteworthy because it was the first big-budget picture featuring an all-black cast from a major Hollywood studio. Cab Callaway's performance is remarkable on its own, but when he steps aside and his band and the dancing Nicholas Brothers stole the scene, it became the stuff of Hollywood legend. No less of an authority than Fred Astaire, thought by many to be the greatest male dancer in history, called it "the greatest dance sequence ever captured on film." It's guaranteed to blow your socks off. Check out the colorized version here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f6Cwk5h6naxsnLcsi=3LSHJSRYggmDL4in

[@stevegans3517]

Iconic. This song is to rock and roll what "Rapper's Delight" is to rap music. It wasn't the first rock and roll song, but it's the one that broke through to the mainstream charts and announced that this new genre was here and here to stay. Haley was quickly eclipsed by Elvis but his importance to rock history cannot be denied. Kids at the time said that what made rock so special and so different was the beat. But rock and roll was definitely black music. Check out Big Joe Turner

[@ericarachel55]

Bing Crosby was one of the big early names who was influential in integrating music to the public eye, along with Fred Astaire in the movies

[@davidbecker2536]

Its what we call golden oldies rock in roll.

[@Sp33gan]

The band was originally called Bill Haley and His Saddlemen and, yeah, what they played was Country Swing. It was a mix of older Country with the early R&B that sprung out of the Swing bands of the 1940s. For this song, they just upped the R&B side of their mix, abandoning the Country aspect altogether. The guitarist for this song was a session player named Danny Cedrone, who never officially joined the Comets as he also had his own band, The Esquires, but he did record with them often in the early years. The first solo he plays here is nearly identical to another single he recorded with Haley, 1952's Rock The Joint, which was far more Country oriented. Haley had a long string of hits beginning with Rock Around The Clock, though most had a similar sound to them. A large number of their singles were covers of R&B and Jump Blues classics. Unfortunately, because so much of their work followed the same style as well as a concerted effort by local governments and police to stamp out Rock 'n' Roll, Haley became known as the new music's first casualty - a dead career after a explosive stay at the top.

[@rexsmithson4646]

I think by memory Bill Haley said the jerry curl was there because he was blind in one eye. If you have watched Happy days you would of heard this song in the opening of the show