Vinyl Word: Bill Haley and his Comets

Bill Haley, leader of Bill Haley and his Comets. Photo / File

What was the first rock and roll song ever recorded?

According to The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame it's Rocket 88, recorded in 1951 by a group called Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, who were actually Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm.

At the time the record went to No 1 on the Billboard R&B Charts.

Bill Haley also recorded a version of the song. His version is considered by many to be the first rock song to top the charts.

In the 1950s Billboard magazine compiled three categories for record sales: best sellers in stores, most played by disc jockeys on the radio, and most played in jukeboxes. In 1955, when Bill Haley and his Comets released Rock Around the Clock, it topped all three charts, and some consider this song to be the one that launched rock and roll. Funnily enough, Rock Around the Clock first appeared on the charts in 1953, selling only 75,000 copies. When it featured in the movie Blackboard Jungle it gained new popularity and shot to No 1, where it stayed for eight weeks.

The term rock and roll was a new way of describing music at the time that was a cross between rhythm and blues and country swing.

Many radio listeners had never heard of rock and roll so when the record company released Elvis Presley's Hound Dog, the label on the single called it a Novelty Foxtrot.

Rock Around the Clock was written by a couple of songwriters, Max Freedman and Max Myers, a local musician who published under the name Jimmy De Knight.

When Bill Haley first heard a demo of the song, he wanted to record it, but the owner of Essex Records refused because of a dispute over publishing.

In 1954 Haley signed with Decca Records and as part of his agreement, one side of every single he recorded had to be a song from the Myers/Freedman catalogue, and the first one was Rock Around the Clock, which was originally released on the B-side of a song called Thirteen Women.

However, after the song appeared in Blackboard Jungle it was re-released.

Haley was never able to duplicate the success of Rock Around the Clock, although he did release a number of songs that were popular including See You Later Alligator and Shake, Rattle and Roll.

There is no doubting Bill Haley and his Comets were key figures in the beginnings of rock and roll. Haley died in 1981 at age 55. His band the Comets were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.