Monday 12 April 2021

decca dl-8225

While not the first recorded release in the genre nor the first commercially successful one, Bill Haley & His Comets’ rendition of the song “Rock Around the Clock” recorded at the studios of the Knights of Pythias Temple in Manhattan on this day in 1954 is generally considered to be the singular number most responsible for introducing the world to the musical style. Co-written by Maxamus “Max” C. Freedman and James “Jimmy DeKnight” Edward Myers of Philadelphia and released on the B-side of the album “Thirteen Women (and Only One Man) in Town” the following month, it was not an instant, run-away success and only became a phenomenon with the debut of the film Blackboard Jungle (March 1955) when it featured under the opening credits.