Bill Haley wasn't the first person to sing rock 'n' roll, but he was one of the first white people to bring attention to the boogie-woogie hybrid where country and western met rhythm and blues. In a time where popular music was segregated, Haley and his band were finding their niche performing music with a big beat. There was a spirit in this new, exciting music and the dance floors filled, the people responded, and the records sold. In 1954, Haley and his band, The Comets, released a record had little impact. That is, until it was used in a movie a year later, causing it to explode all around the world and become a teenage anthem. Let's take a look at the story behind "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley and The Comets.
Deke Dickerson charts the birth of Rock & Roll music as we know it to the early 1950s, and a little seaside resort town called Wildwood, New Jersey. Long before Elvis stepped inside Sun Studio, Dickerson says it was a criminally underrated musical act called the Treniers who created Rock & Roll. Read on to see how the mix of rhythm & blues, jazz, swing, showbiz savvy, hillbilly, and country, all came together in a rowdy Jersey Shore resort town to create a music revolution.
Godfather of Funk and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer George Clinton, who grew up in Newark, joins WBGO Journal host to talk about his upcoming 80th birthday concert at NJPAC and his early days at Avon Elementary School
Godfather of Funk and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer George Clinton, who grew up in Newark, joins WBGO Journal host to talk about his upcoming 80th birthday concert at NJPAC and his early days at Avon Elementary Schoo