Monday 9/20/21 6pm ET: History of Rock and Roll

Monday 7/6/2020 12pm ET: Feature Artist – Bill Haley

William John Clifton Haley (July 6, 1925 – February 9, 1981) was a pioneering American rock and roll musician. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and million-selling hits such as “Rock Around the Clock”, “See You Later, Alligator”, “Shake, Rattle and Roll”, “Rocket 88”, “Skinny Minnie”, and “Razzle Dazzle”, and has sold over 60 million records worldwide.

Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band, founded in 1952 and continued until Haley’s death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley’s Comets (and variations thereof). From late 1954 to late 1956, the group placed nine singles in the Top 20, one of those a number one and three more in the Top Ten. The single “Rock Around the Clock” became the biggest selling rock and roll single in the history of the genre.

Bandleader Bill Haley had previously been a country music performer; after recording a country and western-styled version of Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats “Rocket 88”, a rhythm and blues song, he changed musical direction to a new sound which came to be called rock and roll.

Although several members of the Comets became famous, Bill Haley remained the star. With his spit curl and the band’s matching plaid dinner jackets and energetic stage behavior, many fans consider them to be as revolutionary in their time as the Beatles were a decade later.

Following Haley’s death, no fewer than seven different groups have existed under the Comets name, all claiming (with varying degrees of authority) to be the continuation of Haley’s group. As of the end of 2014, four such groups were still performing in the United States and internationally.

 

Artist Countdown: Bill Haley & The Comets Top 50 Hits 1pm ET

Bill Haley & His Comets was an American rock and roll band that was founded in 1952 and continued until Haley’s death in 1981. The band, also known by the names Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley’s Comets (and variations thereof), was the earliest group of white musicians to bring rock and roll to the attention of white America and the rest of the world. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group placed nine singles in the Top 20, one of those a number one and three more in the Top Ten.

Bandleader Bill Haley had previously been a country music performer; after recording a country and western-styled version of “Rocket 88”, a rhythm and blues song, he changed musical direction to a new sound which came to be called rock and roll.

Although several members of the Comets became famous, Bill Haley remained the star. With his spit curl and the band’s matching plaid dinner jackets and energetic stage behavior, many fans consider them to be as revolutionary in their time as the Beatles or the Rolling Stones were a decade later.

Following Haley’s death, no fewer than six different groups have existed under the Comets name, all claiming (with varying degrees of authority) to be the official continuation of Haley’s group. As of early 2008, three such groups were still performing in the United States and internationally. – Wikipedia 

1	Rock Around The Clock
2	Joey’s Song
3	See You Later, Alligator
4	Rudy’s Rock
5	Rockin’ Through the Rye
6	Rock A Beatin’ Boogie
7	Shake, Rattle and Roll
8	Dim, Dim the Lights (I Want Some Atmosphere)
9	Burn That Candle
10	The Saints Rock ‘n’ Roll
11	Razzle Dazzle
12	Rip It Up
13	Mambo Rock
14	Crazy Man, Crazy
15	Birth Of The Boogie
16	Two Hound Dogs
17	Skinny Minnie
18	R-O-C-K
19	Don’t Knock the Rock
20	Hot Dog Buddy Buddy
21	Florida Twist
22	Spanish Twist
23	Caravan Twist
24	Teenager’s Mother (Are You Right?)
25	(You Hit the Wrong Note) Billy Goat
26	Forty Cups of Coffee
27	Lean Jean
28	Rock the Joint
29	Fractured
30	Live It Up
31	Skokiaan (South African Song)
32	Tamiami
33	I’ll Be True
34	Rocket 88
35	Chattanooga Choo Choo
36	Stop Beatin’ Round The Mulberry Bush
37	Green Tea Boogie
38	Rockin’ Chair On The Moon
39	Icy Heart
40	Dance With A Dolly
41	Tearstains On My Heart
42	Down Deep In My Heart
43	Jukebox Cannonball
44	Thirteen Women (And Only One Man)
45	Pat-A-Cake
46	Real Rock Drive
47	Sundown Boogie
48	Ten Little Indians
49	New Orleans
50	Memphis