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Rock around the clock

"Rock Around the Clock"
Rock Around the Clock.jpg
Rock Around the Clock 45 single
Single by Bill Haley & His Comets
from the album Rock Around the Clock (original version)
B-side "Thirteen Women (And Only One Man in Town)"
Released May 20, 1954 (1954-05-20), NYC and again in May 1955
Format 45 rpm, 78 rpm, 33 rpm, 45 rpm maxi single, CD single, Cassette single, music download
Recorded April 12, 1954 (1954-04-12), Pythian Temple studios, 135 West 70th Street, New York City
Genre Rock and roll, rockabilly, country
Length 2:08 (see length variations)
Label Decca
Writer(s) Max C. Freedman
James E. Myers (as Jimmy DeKnight)
Producer(s) Milt Gabler
Bill Haley & His Comets singles chronology
"Chattanooga Choo Choo"/"Straight Jacket"
(1954)
"Rock Around the Clock"
(1954)
"Shake, Rattle and Roll"
(1954)
Music sample
30-second sample of Bill Haley & His Comets' "Rock Around the Clock"

"Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers (the latter under the pseudonym "Jimmy De Knight") in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley & His Comets in 1954 for American Decca. It was a number one single on both the US and UK charts and also re-entered the UK Singles Chart in the 1960s and 1970s.

It was not the first rock and roll record, nor was it the first successful record of the genre (Bill Haley had American chart success with "Crazy Man, Crazy" in 1953, and in 1954, "Shake, Rattle and Roll" sung by Big Joe Turner reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart). Haley's recording nevertheless became an anthem for rebellious 1950s youth and is widely considered to be the song that, more than any other, brought rock and roll into mainstream culture around the world. The song is ranked No. 158 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Although first recorded by Italian-American band Sonny Dae and His Knights on March 20, 1954, the more famous version by Bill Haley & His Comets is not, strictly speaking, a cover version. Myers claimed the song had been written specifically for Haley but, for various reasons, Haley was unable to record it himself until April 12, 1954.

The original full title of the song was "We're Gonna Rock Around the Clock Tonight!". This was later shortened to "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock", though this form is generally only used on releases of the 1954 Bill Haley Decca Records recording; most other recordings of this song by Haley and others (including Sonny Dae) shorten this title further to "Rock Around the Clock".


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