Red Robinson was a 15-year-old living in Vancouver in March of 1955 when he went to a movie billed as a story that “could not, would not, dared not be told.”  It was to be a “startling” and “shocking” portrayal of juvenile delinquency.  The film opened with a message about the seriousness of the issues the film would address and a disclaimer that the incidents portrayed were “fictitious.”  As the text on the screen scrolled a rock and roll drum beat set the stage.  And then the music blasted from the screen:  “One, two, three o’clock, four o’clock rock!  Five, six, seven o’clock, eight o’clock rock! Nine, ten, eleven o’clock, twelve o’clock rock! We’re gonna rock around the clock tonight.”  Red would become a rock and roll DJ and later said, “I knew when I walked out of there that rock and roll had been cemented. I knew damn well that was it.”

The movie was Blackboard Jungle and the song, of course, was “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and the Comets.  The song had actually been recorded a year earlier in Haley’s first session with his new label, Decca.  Most of the session was spent on the intended “A” side for the Comets’ first release, “Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town).”  They only had about ten minutes remaining at the end of the session and the band wanted to get “Rock Around the Clock” on tape as it had been enthusiastically received during their live performances.  The band members were very familiar with the song, but Danny Cedrone, the session guitarist being used for the recording hadn’t had time to work on anything so he used a guitar solo that he had used previously when recording for the band on “Rock That Joint” in 1952.  On the first take, the band played so loud that Haley’s vocals were drowned out. There was only time for one more take which Haley did with minimal accompaniment, so  Decca engineers combined the two takes into one version.  Bill Haley had previously experienced some success on the Essex label.  In the early 1950’s his band was known as Bill Haley and the Saddlemen and performed western swing.  But he found he got a better response from audiences when the band performed  r & b songs such as “Rocket 88” and  “Crazy, Man, Crazy” so the group name was changed.  Based on the past success Decca producer, Milt Gabler, had high expectations for the band’s first release.  But they were disappointed – “Thirteen Women” stalled at #23 and its “B” side was all but forgotten.

“Rock Around the Clock” would probably have become one of those recordings that rock aficionados pointed to as ahead of its time as it languished as an album track and “B” side to a less than hit record.  But fortunately 10 year old Peter Ford had flipped the record over and played “Rock Around the Clock” in his household.  Also, fortunately, the head of that household was Glen Ford who was filming Blackboard Jungle.  The producers were looking for some youth oriented music to use in the movie so Ford pilfered some 45’s from his son’s collection.  They chose “Rock Around the Clock” (also considered were “Shake, Rattle and Roll” by Big Joe Turner and “All Night Long” by Joe Houston). 

The song’s connection to a movie associated with teenage rebellion obviously helped its appeal, but once the song had national (and eventually international) exposure, it took off.  The record hit the top 40 in May and on July 2nd it became the first rock and roll record to reach #1 on the Billboard chart.  It remained there for 8 weeks and earned the #2 spot on the 1955 end of year ranking.  Red Robinson reported that some teens were literally dancing in the aisles at the movie and his experience was not unique.  Teenagers across the country were heeding the call to “rock around the clock, tonight.”  But in spite of this success, “Rock Around the Clock” didn’t ignite a rock revolution.  That would come a year later when a younger, sexier practitioner of the new sound of rock and roll would gain national attention after signing with RCA and appearing on national television.  Instead, “Rock Around the Clock” was 1955’s exception to the rule, the rule being the pop sound of Frank Sinatra, Roger Williams and The Four Lads.  In Red Robinson’s mind, the future of rock and roll might have been “cemented,” but for most of the country the genre was still seen as a novelty that would soon disappear.