There was another one earlier I think called "Stranded in the Jungle." I was only five years old for this song. The one I mentioned is probably a year earlier. And if you want to hear some funny rock from this era, check out "Purple People Eater."
Ditto, and that's when I started spinning the radio dial some more and listening to the "Golden Oldies" stations. This is a big reason why those of us raised in the '60s-'70s were aware of the music that came before us.
@@mariannetuite7411 Elvis was ahead of his time in the 50s. He also had a great voice. You may not have appreciated his music, but there is no denying his talent.
They did dance like that back then❣️Musical movies had some of the best dancing ever❣️❣️❣️ Watch ya some❣️Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth, Liza Minnelli, Mickey Rooney, & of course, Shirley Temple❣️ several others as well. This was 💃 dancing ❣️❣️💜
@@PetyrinaJaye I’m not sure - it came on as a film clip before a movie - he said the lights went down and the song kicked in and it was mind blowing! I’ll ask him - memory is pretty good.
@ Bless him. I had both of my grandparents until they were in their 90’s. Grams had dementia but my Pap was still sharp as ever. Happy Thanksgiving, if you’re in the U.S.!
Came here to say this! @MollyboyTV, all these instruments have similar shapes; the larger the instrument, the deeper the sound. Violin (held over the shoulder) Viola (held like the violin) Cello (held between the knees) Standup bass (stands next to the player) Watch the official video for “Every Breath You Take” by the Police to see Sting playing the standup bass 🔥❤️
@@goosebump801 down here in Georgia we call the violins fiddles...lol! Honestly cant stand that stalker song & just not a Police fan! Stray Cats are more worthy of a stand up bass! Im an old fool from the old skool {Im 60}
In Macon Georgia where he became the Architect of Rock, Otis Redding gave us Soul & The Allman Brothers created that Southern Rock sound & I live 17 miles from the Allmans Big House museum
I love that Little Richard was still so well known and in movies, talk shows etc in the 80s. He was such a funny guy, a real character & obviously an iconic talent.
The Stray Cats and Brian Setzer Orchestra have the same type of music! Bass ( not the cello), guitar and drums for the cats and big band style of music like the 1930's and 40's! Great stuff! Also Cherry Poppin' Daddies! The rabbit hole of this genre is DEEEEEEEP!!! Love the reactions , keep it up there's plenty of music to go, MollyBoy!!
All these fun dance moves, were a holdover from the late 1930-40’s Big Band/Swing of the War era. Benny Goodman, Glen Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, and tons more. The dance was “Jitter Bug”, and both the music & the dance, have had many revivals over the decades! If you dare venture back a bit further from the 50’s, just for context ….. try Benny Goodman s Carnegie Hall, NY swing classic “Sing Sing Sing” pure instrumental bliss and jive!! 🎹🎼🥂👍 You’re charming, entertaining, and just “cool”…. Keep going! We love you! 💜
Excellent post. I can only add that it took another 5-7 yrs after this till the young people started dancing separately on the dance floor. This dance on your own thing was so ingrained in me, (a teen in the 1970's), that I never learned to dance with a partner! I can't even properly slow dance so I wish my generation knew how to do all of those cool dances!
***IT'S STILL ROCK N ROLL TO ME*** by Billy Joel is about the evolution of rock from 50s to 80s but it just kept going and it's still true decades later!!!
Yes. And so funny when he time travels and starts to play some modern rock. They were grooving until he got too wild. He says you're not ready for this, but your children will be ☺️
Except Ike Turner's "Rocket 88" already has that honor - certainly the white folks may have gotten into from Halley, Buddy Holly, Elvis etc, but Black rhythm & blues had morphed into rock & roll long before white artists started playing it. There's a pretty huge playlist of bands & songs that Black artists were recording first.
@@macfilms9904 True enough but it took acts like Elvis,Pat Boone,and others to bring it mainstream.Chuck,Little Richard,Fats definitely deserve the credit they get.
It's called "Music Appreciation Class" and I, for one, am totally down for it. Love your interest in all music and it's contribution to today's sounds. That's why you're going to go far. ❤
This brings a Happy Tear to my eyes, My Mum and Dad sadly both passed away now used to jive to this at family parties, I can close my eyes and see them, thanks for bringing back that memory 🥲
I was a little girl when this music was popular. My Mom taught me to dance like this, and to do a dance called “The Stroll”. American Bandstand was on every afternoon, and my Mom and i would watch and dance every day. What’s really strange, is that I got to be on American Bandstand in 1972 as a participant in the National Dance Contest.
I was 9 or 10 years old when this came out. It was a giant leap from Lawrence Welk and Bing Crosby and the like. My mother, who used to sing on the radio during the war years(WWII), was scandalised. Me, I loved it. If I was allowed to listen. I think this was the breakout song for Rock & Roll.
If you watch the entire episode of "The Ed Sullivan Show" that the Beatles were on you will see how extremely unexciting the other acts on the show were. Quite a leap indeed.
I graduated Grammer school June 1955. I was only 13 years old then.This song was played over and over at every graduation party.I'm an old man now 82 years old but I remember my youth like it was yesterday.
Run-around Sue has a live performance video. One of those that feels weird, because the audience is still and quiet to be respectful while the song is just begging them to dance, lol.
The music from the 60's and 70's is my favorite, but the dancing from the 40's and 50's is the best. Most of us in high school in the 70's couldn't dance for sh*t! Mom and Dad on the other hand, wow!
I had to laugh, I was in high school in the 80s and I guarantee our dancing was even worse, Belinda Carlisle's side-to-side bopping was the closest I came to being able to "dance" lol! My mom always promised to teach me the jitterbug but she never did.
You wouldn't have noticed the kit because it isn't the full blown outfit that you are used to seeing. It would have had the bass, snare and top hat. What you should be listening for is the "sticks" sound that is present and the kit is on stage but behind Haley himself. Look for the bass down between his legs/feet
The missing "rock and roll" link! It's similar to big band music, like Glenn Miller's In The Mood (1944), and structurally the same as 12-bar blues, the foundation of rock.
My grandfather (who was a classical violinist) taught me to always introduce myself to various types of music. Never be a music snob! You find nice pieces of music in all genres! He was correct! I do love classic rock and roll, metal, progressive, etc., because I grew up in 60s, 70s (I’m 67). But I like all kinds of music. You are educating yourself. I like that! I’m here for your journey! 😎❤️
This song and Elvis Presley's cover of Arthur Crudup's song "That's All Right" are considered the birth of Rock 'n Roll by many, though there were a few songs that talked about rocking or rocking and rolling around 1949-1951. Haley's and Elvis' songs came out within a month of each other.
A lot of different musical threads came together to form rock and roll. You can tell that this song came from swing music that was popular in the '20s-'40s. Other early rock came from country (rockabilly), and was somewhat of a mutual development. Blues ultimately gave birth to the most powerful and cherished forms of rock.
❤If you wonder why you can't pin down genres for some of this early music it is because these artists all interacted with each other, searching for new sounds. All the greats did. Hendricks, Janis Joplin with Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana and the Rolling Stones with John Lee Hooker and Howlin Wolf, a bunch of them with Ry Cooder. All of the younger artists learning from the older generation like you are doing today. You are in good company.
This video is really good for you, shows you what the 50 s looked and sounded like !! ( or this was the start of a new sound for the 50s) These clips are real , from the 50s… not redone..
If you are looking to do Elvis, the best way to see why he was the King of Rock and Roll is to watch any video from the “68 comeback special” where he is live and unplugged in a leather outfit.
The "cello" is actually a double bass. A lot of bands back then had them. Also, look between the guitarist's legs and you'll see the bass drum behind them. Check out Jerry Lee Lewis - "Great Balls of Fire".
Another early pioneer of Rock N Roll to check out is Fats Domino. He started in 1949 with swing and some say he recorded the first Rock N Roll single. Blueberry Hill, Ain't That A Shame, I'm Walking are a start.
The general accepted first R&R record is by Jackie Brenton, an American singer and saxophonist who, with Ike Turner's band, recorded the first version of "Rocket 88" in 1951. Jackie Brenston.
Missing the heavier/grungier side of your reactions.. but it’s great to see you go this far back. I definitely feel like learning about all these guys and this era is an integral part of loving rock, and music in general
Maybe one day aweek( at least ) doing a chronological dive starting with the fifties. And actually, there were subgenres in the fifties and sixties too, just not as well defined. The music from Detroit sounded different from New York, which sounded different again from the stuff from Tennessee, or Texas, or California. Growing up in the early sixties spending half my time in New York City and the other half in the deep south you were team Beatles or team Elvis.
Should check out Brenda Lee's 1960 'Rock the Bop' also at Christmas her 1958 'Rockin Around the Christmas Tree' if you want to do a Christmas special, at it to Bobby Helms 1957 'Jingle Bell Rock', move on up the Beach Boys, John Lennon's 'So You Say This is Christmas', Emerson Lake & Palmer's 'I Believe in Father Christmas', etc.
I was the drummer in a covers band in the early 70s and we played all this early rock & roll. This song, and 'At The Hop' were guaranteed to get every single person in the place up on their feet dancing.
There were riots in cinemas when this was shown, seats got smashed up - very much the start of the teddy boy era, the rockers adopting the slicked hair & drape suits
I was born 1972 and I had an album of this kind of music, including this song, that I loved!!! I got it for Christmas when I was 5 years old. Brings back memories ❤
I love rock and roll and was really a child of the sixties. However I've listened to a lot of the music of the fifties because I love music. I was a year old when this song came out yet I know this song as well as any song by the Beatles or the Stones. Love it. Love your channel Mollyboy. You are so much fun!
I am glad you are looking at the different Eras MB.... Rock Music evolved it's best to know what it all evolved from. It's like wanting to know where the modern car came from.. Be prepared for a meaningful ride.
The Old Soul strikes again! And that's a compliment! The 50s rock era is a very deep dive, and well worth the trip! I have been saying for years that it would be so cool if someone opened a theme park with everything set up like it's the 50s! The food, music, movies, maybe like an entire resort town or city that's like a 50s time capsule, where one could go and get a taste of what it was like back then. I know I'd visit it! Good job young man, good job! 👏 😎👍
I think at this time the electric guitar couldn't be amplified as much as it is now, so that's why they still relied on the saxaphone and the piano for volume.
So thankful my mom was a rocker! She always had the radio or an album playing. I wasn't born till '58, and I know this song like the back of my hands. Thanks, mom! Thanks, Molly Boy!!❤
This one brings back some memories for me. I'm only 47, but growing up in a small Pennsylvania town I lived like two blocks away from a man named Joey Welz. He played piano for Bill Haley from 1961-1963 as a young man, and he was known as "the whistling piano player". Kind of an eccentric guy in his later years, but I got to hang out with him a couple of times in the early 2000s. I did some work on a couple of his limos (which he drove around himself), and he owned a small house that he'd set up as a rock and roll museum. The history in that museum was amazing. Gold records all over the walls, lots and lots of photos, a recording studio, and a collection of original tape masters that would blow your mind. Really cool guy, and really easy and fun to talk to. I don't even know if he's still alive. Last time I saw him was like 20 years ago and he was in his 60s then. I met him hanging out at a convenience store at 3am. He'd roll in on his way out of town to Atlantic City for some fun, and he'd sit and talk with me and some friends for an hour or two before heading out. Really, really cool cat.
He’s working a stand-up bass!! My Dad and Mom graduated in 1957 and ‘58, respectively, and with the joys of Sirius XM radio, they are constantly listening to the 50s channel! I love hearing the stories about how the music was perceived when it first came out, etc. Great song choice, MB!!
This is from a 1956 Rock & Roll musical called "Rock Around the Clock." The guy introducing the band is Alan Freed, an early Rock & Roll disc jockey. He helped to popularize the name of the genre. He was one of the first white DJs to play black artists, beginning to eliminate the strict racial segregation that existed in the American music industry back then. (It's been said that a big reason for the success of the 1960s "British Invasion" in the U.S. is that more white kids in the UK were exposed to the black artists who created Rock & Roll.)
Rotate daily theme/decade days to keep everyone happy and not get bored. There is so much to get to. We can't skip any decade or genre. Also need to do a monthly "Songs That Sucked" or were just weird day. :)
I remember this song from the TV show Happy Days which ran from 1974-1984 and many years afterward in syndication. In the 1990's there was a revival of Swing dancing and the Rockabilly culture, (more about the 1920's and 30's than the 1950's) To this day there are still people who embrace that culture and style of clothes and cars.
The beginnings of Rock & Roll have many splinters. Country music was the Popular music of the time, and, 20 years before so was Swing Jazz. What really Blew away a lot of people of course was the youthful Enthusiasm and Energy using a country band’s instrumentation. All of this was Brand New to everyone watching as it happened, the first time.
This is my parent's era of music. I loved it as a little kid, then hated it as a teenager because it was "old people music". Now I'm older, I love it again.
Probably the most iconic rock and roll song of all time. It was also the theme song to the TV show Happy Days for at least the first season of the show.
It's a double bass. The fifties, even though I wasn't there, was like the awakening, particularly for the youth of the day. It was the beginning of rock n roll, which birthed what followed. This is gold. Well done, Molly Boy! Love from Western Australia 😊
Many small towns in the ‘50s had what was called teen-town dances in the gyms of elementary schools. We even had country music to “ square dance to “ . Square dancing was actually taught in elementary schools where I lived, 15 miles north of the big city, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The music was a blast and we had a lot of fun. Thanks for taking us back.
The house dance clips were probably filmed on a TV set with high quality cameras while the band clips were filmed on stage not on a set. That was probably a stand up bass, the big brother of the cello.
"Blackboard Jungle" (1955, black and white) starring Glenn Ford and Sydney Poitier. This movie used Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock" at 2 or 3 points in the film including opening credits. Because of that movie, the song became the first song labeled rock-and-roll to sell a million record copies. Saw him and his group perform once in a smallish club in a college town in 1968. At one juncture in their set, they all-- but one member-- left their instruments and grabbed a quick cigarette smoke off stage, although from my angled view I could watch them. The solitary band member just did a drum solo fro awhile.
This recording was used as an opening for a film about teen angst and the classroom called Blackboard Jungle. This union cemented rock and roll as music for troubled teens, thus initiating the negative campaign against rock n roll that culminated with the 1958 Payola Scandal that almost ended rock'n'roll in America. The music scene was flooded with young crooners with beautiful hairdo's and doo wop vocal groups. The saving grace came from California with beach music that mostly consisted of rockin' guitar heavy instrumentals. And amongst all that came The Beach Boys marrying vocal arrangements with rockin' instrumentals.
I loved this when I was a little kid; it was used as the theme song for the first two seasons of the TV show Happy Days, so I got introduced to it there.
I can remember drive in theaters. I'm 76 and this was kind of the beginning of Rock and Roll but I was still too young for it at that time. This stuff WAS the 50s.
I grew up in the '60's and by the time I'd started to listen to the radio, this was played on the "oldies" stations. And while it already sounded old to me, it was still kind of fun, especially when you learned about how your music heroes revered these guys! I still get a kick out of watching these old videos and realizing that those groups were the "wild and crazy kids" of that era, that were shocking the older folks! Yup...that's what rebellion looked like in the '50s!
I was very fortunate to grow up in these times. I was still young not yet a teenager but my mom played this music all the time a lot of fun times. Thanks so much for your great review as always.
Very very smart to go back to the 50s. Thank you for that and for always making your focus towards the 20th century groups and artists. 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, and your pushing it with 90s but you picked a good set of groups from the 90s. Just less widespread talent to go around. 50's started it. The 60's let the genie out of the bottle and the 70's really did use the most of that great energy. Anyone that likes music that feels like the future, techno beat, forward thinking...the 80s was the decade for them. Amazing song writing talent crossed over into the 80s from the 70s making the 80s the decade for future sounds
It’s a double bass 😂 I was six years old when my parents took me to see Bill Haley and the Comets in the UK. I can clearly remember the bass player laying on the floor playing with the bass on top of him. I was hugely impressed by the fact that he has one red sock and one yellow sock. Wonderful memories, love your reactions ❤I still have the programme!
So my Dad was a movie Projectionist in Memphis Tennessee when this song dropped and he said the entire theater went bonkers when this song played. Dancing in the aisles, just going nuts!!
This song is generally labelled the official birth of rock n roll.
I think Big Mama Thorton inspired Rock N Roll, but didn't get the recognition.
Rocket 88 is usually acknowledged as the first, but this song was the breakout tune.
There was another one earlier I think called "Stranded in the Jungle." I was only five years old for this song. The one I mentioned is probably a year earlier. And if you want to hear some funny rock from this era, check out "Purple People Eater."
@@fiddiehacked Rocket 88 is definitely my vote for "first rock and roll song."
It depends on what you mean by first. There were a few before this, but this was the first breakout rock and roll hit.
I was too young to remember hearing this on the radio but it was famous again when "Happy Days" premiered on TV.
Got to listen to some classic Elvis!
@@juliataylor707oh noooo. For me, he’s where I draw the line. Honestly just never understood his appeal at all
Theme for the first season of Happy Days and the opening song for American Graffiti.
Ditto, and that's when I started spinning the radio dial some more and listening to the "Golden Oldies" stations. This is a big reason why those of us raised in the '60s-'70s were aware of the music that came before us.
@@mariannetuite7411 Elvis was ahead of his time in the 50s. He also had a great voice. You may not have appreciated his music, but there is no denying his talent.
My 94 year old dad said he first heard this in a theatre in Sydney and said it was the most exciting sound he’d ever heard. ❤
Was he seeing he film Blackboard Jungle? ❤
They did dance like that back then❣️Musical movies had some of the best dancing ever❣️❣️❣️ Watch ya some❣️Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth, Liza Minnelli, Mickey Rooney, & of course, Shirley Temple❣️ several others as well. This was 💃 dancing ❣️❣️💜
i can imagine! 😁
@@PetyrinaJaye I’m not sure - it came on as a film clip before a movie - he said the lights went down and the song kicked in and it was mind blowing! I’ll ask him - memory is pretty good.
@ Bless him. I had both of my grandparents until they were in their 90’s. Grams had dementia but my Pap was still sharp as ever. Happy Thanksgiving, if you’re in the U.S.!
Not a cello but a stand up bass! This was my dads senior prom song as he graduated in '55 ✌💖☮
Came here to say this!
@MollyboyTV, all these instruments have similar shapes; the larger the instrument, the deeper the sound.
Violin (held over the shoulder)
Viola (held like the violin)
Cello (held between the knees)
Standup bass (stands next to the player)
Watch the official video for “Every Breath You Take” by the Police to see Sting playing the standup bass 🔥❤️
@@goosebump801 down here in Georgia we call the violins fiddles...lol! Honestly cant stand that stalker song & just not a Police fan! Stray Cats are more worthy of a stand up bass! Im an old fool from the old skool {Im 60}
Double bass.
The bass player in The Living End still uses one.
Also called a doghouse, or acoustic bass. It can be plucked, slapped, or bowed.
The standup bass has been just about totally eclipsed by the bass guitar. The standup bass does not easily fit into a Volkswagen bug.
The drummer was back there with the piano. 🎶🎶
Yeah, if you looked at the legs in the opening scenes, you can see the drums back there. I couldn't see the drummer tho.
You could hear the snare quite well. Probably no more than a three drum set.@@suecook1326
5:03 shows the drummer.
The drum sets then were pretty stripped down for the most part, so not as visual.
@@keithcarper8809 You don't even know how to groove. You're not cool.
Also check out “Little Richard”he was an early rock and roll pioneer!! He used to tell us that all the time!!😂
Good Golly Miss Molly should be 1st
In Macon Georgia where he became the Architect of Rock, Otis Redding gave us Soul & The Allman Brothers created that Southern Rock sound & I live 17 miles from the Allmans Big House museum
Love him!
he was probably the most talented of all of those from that period and the true "king of rock n roll" everyone stole from him.
I love that Little Richard was still so well known and in movies, talk shows etc in the 80s. He was such a funny guy, a real character & obviously an iconic talent.
The Stray Cats and Brian Setzer Orchestra have the same type of music! Bass ( not the cello), guitar and drums for the cats and big band style of music like the 1930's and 40's! Great stuff! Also Cherry Poppin' Daddies! The rabbit hole of this genre is DEEEEEEEP!!! Love the reactions , keep it up there's plenty of music to go, MollyBoy!!
Upright bass.
A double bass.
Don’t forget The Living End, who were inspired by The Stray Cats.
The Blasters are also really good with this type of music. Their album American Music from ‘79 is totally this sound
The Stray Cats!
Lee Rocker is the slap bass player for the Straycats
All these fun dance moves, were a holdover from the late 1930-40’s Big Band/Swing of the War era.
Benny Goodman, Glen Miller, Jimmy Dorsey, and tons more. The dance was “Jitter Bug”, and both the music & the dance, have had many revivals over the decades!
If you dare venture back a bit further from the 50’s, just for context ….. try
Benny Goodman s Carnegie Hall, NY swing classic “Sing Sing Sing” pure instrumental bliss and jive!! 🎹🎼🥂👍
You’re charming, entertaining, and just “cool”…. Keep going! We love you! 💜
Excellent post. I can only add that it took another 5-7 yrs after this till the young people started dancing separately on the dance floor. This dance on your own thing was so ingrained in me, (a teen in the 1970's), that I never learned to dance with a partner! I can't even properly slow dance so I wish my generation knew how to do all of those cool dances!
Love Benny Goodman. I have the CD of the Carnegie concert. Great stuff.
Yowza the old timers at the time called it "The New Swing"
***IT'S STILL ROCK N ROLL TO ME*** by Billy Joel is about the evolution of rock from 50s to 80s but it just kept going and it's still true decades later!!!
I love that song!! 👍
Watch ***BACK TO THE FUTURE*** time travel to the 1950s! It's part of your music journey because the soundtrack and main character plays guitar.
Yes. And so funny when he time travels and starts to play some modern rock. They were grooving until he got too wild. He says you're not ready for this, but your children will be ☺️
Man, I would LOVE to see him react to the movie. Maybe he could blur it or whatever.
Here it is. The official start of all that came after. You cannot overstate the importance of this one song.
"See You Later Alligator" was another big Bill Haley and the Comets hit.
Generally accepted as the song that kicked off RocknRoll. Right on Storm!
Earlier, Rock Roll was slang for a bit of Afternoon Delight b4 being used to describe rock music.
@@stephensmith1343. If the trailer is a rock-'n don't come a knock-'n. 🤭 😅
Except Ike Turner's "Rocket 88" already has that honor - certainly the white folks may have gotten into from Halley, Buddy Holly, Elvis etc, but Black rhythm & blues had morphed into rock & roll long before white artists started playing it. There's a pretty huge playlist of bands & songs that Black artists were recording first.
@@macfilms9904 True enough but it took acts like Elvis,Pat Boone,and others to bring it mainstream.Chuck,Little Richard,Fats definitely deserve the credit they get.
@@stephensmith1343 Jazz was the music that was played at a Jizz House, a brothel. So named for the result of a happy ending for a client.
You would probably love the movie American Graffiti! Such a stacked cast and a killer soundtrack!
I was going to mention - this song was played during American Graffiti - one of my favorite movies.
"The rimshot heard around the world." This was how Rock N' Roll got started.
I gotta say, I'm a 70's-90's guy when it comes to rock, but you deserve serious respect for actually digging in to THE REAL CLASSICS like this.
It's called "Music Appreciation Class" and I, for one, am totally down for it. Love your interest in all music and it's contribution to today's sounds. That's why you're going to go far. ❤
Just watched your La Bamba reaction...glad you're doing all of the groups from the day the music died. What a great time for music.
You don't even know how to groove. You're not cool.
This brings a Happy Tear to my eyes, My Mum and Dad sadly both passed away now used to jive to this at family parties, I can close my eyes and see them, thanks for bringing back that memory 🥲
Dude you are describing the plot of Back to the Future!
Don't forget the Calvin Klein underwear!
Hah! I was just thinking he needs to watch that. 😂
He really is...
I was a little girl when this music was popular. My Mom taught me to dance like this, and to do a dance called “The Stroll”. American Bandstand was on every afternoon, and my Mom and i would watch and dance every day. What’s really strange, is that I got to be on American Bandstand in 1972 as a participant in the National Dance Contest.
That's amazing! Did you win?
Too cool!!
@ We placed second. Big color TV, which was a good prize at the time, and some actual gold jewelry.
I used to dance around whenever I heard this as a little toddler and my mum called me "Nola the Rock n' Roller"..lol
@@anitapaulus937 Congrats! My parents danced competitively in the 50's, but I don't think they ever won anything. We didn't have a color TV😢
Little Richard has some bangers as well.
Fun fact: Bill Haley convinced Elvis to sing Rock and Roll. Elvis wanted to ne a crooner like Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby.
I was 9 or 10 years old when this came out. It was a giant leap from Lawrence Welk and Bing Crosby and the like. My mother, who used to sing on the radio during the war years(WWII), was scandalised. Me, I loved it. If I was allowed to listen. I think this was the breakout song for Rock & Roll.
If you watch the entire episode of "The Ed Sullivan Show" that the Beatles were on you will see how extremely unexciting the other acts on the show were. Quite a leap indeed.
I graduated Grammer school June 1955. I was only 13 years old then.This song was played over and over at every graduation party.I'm an old man now 82 years old but I remember my youth like it was yesterday.
Some of the clips (dancers) are from one of the movies Bill Haley was in. One movie was entitled Rock Around the Clock, same as the song.
Run-around Sue has a live performance video. One of those that feels weird, because the audience is still and quiet to be respectful while the song is just begging them to dance, lol.
Dion and The Belmonts
That thing you said looked like a cello was probably a standing bass
The music from the 60's and 70's is my favorite, but the dancing from the 40's and 50's is the best. Most of us in high school in the 70's couldn't dance for sh*t! Mom and Dad on the other hand, wow!
Agreed. I graduated in ‘75 and my mother could do the Charleston. Those moves always amazed me.
I had to laugh, I was in high school in the 80s and I guarantee our dancing was even worse, Belinda Carlisle's side-to-side bopping was the closest I came to being able to "dance" lol! My mom always promised to teach me the jitterbug but she never did.
@@dennisdye7270 learned the twist, let’s do the twist
You wouldn't have noticed the kit because it isn't the full blown outfit that you are used to seeing. It would have had the bass, snare and top hat. What you should be listening for is the "sticks" sound that is present and the kit is on stage but behind Haley himself. Look for the bass down between his legs/feet
This song was originally the theme for Happy days. There's a lot of songs from this era, that are short. I wish they were longer. It is what it is.
One thing I've always noticed about this song is that if you sing it yourself, you find that there's hardly a break in order to take a breath.
The missing "rock and roll" link! It's similar to big band music, like Glenn Miller's In The Mood (1944), and structurally the same as 12-bar blues, the foundation of rock.
String of Pearls is my fave. Another great musician killed in a plane crash.
Glenn Miller In the mood is fabulous.
Brian Setzer Orchestra. Jump Jive and Wail. Or the Cherry poppin Daddies
I was raised on classical, motown and big band. Then in 1976, I was introduced to Aerosmith.🎸
My grandfather (who was a classical violinist) taught me to always introduce myself to various types of music. Never be a music snob! You find nice pieces of music in all genres! He was correct! I do love classic rock and roll, metal, progressive, etc., because I grew up in 60s, 70s (I’m 67). But I like all kinds of music. You are educating yourself. I like that! I’m here for your journey! 😎❤️
I wouldn't have gotten as much out of pink floyd if it weren't for my classical background. It all goes in.
This song and Elvis Presley's cover of Arthur Crudup's song "That's All Right" are considered the birth of Rock 'n Roll by many, though there were a few songs that talked about rocking or rocking and rolling around 1949-1951. Haley's and Elvis' songs came out within a month of each other.
A lot of different musical threads came together to form rock and roll. You can tell that this song came from swing music that was popular in the '20s-'40s. Other early rock came from country (rockabilly), and was somewhat of a mutual development. Blues ultimately gave birth to the most powerful and cherished forms of rock.
I miss when people danced together ✌️& ❤️
❤If you wonder why you can't pin down genres for some of this early music it is because these artists all interacted with each other, searching for new sounds. All the greats did. Hendricks, Janis Joplin with Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana and the Rolling Stones with John Lee Hooker and Howlin Wolf, a bunch of them with Ry Cooder. All of the younger artists learning from the older generation like you are doing today. You are in good company.
This video is really good for you, shows you what the 50 s looked and sounded like !! ( or this was the start of a new sound for the 50s)
These clips are real , from the 50s… not redone..
Gene Vincent, Be bop a Lula..The essence of R&R
If you are looking to do Elvis, the best way to see why he was the King of Rock and Roll is to watch any video from the “68 comeback special” where he is live and unplugged in a leather outfit.
Yes!
The "cello" is actually a double bass. A lot of bands back then had them. Also, look between the guitarist's legs and you'll see the bass drum behind them. Check out Jerry Lee Lewis - "Great Balls of Fire".
Another early pioneer of Rock N Roll to check out is Fats Domino. He started in 1949 with swing and some say he recorded the first Rock N Roll single. Blueberry Hill, Ain't That A Shame, I'm Walking are a start.
Definitely!
The general accepted first R&R record is by Jackie Brenton, an American singer and saxophonist who, with Ike Turner's band, recorded the first version of "Rocket 88" in 1951. Jackie Brenston.
My Mom was the Queen of the Jitter Bug Dance
💃 💃 💃 💃
SHE COULD MOVE IT ALL WHILE BEING FLIPPED IN THE AIR 🤗
Missing the heavier/grungier side of your reactions.. but it’s great to see you go this far back. I definitely feel like learning about all these guys and this era is an integral part of loving rock, and music in general
This song is how I learned to tell time when I was 4. :)
Other good dance songs that come to mind are "The Twist" and "Willie and the Hand Jive"
Definitely Hand Jive. Also the Locomotion from the VERY Early 60s.
Maybe one day aweek( at least ) doing a chronological dive starting with the fifties. And actually, there were subgenres in the fifties and sixties too, just not as well defined. The music from Detroit sounded different from New York, which sounded different again from the stuff from Tennessee, or Texas, or California.
Growing up in the early sixties spending half my time in New York City and the other half in the deep south you were team Beatles or team Elvis.
This was the first Rock & Roll song to be a hit on the national level, and convinced radio stations to play more Rock & Roll for commercial success.
Should check out Brenda Lee's 1960 'Rock the Bop' also at Christmas her 1958 'Rockin Around the Christmas Tree' if you want to do a Christmas special, at it to Bobby Helms 1957 'Jingle Bell Rock', move on up the Beach Boys, John Lennon's 'So You Say This is Christmas', Emerson Lake & Palmer's 'I Believe in Father Christmas', etc.
I love the idea of Christmas Rocking Through the Decades week. 💙
Dancing with my daddy in the living room as a small child.. ❤best times
I was the drummer in a covers band in the early 70s and we played all this early rock & roll. This song, and 'At The Hop' were guaranteed to get every single person in the place up on their feet dancing.
I saw Bill Haley on 16 November 1979 when he played at Woolwich Odeon London. the place was packed 😁
50’s music is so f’n gangster!!
This was THE song as a kid in the 70’s…that was known to be our parents’ introduction to rock. 🎸 🎶 🥁
Irresistible dance groove no matter the decade. 💃
There were riots in cinemas when this was shown, seats got smashed up - very much the start of the teddy boy era, the rockers adopting the slicked hair & drape suits
I was born 1972 and I had an album of this kind of music, including this song, that I loved!!! I got it for Christmas when I was 5 years old. Brings back memories ❤
I love rock and roll and was really a child of the sixties. However I've listened to a lot of the music of the fifties because I love music. I was a year old when this song came out yet I know this song as well as any song by the Beatles or the Stones. Love it. Love your channel Mollyboy. You are so much fun!
I am glad you are looking at the different Eras MB.... Rock Music evolved it's best to know what it all evolved from. It's like wanting to know where the modern car came from.. Be prepared for a meaningful ride.
The Old Soul strikes again! And that's a compliment! The 50s rock era is a very deep dive, and well worth the trip! I have been saying for years that it would be so cool if someone opened a theme park with everything set up like it's the 50s! The food, music, movies, maybe like an entire resort town or city that's like a 50s time capsule, where one could go and get a taste of what it was like back then. I know I'd visit it! Good job young man, good job! 👏 😎👍
I think at this time the electric guitar couldn't be amplified as much as it is now, so that's why they still relied on the saxaphone and the piano for volume.
So thankful my mom was a rocker! She always had the radio or an album playing. I wasn't born till '58, and I know this song like the back of my hands. Thanks, mom! Thanks, Molly Boy!!❤
Good job! That was quite a surprise!
This brings back fond memories of my pre-teen years. I loved dancing to these old tunes!
Some of the best rockabilly of that era.
Hell of a good time Mollyboy back in those 50s. With Rock and Roll, I was conceived with that music in 1956.
This is old time Rock 'n Roll!!! We have Rock N Roll Dancing here in my town here in Australia.
This one brings back some memories for me. I'm only 47, but growing up in a small Pennsylvania town I lived like two blocks away from a man named Joey Welz. He played piano for Bill Haley from 1961-1963 as a young man, and he was known as "the whistling piano player". Kind of an eccentric guy in his later years, but I got to hang out with him a couple of times in the early 2000s. I did some work on a couple of his limos (which he drove around himself), and he owned a small house that he'd set up as a rock and roll museum. The history in that museum was amazing. Gold records all over the walls, lots and lots of photos, a recording studio, and a collection of original tape masters that would blow your mind. Really cool guy, and really easy and fun to talk to. I don't even know if he's still alive. Last time I saw him was like 20 years ago and he was in his 60s then. I met him hanging out at a convenience store at 3am. He'd roll in on his way out of town to Atlantic City for some fun, and he'd sit and talk with me and some friends for an hour or two before heading out. Really, really cool cat.
The drums r there but not in every picture and the dancers were like acrobats amazing
He’s working a stand-up bass!! My Dad and Mom graduated in 1957 and ‘58, respectively, and with the joys of Sirius XM radio, they are constantly listening to the 50s channel! I love hearing the stories about how the music was perceived when it first came out, etc. Great song choice, MB!!
This is from a 1956 Rock & Roll musical called "Rock Around the Clock." The guy introducing the band is Alan Freed, an early Rock & Roll disc jockey. He helped to popularize the name of the genre. He was one of the first white DJs to play black artists, beginning to eliminate the strict racial segregation that existed in the American music industry back then. (It's been said that a big reason for the success of the 1960s "British Invasion" in the U.S. is that more white kids in the UK were exposed to the black artists who created Rock & Roll.)
Freed was a DJ at 1010 WINS when Rock Around The Clock was released.
Rotate daily theme/decade days to keep everyone happy and not get bored. There is so much to get to. We can't skip any decade or genre. Also need to do a monthly "Songs That Sucked" or were just weird day. :)
I remember this song from the TV show Happy Days which ran from 1974-1984 and many years afterward in syndication.
In the 1990's there was a revival of Swing dancing and the Rockabilly culture, (more about the 1920's and 30's than the 1950's)
To this day there are still people who embrace that culture and style of clothes and cars.
The beginnings of Rock & Roll have many splinters.
Country music was the Popular music of the time, and, 20 years before so was Swing Jazz. What really Blew away a lot of people of course was the youthful Enthusiasm and Energy using a country band’s instrumentation.
All of this was Brand New to everyone watching as it happened, the first time.
The upright bass was used until the early 1960s when it was but into the format it is today.
The big bopper was on that plane also listen to his Chantilly lace
This is my parent's era of music. I loved it as a little kid, then hated it as a teenager because it was "old people music". Now I'm older, I love it again.
Ah, the circle game!
The drummer is there. He's behind the front line of guitars and saxophone, sitting in front of the piano.
Probably the most iconic rock and roll song of all time. It was also the theme song to the TV show Happy Days for at least the first season of the show.
It's a double bass.
The fifties, even though I wasn't there, was like the awakening, particularly for the youth of the day.
It was the beginning of rock n roll, which birthed what followed.
This is gold. Well done, Molly Boy! Love from Western Australia 😊
Its a good thing that you are going back and listening to this older stuff. This shows you where current rock/metal roots are.
I grew up in a small Florida town where the local music store was owned by a guitarist for the Comets. Great guy. He still had that old guitar!
Many small towns in the ‘50s had what was called teen-town dances in the gyms of elementary schools. We even had country music to “ square dance to “ . Square dancing was actually taught in elementary schools where I lived, 15 miles north of the big city, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The music was a blast and we had a lot of fun. Thanks for taking us back.
The house dance clips were probably filmed on a TV set with high quality cameras while the band clips were filmed on stage not on a set.
That was probably a stand up bass, the big brother of the cello.
"Blackboard Jungle" (1955, black and white) starring Glenn Ford and Sydney Poitier. This movie used Bill Haley's "Rock Around The Clock" at 2 or 3 points in the film including opening credits. Because of that movie, the song became the first song labeled rock-and-roll to sell a million record copies. Saw him and his group perform once in a smallish club in a college town in 1968. At one juncture in their set, they all-- but one member-- left their instruments and grabbed a quick cigarette smoke off stage, although from my angled view I could watch them. The solitary band member just did a drum solo fro awhile.
This recording was used as an opening for a film about teen angst and the classroom called Blackboard Jungle. This union cemented rock and roll as music for troubled teens, thus initiating the negative campaign against rock n roll that culminated with the 1958 Payola Scandal that almost ended rock'n'roll in America. The music scene was flooded with young crooners with beautiful hairdo's and doo wop vocal groups. The saving grace came from California with beach music that mostly consisted of rockin' guitar heavy instrumentals. And amongst all that came The Beach Boys marrying vocal arrangements with rockin' instrumentals.
3:41 - Let me tell you about a movie called "Back to the Future" - you NEED to check it out. Just... trust me.
I got the impression that he was thinking about Back to the Future when he says this 😂
YEEESSSS🎉🎉 Iconic❤
I loved this when I was a little kid; it was used as the theme song for the first two seasons of the TV show Happy Days, so I got introduced to it there.
I can remember drive in theaters. I'm 76 and this was kind of the beginning of Rock and Roll but I was still too young for it at that time. This stuff WAS the 50s.
I grew up in the '60's and by the time I'd started to listen to the radio, this was played on the "oldies" stations. And while it already sounded old to me, it was still kind of fun, especially when you learned about how your music heroes revered these guys! I still get a kick out of watching these old videos and realizing that those groups were the "wild and crazy kids" of that era, that were shocking the older folks! Yup...that's what rebellion looked like in the '50s!
I was very fortunate to grow up in these times. I was still young not yet a teenager but my mom played this music all the time a lot of fun times. Thanks so much for your great review as always.
Absolutely the dancing was from the 50s! My mother was in her 20s in 1955 and she said this was the dance moves.
This was the song played for Happy Days. Great TV sitcom from the 70's.
This guitar solo is one of my top ten favorite guitar solos.
Bro, that's a bass violin, aka a stand-up bass.
A double bass.
The year before I was born. My mum and dad used to dance in our kitchen, they loved to dance 🏴🏴🏴
Very very smart to go back to the 50s. Thank you for that and for always making your focus towards the 20th century groups and artists.
50's, 60's, 70's, 80's, and your pushing it with 90s but you picked a good set of groups from the 90s. Just less widespread talent to go around.
50's started it. The 60's let the genie out of the bottle and the 70's really did use the most of that great energy.
Anyone that likes music that feels like the future, techno beat, forward thinking...the 80s was the decade for them. Amazing song writing talent crossed over into the 80s from the 70s making the 80s the decade for future sounds
Always takes me back to watching happy days on tv, this was the intro music.
It’s a double bass 😂 I was six years old when my parents took me to see Bill Haley and the Comets in the UK. I can clearly remember the bass player laying on the floor playing with the bass on top of him. I was hugely impressed by the fact that he has one red sock and one yellow sock. Wonderful memories, love your reactions ❤I still have the programme!
So my Dad was a movie Projectionist in Memphis Tennessee when this song dropped and he said the entire theater went bonkers when this song played. Dancing in the aisles, just going nuts!!
first rock and roll #1 song in history. not the first rock and roll song but definitely put rock and roll on the map.