Austrian postcard by Kellner Fotokarten, Wien, no. 894. Photo: Columbia-Film. Bill Haley in Rock Around the Clock (Fred F. Sears, 1956).
West German postcard by ISV, no. H 27. Photo: Constantin. Caterina Valente and Bill Haley and the Comets in Hier bin ich - hier bleib' ich/Here I Am, Here I Stay (Werner Jacobs, 1959).
The first no.1 hit for a rock 'n' roll songn
William John Clifton 'Bill' Haley was born in Highland Park, Michigan, in 1925. In 1929, the four-year-old Haley underwent an inner-ear mastoid operation which accidentally severed an optic nerve, leaving him blind in his left eye for the rest of his life. It is said that he adopted his trademark kiss curl over his right eye to draw attention from his left, but it also became his 'gimmick', and added to his popularity.
As a result of the effects of the Great Depression on the Detroit area, his father, William Albert Haley, moved the family to Bethel Township, Pennsylvania, when Bill was seven years old. Haley was surrounded by music at home as a child: his father played banjo and mandolin and his mother, Maude Green, played pianoand was classical trainerd. In 1938, Bill started performing. Then he sang and played guitar to go with it. At the age of 22, he married Dorothy Crowe.
During the 1940s Haley was considered one of the top cowboy yodelers in America as 'Silver Yodeling Bill Haley'. With his backing band 'The Saddlemen', Haley initially played southern country (hillbilly). But from the early 1950s he increasingly mixed black rhythm & blues elements into his music, creating a new, uplifting sound. In 1951, he recorded with The Saddlemen' a country and western-styled cover version of the Delta Cats' 'Rocket 88', a rhythm and blues song.
During the Labor Day weekend in 1952, the Saddlemen were renamed Bill Haley with Haley's Comets. The name was inspired by the supposedly official pronunciation of Halley's Comet and was suggested by Bob Johnson, program director at radio station WPWA where Bill Haley had a live radio program. In 1953, Haley's recording of 'Crazy Man, Crazy' hit the American charts, peaking at number 12 on Billboard. Some sources indicate that this was the first rock and roll record in history, although rockabilly might be a more appropriate term.
Haley's new style proved to catch on unexpectedly with white (and richer) youngsters in the North. Haley left for New York where he recorded the song 'Rock Around the Clock' with his band The Comets on 12 April 1954. Initially, it was only a moderate success, peaking at number 36 on the Cash Box pop singles chart and staying on the charts for just two weeks. Due to the controversial sociasl drama Blackboard Jungle (Richard Brooks, 1955) starring Glenn Ford, which featured Haley's song, rock 'n' roll quickly spread around the world. On re-release in 1955, the record It became the first no.1 hit for a rock 'n' roll song. The single demarcated the line between the 'rock era' and the jazz and pop standards performed by Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Eddie Fisher, and Patti Page, that preceded it.
West German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin-Charlottenburg, no. V 153. Photo: Popperfoto.
British postcard by Camden Graphics, London, no. PC 416. Photo: Harry Hammond / Period Pop People Collection. Caption: Bill Haley (1957).
West German postcard by WS-Druck, Wanne-Eickel, no. 376.
Outstripped in everything by the myth of Elvis
Bill Haley with Haley's Comets was soon renamed Bill Haley & His Comets and was also known by the names 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 band had already had a worldwide hit with 'Shake, Rattle and Roll', another rhythm and blues cover in this case from Big Joe Turner, which went on to sell a million copies. Their cover of '(See you) Later Alligator', with which Bobby Charles had achieved only minor success, also became a big hit.
Haley starred in the first rock and roll musical films Rock Around the Clock (Fred F. Sears, 1956) and Don't Knock the Rock (Fred F. Sears, 1956). 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 behaviour, many fans considered them to be as revolutionary in their time as The Beatles or The Rolling Stones were a decade later.
In 1957, Haley became the first major American rock singer to tour Europe. The European performances of Bill Haley & His Comets were considered sensational and sometimes even led to violence. But during these performances, Haley's weak point also came to light: he turned out to be a lot older (30) than his fans had expected, was slightly balding and had no sex appeal like the new, younger star Elvis Presley. Partly for this reason, Haley's popularity declined rapidly. Henever managed to make a comeback in the US after the end of the rock 'n' roll craze, but he continued to enjoy popularity in Latin America, Europe, and Australia during the 1960s.
Bill Haley appeared in a German film, Hier bin ich - hier bleib' ich/Here I Am, Here I Stay (Werner Jacobs, 1959) alongside Caterina Valente, with whom he sang the duet 'Viva La Rock & Roll'. He also appeared in three films in Mexico, where he became known as the 'Spanish King Of Twist' and had a best-selling record in Latin America with 'Florida Twist'. Haley was addicted to alcohol but toured extensively in the 1970s. He died of a brain tumour in Harlingen, Texas, in 1981. Haley was married three times. He married Dorothy Crowe in 1946 but they divorced in 1952. They had two children. With his second wife, Barbara Joan Cupchak (1952-1960), he had five children. Finally he was narried to Martha Valaesco from 1963 till he died in 1981.They had a daughter, Martha Maria. John W. Haley, his eldest son, wrote 'Sound and Glory', a biography of Haley.
Outstripped in everything by the myth of Elvis, Bill Haley threatened to become a footnote in music history. But in 1987, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In pop literature today, he is again regarded as one of the most important links in the birth of rock 'n' roll, and thus of a rebellious youth culture on which the 1960s could take root. In 2006, to mark the 25th commemoration of Haley's death anniversary, the International Astronomical Union named an asteroid after him: 79896 Billhaley. In 2007, the Original Comets opened the Bill Haley Museum in Munich, Germany.
West German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H., Minden-Westf, no. 2397. Photo: Columbia. Bill Haley and the Comets in Rock Around the Clock (Fred F. Sears, 1956).
Dutch postcard, no. 5173. Photo: Editions Altona.
West German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H., Minden-Westf, no. 2397. Photo: CCC / Constantin / Krau. Caterina Valente and Bill Haley and the Comets in Hier bin ich - hier bleib' ich/Here I Am, Here I Stay (Werner Jacobs, 1959).
Sources: Otto Fuchs (IMDb), Wikipedia (English and Dutch) and IMDb.
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