Bill Haley & His Comets Posters

Talk about your unlikely rock stars and being at the right place at the right time! Haley was overweight; lacked Presley, Cochran and Vincent's overt, cocksure sexuality and good looks; had bad taste in threads and hairstyle (complete with a spitcurl which he maintained until his death); and he looked more like your dad than he did a '50s teen idol. And yet, in 1955, Haley scored the first huge international rock 'n' roll hit with "Rock Around The Clock." The song did only fairly well when originally released--but after it was used as the theme song to the juvenile delinquency flick Blackboard Jungle it exploded, setting the stage and the rebellious image of rock 'n' roll for all eternity.

Haley & the Comets--who basically evolved from a straight country & western act--toured Europe after the song became a phenomenon, setting off major riots in Germany. The phenomenon was short-lived, however. They scored a few more minor hits with mostly novelty tunes ("See You Later, Alligator," "Crazy, Man, Crazy") or inferior R&B covers ("Shake, Rattle And Roll"--with cleaned-up lyrics)--but Haley was soon relegated to the "oldies" circuit before there even was such a thing.

A sad story, Haley spent his last years in Mexico, frequently roaming the streets delusional and trying to prove to strangers that he really was the father of rock 'n' roll, prior to his death in 1981. A mid-'80s biography of the artist by John Swenson did attempt to set the record straight, trying to portray Haley as more important than history has given him credit for. He is, however, a charter member of the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame. And, perhaps, justifiably so.

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