#Rock around the clock movie#

The Age of Zeppelins Through peace and war the sky was the limit for Zeppelin airships, named after their German inventor – until the Hindenburg disaster put an end to the dream.The American Legion and the Boy Scouts denounced it.

But financial ruin lay ahead for the young star.

The Rise and Fall of Boris Becker Boris Becker stunned the tennis world on this day by becoming the youngest player to win Wimbledon at just 17.

Swimwear Reduced to Bare Essentials Now a common sight on beaches across the world, the bikini created a sensation when a French mechanic launched it on this day in history.

Ever since, celebrations marking the event have taken place every year across the country. The United States declared itself independent of Britain on this day.

Yippee! It's Independence Day for the U.S.

Happily, the disasters predicted by some failed to happen May 18, 1910

The Quiet Passing of Halley’s Comet Halley’s Comet has been skirting Earth over and over again for centuries and did so again on this day.

In the years following his death, surviving members of the Comets, all in their 70s and 80s, continued to work together and attracted sell-out crowds in Europe during the 1990s and early 2000s.Īnd what higher tribute could there be to a rock and roll legend than this?: in February 2006, the International Astronomical Union announced the naming of asteroid 79896 as Billhaley, honouring the 25th anniversary of Bill Haley's death. In 1979 Haley was diagnosed with a brain tumour and died in February 1981.

#Rock around the clock movie#

In 2010, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) listed the soundtrack of Blackboard Jungle among the top 15 most influential movie soundtracks of all time. Sightless in his left eye due to a botched operation when he was a child, Haley adopted his trademark 'kiss curl' early in his career, attempting to draw attention away from his blind eye.īut nobody cared and in the late Fifties he enjoyed huge success on stage, screen and in the recording studio.

Though he recorded several other successful songs such as See You Later, Alligator Shake, Rattle And Roll and Crazy, Man, Crazy, it was Rock Around The Clock that established Haley as a megastar and led to him being described as 'the father of rock and roll'.Īppropriate, really, since he was old enough to be the father of millions of youngsters who bought his records. The film, which starred Glenn Ford as a teacher dealing with rebellious students – including a young Sidney Poitier – was a huge hit and Haley's re-released song shot up the charts, spending eight weeks at Number One in America and other parts of the world. But the following year it was used on the soundtrack of Blackboard Jungle. The single Rock Around The Clock was released in 1954 and scraped into the bottom of the charts, selling 75,000 copies. They had discarded their cowboy hats and other country paraphernalia, switching to the more popular rhythm and blues sound. He first appeared on record in the 1940s.īy 1952, Haley headed a group called Bill Haley and His Comets (inspired by the celestial phenomenon Halley's Comet). He left school at 14 to follow a career in music, played with various country and western bands and established himself as a singing and yodeling cowboy. William John Clifton Haley, who came from Michigan, US, developed a strong love for country music and began playing guitar and singing. His name was Bill Haley and he was born on this day in history. No, the man behind the movie mayhem was a chubby, middle-aged performer who sported a curious kiss-curl and had been regarded as one of the top cowboy yodelers in America. It might have been expected that a young, sultry, sexy heart-throb such as Elvis Presley would have caused the commotion, but he was relatively unknown at this time.