Song of the Day 3/13: Sonny Dae and His Knights, “Rock Around the Clock”
American exceptionalism at work: Daylight Savings Time started today in the USA. It doesn’t begin until March 27 in Europe.
In 1955 Bill Haley’s recording of this song topped all three national charts — Best Sellers in Stores, Most Played By Disc Jockeys, and Most Played in Juke Boxes — the first rock ‘n’ roll record to reach No. 1. But it wasn’t any kind of immediate success. Though its co-writer, Jimmy Myers, claimed to have written it for Haley, it was first recorded by this Richmond, Va., band because of a dispute between Myers and the owner of Haley’s record label.
“Sonny Dae” was a guy named Paschall Vennitti, and the band was featured regularly as a novelty act on a country show in Richmond, Va., but this was apparently the only recording they ever made.
Haley’s first recording of the song went on a B-side. It didn’t become a hit until a year later, when it was featured in “Blackboard Jungle,” one of the first films to hype the new problem of juvenile delinquency. He wound up recording it several times, and I have no idea which one this is.
