JUNE 7: A SLOW DAY IN THE EVOLUTION OF ROCK 'n ROLL...

June 7, 1954:

With Big Joe Turner's

"Shake, Rattle and Roll" riding high on the Billboard R&B chart…

The Motor City's Bill Haley And His Comets enter Decca Records' New York studio to record the same number. Haley's version will enter the Pop chart next August for an amazing 27 week run and rise to #7, becoming the first Rock and Roll tune to sell a million copies…

June 7, 1958: Prince hit the planet…

 June 7, 1976: The Ohio Players hit #1 with
"Love Rollercoaster"…

June 7, 1994: Grace Slick is sentenced to 200 hours of community service and four Alcoholic's Anonymous meetings a week for three months, after being convicted of pointing a gun at police the previous March…

And THAT is a “slow day” in

THE EVOLUTION OF ROCK ‘n ROLL!!!

THE USE OF ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IS USED UNDER THE GUIDELINES OF "FAIR USE" IN TITLE 17 & 107 OF THE UNITED STATES CODE. SUCH MATERIAL REMAINS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL HOLDER AND IS USED HERE FOR THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION, COMPARISON, AND CRITICISM ONLY. NO INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT IS INTENDED… 

SEPTEMBER 29, 1956: Detroit’s own Bill Haley equals Ruby Murray's record set in 1955 by having five songs in the UK Top 30…

SEPTEMBER 29, 1956: 

Detroit’s own (well, actually, he’s from Highland Park) Bill Haley equals Ruby Murray's record set in 1955 by having five songs in the UK Top 30…

 "See You Later, Alligator" (#19)…

"Razzle Dazzle" (#17)…

"Rock Around The Clock" (#13)…

  

"The Saints Rock 'n' Roll" (#11) 

"Rockin' Through The Rye" (#4)…

YES, DETROIT WAS ROCKIN’ THE WORLD...

PRIOR TO MOTOWN!!!

THE USE OF ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IS USED UNDER THE GUIDELINES OF "FAIR USE" IN TITLE 17 & 107 OF THE UNITED STATES CODE. SUCH MATERIAL REMAINS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL HOLDER AND IS USED HERE FOR THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION, COMPARISON, AND CRITICISM ONLY.

 NO INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT IS INTENDED  

June 7, 1954: Detroit’s Bill Haley, along with His Comets, record Shake, Rattle & Roll which will become the first Rock ‘n Roll tune to sell a million copies!!!

With Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle and Roll" riding high on the Billboard R&B chart,

 Bill Haley And His Comets enter Decca Records' New York studio to record the same number…

 Haley's version will enter the Pop chart next August for an amazing 27 week run and rise to #7, becoming the first Rock and Roll tune to sell a million copies…

THE USE OF ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IS USED UNDER THE GUIDELINES OF "FAIR USE" IN TITLE 17 & 107 OF THE UNITED STATES CODE. SUCH MATERIAL REMAINS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL HOLDER AND IS USED HERE FOR THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION, COMPARISON, AND CRITICISM ONLY. NO INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT IS INTENDED 

April 12, 1954: "Rock Around the Clock" is recorded by Detroit’s Bill Haley (Actually, Bill’s from Highland Park) and the Comets at the Pythian Temple in New York City…Another Detroiter, Jackie Wilson , as well as Buddy Holly also recorded there—CHECK THIS ONE OUT FO’ SHO!!!

April 12, 1954:

"Rock Around the Clock" is recorded by Detroit’s Bill Haley

The Pythian Temple (The building is a flamboyant Egyptian Revival Temple in Art Deco style) is an historic Knights of Pythias building at 135 West 70th Street between Columbus Avenue and Broadway in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1927 to serve as a meeting place for the 120 Pythian lodges of New York City. Today it is an 88-unit luxury condominium building known as The Pythian....

The Pythiam in its heyday!!!

The Pythiam Today

As The Knights of Pythias popularity declined, in the early 1940s the Pythians leased space in the building to Decca Records who created an acoustically renowned music recording studio in it. Decca had transformed a very large third floor auditorium with balconies and wooden floors into a recording studio. In 1954, DETROIT’S  Bill Haley (Well, actually Bill’s from Highland Park—Surrounded by The Motor City)  and His Comets recorded their album Rock Around the Clock there  (Released in May 13, 1954 in NYC and again in May 1955)...

Other visitors to Pythian Temple included Jackie Wilson (Another cat outta DETROIT!) who cut his breakthrough hit “Reet Petite” in 1957...

True Love Ways was written by Buddy Holly (though also credited to Norman Petty) and recorded with the Ray Ellis orchestra on October 21, 1958, at the Pythian Temple Studio in New York City...

Buddy Holly’s last studio session took place there on October 21, 1958:

 Check it out......

THE USE OF ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL IS USED UNDER THE GUIDELINES OF "FAIR USE" IN TITLE 17 & 107 OF THE UNITED STATES CODE. SUCH MATERIAL REMAINS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL HOLDER AND IS USED HERE FOR THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION, COMPARISON, AND CRITICISM ONLY. NO INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT IS INTENDED    

February 22, 1957: The Film Don't Knock The Rock, featuring appearances by Alan Freed, Little Richard and Bill Haley, opens at the Paramount Theatre in New York

The Film Don't Knock The Rock, featuring appearances by Alan Freed, Little Richard and Bill Haley, opened at the Paramount Theatre in New York in February 1957:

Don't Knock the Rock (1956) 2 minute trailer:

Another mid-50's rock n' roll exploitation quickie, made famous because of the appearance of both Bill Haley and The Comets and Little Richard.

Interestingly, Bill Haley covers Little Richard's "Rip It Up" in one sequence.

But Little Richard does a righteous job on his own Tutti Frutti

 CHECK OUT THE FULL MOVIE