There are many competing events that lay claim to have been the BIRTH of rock 'n' roll. And music historians are never in agreement over which is the key event.

From Ike Turner recording "Rocket 88" in March 1951 - to the first-ever rock concert (Alan Freed's Moondog Coronation Ball) in Cleveland in March 1952 - to Elvis Presley recording "That's All Right Mama" in July 1954.

But there is one thing that all music historians agree on.

The Breakthrough. The point at which rock 'n' roll broke through from being a teen fad with a cult following - into mass awareness and acceptance.

That happened in the first week of July 1955.

That was when the song "Rock Around The Clock" - performed by Bill Haley & The Comets - became the first rock 'n' roll record to ever reach the #1 position in the US charts.

(The chart position was officially certified by Billboard on July 1st 1955. The information about the chart position became public knowledge on July 2nd when the new issue of Billboard was published. The cover date on that issue was July 9th 1955.)

The record stayed at #1 for 8 consecutive weeks and went on to sell over 45 million copies worldwide. It is the highest-selling vinyl single of all time. It also paved the way for the tidal wave of rock 'n' roll artists that followed.

Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers and many more.

All of these artists had their first big successes AFTER "Rock Around The Clock" had broken down the barriers.

And it was the beginning of the worldwide explosion of rock 'n' roll in popular culture.

The impact was not just in music. It impacted movies, TV, radio, advertising, fashion, hair-styles, social attitudes, and ultimately the entirety of pop culture worldwide.

The story behind the musical evolution that led to the Big Bang of rock 'n' roll is a fascinating tale. The Comets were among the key pioneers of that evolutionary process - starting four years earlier in 1951. (See separate essay.)

The story of how "Rock Around The Clock" became a massive hit - after it had originally been the flipside of an unsuccessful record - is itself intriguing.

The song was recorded in April 1954 (3 months before Elvis Presley made his first record.) It was recorded in just 20 minutes at the end of a 3-hour session dedicated to another song deemed more commercial. (A song about a man being the sole male survivor of an atomic war and having to satisfy all "Thirteen Women" left alive in his town!)

Though "Rock Around The Clock" had been an unnoticed flipside of a failed record - it suddenly sprang to prominence after it was selected to be the theme song for "Blackboard Jungle" - a 1955 movie about juvenile delinquency - starring Glenn Ford.

(The song had been suggested for the film by Glenn Ford's music-crazed 9-year-old son Peter - who was a fan of Bill Haley & The Comets and had overheard his father and the film's director discussing their search for a song that reflected 'teen spirit.')

It was the first major film ever to feature a rock 'n' roll song. "Rock Around The Clock" was used twice in the film - during the opening and closing sequences. The novelty of hearing such raucous new music in a movie theater sparked spontaneous reactions from exuberant teenagers - who went wild and danced in the aisles.

In some cities teenage audience members even started riots. This phenomenon led to major news coverage about the film and the "dangerous influence" of rock 'n' roll.

The song was immediately reissued - now as the A-side of the record - to cope with the sudden popular demand and three months later in July 1955 it became the first-ever #1 rock 'n' roll record.

The song also inspired the first-ever full-length rock 'n' roll film - the 1956 jukebox movie "Rock Around The Clock" starring Bill Haley & The Comets - which premiered in March 1956 - 9 months before "The Girl Can't Help It."

The worldwide impact of "Rock Around The Clock" and the music created by Bill Haley & The Comets cannot be over-stated. It is perhaps best gauged by the fact that many moralists and reactionaries in America regarded the music as a communist plot to corrupt western teenagers and undermine American culture! Simultaneously the music was banned by authorities in the Soviet Union - who regarded it as a CAPITALIST plot to corrupt RUSSIAN teenagers and undermine COMMUNIST culture!

WHAT SUBSEQUENTLY HAPPENED TO BILL HALEY & THE COMETS?

In 1956, Elvis Presley and other younger performers began to challenge Haley's popularity among the fickle teenage fans. In addition to playing the exciting new music - the performers who followed immediately in Haley's wake were all much younger. More importantly they all LOOKED much younger than the 30-year-old, twice-married ex-country singer who looked prematurely middle-aged. The next wave of rock 'n' roll singers tended to have the youth, looks and attitude redolent of the new cinematic anti-heroes such as James Dean and Marlon Brando. Certainly none of them were on their second marriage - or was the father of four children - as Haley was in 1955.

The combination of rock 'n' roll with rebel imagery exuded by Presley and others proved to be an appealing combination with teenagers. Haley's paternal appearance and genial showbiz personality did not reflect the revolutionary qualities of the music that he and the Comets were creating.

By 1957 the mainstream American record industry - which had not foreseen the eruption of rock 'n' roll - was growing uncomfortable with the maverick characters and unpredictable music. It sought to regain control of its industry by promoting tamer, more malleable entertainers such as Pat Boone, Paul Anka and Fabian.

Compounding the pressure against the new music from corporate America was the intense backlash against rock 'n' roll by social conservatives who were uncomfortable with the messages of sexual freedom and implicit social and racial equality. There was also the major "payola" scandal in which radio disc jockeys were revealed to have accepted financial bribes in order to give greater prominence to certain records.

Towards the end of the 1950's - the first flush of rock 'n' roll was coming to an end. Many of the early stars saw their careers derailed or prematurely ended. Elvis Presley was drafted into the US Army. Little Richard renounced music for religion. Chuck Berry was sentenced to 5 years prison on a morals conviction. Jerry Lee Lewis was publicly ostracized for marrying his 13-year-old cousin. Carl Perkins was involved in a near-fatal car accident. Eddie Cochran died in a car crash. Buddy Holly died in a plane crash.

The convergence of all these factors changed the marketplace radically. Sensitive to these changes Bill Haley & The Comets started to place an increasing focus on live performance. The band evolved into one of the world's most popular touring attractions and became the first-ever rock 'n' roll band to tour the UK, Europe and Australia.

Among those who saw Bill Haley & The Comets perform on their landmark first UK tour in 1957 and who were inspired to start their own rock 'n' roll bands - were future members of: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Hollies, The Animals, The Yardbirds, The Kinks, Rod Stewart and many of the other musicians who formed the British Invasion that reinvigorated popular music in the 1960's.

The fact that Bill Haley & The Comets were eventually over-shadowed by some younger, more rebellious-looking performers who followed in their wake did have some unfortunate and unfair consequences in the history books. When writing about Haley & The Comets, most music writers primarily focus on the historical importance of "Rock Around The Clock" as a hit record - and ignore the considerable significance of the band's extensive work before and after that landmark recording.

It is a perspective that overlooks two of the most significant achievements of Bill Haley & The Comets.

Their considerable contributions to the evolution of rock 'n' roll in the crucial formative years 1951-1955 leading up to the Big Bang. And their equally important work in 1956-1962 as pioneers in popularizing rock 'n' roll throughout the western world - particularly in Britain.

In the former period they were akin to the scientists who - by trial and error - discovered DNA. In the latter period they were quite literally the Johnny Appleseeds of rock 'n' roll.

And in addition to their pioneering work in the development of the musical form and subsequently as world ambassadors - there were the hit records. In the US the band had a staggering 24 chart entries in Billboard's Hot Hundred Chart between 1953 and 1960 - 14 of them in the Top Forty.

In the UK the band had a total of 19 Top Forty chart entries - 16 of them in the Top Twenty.

The Bill Haley & The Comets recording of "Rock Around The Clock" has become an iconic song in popular culture. It was prominently featured in George Lucas' 1973 film "American Graffiti" and was chosen as the original theme song for the key first two seasons of the sitcom "Happy Days" starting in 1974. The exposure to a new generation of movie and television audiences led to the record becoming a Top Forty hit again in 1974.

Now, with the benefit of half a century of hindsight, music historians are starting to recognize what many musicians - such as John Lennon, Pete Townshend, Graham Nash, Rod Stewart and U2 - have been saying for many years:

Namely that Bill Haley & The Comets were among the principal architects of rock 'n' roll who - as John Lennon wrote: "started it all."

Bill Haley continued to tour the world performing his music with an ever-revolving cast of Comets - re-creating on stage the music that he and the original lineup of the band had created during the halcyon years between 1951 and 1957. He died at the age of 55 in February 1981 of an apparent heart attack.

July 6th 2005 will mark the 80th anniversary of his birth.

STILL ROCKING AROUND THE CLOCK!

Fortunately - there are still five surviving members of the original Comets who played with Bill Haley between 1949 and 1962.

And remarkably - they are still making music together! The band members have reunited and are now performing concerts throughout the world - especially in Europe where they are hailed as legendary musical pioneers.

The cumulative age of these five musicians is now 381 years - with an average age of 76! The members range in age from 71 to 83!

The Comets are - quite literally - The First Band of Rock 'n' Roll.