Bill Haley Jr. and the Comets Still Rockin’ Around the Clock

Bill Haley Jr. tells the story of how his father’s iconic song, “Rock Around the Clock,” almost never was.

“That song was never recorded as a hit,” Haley explained.

The story starts off with Bill Haley Sr. being stuck on a sandbar during a ferry ride to the recording studio. The recording session, under Decca Records, took place in April of 1954, and was meant for the A-side recording of the song, “Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town).”

Haley said that the band took all day to record that song and finished up with only 45 minutes left of studio time, of which Haley Sr. decided to record the B-side “Rock Around the Clock.”

“It took two takes,” Haley said. “They thought they kind of blew it.”

According to Haley, the recordings were not commercially successful. Despite this, his father went on to record “Shake, Rattle and Roll” a month later, which would become a monster hit.

Then, in 1955, “Rock Around the Clock” was featured on the soundtrack to the film “Blackboard Jungle,” starring Glenn Ford.

“All of a sudden, it got new life,” Haley said. “In July 1955, it became the first Rock and Roll record to reach Number One on the Billboard charts.”

Haley tells such behind-the-scenes stories and performs authentic music of the era, through his own band, Bill Haley Jr. and the Comets, who will perform at the Sunnybrook Ballroom in Pottstown, April 13.

From Satellites to Comets

Haley is the owner and publisher of the Pottstown-based “422 Business Advisor,” a free, monthly magazine, focusing on the news and issues of business communities along the Route 422 and Route 100 corridors in Montgomery, Chester and Berks counties.

The publication was started in 1995, and Haley, 57, said that his work keeps him busy. However, Haley added that he has always had a passion for music, and learned to play guitar as a teenager.

As a youth, Haley said he made the decision not to pursue a musical career, considering that his music may live in the shadow of his father’s legacy.

“I wanted to establish my own identity,” Haley said. “It would be hard to top that.”

Still, while managing his business, Haley said he has tried to dedicate a few hours each week just to play music with a couple of friends in a garage band.

Through this band, Haley got to perform his own music, and eventually became encouraged enough to begin recording an album in 2010 with his new band, “Bill Haley and the Satellites.”

During the album’s release party, which took place at the Diving Cat Studio Gallery in Phoenixville, Bill Haley and the Satellites were invited to perform. However, the owner of the studio also requested that Haley perform one of his father’s hits.

“Fans of my father’s music were there,” Haley said. “One of them took out a cell phone and took a video of me doing ‘Rock Around the Clock.’”

Haley said the video was later posted to YouTube, when a representative of Wolfman Jack Entertainment saw it.

The representative encouraged him to put together a tribute band and perform the hits of the mid-1950s, as well as those of his father’s band Bill Haley and the Comets, adding that Haley Jr. sang just like Haley Sr.

“I decided to put aside my reservations and do it for the fun of it,” Haley said. “Much to my surprise, there is still a lot of interest in this music.”

The Ongoing Rock and Roll History Show

For the last three years, Haley Jr. and the Comets have traveled around the country at well-attended shows. Haley was also invited to appear on a German television program, translated as “I Have a Famous Name,” in which he was given first-class and five-star accommodations, explaining that his father’s music is still popular around the world.

His audiences stateside are often mixed, spanning generations from one another, with at least a quarter of the audience being teenagers themselves in the mid-1950s.

“They remember the music,” Haley said. “’Rock Around the Clock’ has enduring value.”

Haley said that he is particularly looking forward to his band’s first performance at the Sunnybrook Ballroom, as the venue is legendary, hosting such musical acts as Bill Haley and the Comets themselves.

“This is exciting for me, because I’ll be playing on the same stage my father played on,” Haley said. “Maybe even on the same spot.”

Haley said that audience members at the April 13 performance won’t expect so much a tribute band, but rather a Rock and Roll history show. Along with the behind-the-scenes stories, Haley emphasizes that he and his band mates perform the hits just as they sounded in the 1950s.

“We play as authentically as possible,” Haley said. “They specialize in this kind of music.”

While Haley does not yet see pursing a musical career full-time, he is working on a book about his father and early Rock and Roll. He said there is much potential for the book, and is currently searching for an agent to help publish it.

Haley expects that once the book is published, there will be more demand for Haley Jr. and the Comets, for which he will then dedicate more time to write original music in the same vein of early Rock and Roll.

Ultimately, he’d like to see his book become a film, but in the mean time, he’s content just being able to bring back such timeless music.

“This music is just happy music,” Haley said. “You’ll have a really fun time and your curiosity will be satisfied.”

Heading to see Bill Haley Jr. and the Comets?

• When: April 13, doors open at 7:30 p.m., and special dinner seating is available between 4 – 6:30 p.m.

• Where: Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Road in Pottstown.

• Admission: General admission is $30 in advance, $35 at the door and $60 for dinner and the show. Proceeds from the event benefit the Sunnybrook Ballroom Foundation.

For tickets or more information, call 484-624-5187 or visit www.TheSunnyBrookBallroom.net. Reservations are required for the dinner seating.

For More information about Bill Haley Jr. and the Comets, visit www.billhaleyjrandthecomets.com.