Shortly after my discharge from the US Air Force in 1971, I had taken a job as program director of KGKL in San Angelo, Texas, the same station where Ernest Tubb had launched his country and western career several decades earlier. The station was playing classic tunes from the rock and roll era for an entire weekend. To promote the event I had arranged to have a phone conversation with a legend.
I had set up what I expected to be a straightforward interview with Bill Haley—the man widely credited with helping fire the starting pistol for rock and roll. I thought we would talk briefly about his classic hits, play a few records, and move on. By the time we spoke in 1971, the original Comets had undergone numerous personnel changes. Haley told me that saxophonist Rudy Pompilli was still with him, while the other musicians in his current group had been performing together for years. He also recalled guitarist Danny Cedrone, whose work had been an important part of the group’s early recordings. Cedrone had died in 1954, shortly after recording his celebrated guitar solo on “Rock Around the Clock.” That conversation turned out to be a masterclass in musical history, happy accidents, and the realities of life after the initial peak of superstardom.
Great Songs Take Their Own Sweet Time
Their first charted record was “Shake, Rattle and Roll” in August 1954. The disc reached number 7 on Billboard’s pop singles charts and remained on the charts for 27 weeks. By 1971, “Rock Around the Clock” was already being treated as a timeless cultural institution. But when I asked Bill about its origins, he reminded me of a fact many people forget: success isn’t always instant.
Rock Around the Clock was also released that same year and was a respectable success in its own right, selling around 600,000 copies. But it didn’t ignite into a global phenomenon until the next year when it was featured on the soundtrack of the film Blackboard Jungle. It went straight to number one and stayed there for eight weeks, remaining on the chart for 24 straight weeks.
When we spoke, seventeen years after that initial recording session, the song was still generating massive numbers—selling 330,000 copies in just the first six months of 1971 and climbing the charts in Australia.
As Bill put it to me:
“It’s kind of like… the original standard of the original rock and roll. It just keeps coming back.” — Bill Haley
By 1974 the TV show “Happy Days” was using Rock Around the Clock as its opening theme resulting in another chart revival of the rock classic. It stayed on the list for 14 more weeks.
Rock and Roll Was Born from a B-Side Experiment
When we talked, Bill detailed how his sound actually evolved. Before they were the Comets, they were The Saddlemen, playing traditional country and western music. Their first notable success was a country song called “Icy Heart”.
While recording that song, Bill decided to experiment on the B-side. He wanted to see what would happen if he blended two distinct genres—what was known at the time as “race music” (R&B) and “hillbilly music” (country). The song he chose for that experiment was “Rock the Joint”.
DJs and listeners flipped the single over, ignored the intended A-side, and popularized “Rock the Joint.” That single B-side experiment forced a complete name change, launched a brand new career for Bill, and helped introduce the world to rock and roll. It was a powerful lesson in paying attention to side projects; sometimes the experiment on the flip side is the thing that changes your life.
The Grace of the Revival Era
When we talked in 1971, Bill wasn’t playing packed stadiums. Rock and roll had evolved, and Haley was navigating what was then called the “rock revival” wave.
He walked me through his relentless 1971 touring schedule: playing the Playboy Club circuit in cities like Cincinnati, Denver, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Reno, and Las Vegas, with an upcoming trip to Australia planned before the end of the year.
What struck me was his lack of cynicism. He noted that while it wasn’t as frantic or chaotic as the mid-1950s frenzy, he was deeply grateful that audiences across Europe, South America, and the U.S. still wanted to hear them play.
The call had come from his home in El Paso. TX. He had just flown back to welcome a brand-new baby. Even in the middle of a national tour, he made sure to take time off to be home with his family for that special moment.
Total Respect for the Audience
Towards the end of our call, I asked Bill if he tried to weave newer 1970s material into his live stage performances. His response was direct, practical, and devoid of ego:
“Unless we happen to have a record that’s kicking pretty good… we find it very difficult to insert any of the new things because I think our audience today really wants to hear the 1950 rock and roll things. They kind of throw tomatoes if we don’t do ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll,’ ‘See You Later, Alligator,’ and ‘Rock Around the Clock.'” — Bill Haley
Many artists struggle when audiences demand their classic hits rather than their newest work. But Bill viewed it differently. He understood that people came to his shows to relive specific memories and feelings, and he considered it his job to deliver exactly what they came for.
What 1971 Left Me With
That afternoon phone call remains one of my favorite highlights of my fairly short time at KGKL. Bill Haley wasn’t just a pioneer talking about the past; he was a working musician who respected his audience, honored his journey, and never took his legacy for granted.
When I broadcast the interview on the air Bill agreed to end the recording with a promo that would be used throughout the weekend “ Hi everybody this is Bill Haley of Haley’s Comets reminding you that you’re rockin around the clock on KGKL” followed with the Decca 45 rpm disc of “Rock Around the Clock.” It sounded entirely different to me—not just as a hit record, but as the soundtrack to a very human adventure.
Source Note: Billboard chart positions and chart durations cited in this article are drawn from Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles, a comprehensive reference documenting the history of Billboard’s popular music charts. Personal recollections and quotations from Bill Haley are based on my original the 1971 telephone interview conducted by Jerry Reed at KGKL Radio in San Angelo, Texas.
lllustration Credits
Original bumper sticker for KGKL 96-oh! from 1971
Blackboard Jungle (1955): Original theatrical poster for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture featuring Bill Haley and Haley’s Comets’ recording of “Rock Around the Clock.”
“Rock Around the Clock” (1954): Reproduction of the original Decca Records label, credited to “Bill Haley with Haley’s Comets.
Bill Haley and Haley’s Comets: Vintage publicity photograph of the group; photographer, date, and original source unidentified.