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ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK GETS BANNED

The movie that influenced The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and David Bowie.
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On this day in 1956, police were called to break up a crowd of rowdy teenagers following the showing of the film Rock Around the Clock at the Trocadero Cinema in London, England. The following day, The Times printed a reader’s letter that said: “The hypnotic rhythm and the wild gestures have a maddening effect on a rhythm loving age group and the result of its impact is the relaxing of all self control.” The film was quickly banned in several English cities. It was the beginning of rock rebellion that would have a significant cultural impact, one that last to this day.

Rock Around the Clock takes credit as the first ever rock ‘n’ roll musical. The movie tells the fictionalised rendition of how rock and roll was discovered. Produced by B-movie king Sam Katzman, featured some of the early rock acts emerging back then, Bill Haley and His Comets along with Alan Freed, the Platters, Tony Martinez and His Band, and Freddie Bell and His Bellboys. Made mainly to capitalise on Haley’s success and the popularity of his multimillion-selling recording “Rock Around the Clock” that debuted in the 1955 teen flick “Blackboard Jungle”.

The movie influenced several future 60s and 70s rockers who were teenagers or kid at the time the movie was released such as members of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, among many others.

• Read also GREASERS GUISE.

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Images: TeachRock.
Text: Pop Expresso, Wikipedia.

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Rudolf Dethu

Rudolf Dethu

Music journalist, writer, radio DJ, socio-political activist, creative industry leader, and a qualified librarian, Rudolf Dethu is heavily under the influence of the punk rock philosophy. Often tagged as this country’s version of Malcolm McLaren—or as Rolling Stone Indonesia put it ‘the grand master of music propaganda’—a name based on his successes when managing Bali’s two favourite bands, Superman Is Dead and Navicula, both who have become two of the nation’s biggest rock bands.
Rudolf Dethu

Rudolf Dethu

Music journalist, writer, radio DJ, socio-political activist, creative industry leader, and a qualified librarian, Rudolf Dethu is heavily under the influence of the punk rock philosophy. Often tagged as this country’s version of Malcolm McLaren—or as Rolling Stone Indonesia put it ‘the grand master of music propaganda’—a name based on his successes when managing Bali’s two favourite bands, Superman Is Dead and Navicula, both who have become two of the nation’s biggest rock bands.

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