Wednesday 9 April 2014

H is for Bill Haley and the Comets


Time to slaughter a sacred cow. Supposedly Bill Haley and the Comets brought rock'n'roll to a wider audience in America and the rest is history. Well, so what? I expect he was revolutionary for his time, but all I could ever see was a load of blokes in matching clothes led by a tubby gent with a kiss curl.

Is there a memory attached to all this? Only in that I remember I don't like it. Sorry and all that, I know he led the charge at a time when all around were crooners with string section backing music, but I don't like it. And another thing, if he was going to call himself Blah Blah and the Comets he should have been Bill HALLEY as in the comet.

Rant over and you're NOT getting a film, but come back tomorrow when I'll be much more loving and giving, sort of.

Also-rans: Not an also-ran at all, but anyway....I offer to you Isaac Hayes and, in particular, the Shaft theme. Cool, cool, cool, which is more than can be said of a certain Bill Haley AND Isaac Hayes was chef in South Park.

I'll leave you to decide which of these two gents, neither of whom is still with us, really had their mojo in full working order.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B
What do you mean, which one's which?

3 comments:

  1. Bill Haley is a bit before my time. Middle class, white teenage dance music. I would have never been caught dead playing that in my car while I was cruising. Now Isaac Hayes is another matter entirely! That was a very short rant. You are entitled to another paragraph at least. Or are you saving it for another day?
    Liz at Bead Contagion

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    Replies
    1. He's a bit before even my time, too, but for years the term rock'n'roll always seemed to be illustrated by footage of Bill Haley and his chums. Grim. As for it being a short rant, I like to think that's me showing restraint. Doesn't happen often.

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  2. Although I believe, strictly from history books, you understand, that Haley's Comets did inspire Pistols-style mayhem among their fans, I think even being banned from cinemas where furnishings were slashed, chairs thrown from the Balcony (and you wouldn't want one of those old fold-up, velvet-upholstered cinema seats with the tiny ashtray on the back of the seat falling on your head) and major grief being visited on the confectionery concession. If they were like that after a visit to a Milk Bar or espresso joint, heaven knows what they would have been like with access to the recreational substances enjoyed by later generations...

    Still, you're only young once, eh?

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