Five, six, seven o' clock, eight o' clock, rock

five, six, seven o' clock, eight o' clock rock

When the chimes ring five, six and seven
We'll be right in seventh heaven

When the clock strikes twelve, we'll cool off then
Start rockin' 'round the clock again

When the clock strikes twelve, we'll cool off then.

Although there had been rock 'n' roll charting tunes since the late 1940's ("Rocket 88"), the first #1 rock 'n' roll record on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 charts was Bill Haley & His Comets' version of "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock". The song was #1 in the summer of 1955 on the Billboard charts, and set into motion the whole rock 'n' roll era of music. It had a slow ride to chart hit and later cult status. It was written by Max C. Freedman & James E. Myers (as Jimmy DeKnight) back in late 1952 originally as "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock Tonight". It was recorded first by Sonny Dee & the Knights in 1953, but that version didn't get very far. Later it was heard by Bill Haley and Decca record producer, Milt Gabler who decided to record it with the Comets on April 12, 1954. Gabler and Haley released the tune as the B-side of a song entitled, "Thirteen Women (And Only One Man In Town)" and it nearly died an early chart death (didn't even chart in 1954 when it was released in May of that year). If it had not been for the fact that a young man named Peter Ford had bought the record for his collection the song might have gone into obscurity. Peter Ford was the son of actor Glenn Ford and Glenn Ford had been cast along with dancer Eleanor Powell to star in the teen centered drama, "Blackboard Jungle" in 1955. Glenn heard Peter's record and then took the record to the producers of "Blackboard Jungle" and Bill Haley & His Comets' version of "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The ClocK" was chosen as the film's theme song, where it helped move the song to #1 for eight weeks during the summer of 1955. In 1956 there would be a movie with the same title released with Bill Haley as the star. Bill Haley would re-record the tune in 1968 and meet with moderate success. "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" would further cement it's lofty status in rock 'n' roll when ABC's new hit comedy series, "Happy Days" (about nostalgia for the 1950's) would incorporate the tune (by Bill Haley) as the original theme song (first two seasons).