885 MMMM Top 100: "Rock Around The Clock"

Written in 1952 and recorded two years later by Bill Haley & His Comets, "Rock Around The Clock" is the song widely regarded as the first true hit of the rock 'n roll era, selling tens of millions of copies. Of course, we can all argue for days on end about rock's origins in R&B and country. Many of those songs are recognizable as what we could call rock music. But this one put rock on the map, much more than Haley's cover of Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle & Roll". George Lucas used it in American Graffiti, and Haley recorded a version of it for TV's Happy Days.