Happy 50th birthday Rock'n'roll

11.04.2004 Rock'n'roll is 50 years old on Monday. GRAHAM REID considers the countdown of the past half century.
On April 12, 1954, that's 50 years ago on Monday, rock'n'roll history was made.

That was the day Bill Haley and the Comets recorded Rock Around the Clock at a studio in New York. Haley was an unlikely rock'n'roll star. He was a paunchy, former country'n'western/hillbilly singer whose band was originally called the Saddlemen.

When he signed to Decca in '54, however, he changed the band name and his style and recorded Rock Around the Clock, which was released as the B-side to a song called Thirteen Women. It didn't sell. But the movie Blackboard Jungle featured Rock Around the Clock during the opening credits. The amalgam of rock'n'roll with teen rebellion was made and the song took off.

Haley was a hero, but only briefly. Within a few years others took over. And the rest? Well, it kinda looks like this.

Rock Around the Clock recorded by Bill Haley and the Comets. A young Elvis records My Happiness and That's When Your Heartaches Begin at Sun Records in Memphis.

1955: Rock Around the Clock debuts on the US charts in January. Seven-inch singles outsell 78rpm records. Little Richard's Tutti Frutti. Carl Perkins records his original Blue Suede Shoes.

1956: Elvis' first RCA single Heartbreak Hotel goes to number one in the US for eight weeks. Buddy Holly's first recording sessions. British band leader Ted Heath predicts rock'n'roll, "mainly performed by coloured artists for coloured people", won't be popular in Britain.

1957: Buddy Holly's That'll Be the Day, Elvis' Jailhouse Rock. The Everlys' Bye Bye Love and Wake Up Little Susie. Gene Vincent's Be Bop A-Lula, Jerry Lee Lewis' Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On. Paul McCartney meets John Lennon in Liverpool.

1958: Jerry Lee Lewis' Great Balls of Fire is a hit, but his first British tour is dogged with controversy when it is revealed his wife is his 13-year-old cousin. Little Richard quits to attend evangelism college, Elvis into the Army. Eddie Cochran keeps the spirit alive with Summertime Blues.

1959: A plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and Big Bopper. Don McLean (see '72) later refers to it as "the day the music died".

1960: Elvis comes out of the Army but rather than toughening him up, military service has softened him and his music. Eddie Cochran killed in a car crash in Britain.

1961: Elvis signs a five-year movie contract with Hal Wallis and disappears from live performances for eight years. Bob Dylan plays first New York concert, opening for John Lee Hooker.

1962: The Beatles sign with EMI and record for the small Parlophone label with producer George Martin. Chubby Checker has four albums in the top 10, all of them based on dance craze the Twist. The Phil Spector Sound.

1963: The Beatles' Please Please Me, then I Want to Hold Your Hand. It begins. Little Stevie Wonder's Fingertips sells a million. He is 13.

1964: Beatlemania launched Stateside when the group play the Ed Sullivan Show in New York. The movie A Hard Day's Night consolidates their global position. Dylan's first British tour. Lou Reed and John Cale form a group that will become the Velvet Underground. Sam Cooke shot in LA.

1965: Beatlemania unabated, although on Rubber Soul their music takes a more mature turn. Their film Help doesn't though. The folk boom courtesy of Dylan and Donovan. The Stones' Satisfaction. The British Invasion by Hermans Hermits, Dave Clark Five, Gerry and the Pacemakers etc. Beatles get MBEs. Dylan's electric Highway 61 Revisited. Motown and Stax soul are the only American music, all else are Beatles copyists.

1966: The Rolling Stones appear on Ed Sullivan. The Cavern, where the Beatles played almost 300 times, closes. In LA Buffalo Springfield forms and includes Canadian folkie Neil Young. John Lennon says the Beatles are bigger than Jesus. Americans buy Beatles records just to burn them. The Beach Boys classic post-surf Pet Sounds and Beatles' experimental Revolver. Dylan tours relentlessly on the back of electrifying Blonde on Blonde then, after a motorcycle accident, retires to Woodstock with the Band.

1967: Summer of Love in USA and Britain. First Human Be-In in San Francisco with Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver Messenger Service. Monterey Pop Festival. Sgt Pepper's. The Monkees. The Bee Gees arrive in Britain after making their name in Australia. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards busted for drugs. Elvis marries Priscilla. Procol Harum's Whiter Shade of Pale. Bowie's debut album. Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze. First issue of Rolling Stone.

1968: John and Yoko. Acid-damaged Syd Barrett fired from Pink Floyd for being unreliable. Otis Redding's posthumous hit Sitting on the Dock of the Bay recorded three days before the plane crash that killed him. Beatles launch Apple. Bill Haley's Rock Around the Clock back in British top 20 after 10 years. Hippie musical Hair a hit on Broadway. Elvis' "68 Comeback Special". Dylan returns with low-key acoustic John Wesley Harding.

1969: Elvis returns to Memphis to record for first time since '55, recording classic song In the Ghetto and others. Led Zeppelin debut album divides critics but announces hard rock/heavy metal to adolescent boys. Beatles play their last live show. McCartney marries Linda Eastman. Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan record together. Doors frontman Jim Morrison charged with exposing himself at a concert in Miami. Woodstock. Creedence Clearwater Revival start their run of chart singles with Proud Mary. Brian Jones out of the Stones, dies shortly after. Stones play Hyde Park. New Motown signing is the Jackson Five. Santana's debut album. Peace and love die at the Stones concert at Altamont.

1970: John Lennon and Phil Spector write and record Instant Karma in a day and it's out within a week. Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Waters. Canada's Guess Who release their anti-American/Vietnam hit American Woman. The Beatles' final album Let It Be and film of the same name. Lou Reed quits the Velvet Underground. Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin die. Elvis back on the road.

1971: Gary Glitter. George Harrison mounts massive charity concert for war-ravaged Bangladesh and provides template for Live Aid. Jethro Tull's Aqualung. The Stones go to France as tax exiles. Jim Morrison, clean but dead in his bathtub. Allman Brother Duane killed in motorcycle accident (a year later bassist Berry Oakley goes out the same way). Lennon's Imagine, Isaac Hayes' Theme From Shaft. Montreux Casino burns, Deep Purple inspired by the smoke on the water.

1972: Don McLean's American Pie. McCartney's new band Wings. Stones classic Exile on Main Street. Roxy Music, Aerosmith, Genesis.

1973: Walk on the Wild Side. Elvis says Aloha from Hawaii to a televised audience of around 1.5 billion. Dark Side of the Moon, headphone sales soar. Slade's Cum on Feel the Noize. Springsteen signs to Columbia. Dr Hook on the cover of the Rolling Stone. Paul Simon's first solo tour. Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. Elvis and Priscilla divorce.

1974: Abba win Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo. Springsteen's Born to Run. The Bay City Rollers. Mama Cass departs. Bob Marley and the Wailers' Natty Dread. The Eagles.

1975: Six Led Zepp albums in the US charts one week. Critics can't kill 'em. Pete Ham (Badfinger) hangs himself. Ron Woods' first appearance with the Stones. Lemmie quits Hawkwind to form Motorhead. Springsteen simultaneously on covers of Time and Newsweek. Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody starts a year-long run at the top of the British charts. More Eagles.

1976: Mama Mia, Fernando and Dancing Queen. Donna Summer's Love to Love You Baby sells more than a million. Disco is coming. First Brit-punk single from the Damned New Rose, five weeks before the Sex Pistols' Anarchy in the UK. The Band's Last Waltz. Bob Marley dodges assassins' bullets. Hotel California.

1977: EMI drops the Sex Pistols, bassist Glen Matlock (the musical one) replaced by Sid Vicious. Bowie's Low. Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. Keith arrested for drug possession in Toronto. Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash kills singer Ronnie Van Zant. The King dies in his throne room at Graceland. Elvis Costello releases first single, Less Than Zero. The Clash debut album, the Jam's first single In the City, Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman deliver Bat Out of Hell, Blondie signs with Chrysalis and hits follow. Glam-pop prince Marc Bolan killed in car accident. The Ramones.

1978: Sex Pistols "American tour". Abba - The Movie. The Police (later known as "Sting"). Sid sings Sinatra's My Way. Dire Straits' Sultans of Swing. So long Keith Moon, hello Talking Heads and the sound of art school New York. Heart of Glass. Boston. P-Funk. Rod's Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?

1979: Sid Vicious charged with murdering girlfriend Courtney Love. (Oh no, sorry, that's not right.) Sid, age 21, subsequently dies of an overdose. Saturday Night Fever and Thriller(12 Grammy nominations, seven wins). London Calling. Little Feat's Lowell George dies. Cheap Trick's Live at Budokan. First B52s album.

1980: Paul McCartney in pokie in Tokyo for pot. Jackson's Off the Wall (No, "off the wall" came later). The New Romantics, ska and the 2-Tone create waves. Goodbye Bon Scott of AC/DC. Grease closes on Broadway after 3883 performances. Ian Curtis of Joy Division says farewell also. John Bonham of Led Zepp vodkas himself to death. Springsteen's The River. Pat Benetar.

1981: Chrysalis Records boss Chris Wright predicts death of vinyl. Cassettes are going to take over, he says. Duran Duran's first single. Lennon murdered outside his New York apartment. Bill Haley dies in his sleep in Texas, age 56. Bob Marley dead at 36. The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel opens ears to turntable arts.

1982: Ozzy bites head off a bat. Dave Crosby arrested for coke and freebasing paraphernalia. Adam and the Ants. First flickers of Bryan Adams. Laurie Anderson, British reggae, Ozzy v Sabbath.

1983: Paul Weller folds the Jam, unveils Style Council. Farewell to pre-Beatles star Billy Fury. Ozzy's guitarist Randy Rhoads killed in plane crash. Musical Youth Pass the Dutchie. Farewell Muddy Waters. Spandau Ballet's True. Kiss appear on MTV without make-up. People are horrified. Beach Boy Dennis Wilson, the only one who surfed, drowns, age 39.

1984: BBC refuses to play Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax on the grounds of "overtly obscene lyrics". It goes to number one anyway. The first three singles by the Smiths hold the top places in British indie charts. Karen Carpenter dies, CDs are born. Marvin Gaye shot by his father. Boy George model unveiled at Madam Tussauds. Eurythmics. Madonna's US tour opener is the Beastie Boys. Michael Jackson's Thriller video, Prince's Purple Rain movie.

1985: Young and thin Elvis on US postage stamps. Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? becomes biggest-selling British single, passing Macca's Mull of Kintyre of '77. Michael Jackson's hair catches fire. We Are The World. Springsteen's Born in the USA knocked off British number one by the Smiths' Meat is Murder. Whitney's first chart-topper Saving All My Love ushers in nine number ones in less than six years. Billie Joel marries an Uptown Girl, model Christie Brinkley. Wham! play China. Live Aid. The Pogues' Rum, Sodomy and the Lash.

1986: So long Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy. Prince tops pop, r'n'b and dance charts in US with Kiss. (He's done it before with When the Doves Cry and Let's Go Crazy in '84). Wham! split. Walk This Way by Aerosmith and Run-DMC breaks down the wall between rock and rap. The Beastie Boys say you gotta fight for your right to party.

1987: U2 the biggest live act in the US. Paul Simon records Graceland in South Africa despite the cultural boycott. Talking Heads' film Stop Making Sense. Reggae star Peter Tosh shot. Smiths split. Jackson's Bad not so good. Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms becomes first album to sell more than three million copies in Britain. REM's breakthrough hit, The One I Love. The Gunners' Appetite for Destruction and U2's The Joshua Tree. Public Enemy.

1988: George Michael's Faith. Bye Andy Gibb, Nico and Roy Orbison. New Kids on the Block start a string of nine consecutive top 10 hits in the US. LL Cool J. Sub Pop in Seattle releases the first single by Nirvana. Soundgarden. Grunge is on its way.

1989:Grammy controversy: geriatric Jethro Tull win the inaugural heavy metal awards, rappers boycott when told their category won't be televised, Milli Vanilli get best new act but have to hand it back later. Stock, Aiken and Waterman's production skills all over the charts. Madonna loses her Pepsi sponsorship because of the promo-video for Like a Prayer but still trousers the US$5 million fee. Tone-Loc's Loc-ed After Dark first album by a black rapper to top the US charts. Cliff Richard's 100th single (The Best of Me). CDs outselling vinyl for the first time. The Lambada. Soul II Soul's Club Classics. Stone Roses' debut and Happy Mondays pioneer the Manchester scene, which leads to much bagginess and Oasis.

1990: The Stones gross more than US$100 million for their Steel Wheels tour, a record. Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby. Massive Wembley concert for Nelson Mandela. 2 Live Crew charged with profanity. The Rap Wars begin. Stevie Ray Vaughan doesn't stay around. Grunge explodes, Sting goes to the rainforest. It's Hammer time, Mariah Carey arrives.

1991: Smells Like Teen Spirit and Nevermind. Seattle and Smashing Pumpkins. Bryan Adams' Everything I Do, Janet Jackson signs a US$16 million contract with Virgin for three albums. Miles Davis will blow no more, nor will Freddie Mercury. Pearl Jam's Ten and the Black Crowes. Lollapalooza. I'm Too Sexy For My Shirt. NWA's Efil4zaggin first gangsta rap album to top US charts.

1992: Tribute concert at Wembley for Freddie Mercury seen on the tele by more people than Live Aid. Michael Jackson's Black or White. Boyz II Men. MTV Unplugged. George Michael tries to quit Sony. U2's Zoo TV/Zooropa tour. Whitney marries Bobby.

1993: Radiohead's debut Pablo Honey, Beck's Loser. Bjork. Dr Dre's The Chronic, Nirvana's In Utero. Jamiroquai. Michael Jackson gives first television interview in 14 years. Shaggy's Oh Carolina. Bye Mick Ronson. Kurt Cobain in heroin trouble, Courtney's Hole. Rage Against the Machine. Jacko under investigation for alleged sexual abuse of 13-year-old boy. Snoop Doggy Dogg's Doggystyle.

1994: Cobain kills himself, Tupac takes bullets but survives. Oasis debut Definitely Maybe, Cali-punk (Green Day etc), Sheryl Crow, Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream and Garbage. Hootie and the Blowfish. Notorious BIG's prophetic debut Ready to Die. Tupac takes bullets but survives again. Pearl Jam's Vitalogy.

1995: The Beatles' Anthology series begins, Britpop starts in earnest with the Oasis v Blur skirmishes, Radiohead's The Bends and off on the side Portishead. Smashing Pumpkins deliver Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. So long Jerry Garcia. Neil Young and Pearl Jam getting together, Springsteen's Streets of Philadelphia. Manic Street Preacher's Richey Edwards disappears. Selena shot by her former fan club president. Jewel and Alanis arrive, no wonder Irish blues-rock guitarist Rory Gallagher and radio legend Wolfman Jack bail out. Jacko's HIStory gets modest release with huge statue floating down the Thames. Robbie Williams leaves Take That, dries out, gets serious. Supergrass debut I Should Coco and Tricky. TLC the biggest ever female group in the US. Arise Sir Cliff. Free As a Bird. It's the year of Wonderwall.

1996: Tupac cut down in Las Vegas. No Doubt and the Spice Girls. Pulp's Jarvis Cocker on stage at the Brits in protest at messianic Michael Jackson performance. Sex Pistols comeback tour. Mary J. Blige. The Fugees' The Score, the Wallflowers' Bringing Down the Horse. Foo Fighters. The first Ozzfest. Marilyn Manson's Antichrist Superstar. Backstreet Boys.

1997: Girl Power and boy bands. Fortunately there's also the Prodigy with Smack My Bitch Up and Firestarter. Notorious BIG murdered in LA and the East Coast-West Coast wars roll on. Puff Daddy's I'll Be Missing You . Dylan's Time Out of Mind. Celine Dion. U2's PopMart tour. Arise Sir James Paul McCartney. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens in Cleveland. Hanson. The Verve's Bitter Sweet Symphony. Jeff Buckley swims in the Mississippi and doesn't come back. Elton rewrites Candle in the Wind for the dead princess. Oasis' Be Here Now. Radiohead's OK Computer. Hutchence hangs himself.

1998: Boyzone, the Corrs, N'Sync, Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On, Shania Twain crosses from country to pop. Korn and Limp Bizkit get tough, single-name stars (Usher, Brandy, Monica), Madonna on top form with Ray of Light. Missy Elliott appears. Matchbox 20 massive. George Michael goes to a toilet in LA. Gomez debut Bring It On wins Mercury Award. Rammstein. Obits for Sonny Bono, Carl Perkins, Beach Boy Carl Wilson, Milli Vanilli's Rob Pilatus, Linda McCartney, Frank Sinatra.

1999: Britpop stumbles and Robbie Williams comes through the centre. Ricky Martin offers La Vida Loca, Santana has a great year and the brightest, most controversial, star is Eminem. The alt.rock Woodstock goes up in flames, Britney Spears does it one more time to the tune of 20 million album sales. Bye bye Dusty. Cher's Believe, the Abba musical Mamma Mia premieres. Napster offers free music on the internet, Fred Durst becomes senior vice-president at Interscope, the Eurythmics reunite, there are Britney dolls. Curtis "Superfly" Mayfield dies age 57, Destiny's Child undergo line-up changes but few notice. The time of Creed, Deftones, Insane Clown Posse and Marilyn Manson.

2000: Things get quieter with David Gray, Dido, Travis and Badly Drawn Boy. Boy bands and Britney (and her copyists) roll on, Mariah gets many awards. So long, Ian Dury. Robbie wins awards, Steps and S Club 7 are big in Britain. Britney dating an 'NSynch member called Justin Timberlake of whom we'll hear more. Metallica sue Napster, Dr Dre joins in. Pumpkins split up. Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP and Why Does it Always Rain On Me (Travis). People say "Coldplay" and hum Yellow. U2 back in business with All That You Can't Leave Behind after '97's poorly received Pop. Madonna marries Guy Ritchie and becomes very British, innit?

2001: Alicia Keys arrives with old-time soul r'n'b, Craig Davis is her counterpart. Nelly and Shaggy. Because I Got High. So long Joey Ramone, Aaliyah and George Harrison. Coldplay thrive. Eminem everywhere, Puff Daddy becomes P. Diddy, Madonna's first world tour in eight years. Napster goes under. Moby's Play sells two million and a lot of products when tracks are licensed to ads. Nelly Furtado becoming famous. John Lee Hooker dies age 83. Mariah looking shaky, Ryan Adams appears out of nowhere (unless you'd heard his alt.country band Whiskeytown). September 11 means many American acts won't fly or leave the country. Think: White Stripes.

2002: Nickelback the new Nirvana and Norah Jones the new Sade? Names of the year are Pink, Puddle of Mudd, Dido and the Strokes. Kylie waggles her bum, Mariah bought out for $28 million from her Virgin contract. The Osbournes premieres on MTV. Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley another drug-grunge casualty. The Stones start their 40th-anniversary compilation/tour/merchandising drive. Arise, Sir Mick. Avril Lavigne. R. Kelly arrested for child porn, Dee Dee Ramone dies at home, Who bassist John Entwhistle goes out in a more rock'n'roll manner (cocaine and with a stripper in Las Vegas). Springsteen reunites with the E Street band for The Rising and tour. Dutch DJ JXL remixes Elvis' A Little Less Conversation, Run DMC's Jam Master Jay gunned down, Eminem's movie 8 Mile takes over US$50 million at the box office, Timberlake goes solo, Jacko dangles his baby out a window, Ashanti scoops eight awards at the Billboard awards night. Think: White Stripes. Joe Strummer, the gentleman punk, dies age 50.

2003: The White Stripes' Elephant and Detroit is bustin' out all over. The late Johnny Cash. And you probably remember the rest.

2004: So it's Norah Jones - and not much else really, huh?

From: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/entertainmentstorydisplay.cfm?storyID
=3559740&thesection=entertainment&thesubsection=music&thesecondsubsection=general