Rock Around the Clock

Bill Haley might not have had Elvis' sex appeal, but he did as much to popularise rock ’n’ roll as anyone. Two of this 1955 compilation’s most epochal songs—the title track and "Shake, Rattle and Roll"—predate Presley's debut, making a case for Haley as rock's real founding father. On these, and tunes like party-starter "Dim, Dim the Lights (I Want Some Atmosphere)" and schoolhouse rockabilly stroll "ABC Boogie", Haley and co.'s blend of country boogie and jump blues (with plenty of sax) always hewed closer to R&B than his peers' platters.