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| Don't Knock The Rock ... (aka: Hi-fi, Rhythm and Blues) |
| "The kings of rock are Rollin' back to the screen .. in their biggest!" |
Synopsis: ROCK MUSIC GETS BANNED! ... A disc jockey (Freed) tries to prove to teenagers' parents and the Mayor that rock 'n' roll is harmless and won't turn their kids into juvenile delinquents. DJ Alan Freed schedules a big charity dance to convince a newspaper columnist that there is no harm in the new form of music. Bill Haley and his Comets play some great music.
This film is assembly-line stuff: the stories are flimsy and predictable; the dialogue is often risible, and much of the acting is on a high school drama club level. But these movies are all about the music and the dancing. Don’t Knock The Rock spotlights |
| rock music in its infancy and features some of the genre’s true originals.
DJ Freed is credited with inventing the term, "rock n’ roll," and Haley was a durable star for over a decade, selling 22 million copies of his hit, "Rock Around the Clock," and helping to establish rock music once and for all. Little Richard had his first bonafide hit, "Tutti Frutti," while making this film, and the film shows this self proclaimed architect of rock and roll at the beginning of his storied career. Rock Around The Clock, is a title based on Bill Haley & His Comets’ enormous hit from 1954. In this film, also produced by Sam Katzman and directed by Fred Sears, Haley and friends get to demo their singing chops, singing a string of hits, including the title song. This one's a winner!
* Many of Hollywood's best vintage Hollywood Style West Coast Swing Jitterbug dancers make up the main dancing cast in this film. West Coast Jitterbugger's dance to some of the best Rock and Roll music of the day. The Rock and Roll craze officially started with this film but was already set in motion a year earlier with the film Blackboard Jungle using Bill Haley's 'Rock Around the Clock' in 1955. West Coast Swing also got it's main shot in the arm with this movie and the name (WCS) was actually being used to now describe this dance by it's dancers, but unfortunately the Film studios still sold it as Rock and Roll and Jitterbug. This film is very rare, but at the moment is now available here.
The video clip shown feature 3 dance scenes form the movie, enjoy! |
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| Date: |
Studio: |
Director: |
Availability: Yes! |
| 1956 |
Columbia Pictures |
Fred F. Sears |
[DVD
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| Runtime: |
Country Made: |
Language: |
Color: |
| 84 minutes |
USA |
English |
Black and White |
| Genre: |
Featured Dancers |
Featured Dance |
Dance Rating |
| Musical / Rock |
Gil and Nikki, Lou Southern |
Original West Coast Swing |
Excellent |
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| Dances performed in this film |
Choreographers |
Special Dance Interest |
| Jitterbug |
n/a |
Earl Barton |
Original style West Coast Swing |
| Classic West Coast Swing |
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WCS Originators |
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Some Music Titles in Film |
Bands / Musicians / Singers |
Posters / Lobby Cards |
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Calling All Comets [MP3] |
Al Rex (Comets - Bass) |
Don't Knock The Rock |
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Don't Knock The Rock [MP3] |
$ Bill Hailey and the Comets |
$
Don't Knock The Rock |
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Hot Dog Buddy Buddy [MP3] |
Billy Williamson (Comets
- Steel Guitar) |
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Goof in' Around [MP3] |
Franny Beecher (Comets - Lead Guitar) |
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Razzle Dazzle [MP3] |
Johnny Grande (Comets - Piano) |
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Little Richard |
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Ralph Jones (Comets - Drummer) |
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Rudy Pompilli (Comets - Saxophone) |
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The Treniers |
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| Books Available on this film ... |
| Title |
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| n/a |
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Ballrooms
