"Rock Around the Clock"
"Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song written in 1952. And the version that we have just listened to was recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954. Compared with the first recording by another band and the various cover versions afterwards, Haley recording is considered as to be the best-known and most successful rendition of the song.

When first released in the spring of 1954, it gained only limited sales. However, the song was popularized by its use in the social commentary film “Blackboard Jungle” in 1955 and became an anthem for the rebellious Fifties youth.

Haley's recording of "Rock Around the Clock" is generally labeled to be the song that, more than any other, brought rock and roll into mainstream culture around the world.

Popular music of the 1950s
When the 1950s are mentioned, the first type of music to come to most people's minds is rock 'n roll. But music in the fifties was more than just rock 'n roll. The early 1950s era Pop music focusd on the song’s story and emotional delivery and was essentially a continuation of the crooner sound of the previous decade. Crooner sound refers to the sentimental songs, especially the love songs of the 1930s and 1940s

It was not until the middle of the decade, Rock and roll entered the mainstream and became a major force in American record sales. And with a series of network television appearances and chart-topping records, popular artists such as Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, and Chuck Berry became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll.

The era of 50s rock-and-roll ended with the deaths of the three American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and the conscription of Elvis into the US Army. Nevertheless, the influence of these early rockers has been felt in popular music worldwide.

Cultural impact
Rock and roll tried is considered far more than a mere musical style, it influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. In addition, rock and roll may have contributed to the civil rights movement because both African-American and white American teens enjoyed the music.
Rock and roll tried to break boundaries and express emotions that people were actually feeling but had not talked about. Topics such as sex that had generally been considered taboo began to appear in rock and roll lyrics. An awakening began to take place in American youth culture.

When rock and roll was popular with teenagers who were trying to break out of the mainstream, conservative, American middle class mold, it proved to be a difficult phenomenon for older Americans to accept and there were widespread accusations of it being a communist-orchestrated scheme to corrupt the youth.

Summary
The 1950s had many political, social, and cultural effects and is a surprisingly complex time in American history.

It was the decade that anti-communism was the prevailing sentiment in the United States and is often associated with phenomena of the Cold War, the space race, the atom bomb.

It was the decade that conformity and conservatism characterized the social mores, but also saw the rise of the Beat writers, the teenage rebellion and the sexual revolution.

It was the decade that everybody loved Lucy while some feared the rise of Martin Luther King.

It was also the decade that teens attained a more prominent role in American culture with rock 'n' roll and rebelled against social norms. I hope my teammates and have helped you to gain a basic understanding and appreciation for the culture and history of the fabulous fifties. The Fifties were more than just a mid-point decade in a century; they were to be the crucible in which the rest of the 20th century was forged.