Bill Haley’s Rock Around the Clock was the star of the Pop and Rock Memorabilia sale at Ryedale Auctions on September 29 when this original cased Brunswick gold disc sold for £7500.
It was part of a huge collection of vinyl discs and memorabilia amassed by Chas White in his 40 years as a music writer and DJ at BBC Radio York, and offered in 130 multi-lots. Rock Around the Clock featured on the sound track of the 1955 film Blackboard Jungle and, almost overnight, rock ’n’ roll became a musical phenomenon across the Western world.
The record was originally released in 1954 as a B-side but subsequent re-releases took it back up the charts, and in 1957 it sold a million copies. The original cased Brunswick gold disc, inscribed to the back Dedicated to Bill Haley and his Comets January 1957, above, was offered with a later copy and estimated at £3000-5000. It sold to a UK collector at £7500.
