Blackboard Jungle Trailer

Blackboard Jungle Trailer

Related Lessons

lesson:
Rock and Roll Goes to the Movies

Grades: High, Middle

Subjects: Social Studies/History

How did movies help to introduce Rock and Roll culture to mainstream audiences in the 1950s?

Related People

people:
Bill Haley and His Comets

(1925 – 1981) A disc jockey and Western Swing bandleader in Chester, Pa., Bill Haley was perhaps an unlikely purveyor of the first smash hit of the Rock and Roll era. But that's exactly what he became, when his song "Rock Around the Clock" was featured over the opening scene of the juvenile-delinquent drama "Blackboard Jungle," and became a worldwide hit, by some estimates making Haley the first Rock and Roll star. A working guitarist by the age of 15, Haley was rooted in Country and Western Swing (the Saddlemen was his group's initial name), but added elements of Rhythm and Blues...