Hordes of Halbstarken – the German equivalent of teddy boys – come alive in this hidden rock'n'roll gem unearthed by Jon Savage from the archive of British Pathé newsreels
What's interesting in looking through newsreel archives is how the editorial policy of the day differs from what is now received history. So, although rock'n'roll arrived in Britain in the winter of 1955-6 with the success of Bill Haley and the Comets' Rock Around the Clock (No 1 in early January), there is comparatively little material relating to rock'n'roll in Pathé's archive from 1956.
Nowhere is there anything about Elvis Presley, who had four major hits that year, nor anything about the late-summer furore that accompanied the release of the film Rock Around the Clock – a heady brew of excited newspaper reports and censorious local councils reacting to a bit of gang warfare and youthful high spirits.
Rock'n'roll's impact went way beyond the music,...
What's interesting in looking through newsreel archives is how the editorial policy of the day differs from what is now received history. So, although rock'n'roll arrived in Britain in the winter of 1955-6 with the success of Bill Haley and the Comets' Rock Around the Clock (No 1 in early January), there is comparatively little material relating to rock'n'roll in Pathé's archive from 1956.
Nowhere is there anything about Elvis Presley, who had four major hits that year, nor anything about the late-summer furore that accompanied the release of the film Rock Around the Clock – a heady brew of excited newspaper reports and censorious local councils reacting to a bit of gang warfare and youthful high spirits.
Rock'n'roll's impact went way beyond the music,...
- 2/27/2012
- by Jon Savage
- The Guardian - Film News
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