1955 in British Music

The Story of 1955

Rock 'n' roll crashed into Britain like a wave, and nothing was ever the same. Bill Haley's 'Rock Around the Clock' reached number one in January 1956 in the US, but 1955 was the year it first appeared on UK radar, and the response was electric. Cinema seats were slashed by teenagers dancing in the aisles during screenings of 'The Blackboard Jungle'. The establishment was horrified, which only made it more appealing. Britain's answer came through the skiffle boom – Lonnie Donegan's 'Rock Island Line' exploded in 1955, a raw, DIY sound that required nothing more than a washboard, a tea-chest bass and a cheap guitar. Every kid in the country suddenly wanted to start a band. The charts were still dominated by Americans – Pérez Prado's mambo, Frank Sinatra's crooning – but the ground was shifting. Tommy Steele, Britain's first homegrown rock star, was discovered in a Soho coffee bar and rushed into recording. The British music industry was scrambling to find its own Elvis. They hadn't found him yet, but they were looking.