"Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay" | |
---|---|
Single by Danny & the Juniors | |
B-side | "School Boy Romance" |
Released | January 1958 |
Genre | Rock and roll, doo-wop |
Length | 2:28 |
Label | ABC-Paramount 45-9888 |
Songwriter(s) | David White |
Producer(s) | Artie Singer |
"Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay" is a song written by David White and first recorded by his group, Danny & the Juniors. Released in January 1958 by ABC-Paramount Records as the follow-up to the group's #1 hit "At the Hop", it reached #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 [1] and #16 R&B.
The song—with its lyrics of "Rock and roll is here to stay / It will never die"—was originally written in response to attacks on rock and roll music by some conservative radio stations, including KWK in St. Louis, that included the smashing of "undesirable" rock and roll records. [2] [3]
It has subsequently been recorded by many other artists, including Sha Na Na on their debut 1969 album Rock & Roll Is Here to Stay! . They also released the song as their first single that year.
They later performed the song in the 1978 film Grease as "Johnny Casino and the Gamblers" as John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John danced to the song.
Sha Na Na performed the song on their syndicated TV show in 1977 during the first season, episode 8, with Screamin' Scott Simon on lead vocals. [4]
Sha Na Na performed the song in the 1970 concert film Festival Express , a train tour of Canada by the leading rock musicians of the era, which was released in 2003 as a documentary.
The song appeared in John Carpenter's Christine (1983), based on Stephen King's novel, and on the soundtrack album.
Showaddywaddy released a recording of the song in 2002. [5] Kristy McNichol and Jimmy McNichol, Tiny Tim, Cliff Richard, John Earle, and Esa Pakarinen have also recorded the song.
Clyde Jackson Browne is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States.
Glen Matlock is an English musician, best known for being the bass guitarist in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He is credited as a songwriter on 10 of the 12 songs on the Sex Pistols' only officially released studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, although he had left the band early in the recording process, credited as bassist and backing vocalist on only one song on the album, "Anarchy in the U.K.". However, on the bootleg album Spunk, Matlock played bass on all the songs, which included earlier studio recordings of 10 of the 12 songs that later appeared on the Bollocks album.
Danny & the Juniors was an American doo-wop and rock and roll vocal group formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Originally consisting of Danny Rapp, Dave White, Frank Maffei and Joe Terranova, the group was formed in 1955. They are best known for their 1957 no. 1 hit "At the Hop" and their 1958 follow-up hit "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay".
Sha Na Na was an American rock and roll and doo-wop revival group formed in 1969. The group performed a song-and-dance repertoire based on 1950s hit songs that both revived and parodied the music and the New York City street culture of the 1950s. After gaining initial fame for their performance at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, made possible with help from their friend Jimi Hendrix, the group hosted Sha Na Na, a syndicated variety series that ran from 1977 to 1981.
David Bromberg is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. An eclectic artist, Bromberg plays bluegrass, blues, folk, jazz, country and western, and rock and roll. He is known for his quirky, humorous lyrics, and the ability to play rhythm and lead guitar at the same time.
Henry Gross is an American singer-songwriter best known for his association with the group Sha Na Na and for his hit song, "Shannon". Gross is considered a one-hit wonder artist; none of his other songs reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, his single "Springtime Mama" was a top 40 hit in the summer of 1976, peaking at #37.
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The rock and roll revival was a back-to-basics musical trend of the late 1960s and early 1970s, in a sort-of backlash against the heavier and psychedelic rock sounds then in vogue.
"Land of a Thousand Dances" is a song written and first recorded by American rhythm and blues singer Chris Kenner in 1962. It later became a bigger hit in versions by Cannibal & the Headhunters and Wilson Pickett. A version by Thee Midniters reached number 27 in Canada on March 22, 1965.
"The Battle of New Orleans" is a song written by Jimmy Driftwood. The song describes the Battle of New Orleans from the perspective of an American soldier; the song tells the tale of the battle with a light tone and provides a rather comical version of what actually happened at the battle. It has been recorded by many artists, but the singer most often associated with this song is Johnny Horton. His version scored number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. Billboard ranked it as the No. 1 song for 1959, it was very popular with teenagers in the late 1950s/early 1960s in an era mostly dominated by rock and roll music.
Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture is the original motion picture soundtrack for the 1978 film Grease. It was originally released by RSO Records and subsequently re-issued by Polydor Records between 1984 and 1991. It has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time, also ranking amongst the biggest selling soundtrack albums of all time. The song "You're the One That I Want" was a U.S. and UK No. 1 for stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
"Sea Cruise" is a song written and originally recorded by Huey "Piano" Smith and His Clowns in 1959. However, this track was not released until 1971.
"At the Hop" is a 1950s pop song written by Artie Singer, John Medora, and David White and originally released by Danny & the Juniors. The song was released in the fall of 1957 and reached number one on the US charts on January 6, 1958, becoming one of the top-selling singles of 1958. "At the Hop" also hit number one on the R&B Best Sellers list. Somewhat more surprisingly, the record reached #3 on the Music Vendor country charts. It was also a big hit elsewhere, which included a number 3 placing on the UK charts.
John L. Medora, also known as John or Johnny Madara, is an American singer, songwriter, composer and record producer best known to have teamed up with David White and Arthur Singer to write the 1957 hit song "At the Hop".
David Ernest White, also known as David White Tricker, was an American singer and songwriter. He formed the doo-wop quartet Danny & the Juniors, as well as being a founding member of the pop trio The Spokesmen. He wrote "Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay" and co-wrote a number of other hit songs, including "At the Hop", "You Don't Own Me", and "1-2-3".
"Get a Job" is a song by the Silhouettes released in November 1957. It reached the number one spot on the Billboard pop and R&B singles charts in February 1958, and was later included in Robert Christgau's "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981). The song celebrates the virtues of securing gainful employment.
"Book of Love" is a rock and roll / doo-wop song, originally by The Monotones. It was written by three members of the group, Warren Davis, George Malone and Charles Patrick.
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"That's Rock 'n' Roll" is a song written and originally recorded by Eric Carmen in 1976. It became a popular Billboard top 10 hit in 1977 for teen idol Shaun Cassidy.
"2-4-6-8 Motorway" is a song by Tom Robinson. It was released as a single in 1977 by British punk rock/new wave group the Tom Robinson Band, and reached No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart.