The Comets
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Year:
2012
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Inducted by:
Smokey Robinson
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Category:
Performers
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Al Rex -
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Billy Williamson -
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Danny Cedrone -
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Dick Richards -
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Fran Beecher -
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Joey Ambrose -
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Johnny Grande -
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Marshall Lytle -
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Ralph Jones -
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Rudy Pompilli
Introduction
The Comets played the soundtrack of the rock and roll revolution.
They became rock's poster children with the release of their rollicking record “Rock Around the Clock.” Some people credit them with the first rock and roll record ever.
Smokey Robinson Inducts the Comets
Smokey Robinson Inducts the Comets at the 2012 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony-
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Smokey Robinson Inducts the Comets00:02:11 -
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The Comets Acceptance Speech00:04:38
Hall of Fame Essay
2012
Bill Haley needed a lot of musical oomph to get from second-string singing cowboy to one of the first rock & roll stars in history. A huge portion of that power came from the appropriately named Comets.
Marshall Lytle, stand-up bassist and songwriter (he co-wrote Haleys first hit, “Crazy Man, Crazy”), had been in Haley’s C&W group, Bill Haley and the Saddlemen. The multitalented Haley actually taught Lytle—initially a guitarist—the basics of percussive slap bass, which Lytle soon mastered.
"Rock Around the Clock" was music magic
