Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay explained

Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay
Cover:RnR is here to stay.jpg
Type:single
Artist: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
Producer: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.

Background

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.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Whitburn, Joel. Joel Whitburn. 2003. Top Pop Singles 1955–2002. registration. 1st. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Record Research Inc.. 173. 0-89820-155-1.
  2. Web site: de Heer. Dik . August 2013. Danny and the Juniors. BlackCat Rockabilly Europe. March 19, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20150911230140/http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/danny_and_the_juniors.htm. September 11, 2015. dead.
  3. Web site: Bobby Hattrik Gave Listeners The Rock Hits They Wanted. KWK106.com. March 19, 2019.
  4. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075581/episodes/?season=1&ref_=tt_eps_sn_1 Sha Na Na (1977–1981). Episode List. IMDB.
  5. Web site: Cover versions of Rock and Roll Is Here to Stay written by David White . SecondHandSongs. March 19, 2019.