The Night My Mother Met Bill Haley & The Comets

(I asked my mother to please write this story for me. It's part of our early rock 'n' roll history, and I think it's pretty damn cool! Enjoy.)

Bill Haley and the Comets

I’ve been trying to figure out just when I saw Bill Haley and the Comets. I know it was in the 1950s, and the nearest I can guess is 1954 or 1955. Since I went to a bar to see him with my husband, I had to be at least 21 years old. That would have been in February of 1954. I know I was not pregnant, nor did I have any children at the time, so it could have been in early 1955.
Anyway, my husband Sheldon and I did go to see the band with another couple named Alice and Floyd. The band was appearing at a local "dive" called Vito’s. It wasn’t too far from our house in Jacksonville, New Jersey, and I believe it was along Route 206, perhaps closer to Mount Holly.

We were all excited to see Bill Haley since his recordings of "Crazy Man, Crazy" (1953) and "Rock Around the Clock," and "Shake, Rattle and Roll" (both in 1954) were all the rage. "Crazy Man, Crazy" is credited with being the first rock and roll song to be aired nationally on TV.
Alice and I loved to dance to his songs. They were so full of energy and we were young.
When we got to Vito’s, we easily found a table for four in the dining area where the bandstand was set up. At the other end of the room was a bar, and in the middle of the building were the restrooms.

The band members usually dressed in matching plaid dinner jackets, but I can’t remember how they were dressed that night. I do remember Bill Haley’s spit curl hanging down over his forehead, and a weird looking eye. I didn’t realize at the time that he was blind in one eye. My personal feelings at the time were that the music was so great that it was a shame that Bill Haley wasn’t better looking. We were wild about the music, but couldn’t see Bill Haley as an idol to scream over. Elvis hadn’t arrived on the scene yet, and that would have to wait for a couple more years.

Well, the music started and the place went crazy. It was simply a wild and crazy night. At one point in time, the band came down from the bandstand and marched single file into the ladies room, still playing their instruments. There were screams from the stalls in the room and ladies came running out, followed by the band. No one there had ever seen anything like it.
Later in the evening, the band again left the bandstand and hopped up on the bar and continued to play songs, swaying back and forth to the music and knocking over drinks with their feet. Now the place was really going crazy and people were screaming and hollering and looking at one another like they didn’t believe what they were seeing and hearing.

I remember during one of their breaks, that Bill Haley and several other musicians came and sat at an empty table next to ours. Then, during another break, he mingled with customers who were milling around the bar. At this time, Floyd took his wife Alice’s hand and told her they were going up to the bar to meet Bill Haley.
After Floyd got Bill Haley’s attention, he said to him, "I want you to kiss my wife." Bill Haley looked at Floyd and hesitated until Floyd repeated himself. Not knowing quite what to do, Bill Haley leaned over and gave Alice a peck on the cheek. At that, Floyd yanked Alice by the hand and led her back to our table, telling her, "Now Alice, you’ve had it." Poor Floyd. I think he was sick and tired of hearing Alice raving over Bill Haley and his music all the time.

So that is my story of the night I met Bill Haley. It may not sound too exciting now, but he was the forerunner of all the other rock stars that came after him, and those times were as exciting for us as later times were for those who came after us.