5 Rock Songs From 1954 That Sound Even Cooler Today

Music historians generally claim that there were rock 'n' roll songs emerging onto the charts as early as 1951 ("Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, anyone?). But 1954 is arguably when the burgeoning musical style really started building momentum — and these five cool songs prove it.

1954 was the year Elvis Presley first came to prominence, and his debut release remains as cool a slice of rockabilly as anything in his discography. The year also produced a number of key tracks that saw rock establish itself as indispensable party music, aligning the genre with hedonism, good times — and, for some onlookers, danger.

Some of the tracks on this list may have been familiar to you for decades. But we think that, if you take time to listen once again, and closely, you'll find these tracks still contain that rebellious spirit that marked them out as groundbreaking more than 70 years ago. Each sees performers looking to break the rules of popular music. In some cases, they're upping the tempo, in others, they're playing in wild new ways, and elsewhere, they may be challenging in their lyrical content. Let's go.

Undoubtedly the most timeless rock 'n' roll song of 1954, Bill Haley and His Comets' classic "Rock Around the Clock" didn't even break into the Top 20 of the pop charts at the time of its release. It took the song's inclusion in the movie "Blackboard Jungle," a sensationalized tale of juvenile delinquency, for the song to become notorious — and a huge commercial hit, spending eight weeks at the top of the pop chart after it was re-released in 1955.

Back in 1954, the language around rock 'n' roll — even the world "rock" itself — was threatening to many older listeners, and with its gang associations through "Blackboard Jungle" this song managed to strike fear into the hearts of many concerned parents across the U.S. and the U.K. (where it was also No. 1). But while much of the song's original threat may have dissipated with the passing years, the recording has lost none of its ability to get people to hit the dance floor, with its galloping tempo, bouncing bassline, and charismatic vocal line from Haley himself.

Bill Haley & His Comets didn't just chart with "Rock Around the Clock" in 1954. The group also recorded a successful version of "Shake, Rattle, and Roll," which was an R&B chart-topper earlier that same year for Big Joe Turner.

It is a matter of personal choice which you prefer, of course, but music historians tend to consider Haley's version a tamer version of the original, which was sanitized for the sake of appealing to a larger white audience. Turner's original has more R&B inflections than the cover version, and features a blues piano riff throughout, but is also rawer sounding, with stomps and claps, as well as an earthier set of lyrics.

Turner's vocal style — he is typically described as a "blues shouter" — was hugely influential on later rock performers. However, because his version of "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" was overshadowed by Haley's, he arguably didn't get the credit he deserved as a rock 'n' roll innovator. Revisit his performance and you'll see why his name deserves to sit alongside the early greats of the genre.

Elvis Presley was still an unknown quantity back in 1954. That is, until he came to the attention of Sam Phillips, whose business partner Marion Keisker had identified him as a potential future talent. After sending session musicians guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black to check out the boy's talent, Phillips paid for studio time — and the genre-bending "That's All Right" was the fruit of their efforts.

Written by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup, "That's All Right" became Presley's debut single after Phillips heard him performing it at double speed and recognized that Presley had a hot new sound to go with his unmistakable charisma. The track is ground zero for rockabilly, the sub-genre of rock 'n' roll that would become Presley's trademark. Presley's expressive vocals are both powerful and fragile, while the rhythm of the track is so infectious that it quickly became a Memphis hit shortly after its release. Check it out to hear the King's first stepping stone toward stardom.

"Work With Me, Annie," Hank Ballard and The Midnighters' suggestive masterpiece, represents a decisive moment where doo-wop techniques were given a subversive spin, forming a foundation of early rock 'n' roll in the process. The song features Ballard's provocative lyrics — sang with falsetto inflections that anticipate the sound of Little Richard, who would become a megastar the following year with "Tutti Frutti" — and racy backing vocals, which made it controversial among radio listeners and broadcasters, many of whom banned the song. Of course, the controversy likely aided its popularity, as it hit the top of the R&B chart, where it stayed for seven weeks, while peaking at No. 22 on the pop chart. 

"Work With Me, Annie" moves at a relatively slow, steady pace, but is seductive in its relentless, woozy shuffle. This was the year that solidified rock 'n' roll's bad boy image, and Ballard's classic was certainly one of the first tracks to put sex at the center of the genre.

The saxophone's place as a vital instrument in rock music has eroded away down the decades, with guitars becoming the most indispensable object in any rock band's line-up. But back in 1954, when the new musical style was just starting to make waves, Texan sax man Joe Houston was showing just how the horn could take center stage in rock 'n' roll, with "All Night Long" one being of the most popular instrumentals of the era.

The track sees Houston's trademark honking style of playing go through several playful, high-energy passages, all of which are intended to get the audience shaking its hips. Tracks like "All Night Long" seemed to suggest that rock 'n' roll was party music — indeed, the track was a party favorite — and that the more grimy, raw, and unhinged a performance was, the more likely it was to get the party started.

Mark E. Smith, the leader of the seminal post-punk group the Fall, famously said: "Rock 'n' roll isn't even music really. It's a mistreating of instruments to get feelings over" (via The Quietus). And just a few seconds of listening to Houston tells you he's right. Houston wasn't exactly John Coltrane, but his idiosyncrasies are unique to him, and because of that, he rocks. Hard.