Bill Haley's Comets were the first Rock and
Roll band. Since 1952, they have sold over 80 million records for
leading labels such as Decca, M.C.A., Warner Brothers, Sonet, and
Essex. Moreover, the group has earned a place in "The
Guinness Book of World Records", for selling 43 million
copies of its greatest hit, "Rock
Around The Clock", and has appeared in seven motion
pictures, including "Rock Around The Clock",
"The Girl Can't Help It", and "Let The Good
Times Roll".
Al Rappa, "The Original Walking Bass Man" seen in many
motion pictures and in "Dick Clark's American Bandstand"
video, has been with "Bill Haley's Comets" since
1956. A very versatile musician, Al Rappa performed with
many of Philadelphia's well-known bands in the 50s before joining
the Comets. He plays bass, organ, trumpet, and sings, and at
times, has rocked the house with his one-man shows. When Bill
wanted to do an instrumental album for Decca, he called upon the
multi talents of Al Rappa to join the group on bass. "Joey's
Song" and "Skokian"
both became big hits on the national charts and Al's long
association with the Comets had begun.
Then, "Rudy's Rock" became
the biggest instrumental hit. Al created his famous bass act,
which consisted of climbing up the neck of the instrument and
throwing it around, not to mention taking the sax player for a
ride on it without missing a note. The Comets left for their
famous world tour and played England, Germany, Sweden, Mexico, and
Canada. Al Rappa always stole the show and delighted the audiences
all over the world, by leaving the stage during the performances
... hence, he became famous as "The Original Walking Bass
Man".
Al was there on all of the important television shows as well, and
is seen on several of the "American Bandstand" videos,
produced by Dick Clark. Besides the television shows, look for Al
in several of Bill Haley's movies, made in Germany and Mexico.
Speaking of Mexico, it was Bill Haley and The Comets who brought
the twist to that country and had several hits on the Orfeon
label.
During the 60's and 70's, Al Rappa could be heard on many of the
Bill Haley albums recorded on Decca, Warner Bros., Apt., Nicetown,
and Music City. You might say Al Rappa is the best known and most
loved Comet of them all, because of his great sense of humor and
showmanship on stage.
During the 80's, Al gained legal rights to the name Comets and
toured all over the world, keeping the music alive with his group
and appeared with the Who's Who in the history of rock and roll,
namely: The
Drifters, Joey
Dee, Fabian,
Bobby Rydell,
Freddy Cannon and many more too numerous to mention.
Today, Bill Haley's COMETS are still on the road, proving again
and again, that they can still "Rock Around The Clock".
