Bill Haley was the man who brought rock 'n' roll into the mainstream, starting with "Crazy Man, Crazy" that became the first rock 'n' roll song to break the Billboard Top 20 in 1953. His success made him an idol not only in the US but throughout the world, from Canada to the UK, Europe, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and beyond. Culled from interviews with insiders (from ex-wives to the Comets), recorded conversations, official documents, diaries, and more, this book not only charts the happenings of Haley's career but gives insight into the Haley behind the curtain and some of the other trials he faced, from the dark side of the music business to ties with the Mafia.

"[Stanley is] as clear-eyed about music as he is crazy in love with it." —Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times A monumental work of musical history, Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! traces the story of pop music through songs, bands, musical scenes, and styles from Bill Haley and the Comets’ “Rock around the Clock” (1954) to Beyoncé’s first megahit, “Crazy in Love” (2003). Bob Stanley—himself a musician, music critic, and fan—teases out the connections and tensions that animated the pop charts for decades, and ranges across the birth of rock, soul, R&B, punk, hip hop, indie, house, techno, and more. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! is a vital guide to the rich soundtrack of the second half of the twentieth century and a book as much fun to argue with as to quote.

'Stanley is both a fine writer and an impassioned celebrant of pop in all its mongrel, misfit glory.' STUART MACONIE, THE TIMES There have been many books on pop music but none have attempted to chart its entire story, from the dawn of the charts in the fifties to pop's digital switchover in the year 2000, from Billy Fury and Roxy Music to TLC and Britney via Led Zeppelin and Donna Summer. Audacious and addictive, Yeah Yeah Yeah is a landmark work that will remind you while you fell in love with it in the first place.

The author of What Was the First Rock 'n' Roll Record? chronicles the spectacular chart-topping success of Bill Haley's hit record "Rock Around the Clock," focusing particular attention on the cultural setting that surrounded the birth of rock music in 1955. Original.

A biography of the father of modern rock 'n' roll music chronicles the remarkable career, tragic personal life, and untimely death of Bill Haley