The late Dick Clark used to do sock hops back in the late 50's. He'd set up a hall & charge teens a buck and a quarter for admission while he hosted 3 hours of dancing.

Clark used to take 3 boxes of 45's to his events. One night in Allentown Pennsylvania he forgot a box meaning he only had two hours of music instead of the required 3. What to do?

Clark let his young audience know the problem & asked them if they would like to hear some of the B sides. They clapped their approval & in the third & final hour on that Saturday night in 1958 Clark flipped the A side of the already played Duane Eddy disc Stalkin' to the B side entitled Rebel Rouser. The kids took about 30 seconds to warm up to the "new" record & Clark had to play it 4 or 5 times more that night in that final hour. Clark made a "note to self" that night & added it to his play list on Monday morning. And the rest is history. Rebel Rouser reached number 6 on the Billboard charts in '58 & helped launch Duane Eddy's twangy musical career.

Last edited by unclefester (October 18, 2020 8:15 pm)