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"Rock Around the Clock" was a song by Bill Haley recorded on April 12, 1954 and released May 20 in the same year.
Behind the scenes[]
The third draft of the script called for Marty McFly to sing this song at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance, rather than "Johnny B. Goode" which made the final film. The song is, of course, another reference to clocks.
Although the song would have been unfamiliar in 1952 (it was first published in late 1952 and not properly recorded until the spring of 1954), Marty's destination in earlier drafts, "Rock Around the Clock" was already somewhat of an "oldie" everywhere by November 12, 1955. This song, by Bill Haley and the Comets, had been released in the spring 1954, and had been featured in the film Blackboard Jungle, released in the spring of 1955, resulting it topping the charts over the summer. When the script called for Marty to travel to 1955, the choice of song was changed, as by the fall of 1955 it would already have been well-known, even though it is not included on the soundtrack of the final film.
Coincidentally, frequent Steven Spielberg collaborator George Lucas used "Rock Around the Clock" as the opening theme of his 1973 film, American Graffiti.
