This is the second installment in writer Ralph Horner’s newest column, “The Birth of Rock & Roll (and those who brought it into the world),”about discovering Rock & Roll music as a teenager in the 1950s.

Going to Willson Junior High, which had a substantial Black population, gave us exposure to this new Rock and Roll music that we found exciting, but our  parents would find to be threatening. 

If a young kid had a choice between Patti Page singing the sweet, “How Much is that Doggie in the Window, arf – arf” (Oh Please!), Doris Day singing “Oh, how lovely cooks the meat” (Are you kidding me?), or Hank Ballard’s “Work with Me Annie,” with its blatantly explicit lyrics and its driving rhythms. It was no contest. 

We were mesmerized with this, new-to-us, exciting music.  

I listened to WJMO on the floor in front of our huge floor model Philco radio with my ear pressed to the speakerWe found out that there was a Black radio station in Cleveland that played this music, WJMO, and we listened to it as much as we could. In my house, the listening consisted of me on the floor in front of our huge floor model Philco radio with my ear pressed to the speaker and the volume turned way down so my parents could not hear what I was listening to.

The Philco radio had been demoted to the dining room due to the addition of the new-fangled TV now ruling in the living room. If mom and dad heard the lyrics, they would have freaked—not to mention the bold and exotic rhythms. “Say son, why don’t you give Perry Como a chance?”  “I did dad, and it was extremely lame!”

WJMO’s top disc jockey was a guy named Bill Hawkins—“Walkin’ and Talkin’ Bill Hawkins”—who broadcasted from the window of his record store on East 105th Street between Euclid and Carnegie Avenues.

He used to deliver his spiel in jiving rhyme sometimes and we thought that was very cool: “Hey Cleveland...all you hep cats and chicks gather round, it's time to dig the sounds of the man with the plan. This is Walkin' and Talkin' Bill Hawkins, walkin' my walk and talkin' my talk, back on the scene with my record machine. I'm gonna put more dip in your hip, more slide in your glide and make sure you know how to ride.” 

That was pretty awesome to the ears of us teen-aged white kids. listened to it as much as we could. 

The white record producers finally got on to the fact white kids were listening to this music and tried to capitalize on it. When a record by a Black artist would start to catch on with white kids, they would produce a laundered and a more “acceptable to grownups” version of it.

They had some limited success with this, but that would not appease the parents and the kids would be appalled by what was done to the songs.

On occasion, some white versions of Black artist’s records had some success. But to us, we knew the difference and they were awful! 

Elvis at the Circle Theatre - Oct 19, 1955The early and quintessential Doo Wop song “Sh-boom” by the Black group The Chords was covered by the white group The Crew Cuts and the result was insipid and lame, to say the least. 

The screaming and wailing “Tutti Frutti” by Little Richard was covered by Pat Boone. If you never heard it, try to imagine Pat Boone crooning, “Wop boba lu whop a whop bam boom!”  It was a travesty and a tragedy! 

White producers were clueless when it came to R&B music. They didn’t understand that if they tried to make a song palatable to moms and dads, they still wouldn’t listen to it and young people, who bought the records, would be horrified by what they did to it.

Some of the cover records sold but I have to imagine they sold in places like Iowa or Utah that were very short on Black people and urban life. My young friends and I hated this lifeless and soulless crap music!  

One day in 1955, my friend James Waite came to school with a picture he had taken. He had been to party and there was some guy there who was some sort of singer. James said the guy was in a Rock & Roll show at St. Michael’s Hall in Parma and he somehow showed up at the party.  James had his camera with him and took the guy’s picture as he was leaning against a wall.

The guy was kind of handsome and had longish black hair. We had no idea who he was. but he was pretty cool looking, and we thought that it was cool that James was at a party with a real Rock & Roll singer. 

A few months later a bombshell hit the world of Rock & Roll. The bombshell also hit Willson Jr. because the guy in James’ picture was none other than Elvis Aaron Presley! 

Elvis had his north of the Mason-Dixon Line debut at the Circle Theatre on East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Doan’s Corners—Cleveland’s “second downtown.”

Elvis then appeared a few months later at St. Michael’s Hall in Parma—on the night James took his picture. James carried the picture in his wallet after that and proudly showed it to anyone who would look at it. I’m sure he wore it out before he graduated from Willson Junior high.

This was not the Elvis of “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear” but the Elvis of “Mystery Train.”  Many of Elvis’ early songs were covers of R&B songs by Black performers like B.B. King, Rufus Thomas, and Ike Turner. Elvis was one of the few white performers who could sing that type of song and do it justice.   

Elvis sang the songs that Black singers sung and boy, did he do them justice with his soulful voice and unique style. Elvis made his big time television debut on the Ed  Sullivan show. He was only allowed to be seen by the cameras from the waist up because of his wild hip gyrations. Too shocking in those days.  

Cleveland disc jockey Bill Randle received a recording from Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis' manager and informed him of Elvis’ upcoming premier in Cleveland. Randle had an understanding of the crossover of the popularity Black musicians to white listeners.

Bill Randle and Tommy Edwards of WERE, Cleveland, introduce Elvis at Brooklyn High School in 1955Elvis was, of course, white but he sang like a Black singer. Bill Randle in an early article, describe Elvis as  “a combination of Hillbilly nasality, Rock and Roll and a sound of his own.”

Randle told his readers, “Watch him soar.” 

It was in the fall of 1955 when Randle worked with Elvis for the first time. Randle has said that he previously turned down an offer to manage the singer, but in January 1956, he did introduce Presley on his first national TV appearance on CBS’ “Stage Show.”

Randle put on several shows at  several high schools in Cleveland. On Oct. 29, 1955, several months before Elvis’ first recording session at RCA records, Randle produced a show featuring Elvis. A plaque commemorating this performance is located at Brooklyn High School in Cleveland.

“Time Magazine” called Randle the top disk jockey in America. Randle as a promoter assisted the careers of many singers—particularly those of the Four Lads, the Crew Cuts, Johnny Ray, Bobby Darin, and Tony Bennett.

Tony Bennet reportedly once stated, “I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for Bill Randle.” In the 1960's Randle also promoted the career of Rock & Roll legend Janis Joplin and helped her achieve success.