 Bill Haley and the Comets were the first rock and roll performers to appear on the CBS television musical variety program "The Ed Sullivan Show, or Toast of the Town" on Sunday, August 7, 1955, in a broadcast from the Shakespeare Festival Theater in Stratford, Connecticut.They performed a live version of "Rock Around the Clock" featuring Franny Beecher on lead guitar and Dick Richards on drums.The group made a second and final appearance on the "Ed Sullivan Show" on Sunday, April 28, 1957, performing "Rudy's Rock" and "Forty Cups of Coffee."