 From late 1954 to late 1956, the group placed nine singles in the Top 20, one of those a number one and three more in the Top Ten.The single "Rock Around the Clock" became the biggest selling rock and roll single in the history of the genre.Bandleader Bill Haley had previously been a country music performer; after recording a country and western-styled version of Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats "Rocket 88", a rhythm and blues song, he changed musical direction to a new sound which came to be called rock and roll.