They released a couple of country tracks, "Time" and "Hopeless Case". Nathan then signed Bennett to a recording contract. Bennett's Rockets became King's house band, backing up Moon Mullican, Earl Bostic, Bill Doggett, Merle Travis, and Otis Williams and the Charms. Bennett's live appearances made him conscious of the teenage audience, and he began to emphasize songs that would appeal to teenagers. The band played for both musical and comic effect, with 425-pound trumpeter Jim Muzey (billed as "Big Moe"), 110-pound guitarist M. D. Allen, bassist Kenny Cobb, and saxophonist Boots Randolph. Vocals rotated between Bennett, Muzey and, later, Elvis Presley-influenced Cecil McNabb, Jr.  Bennett experimented with rhythm-heavy arrangements, and rented the King Records studio to record "Poison Ivy" (not the similarly titled hit recorded by The Coasters), "You Upset Me Baby", and "Boogie at Midnight". When sales topped 100,000 copies, the singles were then re-released under King Records. In 1955, Boyd Bennett and His Rockets recorded "Seventeen". Bennett aimed the song directly at the teenage audience, but producer Syd Nathan dismissed the effort and claimed that teenagers had no money to buy records. Bennett shrewdly waited until Nathan left for a two-week vacation, and prevailed upon Nathan's assistant Henry Glover to release the record. It reached the "Billboard" chart on July 9, 1955, and went to the number five by September. Boyd and the Rockets traveled across the nation. There were also several cover versions recorded that extended the release of the song. These included fellow chart efforts by The Fontane Sisters, Rusty Draper, and Ella Mae Morse. The Boyd Bennett disc of "Seventeen" "changed record-producing/buying and marketing forever," wrote musicologist Robert Reynolds: "As Boyd Bennett had predicted, teenagers bought 'Seventeen' in droves and other record companies soon began producing songs aimed specifically at the teen market. The record hung around the Top Ten for five weeks. When all was said and done, [Bennett's] 'Seventeen' had sold three million copies." Boyd Bennett and his band followed "Seventeen" with "My Boy Flat Top" (almost identical, melodically) which reached the Top 40 for a number of months, although a lesser seller than their earlier effort.