I’m on a mission to make February 5th a positive day for Southampton.

It’s a date which the city should take pride from because in 1957, rock and roll first stepped on to British soil.

That foot belonged to Bill Haley who, along with his backing band The Comets, were the first American act to play that new, rebellious style of music on these shores.

Five thousand people shouting “Haley!!” gathered dock side to watch him disembark from the Queen Elizabeth.

Even the Daily Mirror put on a special train to take fans down to greet him and then bring him to London for his first gig.

The police had to save him from the ecstatic fans and actually carried him above the crowd so that he could continue his journey.

And, according to music historian Ian Whitcomb, his “hotel bath water was sold as if it was a holy relic” .

To look at Bill Haley you wonder what was going on in the minds of 50’s youth but he was playing a wild type of music that teenagers could identify with.

Parents recoiled in horror on hearing it but this country had become too cosy for the post war generation.

His arrival should be celebrated by Southampton and maybe next year ‘Rock and Roll Day’ will be commemorated properly.

I’ll happily rock around the dock in memory of Bill Haley and the Comets!