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Even Without Bill Haley, the Comets Still Attract ‘50s Rock ‘n’ Roll Fans

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Times Staff Writer

John (Bam Bam) Lane had just been graduated from high school in Cumberland, Pa., when he answered a wantad for a drummer in a band in nearby Chester.

He had to lie about his age--the ad said applicants needed to be at least 21--but he beat out 18 other drummers for the gig. “It wasn’t until after I got the job,” Lane said in a telephone interview this week, “that I found out it was with the Comets.”

As in Bill Haley and the Comets, backup band to a man who was among the first to combine R&B;, country and pop in such early ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll hits as “Rock Around the Clock” and “Shake, Rattle and Roll.”

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Lane joined the group in 1967 and toured with Haley until the rock pioneer’s death in 1981. The last of the original Comets left the group then, but Lane has been on the road with a new set of Comets ever since. The group will play Saturday at a benefit for the International Surf Museum of Huntington Beach.

In his early days with Haley, Lane toured about 10 months each year, including 4 to 5 months overseas. “In Europe, we worked about every country there is,” Lane said. Although Haley was rarely recognized on the streets of the United States, he was regularly mobbed in England and Europe.

In 1967, in the midst of a rock ‘n’ roll revival, Bill Haley and the Comets broke attendance records set by the Beatles and Rolling Stones at London’s Royal Albert Hall, and through the late ‘60s Haley regularly was the headliner on European tours over bands such as the Spencer Davis Group. “That was one thing in Europe--Bill was always the headliner,” Lane said. “Even to this day, he is still No. 1 over there.”

Those early years were heady ones for the young drummer from Cumberland, who celebrated his 19th birthday in London, his 20th in Dublin and his 21st in Paris. Haley, he said, was friendly and mild-mannered, but always expected a professional attitude from his band.

Haley scaled back his touring in 1977 and hit the road about twice a year until his death. The Comets keep touring, Lane said, to keep Haley’s name alive and to satisfy his fans. They tour solo and also take part in ‘50s-revival package tours.

Two Comets from the ‘60s--Dave Linkous and Spider Webb--recently rejoined the band, and three other members joined after Haley’s death. The group performs songs from Haley’s repertoire, along with other hits from the ‘50s.

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“After Bill passed away, we didn’t know how it was going to go,” Lane said. But the public has responded: “We’ve had three and four generations of a family come to see the band. . . . It was really something that I didn’t expect.”

Bill Haley’s Comets will perform Saturday at 8 p.m. at Huntington Center, at Edinger Avenue and the San Diego Freeway. General admission tickets are $6 in advance, $7.50 at the door. There will be dancing, and ‘50s attire is encouraged. Information: (714) 897-2533.

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