Rebirth in America

In Carpenter's recording studio, Rudy, Mark, Bill and others watched in stunned silence as Alex sang "Rock Around the Clock".

This kind of rhythm that is strongly integrated with country-style music has never appeared before. This kind of music rhythm was included in the few songs recorded by the Carpenter brothers. It's just that the music has never been as exciting as Alex's now, especially the rhythm and movements, which all make people want to twist their bodies along with it.

Bill felt even more deeply. He felt that the song Alex was singing now was simply the song he had always dreamed of. He thought day and night, always wanting to find a way to combine country music style with rhythm and blues singing. Unexpectedly, he found it here.

Richard also watched intently. He had also thought about going in this direction, but he didn't expect that his brother would go much farther than he did.

Alex's singing shocked them all at once, and some of them vaguely felt the birth of a new type of music.

By the time one song was finished, everyone was so excited that they could hardly speak. After a while, someone asked: "What does ROCK mean?"

Alex was speechless for a moment. He knew that "ROCK" meant rock and roll, but how could he explain it to others?

It was Mark who helped him out. He said: "This word came from Alan Freed. I remember he once said 'rock and roll' or something on the radio."

Bill and Rudy suddenly realized that this was indeed the case.

Alan Freed was a Cleveland radio disc jockey who coined the term "rock and roll" from the R\u0026B song "We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll" "(Rockn'Roll) the noun.

"Alex, you are so awesome! You wrote such a good song, why didn't you come up with it earlier?" Rudy asked with some reproach. He couldn't understand why Alex hid the good song.

"Haha, Uncle Rudy, do you think Richard and I are suitable to sing this kind of song?" Alex asked.

Rudy was speechless. He almost forgot the age of the Carpenter brothers. A song like this seemed inappropriate for two children to sing. After all, the current selling point of the Carpenter Brothers is the "cuteness" that makes people feel inside. If it were replaced by this kind of rock song, it might be difficult for people to accept.

After listening to this song, Bill felt inspired. He took his guitar from Alex and sang the song again.

After Bill's performance, everyone felt that the song had a stronger rhythm. Bill's body movements are more exaggerated than Alex's, and coupled with his ridiculous hairstyle, it makes people feel happy from the bottom of their hearts.

"Come on! Let's rock together!" Bill's Typhoon was indeed much better than Alex's, more than a little better. He was very able to arouse the atmosphere of the audience. Under his leadership, everyone swayed to the rhythm of the music.

The "Horsemen" band worked more seamlessly with Bill. They played and swayed to the rhythm with their instruments. They rocked so hard that the vibrations could be felt throughout the studio and even the entire building.

Finally, after they finished playing. When it came time to sign a contract, Rudy greeted Mark, Alex and others into another room, which was a conference room.

"What do you think of them?" Dill said first, and he couldn't wait to ask: "Should we try to sign a contract with them?"

Rudy thought for a while and asked Mark, "What do you think?"

Mark nodded and said: "If they can have many songs like Alex, it should be a hit."

Alex laughed. He didn't expect that the song "Rock Around the Clock" he picked up casually would be regarded as his own work. However, he was considered the king of copycats, and he didn't care about such a trivial matter. He didn't take it to heart at all. In fact, what he wanted to show more was the "horseback dance". It would be much more interesting to see a "horseman" dance the "horseback dance".

However, he considered that songs like "Horse Riding Dance" were half a century old and were sung by Koreans. They might be too trendy and cannot be accepted by today's people. So I came up with the song "Rock and Roll Around the Night". After all, this song was born in this era, so there shouldn't be any problems.

Both Mark and Alex felt that Bill had a talent for acting. Although his image was a bit off, it was worth a try.

"Okay! We can sign a few record contracts with them on a trial basis first. If the sales are satisfactory, we can then sign a long-term contract with them." Rudy said after listening to everyone's opinions.

Alex frowned and advised: "It is best to sign a long-term contract with them, at least for more than ten years."

When record companies sign contracts with artists, they usually have two options. One is to sign a record contract, which stipulates how many records will be released within a certain period of time. This kind of contract has few restrictions on both the company and the artist. It is relatively loose and has little binding force.

As for the other type, a long-term contract is equivalent to the artist selling himself completely to the record company. The same record company is also responsible for the development and future of the artist. Usually artists who have just debuted will sign a contract for about five years. As for a ten-year contract, the record company will have to pay a lot of money and take greater risks for the artist to sign for that long.

Rudy and the others were a little confused. Record companies would not sign such a long-term contract with artists when they were not very sure.

"Alex, are you very optimistic about them? This band can be found in any nightclub in New York. Why are you so optimistic about them?" Rudy asked.

Alex shook his head and said: "I'm not optimistic about 'Horseman', I'm optimistic about Bill. Don't you think he has a thorough understanding of this kind of rock music? Just after watching my demonstration once, he was able to join better than anyone else." If you create your own thing, you can also boost the atmosphere at the scene. You know, a singer must not only be able to produce good-sounding records, but also have good live performance capabilities.”

Rudy and the others looked at Alex thoughtfully, and even Richard was lost in thought.

"Brother, are you trying to say that our Carpenter brothers can't compare to them in terms of live performances?" Richard suddenly asked.

Alex nodded and said: "Yes, we can't beat them. However, there is no need to be too frustrated. After all, we are young and have little experience. The most important thing is that we have never toured before. When we grow up, Let’s do a world tour.”

Richard nodded and stopped worrying about this.

"How about it? Uncle Rudy, don't you think Bill is very talented? I think he will definitely become famous." Alex continued to persuade Rudy, hoping that he would take over Bill quickly.

Rudy rubbed his face with his hands and said: "Since you said so, of course I have confidence in him. However, I only signed a ten-year contract with Bill. As for the others, it will be up to the agency. Let’s handle it over there.”

Seeing Rudy about to pick peaches, Dill quickly stopped him and said, "Hey! Rudy, don't break the company's rules. I am the Carpenter Agency. You can sign a ten-year contract if you want, but you must first contact me." I’ll talk about it after negotiating the terms.”

Eventually, they signed separate contracts with the Horsemen. Dill signed an agent contract with Bill and others, while Rudy signed a long-term cooperation contract.

From now on, the copyright of the songs and records produced by Bill and his friends will be owned by Carpenter Records, and as for copyright taxes and the like, a brokerage company will help them negotiate. The most important thing for Bill is to write songs like "Rock Around the Clock". Only after they have the songs, the record company will help them release a record. As for arrangements such as tour concerts, there are brokerage companies that come forward to make them.

After this incident, Rudy knew that his influence on Carpenter Records was decreasing. With Dill, Angel and others sharing his power, he has fewer things to do and has much smaller responsibilities. Faced with this change, he was not comfortable with it at first, but gradually he felt that this was not bad. Work responsibilities are clear, there are fewer things to worry about, and the company is developing well.

Carpenter Records has been established for more than a year. At first, Rudy didn't want the Carpenters to continue to inject capital, but he was a minority shareholder after all, so he couldn't stop it even if he blocked it. Now that the record company was stable, Angel revealed the idea of ​​injecting capital to Rudy. Rudy thought about it and agreed.

As a result, the Carpenters' share in the record company rose to 97%, and Rudy only held 3%. However, the Carpenters immediately took out 20% of the dividends and gave them to the company's old employees as dry shares. Rudy alone accounted for 10%, plus his own 3%, which resulted in a 13% dividend. His year-end dividend can be said to have increased instead of falling. This can be regarded as Bart and the others' compensation for Rudy.

Bill Haley is indeed worthy of the title of "Father of Rock and Roll". He soon came up with more than ten rock and roll songs. Every song is so good that Mark and others don’t know what to choose. Eventually, they plan to turn these songs into albums. This is a set of 6 records called "Day and Night Rock".

Alex made it clear that the song was for Bill and that the Carpenters were not the right type of song. Bill liked this song very much. Every time he wrote a song, he would listen to it first and carefully figure out the essence of rock music.

As soon as this album was released, it caused a sensation among teenagers. Many songs in the album have stayed on the weekly charts, and the album's song of the same name, "Day and Night Rock", has topped the weekly charts for 8 consecutive weeks. This is something that none of the Carpenter brothers could do, but he actually did it.

Bill's "Horsemen" band was different from the Carpenter brothers. They devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the rock and roll career, touring and performing everywhere, refreshing people's inherent musical views wherever they went. Facing such rock music, even some parents will be so drunk.

When this song was used as the theme song of the movie, Bill's popularity rose to a terrifying level. Teenagers admire Bill Haley extremely and call him the "Father of Rock and Roll"! Under the influence of Alex, the little butterfly, the rock and roll era officially began several years ahead of schedule.