As we all know, the birth of rock & roll began in the US, where it exploded quickly across a quiet nation not expecting the noise — but it took a few years for this raw and rollicking music to spread its hip-shaking electricity over the waters and into the DNA of international musicians. The rest of the buttoned up world had to learn how to unbutton their soul, how to shake, rattle and roll, how to feel real loose like a long-necked goose (aw baby, that’s what I like!).

Similar to many a young teen in mid-1950s England, Cliff Richard picked up a guitar when the skiffle craze swept the country. Skiffle was acoustic folk played with uptempo energy and it inspired an entire generation to pick up cheap instruments, learn a few chords, and start bands with their friends.

The music stood a mere one step away from rock & roll — it had the energy, it only lacked the electricity and volume. The most talented and driven took their hard-earned pay from gigs and added both. But they still needed to master the long-necked goose part.

Cliff rocked up a level in 1958 and started a band known as Cliff Richard and The Drifters (the US Drifters weren’t known yet in the UK), quickly learning how to let it loose as a top-flight concert draw. EMI Records (under their Columbia label) took immediate notice, signed the group, and hurried them into the studio to record their first single. The band had only been together for a few months. Cliff was just 17.

As was common in those days, the band’s producer found a poppy and commercial song by professional songwriters for the boys to record as the A-side of their debut single. Because B-sides held no importance, Cliff and the band were told they could play whatever they wanted for the flip side. The Drifters’ lead guitarist, Ian Samwell, wrote “Move It” on top of a double-decker bus on the way to a band rehearsal. He never penned a second verse but, as they say, it was good enough for rock & roll.

Conflicting stories float around as to why “Move It” became the A-side, but one possible factor was television presenter Jack Good’s insistence that Cliff and The Drifters perform that song (instead of the intended A-side) on Oh Boy!, his very popular teen music show.

After that telly appearance, even more overnight success fell into Richard’s lap. Released in August of 1958, “Move It” shook its way up to #2 on the British charts, establishing itself as the first authentic, homegrown rock & roll song out of the UK after years of polite and pale imitators. Cliff almost immediately transitioned into softer-edged, mainstream pop, which led to millions in sales, and an eventual knighthood, but for a brief time, he was England’s very own King of Rock & Roll.

So come on pretty baby, let’s move it and groove it …. with Cliff Richard.