Rock-n-roll really has been around for 70 years.
That’s give or take, of course, depending on the definition you use, as not all music scholars agree its birth was in the mid-1950s.
But earlier or later, an exhibition of rock music memorabilia will be on display at the Jorgensen Gallery at Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts on the UConn Storrs campus through Saturday, December 13.
“Eight Days a Week,” an Illustrated Record of Rock ‘n’ Roll music memorabilia is from the archive of journalist and radio disc jockey Ken Best that features iconic photos, album covers, posters and promotional materials that he collected while writing about music for newspapers in New Jersey and Connecticut and interviewing musicians and authors on the air during almost 30 years at WPKN in Bridgeport and WHUS in Storrs, according to organizers.
The exhibition features more than 100 items, including more than 40 photos of members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that were taken by Connecticut photographer Joseph Sia, including his famous image of Jimi Hendrix at Woolsey Hall in New Haven, known as “The Shadow,” from Best and Sia’s 1992 book, “Eight Days a Week: An Illustrated Record of Rock ‘n’ Roll” (Pomegranate Books).
“Eight Days a Week – an Illustrated tour of Rock ‘n Roll” at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts in Storrs on Sept. 24, 2026. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)
Other exhibition items include posters, promotional materials from record companies and museums as well as historic albums and special editions of Rolling Stone, Life, Billboard and other magazines.
Since 2008, Best has been the host of the Good Music Program on WHUS (Wednesdays, 3 to 5:30 p.m.), the radio station at the University of Connecticut, and previously hosted the show on WPKN-FM in Bridgeport, an all-volunteer, listener-supported community radio station, from 1996 until 2008.
During the summer of 2015 he produced the weekly program Walking a Blues Road, on WHUS based on holdings of the Samuel and Ann Charters Archives of Blues and Vernacular African American Musical Culture, in Archives & Special Collections at Babbidge Library.
As a reporter and disc jockey Best conducted interviews with several members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: John Phillips of the Mamas & Papas, Bruce Springsteen, Joan Jett, George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic, Billy Joel, Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, Steve Miller, guitar innovator Les Paul, Roger McGuinn of The Byrds, and Chubby Checker, who will be inducted later this year.
He also has written about the authors of books on major figures in music such as Willie Nelson, James Taylor, Phil Spector, Johnny Cash, The Supremes, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, Carole King and songwriter Doc Pomus (Save the Last Dance for Me, Suspicion, This Magic Moment).
Kenneth Best of Mansfield leads a tour of his exhibit “Eight Days a Week – an Illustrated tour of Rock ‘n Roll” at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts in Storrs on Sept. 24, 2026. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)
And, back to that rock ‘n’ roll question: According to The New York Times, the first performance of a rock ‘n’ roll song on national television happened in 1955. Bill Haley and His Comets performed “Rock Around the Clock” on Aug. 7, 1955 at Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town” concert in Stratford.
Jorgensen Gallery is located on the lower level of Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts at 2132 Hillside Road on the UConn campus in Storrs.
