Number One Hit Singles in the 1950s
The 45 rotations per minute (rpm) record format was introduced in 1949, just a few years before the birth of rock and roll. This new and inexpensive format facilitated a boom in record sales, starting in the mid-1950s. Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88" (1951) is generally considered the first rock and roll song. In 1958, Billboard magazine published the first "Hot 100" charts based on air-play. Hit singles during the 1950s included several genres, from pop to orchestral to rock to rhythm and blues.
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1950
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Hit singles of 1950 included: "Hard Luck Blues," by Roy Brown and his Mighty-Mighty Men; "Mona Lisa," by Nat King Cole; "Tennessee Waltz," by Patti Page; "Long Gone Lonesome Blues," by Hank Williams; and "I Want To Be Loved," by the Andrews Sisters.
1951
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Hit singles of 1951 included: "Sixty-Minute Man," by The Dominoes; "Rocket 88," by Jackie Brenston; "Be My Love," by Mario Lanza; "Come On A My House," by Rosemary Clooney; and "How High the Moon," by Les Paul and Mary Ford.
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1952
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Hit singles of 1952 included: "Cry," by Johnny Ray, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," by Lloyd Price and his Orchestra; "Juke," by Little Walter; "Jambalaya," by Hank Williams; and "Goin' Home," by Fats Domino.
1953
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Hit singles of 1953 included: "Money Honey," by Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters; "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes," by Perry Como; "The Doggie in the Window," by Patti Page; and "Your Cheatin' Heart," by Hank Williams.
1954
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Hit singles of 1954 included: "Shake, Rattle and Roll," by Joe Turner and his Blues Kings; "Earth Angel," by The Penguins; "Sh-Boom," by the Crew-Cuts; "Rock Around the Clock," by Bill Haley and His Comets; and "I've Got a Woman," by Ray Charles.
1955
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Hit singles of 1955 included: "Only You," by The Platters; "Ain't It a Shame," by Fats Domino; "Tutti-Frutti," by Little Richard; "The Great Pretender," by The Platters; "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White," by Perez Prado; "Folsom Prison Blues," by Johnny Cash; and "Maybelline," by Chuck Berry.
1956
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Hit singles of 1956 included: "Sixteen Tons," by Tennessee Ernie Ford; "Don't Be Cruel," by Elvis Presley; "Blueberry Hill," by Fats Domino; "Honky Tonk," by Bill Doggett; "In the Still of the Night," by Five Satins; and "Roll Over Beethoven," by Chuck Berry.
1957
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Hit singles of 1957 included: "All Shook Up," by Elvis Presley; "Searchin'," by The Coasters; "You Send Me," by Sam Cooke; "Wake Up Little Susie," by The Everly Brothers; "Peggy Sue," by Buddy Holly; "Great Balls of Fire," by Jerry Lee Lewis; and "Lucille," by Little Richard.
1958
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Hit singles of 1958 included: "At the Hop," by Danny and the Juniors; "Yakety Yak," by The Coasters; "Tom Dooley," by the Kingston Trio; "Volare," by Domenico Modugno; "Poor Little Fool," by Ricky Nelson; "La Bamba," by Ritchie Valens; and "Johnny B. Goode," by Chuck Berry.
1959
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Hit singles of 1959 included: "Mack the Knife," by Bobby Darin; "Lonely Teardrops," by Jackie Wilson; "Stagger Lee," by Lloyd Price; "There Goes My Baby," by The Drifters; "What'd I Say," by Ray Charles; "Shout," by the Isley Brothers; "Come Softly to Me," by the Fleetwoods; and "The Battle of New Orleans," by Johnny Horton.
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