List of UK top-ten singles in 1952

1950s in music in the UK
Events
←1949
Vera Lynn achieved the best-selling single of 1952, "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart", although it only peaked at number ten. She had a further two top 10 singles this year: "The Homing Waltz", which reached number nine, and "Forget Me Not", which peaked at number five.
In November of this year, Al Martino secured the first ever number-one record in the UK Singles Chart with "Here in My Heart", which spent nine consecutive weeks at the top of the chart.

The UK Singles Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling singles of the week in the United Kingdom.[1] Before 2004, the chart was only based on the sales of physical singles.[2][3] New Musical Express (NME) magazine published the United Kingdom record charts for the first time in 1952.[4][5][6] NME originally published only a top 12 (although the first chart had a couple of singles that were tied so a top 15 was announced) but this was gradually extended to encompass a top 20 by October 1954.[7][8][9] This list shows singles that peaked in the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart during 1952, as well as singles which peaked in 1953 but were in the top 10 in 1952. The entry date is when the single appeared in the top 10 for the first time (week ending, as published by the Official Charts Company, which is six days after the chart is announced).[10]

Twenty-three singles were in the top ten in 1952. "Takes Two to Tango" by Louis Armstrong,[11] "Comes A-Long A-Love" by Kay Starr,[12] "Walkin' to Missouri" by Tony Brent[13] and "You Belong to Me" by Jo Stafford were all released in 1952 but did not reach their peak until 1953.[14] Eight artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 1952. Al Martino, Nat King Cole, Guy Mitchell[10] and Frankie Laine were among the many artists who achieved their first UK charting top 10 single in 1952.

The first single to reach number-one in the United Kingdom was "Here in My Heart" by Al Martino; the song debuted at the top of the charts on 20 November 1952 and spent nine consecutive weeks in that position.[14][15] It was the only single to top the chart that year.[7][16]

  1. ^ "The Official UK Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  2. ^ Roberts, David (2005). Guinness World Records: British Hit Singles and Albums (18th edition). Guinness World Records Limited. p. 14. ISBN 1-904994-00-8.
  3. ^ "New singles formats to save the charts". BBC News. 16 October 2003. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
  4. ^ "The Story of the Single". BBC News. 23 March 2001. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  5. ^ "'The Godfather' singer Al Martino dies". NME. 14 October 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  6. ^ "Key dates in the history of the Official UK Charts (archived)". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 10 January 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  7. ^ a b "Top 10 chart starts to sound a little off-key". The Yorkshire Post. 17 January 2005. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  8. ^ "First ever top 12: 14 November 1952". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 10 January 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  9. ^ "First ever top 20: 01 October 1954". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 10 January 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  10. ^ a b "The first ever Official Singles Chart – revisited!". Official Chart. Official Charts Company1. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Takes Two to Tango – full Official Chart History". Official Chart. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  12. ^ Vacher, Peter (6 November 2016). "Kay Starr obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Walkin' to Missouri – full Official Chart history". Official Chart. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  14. ^ a b Hall, James (5 July 2015). "The ten chart battles that changed music". The Telegraph. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  15. ^ Myers, Justin (23 March 2018). "The songs that spent the longest at Number 1". Official Chart. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  16. ^ "Announcing the first record Hit Parade" (PDF). NME. 14 November 1952. p. 8. Retrieved 22 May 2010.