List of UK top-ten singles in 1953

1950s in music in the UK
Events
←1949

Frankie Laine's "I Believe" not only became the biggest-selling single of 1953, but also topped the chart for a record 18 non-consecutive weeks. Laine had five other top 10 hits this year, two of which also reached number-one: "Hey Joe!" and "Answer Me".
Guy Mitchell was another artist who dominated the UK charts this year, securing six top 10 singles, including the number-one hits "She Wears Red Feathers" and "Look at That Girl".
In January 1953, Jo Stafford scored the second ever UK number-one single with "You Belong to Me", which replaced Al Martino's "Here in My Heart" at the top of the chart after nine weeks.

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 had 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 1953, as well as singles which peaked in 1952 and 1954 but were in the top 10 in 1953. 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).

Seventy-nine singles were in the top 10 in 1953. Sixteen singles from 1952 remained in the top 10 for several weeks at the beginning of the year, while "Oh Mein Papa" by Eddie Calvert, "Chicka Boom" by Guy Mitchell and "Let's Have a Party" by Winifred Atwell were all released in 1953 but did not reach their peak until 1954. "You Belong to Me" by Jo Stafford, "Comes A-Long A-Love" by Kay Starr, "Takes Two to Tango" by Louis Armstrong, "Cowpuncher's Cantata" by Max Bygraves, "Walkin' to Missouri" by Tony Brent and "Britannia Rag" by Winifred Atwell were the singles from 1952 to reach their peak in 1953. Seventeen artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 1953. David Whitfield, Dean Martin, Eddie Fisher and Perry Como were among the many artists who achieved their first UK charting top 10 single in 1953.

The 1952 Christmas number-one, "Here in My Heart" by Al Martino, remained at number-one for the first three weeks of 1953. The first new number-one single of the year was "You Belong to Me" by Jo Stafford. Overall, thirteen different singles peaked at number-one in 1953, with Frankie Laine (3) having the most singles hit that position.

  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". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 10 January 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ "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.