List of UK top-ten singles in 1954

1950s in music in the UK
Events
←1949
Doris Day had the biggest-selling single of 1954 with the Academy Award-winning song from Calamity Jane, "Secret Love", which spent nine non-consecutive weeks at number-one. Day secured a further two top 10 entries during the year.
Don Cornell achieved his only UK top 10 single this year with the Oscar-nominated song "Hold My Hand", which spent five non-consecutive weeks at number-one.
Kitty Kallen became a one-hit wonder in the UK charts in 1954 with her number-one hit "Little Things Mean a Lot", which stayed in the top 10 for 20 consecutive 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 1954, as well as singles which peaked in 1953 and 1955 but were in the top 10 in 1954. 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-three singles were in the top ten in 1954. Twelve singles from 1953 remained in the top 10 for several weeks at the beginning of the year, while "No One But You" by Billy Eckstine, "The Finger of Suspicion (Points at You)" by Dickie Valentine with The Stargazers and "Heartbeat" by Ruby Murray were all released in 1954 but did not reach their peak until 1955. "Chicka Boom" and "Cloud Lucky Seven" by Guy Mitchell and "Let's Have a Party" by Winifred Atwell were the singles from 1953 to reach their peak in 1954. Nineteen artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 1954. Alma Cogan, Petula Clark, Frank Sinatra and Ruby Murray were among the many artists who achieved their first UK charting top 10 single in 1954.

The 1953 Christmas number-one, "Answer Me" by Frankie Laine, remained at number-one for the first week of 1954. The first new number-one single of the year was "Oh Mein Papa" by Eddie Calvert. Overall, eleven different singles peaked at number-one in 1954, with eleven unique artists hitting 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". New Musical Express. 14 October 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  6. ^ "Key dates in the history of the Official UK Charts". The 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". Yorkshire Post. 17 January 2005. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  8. ^ "First ever top 12: 14 November 1952". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 10 January 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  9. ^ "First ever top 20: 01 October 1954". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 10 January 2008. Retrieved 22 May 2010.