List of UK top-ten singles in 1955

1950s in music in the UK
Events
←1949
Slim Whitman achieved the best-selling single of 1955 with his recording of "Rose Marie", which spent 11 consecutive weeks at number-one, a record which remained unbroken for 36 years. Whitman scored a second top 10 hit later in the year with "Indian Love Call", which peaked at number seven.
Tennessee Ernie Ford spent seven weeks at number-one in the UK charts this year with "Give Me Your Word", which remained in the top 10 for 18 weeks.
Bill Haley & His Comets (lead singer Bill Haley pictured) achieved two UK top 10 entries in 1955, including their signature song "Rock Around the Clock", which spent five non-consecutive weeks at number-one. As well as being the first single to sell one million copies in the UK alone, "Rock Around the Clock" went on to be ranked as the best-selling single of the 1950s.

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 1955, as well as singles which peaked in 1954 and 1956 but were in the top 10 in 1955. 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).

Eighty singles were in the top ten in 1955. Eleven singles from 1954 remained in the top 10 for several weeks at the beginning of the year, while "Meet Me on the Corner" by Max Bygraves, "Suddenly There's a Valley" by Petula Clark and "Twenty Tiny Fingers" by The Stargazers were all released in 1955 but did not reach their peak until 1956. "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 the songs from 1954 to reach their peak in 1955. Nineteen artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 1955. Bill Haley & His Comets, Malcolm Vaughan, Slim Whitman, Teresa Brewer and Tony Martin were among the many artists who achieved their first UK charting top 10 single in 1955.

The 1954 Christmas number-one, "Let's Have Another Party" by Winifred Atwell, remained at number-one for the first week of 1955. The first new number-one single of the year was "The Finger of Suspicion" by Dickie Valentine with The Stargazers. Overall, fifteen different singles peaked at number-one in 1955, with Dickie Valentine and Jimmy Young (2) having the joint 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". 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.