Billboard Top Rock'n'Roll Hits: 1955 is a compilation album released by Rhino Records in 1988, featuring 10 hit recordings from 1955. The volume is the first in a series of albums by Rhino Records that chronicled years in music, starting from 1955 and continuing through 1995.
Each of the albums issued in the series included a "Time Capsule" in its liner notes. These notes served as a synopsis for the year featured on the album, including the top news headlines, sports events, television programs and trends in fashion and popular culture.
The track lineups tended to feature most of the year's top 10 hits, although some of the year's most popular songs on a given album were not included for various reasons — most commonly, licensing restrictions. This would be most evident for several of Rhino's Billboard volumes covering the 1960s, where songs by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were not included. In such cases, other songs that were among the most popular of the year were substituted.
For the 1955 track lineup, just one song topped the Billboard Best Sellers in Stores chart: "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets. Also included was "Sincerely" by The Moonglows, whose version — which topped the Top Rhythm & Blues Songs chart — was used in place of The McGuire Sisters' version, which reached No. 1 on the Best Sellers in Stores mainstream chart. Most of the other songs reached the top 10 of one of the three charts Billboard had in place at the time — the Best Sellers in Stores, Most Played by Jockeys and Most Played in Jukeboxes.
Rhino's mainstream pop top hits volumes for the years 1955 through 1974 were titled "Billboard Top Rock'n'Roll Hits." Starting with the 1975 volume and continuing through the 1995 entry, the series became known as "Billboard Top Hits."
There were criticisms. For instance, Erlewine and Eder faulted the "poor liner notes, and brevity, as well as the omission of several important pop, rock, and album rock artists," although they admitted "the series isn't attempting to be comprehensive." The review concluded, "Still, this is a fun half-hour's listening, even with the weak moments that slipped through."
William John Clifton Haley was a pioneering American rock and roll musician. He is credited by many with first popularizing this form of music in the early 1950s with his group Bill Haley & His Comets and million-selling hits such as "Rock Around the Clock", "See You Later, Alligator", "Shake, Rattle and Roll", "Rocket 88", "Skinny Minnie", and "Razzle Dazzle". His recordings have sold over 60 million records worldwide.
"Rock Around the Clock" is a rock and roll song in the 12-bar blues format written by Max C. Freedman and James E. Myers in 1952. The best-known and most successful rendition was recorded by Bill Haley & His Comets in 1954 for American Decca. It was a number one single for two months and did well on the United Kingdom charts; the recording also reentered the UK Singles Chart in the 1960s and 1970s.
Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band, founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group placed nine singles in the Top 20, one of those a number one and three more in the Top Ten. The single "Rock Around the Clock" became the biggest selling rock and roll single in the history of the genre and retained that position for some years.
The Billboard Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales, radio play, and online streaming in the United States.
"Earth Angel", occasionally referred to as "Earth Angel ", is a song by American doo-wop group the Penguins. Produced by Dootsie Williams, it was released as their debut single in October 1954 on Dootone Records. The Penguins had formed the year prior and recorded the song as a demo in a garage in South Central Los Angeles. The song's origins lie in multiple different sources, among them songs by Jesse Belvin, Patti Page, and the Hollywood Flames. Its authorship was the subject of a bitter legal dispute with Williams in the years following its release.
"See You Later, Alligator" is a 1950s rock and roll song written and first recorded by American singer-songwriter Bobby Charles. The song was a Top Ten hit for Bill Haley and His Comets in 1956 in the United States.
"Crazy Man, Crazy" was the title of an early rock and roll song written by, and first recorded by Bill Haley & His Comets in April 1953. It is notable as the first recognized rock and roll recording to appear on the national American musical charts, peaking at #12 on the Billboard Juke Box chart for the week ending June 20, 1953, and #11 for two weeks on the Cash Box chart beginning for the week of June 13.
"Move It On Over" is a song written and recorded by the American country music singer-songwriter Hank Williams in 1947.
Pratt & McClain was a 1970s-era one-hit wonder rock and roll band, originally called Brother Love, consisting of Jerry McClain and Truett Pratt, along with various sidemen. They scored a Billboard No. 5 hit in 1976 with "Happy Days", the theme to the television sitcom of the same name.
Elvis' Golden Records is a compilation album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley, issued by RCA Victor in March 1958. It compiled his hit singles released in 1956 and 1957, and is widely believed to be the first greatest hits album in rock and roll history. It is the first of five RCA Victor Elvis' Golden/Gold Records compilations, the first four of which were issued during Presley's lifetime. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart and was certified 6× platinum on August 17, 1999, by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Billboard Top Hits: 1975 is a compilation album released by Rhino Records in 1991, featuring 10 hit recordings from 1975.
Billboard Top Rock'n'Roll Hits: 1960 is a compilation album released by Rhino Records in 1988, featuring ten hit recordings from 1960.
Billboard Top Rock'n'Roll Hits: 1964 is a compilation album released by Rhino Records in 1988, featuring ten hit recordings from 1964.
Billboard Top Rock'n'Roll Hits: 1967 is a compilation album released by Rhino Records in 1989, featuring 10 hit recordings from 1967.
This article includes an overview of the major events and trends in popular music in the 1950s.
"Flip, Flop and Fly" is a song recorded by Big Joe Turner in 1955. Called a "prototypical rocker", the song has been recorded by a variety of artists, including early rock and roll performers such as Elvis Presley.
"Rock-A-Beatin' Boogie" is a 1952 song composed by Bill Haley and first recorded by The Esquire Boys in 1952. Bill Haley and the Comets recorded the song in 1955 for Decca. The song was featured in the 1956 movie Rock Around the Clock.
Bill Haley & His Comets recorded many singles and albums. The following list references only their original release and generally does not include compilation albums or single reissues. This list does not include releases on which the Comets worked as session musicians, and primarily focuses on releases during Haley's lifetime.
"Two Hound Dogs" is a 1955 rock and roll song composed by Bill Haley and Frank Pingatore. The song was released as a Decca single by Bill Haley and His Comets.
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