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 charted in the top 10 in 1955, with seventy-two singles reaching their peak this year. Nine songs were recorded by several artists with each version reaching the top 10:
Twenty-six artists achieved their first top 10 single in 1955, either as a lead or featured artist. Bill Haley & His Comets and Slim Whitman both had two other entries in their breakthrough year.
The following table (collapsed on desktop site) does not include acts who had previously charted as part of a group and secured their first top 10 solo single.
Tony Bennett (pictured in 1995) scored his first and only UK top 10 single this year with his version of "Stranger in Paradise", which spent two weeks at number-one in May. Two other versions of the song by Tony Martin and The Four Aces made the top 10, both peaking at number six.Alma Cogan (pictured in 1963) had two songs in the UK top 10 in 1955, including her biggest hit and only number-one single, "Dreamboat", which spent two weeks at the top of the charts in July.
The following table shows artists who achieved two or more top 10 entries in 1955, including singles that reached their peak in 1954 or 1956. The figures include both main artists and featured artists. The total number of weeks an artist spent in the top ten in 1955 is also shown.
a "Hold My Hand" re-entered the top 10 at number 7 on 13 January 1955 (week ending).
b "This Ole House" re-entered the top 10 at number 5 on 4 November 1954 (week ending) for 10 weeks and at number 10 on 20 January 1955 (week ending) for 2 weeks.
c "Rain Rain Rain" re-entered the top 10 at number 9 on 16 December 1954 (week ending) for 4 weeks and at number 8 on 27 January 1955 (week ending).
d "Give Me Your Word" is recorded as the best-selling single of the year by some sources but the Official Charts Company lists "Rose Marie" as its best-seller.[10]
e "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane" (Dean Martin version) re-entered the top 10 at number 7 on 24 March 1955 (week ending).
f "Let Me Go Lover" (Teresa Brewer with The Lancers version) re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 24 March 1955 (week ending).
g "Ready, Willing and Able" re-entered the top 10 at number 9 on 21 April 1955 (week ending) for 2 weeks.
h "If You Believe" re-entered the top 10 at number 8 on 9 June 1955 (week ending) for 3 weeks.
i "Unchained Melody" (Les Baxter version) re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 30 June 1955 (week ending).
j "Indian Love Call" re-entered the top 10 at number 10 on 13 October 1955 (week ending).
k "Blue Star" was used as the theme music to the television series Medic.
l "Rock Around the Clock" re-entered the top 10 at number 8 on 18 October 1956 (week ending) for 5 weeks.
m "Suddenly There's a Valley" re-entered the top 10 at number 9 on 29 December 1955 (week ending) for 4 weeks.
n Figures includes single that first charted in 1954 but peaked in 1955.
"Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret. North wrote the music as a theme for the prison film Unchained (1955), hence the song title. Todd Duncan sang the vocals for the film soundtrack. It has since become a standard and one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, most notably by the Righteous Brothers in 1965. According to the song's publishing administrator, over 1,500 recordings of "Unchained Melody" have been made by more than 670 artists, in multiple languages.
"Mr. Sandman" is a popular song written by Pat Ballard and published in 1954. It was first recorded in May of that year by Vaughn Monroe & His Orchestra and later that year by The Chordettes and the Four Aces. The song's lyrics convey a request to "Mr. Sandman" to "bring me a dream" – the traditional association of the folkloric figure. The pronoun used to refer to the desired dream is often changed depending on the sex of the singer or group performing the song, as the original sheet music publication, which includes male and female versions of the lyrics, intended.
The Stargazers were a British vocal group, jointly founded in 1949 by Cliff Adams and Ronnie Milne. Other original members were Marie Benson, Fred Datchler and Dick James.
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