List of best-selling singles of the 1950s in the United Kingdom

Last updated February 06, 2023

Bill Haley & His Comets had the biggest-selling single of the 1950s with "Rock Around the Clock", the first single in the UK to sell more than one million copies. BillHaley.JPG — Bill Haley & His Comets had the biggest-selling single of the 1950s with "Rock Around the Clock", the first single in the UK to sell more than one million copies.

Singles are a type of music release that typically have fewer tracks than an extended play or album; during the 1950s, sales of singles in the United Kingdom were compiled by the magazine New Musical Express (NME), and published weekly as a record chart. The singles chart was founded in 1952 by Percy Dickins of the NME, who wanted to imitate the hit parade that featured in the American magazine Billboard ; before this, the popularity of a song had been measured by its sales of sheet music.^[1] Dickins sampled twenty shops, asking which their ten biggest-selling singles were. His aggregated list of sales was then published in the NME on 14 November 1952 as a Top 12 chart.^[1] The NME's chart is considered by the Official Charts Company (OCC) to be the canonical UK Singles Chart during the 1950s;^[2] it was expanded to a Top 20 on 1 October 1954.^[3]

Sales of records significantly increased in the mid-fifties, following the birth of rock and roll. As a result, the top ten biggest-selling singles of the 1950s were all released in the latter half of the decade.^[4] The biggest-selling single of this period was "Rock Around the Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets, which became the first single ever to sell more than a million copies in the UK.^[5]

Singles

Best-selling singles of the 1950s in the UK
No.	Single	Artist	Record label^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Year^{[lower-alpha 1]}	Sales	Chart peak^{[lower-alpha 1]}
1	"Rock Around the Clock"	Bill Haley & His Comets	Brunswick	1955	1,390,000	1
2	"Diana"	Paul Anka	Columbia	1957	1,240,000	1
3	"Mary's Boy Child"	Harry Belafonte	RCA	1957	1,170,000	1
4	"What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?"	Emile Ford & The Checkmates	Pye	1959	920,000	1
5	"Jailhouse Rock"	Elvis Presley	RCA	1958	880,000	1
6	"What Do You Want?"	Adam Faith	Parlophone	1959	820,000	1
7	"Living Doll"	Cliff Richard & The Drifters	Columbia	1959	770,000	1
8	"All Shook Up"	Elvis Presley	HMV	1957	740,000	1
9	"Love Letters in the Sand"	Pat Boone	London	1957	710,000	2
10	"It Doesn't Matter Anymore"	Buddy Holly	Coral	1959	680,000	1

1 2 3 The record labels, years and chart peaks are those given by the OCC.^[6]

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References

General (chart positions)

Maconie, Stuart (11 January 2008). "The golden age of pop". The Times . London. ISSN 0140-0460. OCLC 6967919. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2011.

Specific

1 2 Williams, Mark (19 February 2002). "Obituary: Percy Dickins". The Guardian . London. ISSN 0261-3077. OCLC 476290235. Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
↑ Smith, Alan (December 2007). "50s & 60s UK Charts – The Truth!". davemcaleer.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
↑ "Key Dates in the History of the Official UK Charts". London: Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 10 January 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
↑ Ash, Russell; Crampton, Luke; Lazell, Barry (1993). The Top 10 of Music (illustrated ed.). London: Headline. ISBN 978-0-7472-0798-6. OCLC 29519791 . Retrieved 27 July 2011.
↑ Westbrook, Caroline (14 January 2005). "The history of the chart-topper". London: BBC News . Retrieved 27 July 2011.
↑ "Artist Chart History". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.

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[A-7] 1 2 3 The record labels, years and chart peaks are those given by the OCC.^[6]

[Dickins-1] 1 2 Williams, Mark (19 February 2002). "Obituary: Percy Dickins". The Guardian . London. ISSN 0261-3077. OCLC 476290235. Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 22 July 2010.

[McAleer-2] Smith, Alan (December 2007). "50s & 60s UK Charts – The Truth!". davemcaleer.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2010.

[3] "Key Dates in the History of the Official UK Charts". London: Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 10 January 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2011.

[4] Ash, Russell; Crampton, Luke; Lazell, Barry (1993). The Top 10 of Music (illustrated ed.). London: Headline. ISBN 978-0-7472-0798-6. OCLC 29519791 . Retrieved 27 July 2011.

[5] Westbrook, Caroline (14 January 2005). "The history of the chart-topper". London: BBC News . Retrieved 27 July 2011.

[6] "Artist Chart History". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 9 September 2011.

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