Music History

Elvis Presley was at No. 1 on the UK chart with his first soundtrack album, Loving You. The album also reached No. 1 in the US, where it remained at the top for 10 weeks.

Elvis Presley finished second to Pat Boone in a music poll conducted by NME magazine.

Elvis' Christmas Album reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart for four consecutive weeks despite Irving Berlin's campaign against Elvis's blues-influenced version of “White Christmas.”

Little Richard's “Keep A Knockin',” featuring saxophonist Grady Gaines, entered the Billboard Top 40. It reached No. 8 and remained on the chart for 12 weeks; for Richard, it was his seventh entry on the US pop chart during the previous two years.

Jerry Lee Lewis's "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On" peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The record also topped the R&B and Country charts, was later ranked No. 61 on Rolling Stone's Greatest Songs of All Time and was added to the National Recording Registry in 2005.

Paul Anka, aged 16, had the No. 1 song in America with "Diana."

“Chances Are” reaches No. 1 on the Cashbox Best Sellers chart. More than two million copies are sold, and in 1998 the song is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Billboard combined the existing sales, jukebox, and radio charts into the unified Hot 100. The first song to top the new chart was “Poor Little Fool” by Ricky Nelson.

“Splish Splash” by Bobby Darin reached No. 3 on the U.S. chart.

Ricky Nelson became the first artist to top the newly created U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with “Poor Little Fool.”

The Coasters remained at No. 1 on the R&B chart for an eleventh week with “Searchin'.”

Bill Haley attempted to follow up his hit “Skinny Minnie” with “Lean Jean.” The recording reached only No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Elvis Presley's “Hard Headed Woman” became the first rock'n'roll single to receive RIAA Gold certification. At the time, a Gold single required documented US sales of at least one million copies.

Domenico Modugno's Italian classic "Nel Blu, Dipinto di Blu (Volare)" reached No. 1 on the newly established US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It spent a total of 5 non-consecutive weeks at the top, becoming the first foreign-language song to conquer the chart and ending up as Billboard's Song of the Year.

The Elegants moved from No. 14 to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Little Star”.

The Kalin Twins reached No. 1 on the British singles chart with their version of “When”. The song also topped the charts in France and the Netherlands and reached the Top 5 in North America that year.

The Staten Island group The Elegants reached number one on the US singles chart with “Little Star”, a reworking of the melody of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”. For the next 18 months they promoted the song through television appearances and concerts, but their subsequent recordings “Please Believe Me”, “True Love Affair” and “Little Boy Blue” failed to repeat its success.

Tommy Edwards moved from number 96 to number 40 on the US chart with “It's All In The Game”.

Tommy Edwards reached No. 1 on the US Billboard chart with “It’s All in the Game”.

“Rockin' Robin” by Bobby Day reached No. 1 on the rhythm and blues chart.

“Tom Dooley” by The Kingston Trio climbed from No. 83 to No. 37 on the U.S. chart.

Elvis Presley's album King Creole reached No. 2 on the US album chart.

The single "Tears on My Pillow" reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Little Anthony and the Imperials' biggest hit. Over the following seven years, the group scored six more hits, including "Goin' Out of My Head" and "Hurt So Bad", both of which reached the Top 10.

“A Big Hunk O' Love” became Elvis Presley’s 14th consecutive gold record.

Lloyd Price reached No. 1 on the US chart with “Stagger Lee”.

Elvis Presley reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “A Big Hunk O' Love.” The song was recorded during Elvis’s only recording session while serving in the US Army, in four takes, with the released version assembled from the third and fourth takes.

Fats Domino entered the Billboard singles chart with “I Want to Walk You Home,” which later climbed to No. 8. Although he had 18 million-selling singles during his career, he never reached No. 1.

Brook Benton reached No. 1 on the R&B chart with “Thank You Pretty Baby.”

“The song “There Goes My Baby” performed by The Drifters with Ben E. King reached No. 1 on the Cashbox chart and No. 2 on Billboard. The recording was among the first to combine orchestral strings with a Black vocal group and later ranked No. 196 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs.

Elvis Presley had the song “A Big Hunk O’ Love” at No. 1 on the chart for a second consecutive week, bringing his career total to 60 weeks at the top.

The Browns began a four-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 with „The Three Bells“. The song also reached No. 1 in Australia and No. 6 in the U.K. It was an English version of the 1945 French song „Les Trois Cloches“.

Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife” debuted at No. 59 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 30. It came from the 1928 German play “Three Penny Opera”, later became Darin’s biggest hit, reached No. 1 and won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.

“A Big Hunk O’ Love” became Elvis Presley’s fourteenth consecutive gold record. The recording was made in Nashville during his military service and was Presley’s first hit without guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black.

The Browns entered the Billboard Top 40 with their country version of “The Three Bells”. The recording later reached No. 1 on the Hot 100, the country chart and, surprisingly, the Billboard R&B chart.

Craig Douglas reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with his own version of Sam Cooke's hit “Only Sixteen”. Born Terence Perkins, he worked as a milkman before becoming a professional singer, earning him the nickname “Singing Milkman”.

Lloyd Price returned to No. 1 on the rhythm & blues chart with “I’m Gonna’ Get Married”.

Paul Anka moved up the chart from No. 67 to No. 41 with “Put Your Head On My Shoulder”.

Bobby Darin's “Mack the Knife” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on October 5, beginning its first six-week period at the top. After a brief interruption, it returned to No. 1 and spent a total of nine weeks there. The recording won the Grammy for Record of the Year, and Bobby Darin won the Grammy for Best New Artist; in 2003 the song was ranked No. 251 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs.

Nina Simone's debut single “I Loves You Porgy” reached No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, her highest position on the chart.

Jerry Keller reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Here Comes Summer.” Although it was his only major hit, he later worked as a singer of television advertising jingles during the 1970s and 1980s.

One-hit wonder Jerry Keller reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart with "Here Comes Summer."

“Here Comes Summer” by Jerry Keller reached number one on the UK singles chart. In the United States, it reached number 14 earlier that year.

The first Berry Gordy recording for the newly founded Motown Records, The Miracles' “Bad Girl,” entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number 98. It remained on the chart only briefly and was later recognized as a doo-wop classic.

Johnny Kidd & The Pirates reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with "Shakin' All Over" on August 4, 1960, the official archival chart date for this number-one debut.

The soundtrack album to the 1958 film “South Pacific” reached No. 1 on the UK album chart.

Brian Hyland reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Cash Box Best Sellers chart with "Itsy Bitsy, Teenie Weenie, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini". In the U.K., the song reached No. 8.

Cliff Richard & The Shadows reached No. 1 on the UK singles chart with “Please Don't Tease.” The song also topped the charts in India, Ireland, New Zealand and Norway that year.

With the song “It's Now or Never”, he began a five-week run at No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and also reached No. 1 in the UK. The song was based on the Italian song “O Sole Mio” and was his first postwar number-one hit. More than 20 million copies were sold worldwide.