Pick a Day

Music History Events: Charts

January 20, 1958 Seventeen-year-old Ricky Nelson's debut album, Ricky, hits #1 in America.

January 13, 1958 Marty Robbins' #1 country hit "The Story of My Life" peaks at #15 on the Hot 100. It's the first hit from Burt Bacharach and Hal David, who become one of the most prolific and renowned songwriting duos of the '60s and '70s.

January 6, 1958 Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" hits #2, where it stays for four weeks before dropping down. It is held out of the top spot all four weeks by "At The Hop" by Danny & the Juniors.

January 6, 1958 Danny and the Juniors' "At The Hop" hits #1 for the first of seven weeks. "Hops" are high school dances in America; "sock hops" are those where kids have to take off their shoes so they don't mess up the floor.

December 30, 1957 Bing Crosby's album Merry Christmas claims the #1 spot from Elvis Presley's Elvis' Christmas Album, but Elvis returns to the top spot a week later.

December 16, 1957 Pat Boone's "April Love" hits #1 in the US for the first of six weeks. The song is from the movie of the same name starring Boone and Shirley Jones.

December 16, 1957 Elvis Presley's Elvis' Christmas Album, which includes his cover of "White Christmas," hits #1 in America. It goes on to become the best-selling holiday album of all time.

December 2, 1957 Sam Cooke's "You Send Me" hits #1 for the first of three weeks.

October 14, 1957 The Everly Brothers score their first #1 hit with "Wake Up Little Susie."

September 23, 1957 Buddy Holly's group The Crickets hits #1 in America with "That'll Be The Day." The title comes from something John Wayne says in the movie The Searchers.

September 23, 1957 "Honeycomb" by Jimmie Rodgers (the pop singer, not the country singer born in 1897) hits #1 for the first of four weeks. It's one of the few non-Elvis chart-toppers on 1957.

September 9, 1957 Paul Anka's "Diana" hits #1, where it stays for one week.

August 19, 1957 Debbie Reynolds' "Tammy" hits #1 for the first of five weeks.

July 8, 1957 Elvis Presley's "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" hits #1 in America the day before it appears in his second film, Loving You. It holds the top spot for seven weeks.

June 3, 1957 Pat Boone's "Love Letters In The Sand" hits #1 on the US Top 100 and stays for seven weeks. Boone would have two of the Top 5 songs of 1957 ("April Love" is the other), while Elvis has the other three.

June 2, 1957 Johnnie Ray's "Yes Tonight Josephine" hits #1 on the UK singles chart.

April 13, 1957 Elvis Presley lands his seventh #1 hit in America with "All Shook Up." It spends nine weeks at the top of the chart, more than any other song in 1957.

April 6, 1957 Perry Como's "Round And Round" hits #1.

February 16, 1957 Tab Hunter's "Young Love" begins a six-week run at #1 in America.

February 9, 1957 Elvis Presley's "Too Much" hits #1 for the first of three weeks.

January 19, 1957 Fats Domino's "Blueberry Hill" hits #2 on the Hot 100, the highest he ever gets on the tally.

December 8, 1956 Guy Mitchell's "Singing The Blues" hits #1.

November 10, 1956 Billboard magazine's DJ survey reveals that Elvis Presley is the country's number one male artist on both the pop and country charts.

November 7, 1956 Elvis Presley becomes the first artist to chart an Extended Play or EP 45 rpm record when the four-song Love Me EP enters the Billboard charts.

November 3, 1956 "Love Me Tender" replaces "Don't Be Cruel"/"Hound Dog" on the Billboard chart, making Elvis Presley the first artist to knock himself out of the #1 position.

August 4, 1956 The Platters' "My Prayer" hits #1 in America for the first of five weeks.

June 16, 1956 Gogi Grant's "The Wayward Wind" hits #1 in America, where it stays for eight weeks.

April 21, 1956 Elvis Presley's breakout hit "Heartbreak Hotel" goes to #1 in America.

February 18, 1956 Kay Starr's "Rock and Roll Waltz" hits #1 for the first of six weeks.

February 8, 1956 The Teen Queens' "Eddie, My Love" enters the R&B charts.