Chart Of All Time - 1957

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by Matthew Dixon

On we roll to 1957, and yet more of the classic hits of all time. The year started with one of those hits - "Singing The Blues". "Singing The Blues" was the first song to knock itself off the top of the chart - and it did so twice! The reason for this was that both US country singer Guy Mitchell and British rock and roll star Tommy Steele released the song at the same time, and both topped the chart with it. The start of the year also saw "Rock Around The Clock" for the last time until 1968 - the time of its first reissue. Frankie Vaughan also managed to knock Guy Mitchell's "Singing the Blues" off the top of the chart - twice, including the final time it was at the top of the chart. It managed a couple of weeks at the top before getting knocked off.

The name Tab Hunter will probably mean very little to people nowadays, however the actor, real name Arthur Kelm, was a phenomenal two hit wonder. This started off with the track "Young Love" which spent seven consecutive weeks at the top of the chart. Between them, all the chart toppers mentioned so far managed to hold Bing Crosby's hit "True Love" off the top of the chart - even though it was top 10 for the first 15 weeks of the year. Pat Boone got closer, spending 5 weeks at 2 behind Tab Hunter.

However, not even Mr Boone could manage to get to the top of the chart this time around. Lonnie Donegan's "Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O" and Harry Belafonte's "Banana Boat (Day-O) also failed in attempt to make the top of the chart, however, Lonnie's next hit, "Cumberland Gap" managed to top the chart - and did so for a whole five weeks. After a one week spell by Guy Mitchell's second hit of the year, Andy Williams topped the chart with what must be one of his ultimate classic hits, "Butterfly". It was followed by Johnnie Ray's "Yes Tonight Josephine" and Lonnie Donegan's biggest hit in a massive year for him, "Gamblin' Man / Putting On The Style". However, the song they all kept off the top of the chart has lasted a good deal longer.

Nat 'King' Cole is one of that unlucky group of artists to have spent more than 200 weeks on the chart - without any one of them being at number one. Probably his best known hit is "When I Fall In Love" - a song which I dread to think just how many couples have danced to through the years! Anyway, suffice to say it didn't top the chart - and only managed one week at No. 2 - stuck behind Johnnie Ray. However, it did have sufficient time on the chart to make it one of the ten biggest charters of the year.

The next song to top the chart was another milestone in music history - it was the first time that Elvis Presley managed to ascend all the way to the top of the chart - something that would become commonplace for him in the coming years. The track was "All Shook Up" and was co-written by the man himself - the only writing credit he had on any one of his original 17 No.  hits. It managed seven weeks at the top of the chart for him - however it was knocked off by a track that spent even longer at the top of the chart. The artist was "Paul Anka", the song - "Diana", one of the biggest charting hits of the 1950s.

Needless to say, these two tracks were the two biggest charters of the year, but what is surprising to note is that the third biggest hit of the year was stuck at two behind Paul Anka and even more so is that the fourth biggest charting hit of the year only made No. 3, as it was also released at this hectic time. Those hits are Pat Boone's "Love Letters In The Sand" and Harry Belafonte's "Island In The Sun".

Also within the top 10 charters of the year are Russ Hamilton's "We Will Make Love" and Elvis Presley's "Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear" - also lower down the chart at this time - with two so massive chart toppers about. Comedian Peter Sellers's "Any Old Iron" is largely forgotten in the rush. Following on from this, we have the charting debut of Buddy Holly, as one of the Crickets - and a chart-topper with their classic, "That'll Be The Day". With Harry Belafonte's "Mary's Boy Child" being a very festive Christmas No. 1 and Pat Boone getting the first charting appearance for "White Christmas", the year was brought to a close.

Here are the 20 best charting singles of the year:

Here are the ten most successfully charting artists of 1957: