1950s Music: Top Songs, Genres And Trends

The UK singles chart begins in November 1952, rock and roll lands, and teenagers get their own music.

Below: the albums worth owning from the 1950s, the artists who defined it, how people listened at the time, and the biggest song of every year from 1950 to 1959.

Good for building a party playlist, setting a quiz round or working out what someone grew up listening to.

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Shop prints and posters Look back to 1950 Look back to 1951 Look back to 1952

Song and lyric prints, drawn and printed by us

Music and milestone art prints and funny cards, printed in the UK. Order on a working day and it usually goes out the same day.

99 Problems, Prompting Ain't One A6 Postcard 99 Problems, Prompting Ain't One A6 Postcard £3.00 Cunt Rude A6 Postcard Cunt Rude A6 Postcard £3.00 99 Problems but Excel Ain't One A6 Postcard 99 Problems but Excel Ain't One A6 Postcard £3.00 Dancing On The Ceiling Music Print A6 Postcard Dancing On The Ceiling Music Print A6 Postcard £3.00 Music Sounds Better With You Music Print A6 Postcard Music Sounds Better With You Music Print A6 Postcard £3.00 Kenny Dalglish Liverpool Football Club (LFC) Legend Stats Print Kenny Dalglish Liverpool Football Club (LFC) Legend Stats Print £12.99

Shop prints and posters

Years covered in the 1950s

  • 1950 - Petrol came off the ration, the Festival of Britain was being built and there was no chart yet. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1950
  • 1951 - The Festival of Britain, a Conservative return and still no singles chart. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1951
  • 1952 - A new Queen, the Great Smog and the first ever singles chart in November. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1952
  • 1953 - The coronation, Everest, the Matthews final and sweets off the ration. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1953
  • 1954 - Rationing finally ended and Roger Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1954
  • 1955 - ITV launched, rock and roll arrived and Britain got its first television adverts. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1955
  • 1956 - Suez, Elvis arriving in the chart and the start of skiffle. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1956
  • 1957 - You've never had it so good, the Munich disaster still to come and skiffle everywhere. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1957
  • 1958 - Munich, the first motorway and Cliff Richard's 'Move It'. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1958
  • 1959 - The Mini, the M1 and the last year before the sixties. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1959
  • That is every 1950s year we have written up so far: 1950 to 1959.

Albums of the 1950s

  • Elvis Presley, Elvis Presley (1956) - his first album.
  • Frank Sinatra, Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (1956).
  • Buddy Holly and the Crickets, The 'Chirping' Crickets (1957).
  • Chuck Berry, After School Session (1957).
  • Miles Davis, Kind of Blue (1959).

Artists who defined the 1950s

  • Elvis Presley, from Heartbreak Hotel (1956) onwards.
  • Bill Haley and His Comets - Rock Around the Clock, a UK number one in 1955 and again in 1956.
  • Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry and Little Richard.
  • Lonnie Donegan, whose skiffle boom put a guitar in thousands of British hands.
  • Cliff Richard and the Drifters (later the Shadows) from 1958.

Genres of the 1950s

  • Rock and roll, arriving in Britain around 1955-56.
  • Skiffle, played on guitars, washboards and tea-chest bass.
  • Trad jazz in the clubs.
  • Crooners and light orchestral music, still most of the chart.
  • Doo-wop and rhythm and blues on imported records.

Music trends of the 1950s

  • The first official UK singles chart is published in November 1952.
  • Vinyl replaces shellac, and the 7-inch single becomes the teenage currency.
  • The transistor radio and Radio Luxembourg let teenagers listen away from parents.
  • Coffee bars with jukeboxes become youth venues.

Biggest songs, year by year

  • 1950 - There was no official singles chart until November 1952, so popularity was measured by sheet music sales.
  • 1951 - Popularity was still measured by sheet music, with no record chart until the following year.
  • 1952 - The first official UK singles chart was published on 14 November, with Al Martino's 'Here in My Heart' at number one.
  • 1953 - Frankie Laine spent a remarkable amount of the year at number one, including eighteen weeks with 'I Believe'.
  • 1954 - Doris Day's 'Secret Love' and David Whitfield's 'Cara Mia' were among the year's number ones.
  • 1955 - Bill Haley's 'Rock Around the Clock' reached number one in November and again the following year.
  • 1956 - Elvis Presley reached the UK chart for the first time with 'Heartbreak Hotel'.
  • 1957 - Elvis Presley's 'All Shook Up' and Paul Anka's 'Diana' were among the biggest sellers.
  • 1958 - Cliff Richard's 'Move It' arrived in the autumn and is often called the first real British rock and roll record.
  • 1959 - Cliff Richard's 'Living Doll' was one of the year's biggest sellers.

How people listened

  • Radio Luxembourg after dark, because the BBC played very little pop.
  • Jukeboxes and coffee bars - the 2i's in Soho among them.
  • Dansette record players and the 7 inch single.

How to use this

  • Party: take the running order from the 1950s playlist and pull extra tracks from the artists above.
  • Quiz round: read the year and the song, and ask for the other one.
  • Reminiscence session: the songs people sang at eighteen get the most talking.
  • Present: a print of a song from 1950-1959 beats another mug.

Shop prints and posters

Found your words? Now find the card

Shop prints and posters Look back to 1950 Look back to 1951 Look back to 1952

How to write it so it lands

  • Download the tracks rather than streaming them if the party is somewhere with bad signal.
  • One song from the year someone turned eighteen does more than a whole decade playlist.
  • Check for clean versions before a family party - some of these are ruder than people remember.

Where to shop next

Frequently asked questions

What are the best albums of the 1950s?

Elvis Presley, Elvis Presley (1956) - his first album. The full list above gives real records with their release years, not a ranking - pick by what the person actually listened to.

What music genres were popular in the 1950s?

Rock and roll, arriving in Britain around 1955-56. Skiffle, played on guitars, washboards and tea-chest bass. Trad jazz in the clubs. The genres section above has the full list.

Who were the biggest artists of the 1950s?

Elvis Presley, from Heartbreak Hotel (1956) onwards. The rest are listed above, including the British acts that mattered more here than anywhere else.

What was the biggest song of each year in the 1950s?

The year-by-year list above gives the chart facts for each year of the decade, taken from the same checked data as our year pages.

Do you sell records?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK, including song and lyric prints. For the records themselves, charity shops and independent record shops are the honest answer.

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