1950s Party Playlist: Songs And Running Order

Crooners early, rock and roll late, and a floor that fills the second a Little Richard intro starts.

This is the decade for a 70th, 75th or 80th. Below is the playlist in four parts - what to open with, what fills the floor, what everyone sings and what to save for the people who know the decade properly.

One rule before you start: never play your three biggest songs in the first hour. Everything else is detail.

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.

The running order

• First hour, arrivals and talking: openers only, loud enough to fill the room and quiet enough to hear each other.
• Second hour, the room fills: start dropping floor-fillers, alternating one known song with one lesser-played track.
• Third hour, the peak: the biggest songs, back to back, no ballads.
• Last twenty minutes: the singalongs, finishing on one everybody knows every word to.
• Three hours of music is about 45 songs. Build 60 so you have room to skip.

1950s openers

• Doris Day - Secret Love
• Nat King Cole - Unforgettable
• Frank Sinatra - Young At Heart
• Guy Mitchell - She Wears Red Feathers
• Perry Como - Magic Moments
• Rosemary Clooney - Mambo Italiano

1950s floor-fillers

• Bill Haley and His Comets - Rock Around The Clock
• Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock
• Little Richard - Tutti Frutti
• Chuck Berry - Johnny B. Goode
• Jerry Lee Lewis - Great Balls Of Fire
• Lonnie Donegan - Rock Island Line

1950s singalongs to finish on

• Buddy Holly - That'll Be The Day
• The Everly Brothers - All I Have To Do Is Dream
• Elvis Presley - Love Me Tender
• Vera Lynn - We'll Meet Again, if the room is that sort of room
• Cliff Richard - Living Doll, for the very end of the decade

1950s deep cuts

• Ruth Brown - Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean
• Wanda Jackson - Let's Have A Party
• Fats Domino - Blueberry Hill
• The Platters - Only You
• Johnnie Ray - Just Walkin' In The Rain

What to be careful with

• The first half of the decade is much slower than the second. Don't open with 1956 onwards or there's nowhere left to go.
• Novelty records were enormous in the 50s and mostly do not survive a modern room. One is funny, three is an exit.
• Keep the crooners to the first hour. They're background, not dancing.

Practical bits people forget

• Download it. Venue wifi failing mid-party is the most common way a playlist goes wrong.
• Turn off shuffle and turn off the auto-playlist that kicks in at the end.
• Check clean versions if children or grandparents are in the room.
• Put one person in charge of the music and let them ignore requests after eleven.
• Print the track list and pin it up - people read it all night and it doubles as a quiz round.

Shop prints and posters

Music prints and lyric posters

A5, A4 and A3, ready to frame.

Decorations for a decade party

Banners, balloons, cake toppers and confetti, plain enough to take any era theme.

Milestone birthday cards

Blank inside, kraft envelope, printed in the UK.

How to write it so it lands

• Build the playlist around the years they were 15 to 25, not the year they were born.
• Hold your three biggest songs until the room is full.
• Download it rather than streaming it, and turn shuffle off.

Where to shop next

• Look back to 1950
• Look back to 1951
• Look back to 1952
• Look back to 1953
• Look back to 1954
• Look back to 1955
• Look back to 1956
• Look back to 1957
• Look back to 1958
• Look back to 1959
• 1960s party playlist
• 1970s party playlist
• 1980s party playlist
• 1990s party playlist
• 2000s party playlist
• 2010s party playlist
• 2020s party playlist
• Wartime and 1950s party games
• Look back to the 1950s
• 1950s retro gift guide
• Decade recipes: dishes and food trends by era
• Music by decade: albums, artists and songs
• Retro party playlist by decade
• Nostalgia birthday party by decade
• Nostalgia gift shop
• Retro party supplies
• Milestone birthday cards
• Party supplies
• Posters and prints
• Shop birthday cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Birthday cards for kids
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What music should a 1950s party play?

Crooners and dance band records for the first hour, then rock and roll from 1955 onwards once people are up. Bill Haley, Elvis, Little Richard and Chuck Berry do most of the work.

How many songs do you need for a 1950s party?

About 15 songs an hour, so roughly 45 for a three hour party. Build 60 so you can skip anything that isn't landing without a gap.

Should the playlist be all one decade?

No. Keep the middle of the night in the decade and let the last hour drift either side of it. A single decade for four hours starts to feel like a theme night rather than a party.

Do you sell music?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints, pin badges and stickers, and we stock party decorations - all printed in the UK. The playlist is free to copy.