Country and Folk crash the Pop charts and two versions of a film noir theme hit #1 as Nostalgia digs in, suburbia sprawls, Korea ignites, Joe McCarthy hunts Reds and spy scandals dominate the headlines. Meanwhile, it’s Bing Crosby’s swan song in the top ten, the two top Female Singers of the ’50s notch their first #1s, and the year’s top hit is by a Black Singer.

#1 Song of the Year   The top song according to our Chartcrush ranking of all songs that earned the majority of their chart ranking points in the year

Artists of the Year   The top three artists based on all charted songs that spent most of their chart runs in the year

1. Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians
2. Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye
3. The Ames Brothers

Artist with Most Charting Songs   Artist(s) with the most charting songs during the year (song count in parentheses)

• Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians (12)

Average #1 Artist Age   The average of how old artists who scored #1 hits during the year were when their songs first reached #1

• 32.9

#1 Songs   List of #1 songs that earned the majority of their chart ranking points in the year, and (in parentheses), the month the song first hit #1 and the total number of weeks it was #1

1. The Ames Brothers – Rag Mop (February, 1 wk)
2. Red Foley – Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy (February, 5 wks)
3. Teresa Brewer with The Dixieland All Stars – (Put Another Nickel In) Music! Music! Music! (March, 4 wks)
4. Eileen Barton with The New Yorkers – If I Knew You Were Comin’ (I’d’ve Baked a Cake) (April, 5 wks)
5. Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians – The 3rd Man Theme (May, 2 wks)
6. Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye, vocal Don Cornell – It Isn’t Fair (May, 2 wks)
7. The Ames Brothers – Sentimental Me (June, 1 wk)
8. Anton Karas – “The Third Man” Theme (June, 1 wk)
9. The Andrews Sisters – I Wanna Be Loved (June, 2 wks)
10. Nat King Cole – Mona Lisa (July, 9 wks)
11. Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra & The Weavers – Goodnight Irene (August, 10 wks)
12. Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye, vocal Tony Alamo & The Kaydets – Harbor Lights (November, 4 wks)
13. Patti Page – All My Love (Bolero) (November, 1 wk)