It’s the eve of the ’60s and polished Teen Idol Pop, Folk and “story songs” are surging on the airwaves and charts as Congress takes aim at Rock ‘n Roll radio and DJs in the Payola hearings. A plane crash in Iowa claims three of Rock’s most promising stars, and two of the year’s top ten hits are about murderers.

#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. Lloyd Price
2. Connie Francis
3. Frankie Avalon

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

• Fats Domino (9)

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

• 24.3 years

#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 Chipmunks with the Music of David Seville – The Chipmunk Song (December ’58, 4 wks)
2. The Platters – Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (January, 3 wks)
3. Lloyd Price – Stagger Lee (February, 4 wks)
4. Frankie Avalon – Venus (March, 5 wks)
5. The Fleetwoods – Come Softly to Me (April, 4 wks)
6. Dave “Baby” Cortez – The Happy Organ (May, 1 wk)
7. Wilbert Harrison – Kansas City (May, 2 wks)
8. Johnny Horton – The Battle of New Orleans (June, 6 wks)
9. Paul Anka – Lonely Boy (July, 4 wks)
10. Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires – A Big Hunk O’ Love (August, 2 wks)
11. The Browns – The Three Bells (August, 4 wks)
12. Santo & Johnny – Sleep Walk (September, 2 wks)
13. Bobby Darin – Mack the Knife (October, 9 wks)
14. The Fleetwoods – Mr. Blue (November, 1 wk)
15. Guy Mitchell – Heartaches by the Number (December, 2 wks)