TOP ACT OVERALL Elvis Presley
TOP MALE ARTIST Elvis Presley
TOP FEMALE ARTIST Gogi Grant
TOP GROUP Platters
TOP NEW ACT Carl Perkins
17 songs reached #1 on Billboard in 1956
Rock 'n roll crowned itself a king in 1956. Elvis Presley had a couple of country hits in 1955, but exploded on the pop charts the following year. He captured the top three spots for the year and placed another three songs in the year end Top 40. "Don't Be Cruel" was the A side of "Hound Dog". Both songs were number one for the same 11 weeks, but "Don't Be Cruel" earned a few more points overall. Elvis' version of "Blue Suede Shoes" became as popular as Carl Perkins, the top new artist of the 1956. Gogi Grant had only one hit in 1956, but "The Wayward WInd" was big enough to make her the top female artist of the year. The Platters continued their hit making ways in 1956 with a pair of chart topping singles, "The Great Pretender" and "My Prayer". Film stars Dean Martin and Doris Day carried their success over to the music charts with year end Top 10 hits "Memories Are Made Of This" and "Whatever Will Be, Will Be". Even with the emergence of rock 'n roll, orchestras that had dominated the charts for the past decade continued to produce hits. Nelson Riddle, Les Baxter and George Cates were among the most successful of them. Tennesse Ernie Ford's "Sixteen Tons", the #4 song of 1955, remained on the charts long enough to rank at #23 for 1956.
UU-BRU Internet Radio was created in 1978. All UU-BRU Radio Gold Archives prior to 1978 are a compilation of year end charts from national trade magazines, several radio stations and other sources. Weeks at number one refer to Billboard.
