Click on a button to display a section for 1956.

There are four sources listed for end of year rankings. Billboard magazine is considered the standard and issued several weekly charts and a Top 100 at the end of the year. Cashbox also published its own weekly charts and compiled a year end Top 50 from 1956 to 1960, and then a Top 100 after that. Gilbert & Theroux published "The Top Ten 1956 - Present" in 1981 in which they ranked the Top 40 for each of those years. The EE rank is a calculated rank based on the weekly Billboard Top Twenty which includes all weeks a record was in the top twenty, allowing credit for performance by records that crossed over from one year to another. Any record that made the top forty of at least one of these sources is listed below -- click on the heading to sort. To view the entire listing for a specific source, click on the appropriate button to the right.
Click on the buttons below to access details about each particular set of rankings:
 
Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel" came closest to a consensus end of the year top ranking with a #1 from Cashbox and GT, #2 by Billboard, and #4 by the EE calculation. Billboard had another Presley entry, "Heartbreak Hotel" at #1, while the EE calculation recognized "The Green Door" by Jim Lowe as the most popular song of the year.
title artist BB CB GT EE
Allegheny Moon Patti Page 24 23 24 20
A Tear Fell Teresa Brewer 49 34 38 44
Band of Gold Don Cherry 38 28 32 29
Be-Bop-a-Lula Gene Vincent 27
34 56
Blueberry Hill Fats Domino 41 39
16
Blue Suede Shoes Carl Perkins 18 17 16 28
Born To Be With You The Chordettes 37
39 39
Canadian Sunset Hugo Winterhalter 17 8 12 18
Don't Be Cruel Elvis Presley 2 1 1 4
The Flying Saucer Buchanan & Goodman 30 35 30 58
The Fool Sanford Clark 42 37 40 59
Friendly Persuasion Pat Boone 52 38
43
The Great Pretender The Platters 12 2 7 8
The Green Door Jim Lowe 19 26 20 1
He Al Hibbler 25

27
Heartbreak Hotel Elvis Presley 1 6 2 10
Honky Tonk (Part 2) Bill Doggett 21 10 15 25
Hot Diggity Perry Como 16
14 22
Hound Dog Elvis Presley 8 15 1 23
I Hear You Knocking Gale Storm 20

19
I'll Be Home Pat Boone 34 32 31 31
I'm in Love Again Fats Domino 25 22 22 42
I Almost Lost My Mind Pat Boone 13 20 17 17
It's Almost Tomorrow The Dream Weavers 51

37
Ivory Tower Cathy Carr 32 25 26 36
I Want You, I Need You, I Love You Elvis Presley 14
13 26
Just Walking in the Rain Johnnie Ray 23 24 23 7
Lisbon Antigua Nelson Riddle 3 7 5 2
Love & Marriage Frank Sinatra 29

33
Love Me Tender Elvis Presley 15 27 19 14
Magic Touch The Platters 36 31 33 40
Memories Are Made of This Dean Martin 9 11 10 6
Moonglow And Theme From Picnic Morris Stoloff 11 9 9 15
Moonglow and Theme From Picnic George Cates 31
36 32
More Perry Como 39

50
My Prayer The Platters 4 3 3 13
No, Not Much The Four Lads 20 19 18 24
Only You The Platters 22

29
On the Street Where You Live Vic Damone 35 36 35 47
The Poor People of Paris Les Baxter 6 12 8 11
Rock and Roll Waltz Kay Starr 10 13 11 9
See You Later Alligator Bill Haley & the Comets 33 30 28 35
Singing the Blues Guy Mitchell 40
24 3
Sixteen Tons Tennessee Ernie Ford 22
29 3
Theme Song From Song For a Summer Night Mitch Miller 66 40
57
Standing on the Corner The Four Lads 29 29 27 34
Tonight You Belong to Me Patience & Prudence 26 21 25 30
True Love Bing Crosby & Grace Kelly 44 33 37 21
The Wayward Wind Gogi Grant 5 4 4 5
Whatever Will Be, Will Be Doris Day 7 5 6 12
Why Do Fools Fall in Love Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers 28 18 21 38