Click on a button to display a section for 1959
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 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:
 
All four sources were in agreement in 1959 as to what the top two songs were, but Billboard had a different order than the other three. "Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin was chosen as the top song of 1959 by Cashbox, Gilbert & Theroux, and the Elvis Era, with "The Battle of New Orleans" by Johnny Horton at #2. Billboard ranked Darin's record as #2 with "The Battle of New Orleans" at the top spot. "Venus" by Frankie Avalon would be the next highest mentioned, chosen as #3 by Cashbox and Gilbert & Theroux. In the #3 spot was "Personality" (BB), "Venus" (CB / GT), and "Mr. Blue" (EE).
title artist BillBoard Rank Cashbox Rank GT rank

EE Rank
The Battle of New Orleans Johnny Horton 1 2 2 2
A Big Hunk 'O Love Elvis Presley 30 19 21 28
Charlie Brown The Coasters 17 15 15 20
Come Softly to Me The Fleetwoods 8 10 8 15
Deck of Cards Wink Martindale 71 30 39 55
Don't You Know Della Reese 43 18 30 17
Donna Ritchie Valens 14 46 27 6
Dream Lover Bobby Darin 6 12 7 12
A Fool Such As I Elvis Presley 34 17 25 38
Gotta Travel On Billy Grammer 53 42
30
Guitar Boogie Shuffle The Virtues 35

44
The Happy Organ Dave Baby Cortez 22 35 28 25
Hawaiian Wedding Song Andy Williams 57 36
65
Heartaches By the Number Guy Mitchell 88 43
10
I'm Gonna Get Married Lloyd Price 23 26 22 27
It's Just a Matter of Time Brook Benton 27 23 24 32
Kansas City Wilbert Harrison 9 13 11 18
Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb Ed Byrnes & Connie Stevens 37 31 35 49
Lavender Blue Sammy Turner 33 34 34 34
Lipstick on Your Collar Connie Francis 28 33 31 42
Lonely Street Andy Williams 49 45
37
Lonely Boy Paul Anka 5 4 4 5
A Lover's Question Clyde McPhatter 72

26
Mack the Knife Bobby Darin 2 1 1 1
Mr. Blue The Fleetwoods 10 16 13 3
My Happiness Connie Francis 39

22
My Heart Is an Open Book Carl Dobkins Jr. 19 40 29 23
Personality Lloyd Price 3 6 5 14
Pink Shoe Laces Dodie Stevens 15 22 17 21
Primrose Lane Jerry Wallace 47 29 38 48
Put Your Head On My Shoulder Paul Anka 12 8 9 7
Quiet Village Martin Denny 18 21 18 35
Red River Rock Johnny & the Hurricanes 31 38 37 40
Sea of Love Phil Phillips & The Twilights 21 24 19 29
Seven Little Girls Paul Evans 100 32 40 75
Sixteen Candles The Crests 26 49 33 16
Sleep Walk Santo & Johnny 11 9 10 13
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes The Platters 16 14 14 4
Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home) The Impalas 24 27 26 31
Stagger Lee Lloyd Price 13 11 12 11
Tallahassee Lassie Freddy Cannon 40

47
Teen Beat Sandy Nelson 36 39
24
A Teenager in Love Dion & the Belmonts 25 25 23 36
There Goes My Baby The Drifters 29 5 16 33
The Three Bells The Browns 7 7 6 9
Til I Kissed You The Everly Brothers 20 28 20 19
Tragedy Thomas Wayne 38

46
Venus Frankie Avalon 4 3 3 8
Waterloo Stonewall Jackson 32 37 36 39
What A Difference A Day Makes Dinah Washington 45 20 32 72