🎵 1950s First Dance & Timeless Love Songs

From Crooners to Doo-Wop: 46 Tracks That Defined Modern Romance

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Welcome to a new 1950s Wedding series:

1. First Dance & Timeless Love Songs (This issue)

2. Rat Pack & Classic Crooners

3. Doo-Wop & Vocal Harmony

4. Rock & Roll Classics

5. Dance Floor Hits

6. Country & Americana

7. Fun & Novelty

The 1950s were the era when the big band era transitioned into the age of the “Crooner” and the “Group Sound”. It was a decade of massive crossovers (where a single track like “All I Have To Do Is Dream” could dominate the Pop, R&B, and Country charts simultaneously). These songs didn’t just top the charts. They defined the “Golden Age” of melody.

Whether it’s the soulful grit of Ray Charles, the “close harmony” perfection of The Everly Brothers, or the timeless elegance of Nat King Cole, the 1950s offered a level of romantic sincerity that still carries for wedding professionals today.

Table of Contents

• First Dance & Timeless Love Songs - 46 songs

• Spotify Playlist

First Dance & Timeless Love Songs

Al Hibbler - Unchained Melody

1955 - In 1955, “Unchained Melody” was so popular that three different versions hit the US Top 10 at the same time: Al Hibbler, Les Baxter (an instrumental), and Roy Hamilton. Hibbler’s soulful vocal reached #3 on the Billboard Pop chart and #1 on the R&B chart.

Bobby Darin - Dream Lover

1959 - Darin wrote “Dream Lover” himself. It hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, #4 on the R&B charts, and #1 in the UK. Backup vocals feature Darlene Love of the Blossoms. The song also features Neil Sedaka on piano.

Bobby Helms - My Special Angel

1957 - Bobby Helms is often remembered most for “Jingle Bell Rock”. This track was actually his biggest career hit on the pop charts. It hit #1 on the Country chart, #7 on the Billboard Top 100, and even broke into the R&B Top 10. Helms was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

Brook Benton - It’s Just A Matter Of Time

1959 - The song peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100. However, it stayed at #1 for nine consecutive weeks on the R&B charts. It is one of the few songs to hit #1 on the Country charts across three different decades by three different artists: Sonny James - 1970, Glen Campbell - 1985, Randy Travis - 1989.

Buddy Holly - Everyday

1957 - “Everyday” was originally released as the B-side to the hit “Peggy Sue”. “Everyday” is included on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It appeared in the film Stand By Me, the film Big Fish, and in the trailers for the TV series Lost.

Buddy Holly - True Love Ways

1960 (recorded before death in 1958) - Holly wrote “True Love Ways” as a wedding gift for his wife, Maria Elena Holly. The recording session featured a full 18-piece orchestra.

Dean Martin - Return To Me

1958 - The song featured lyrics in both English and Italian. Martin’s crooner style hit #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 in the UK. It was the title track and central theme for the 2000 romantic comedy Return to Me, starring David Duchovny and Minnie Driver.

Debbie Reynolds - Tammy

1957 - The song was written for the film Tammy and the Bachelor, starring Debbie Reynolds and Walter Brennan. When “Tammy” hit #1 on the Billboard Top 100, Debbie Reynolds became the only female artist to have a #1 record that entire year. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Dinah Washington - What a Diff’rence a Day Made

1959 - Washington is known as the “Queen of the Blues”. However, this jazz classic won the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Performance and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.

Elvis Presley - I Want You, I Need You, I Love You

1956 - The song was Presley’s second consecutive #1 hit on the Billboard Top 100 (after “Heartbreak Hotel”). It hit #1 on the Pop chart, #1 on the Country chart, and #3 on the R&B chart.

Elvis Presley - Love Me Tender

1956 - Elvis was starring in the film The Reno Brothers. However, after the song became an overnight sensation on the radio, the studio officially changed the title to Love Me Tender to capitalize on the song’s popularity. Over one million advanced orders were placed for the single following Elvis’s performance of the song on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Everly Brothers - All I Have To Do Is Dream

1958 - “All I Have To Do Is Dream” achieved a feat that has never been repeated: it hit #1 on the Top 100 (Pop), #1 on the R&B Chart, #1 on the Country & Western Chart, and #1 on the Most Played by Jockeys Chart. Chet Atkins played the tremolo-heavy guitar on the track.

Everly Brothers - (’Til) I Kissed You

1959 - The song peaked at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, #8 on the Country charts, and #22 on the R&B charts. This track is a masterclass in “close harmony” because the brothers Don and Phil’s voices had a nearly identical timbre.

Frank Sinatra - All The Way

1957 - The song was written for the film The Joker Is Wild, in which Sinatra played a comedian. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The track hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Frank Sinatra - Love Is Here To Stay

1956 - This was the last song George Gershwin ever wrote. Sinatra recorded this for his album ‘Songs for Swingin’ Lovers!’, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest vocal jazz albums of all time. The song was inducted into the Great American Songbook Hall of Fame, with Sinatra’s version cited as the gold standard for “swing” interpretations.

Frankie Avalon - Venus

1959 - The song is one of the defining “pretty boy” pop hits of the late 1950s and of the “Philadelphia Sound”. It hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for five consecutive weeks. The song was famously used in the 1990 film Edward Scissorhands.

Jackie Wilson - To Be Loved

1958 - Wilson’s nickname is “Mr. Excitement”. Berry Gordy Jr. wrote the song before founding Motown Records. Wilson was famous for his incredible four-octave range, which you can hear on “To Be Loved”. It hit #7 on the R&B charts and #22 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Jerry Butler & the Impressions - For Your Precious Love

1958 - The melodic guitar on the track is an 18-year-old Curtis Mayfield. It reached #3 on the R&B charts and #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002.

Jo Stafford - You Belong To Me

1952 - Jo Stafford made history with this track by becoming the first female artist to have a #1 hit on the UK Singles Chart. It also spent 12 weeks at #1 on the Billboard charts in the U.S.

Johnny Ace - Pledging My Love

1954 - The song sadly became popular after his death, following a backstage accident with a firearm during a concert break. It hit #1 on the R&B charts and stayed there for 10 weeks. It is featured in the 1983 film Christine to underscore the “undying love” between a boy and his car.

Johnny Mathis - Chances Are

1957 - “Chances Are” is the song that helped define Johnny Mathis as the ultimate “romantic crooner” of the post-war era. It was his first #1 single on the Billboard charts and his first Gold record, selling over a million copies.

Johnny Mathis - Misty

1959 - The song features Mathis’ soft, breathy falsetto that became his trademark. It reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #10 on the R&B charts. The track earned him a Grammy nomination for Best Male Vocal Performance.

Johnny Mathis - The Twelfth Of Never

1957 - “Twelfth of Never” is a playful way of saying “never” or “eternity”. Mathis was promising a love that would last beyond the end of time. It climbed to #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. Mathis’s ‘Greatest Hits’ album stayed on the Billboard 200 chart for an astounding 490 weeks (nearly 10 years). This record stood for fifteen years until it was finally broken by Pink Floyd’s ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’.

Nat King Cole - Love Is Here To Stay

1953 - Nat King Cole’s recording is widely considered the most intimate and “romantic” interpretation of the Gershwin classic. It was featured prominently in the 1989 classic When Harry Met Sally.

Nat King Cole - When I Fall In Love

1956 - It reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart. In 1996, his daughter Natalie Cole used studio magic to create a “duet” version with her father’s 1956 vocals. This version won two Grammy Awards (including Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals).

Pat Boone - April Love

1957 - The song earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for six consecutive weeks.

Pat Boone - I’m In Love With You

1956 - The song reached #5 on the Most Played by Jockeys chart and #12 on the Top 100. “I’m In Love With You” was heavily marketed as the “perfect” song for a high school formal or a “sock hop” slow dance.

Paul Anka - Put Your Head On My Shoulder

1959 - Paul Anka wrote this song when he was only 17 years old. It hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2020, a remix of the song powered the “Silhouette Challenge” on TikTok. The track is often cited as the “ultimate” 1950s ballad.

Phil Phillips - Sea Of Love

1959 - Phil Phillips wrote the song to prove his love to a girlfriend. A true “One-Hit Wonder” and hit #1 on the U.S. Billboard R&B chart and #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is a definitive example of Swamp Pop, a blend of New Orleans rhythm and blues, country and western, and traditional French Louisiana musical influences.

Ray Charles - Come Rain Or Come Shine

1959 - The song was written for the Broadway musical St. Louis Woman, which opened in 1946. However, Charles’ recording is widely considered the definitive “soul” interpretation. It had a massive cultural resurgence in 1990 when director Martin Scorsese used it in Goodfellas. The track was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005.

Ricky Nelson - Never Be Anyone Else But You

1959 - The gold standard for the “California Sound” of the late fifties. It hit #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Because Ricky was a star on the hit TV show The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, the song received a massive promotional boost.

Ritchie Valens - We Belong Together

1958 - The song was released as a single just months after the plane crash. It climbed to #52 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached a massive new audience in 1987 with the release of the biopic La Bamba. The cover version by Los Lobos was featured during the film’s most romantic moments.

Roger Williams - Autumn Leaves

1955 - “Autumn Leaves” holds a very specific place in chart history. It is the only piano instrumental to ever reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single sold over one million copies in 1955 and eventually went on to sell over two million units, making it one of the most successful instrumental releases of the entire 20th century.

Sam Cooke - You Send Me

1957 - The song knocked Elvis’s “Jailhouse Rock” out of the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. Before this hit, Sam Cooke was the lead singer of the Soul Stirrers, one of the biggest gospel groups in the world.

Santo & Johnny - Sleep Walk

1959 - “Sleep Walk” is widely considered the most famous instrumental of the rock and roll era. It was built around the triple-neck console steel guitar. It reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and hit #4 on the R&B charts.

Sonny James - Young Love

1956 - The song managed to dominate three different Billboard charts simultaneously. It hit #1 on the Top 100 (Pop), #1 on the Country chart, and even reached #11 on the R&B chart. Sonny James went on to have a record-breaking 16 consecutive #1 singles on the Country charts.

The Chantels - Maybe

1957 - “Maybe” was a massive crossover success, hitting #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the R&B charts. It sold over one million copies, making The Chantels one of the first African American girl groups to achieve major mainstream success.

The Drifters - There Goes My Baby

1959 - The song pioneered modern Soul music. It was a radical departure from everything that came before it by blending R&B, gospel, and classical orchestration into a completely new sound. It was the first R&B record to feature a full string section. Ben E. King was the lead singer. The track hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B charts.

The Flamingos - I Only Have Eyes For You

1959 - The song was written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin for the 1934 film Dames. It peaked at #11 (US Pop) and #3 (US R&B). It was a central theme in the 1973 classic American Graffiti. It also appeared in the “Prom” scene of the 1990s cult hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The Fleetwoods - Come Softly To Me

1959 - "Come Softly To Me" was originally recorded in a home kitchen in Olympia, Washington. It hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for four weeks - a rare feat for an independent label from the Pacific Northwest. It also peaked at #5 on the R&B charts.

The Four Aces - Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing

1955 - The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song from the film of the same name. It became the first song from a movie to top the charts since the 1940s. The track hit #1 on the Billboard charts and stayed there for eight consecutive weeks.

The Penguins - Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)

1954 - “Earth Angel” was recorded in a garage studio in South Central Los Angeles. The song hit #1 on the Billboard R&B chart and #8 on the Pop chart. It was one of the first “indie” records from a small Black-owned label (Dootone Records) to sell over one million copies to a diverse, national audience.

The Platters - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

1958 - The track was first released as a 1930s theater ballad. The Platters version hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015.

The Platters - Twilight Time

1958 - “Twilight Time” hit #1 on the Top 100 (Pop), #1 on the R&B chart, and even reached the Top 5 in the UK. It was featured in the series The X-Files and the film Benny & Joon. This one is special to me because it is my parents’ first dance song.

The Teddy Bears - To Know Him Is To Love Him

1958 - The song topped the Billboard Hot 100, staying there for three weeks. The Beatles performed it during their Decca audition and BBC sessions. Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris (as the “Trio”) took it to #1 on the Country charts in 1987.

Tommy Edwards - It’s All In The Game

1958 - This is the only #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in history co-written by a Vice President of the United States (Calvin Coolidge). It reached #1 on the R&B charts as well. Edwards actually recorded this song twice. He first released a “standard” orchestral version in 1951, which was a modest hit (reached #18 on the Billboard Records Most Played by Disk Jockeys).

Is there a song that you think should be added? Let me know!

Thanks for reading,

Matthew Campbell

Wedding MusicLetter

Spotify Playlist