1954 in music

Biggest hit singles

The following singles achieved the highest chart positions in the set of charts available for 1954.

US No. 1 hit singles

These singles reached the top of US Billboard magazine's charts in 1954.

Top hits on record

A–J

• "Am I a Toy or a Treasure" – Kay Starr
• "Answer Me, My Love" – Nat King Cole
• "Back Where I Belong" – Frankie Laine and Jo Stafford
• "Baubles, Bangles & Beads" – Georgia Gibbs
• "Baubles, Bangles & Beads" – Peggy Lee
• "The Christmas Song" – Nat King Cole (a new version; original release was in 1946)
• "Cross Over The Bridge" – Patti Page
• "Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup" – Nat King Cole
• "Earth Angel" – The Penguins (also in 1955)
• "Ebb Tide" – Roy Hamilton
• "Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight" – The McGuire Sisters
• "Hearts Of Stone" – The Fontane Sisters
• "I Cried" – Patti Page
• "I Need You Now" – Eddie Fisher
• "I Speak to the Stars" – Doris Day
• "If I Give My Heart to You" – Doris Day
• "If You Love Me (Really Love Me)" – Kay Starr
• "In the Chapel in the Moonlight" – Kitty Kallen
• "In the Beginning" – Frankie Laine
• "In The Mood" – Glenn Miller
• "In the Still of the Night" – The Five Satins
• "Johnny Guitar" – Peggy Lee

L–S

• "Let Me Go, Lover" – Joan Weber
• "Little Things Mean a Lot" – Kitty Kallen
• "Lucille" - Clyde McPhatter and The Drifters
• "Make Love to Me" – Jo Stafford
• "The Man That Got Away" – Georgia Gibbs
• "Melancholy Baby" – Georgia Gibbs
• "Melody of Love" – Frank Sinatra and Ray Anthony
• "Mr. Sandman" – Chordettes
• "Muskrat Ramble" – Matys Brothers
• "My Sin" – Georgia Gibbs
• "Mystery Train" – Elvis Presley
• "Oh! My Pa-Pa" – Eddie Fisher
• "Opus One" – The Mills Brothers
• "Out Of Nowhere" – Frankie Laine
• "Papa Loves Mambo" – Perry Como
• "Rain, Rain, Rain" – Frankie Laine and The Four Lads
• "Say Hey" – Ray Anthony
• "Say Hey" – The Treniers
• "Secret Love" – Doris Day
• "Sh-Boom" – The Chords
• "Sincerely" – McGuire Sisters (also in 1955)
• "Smile" – Nat King Cole
• "Someone to Watch Over Me" – Frank Sinatra
• "Such a Night" – Clyde McPhatter and The Drifters
• "Such a Night" – Johnnie Ray
• "Sway" – Dean Martin

T–Y

• "Teach Me Tonight" – The DeCastro Sisters
• "Tenderly" – Nat King Cole
• "Thank You for Calling" – Jo Stafford
• "That's All Right Mama" – Elvis Presley
• "Tweedlee Dee" – LaVern Baker (also in 1955)
• "Wanted" – Perry Como
• "What a Dream" – Patti Page
• "When The World Was Young" – Felicia Sanders
• "Whither Thou Goest" – Les Paul and Mary Ford
• "You'll Never Walk Alone" – Roy Hamilton
• "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You" – The Mills Brothers

Top R&B and country hits on record

• "Bimbo" – Jim Reeves
• "Goodnight Sweetheart Goodnight" – Spaniels
• 'Slowly" – Webb Pierce
• "Hearts Of Stone" – Jewels
• "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" – Muddy Waters
• "Mambo Baby" – Ruth Brown
• "Oh What A Dream" – Ruth Brown
• "Shake A Hand" – Faye Adams
• "Shake Rattle And Roll" – Big Joe Turner
• "I Don't Hurt Anymore" – Hank Snow
• "The Things That I Used To Do" – Guitar Slim
• "Tweedlee Dee" – LaVern Baker
• "Work with Me, Annie" – Hank Ballard & The Midnighters

Published popular music

• "All of You" words and music: Cole Porter
• "Annie Had a Baby" w.m. Henry Glover & Lois Mann
• "A Blossom Fell" w.m. Howard Barnes, Harold Cornelius & Dominic John
• "Cara Mia" w.m. Tulio Trapani & Lee Lange
• "Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White" w. (Eng) Mack David (Fr) Jacques Larue m. Louiguy
• "Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep)" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Cross Over The Bridge" w.m. Bennie Benjamin & George David Weiss
• "Earth Angel" w.m. Jesse Belvin, Curtis Williams & Gaynel Hodge
• "Ev'ry Day of My Life" w.m.Al Jacobs and Jimmie Crane.
• "The Finger Of Suspicion Points At You" w.m. Paul Mann & Al Lewis
• "From The Vine Came The Grape" w.m. Leonard Whitcup & Paul Cunningham
• "Gilly Gilly Ossenfeffer Katzenellen Bogen by the Sea" w.m. Al Hoffman & Dick Manning
• "Hearts Of Stone" w. Eddy Ray m. Rudy Jackson
• "Hernando's Hideaway" w.m. Richard Adler & Jerry Ross
• "He's A Tramp" Sonny Burke, Peggy Lee
• "Hey There" w.m. Richard Adler & Jerry Ross
• "The High and the Mighty" w. Ned Washington m. Dimitri Tiomkin
• "Honeycomb" w.m. Bob Merrill
• "I Can't Tell A Waltz From A Tango" Al Hoffman, Dick Manning
• "I Could Be Happy With You" w.m. Sandy Wilson
• "I Don't Hurt Anymore" w. Jack Rollins m. Don Robertson
• "I Got A Woman" w.m. Ray Charles & Renald Richard
• "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" w. Douglas Cross m. George Cory
• "If I Give My Heart to You" w.m. Jimmy Brewster, Jimmie Crane & Al Jacobs
• "I'll Walk With God" w. Paul Francis Webster m. Nicholas Brodszky
• "I'm Not At All In Love" w.m. Richard Adler & Jerry Ross. Introduced by Janis Paige in the musical The Pajama Game.
• "In Other Words" (aka "Fly Me To The Moon") w.m. Bart Howard
• "Let Me Go, Lover!" w.m. Jenny Lou Carson & Al Hill
• "The Little Shoemaker" w.(Eng) John Turner & Geoffrey Parsons (Fr) Avril Lamarque m. Rudi Revil
• "Mambo Italiano" w.m. Bob Merrill
• "Mister Sandman" w.m. Pat Ballard
• "Misty" w. Johnny Burke m. Erroll Garner
• "My Son, My Son" w. Bob Howard m. Melville Farley & Eddie Calvert
• "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane" w.m. Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett
• "Only You (and You Alone)" w.m. Buck Ram & Ande Rand
• "Open Up Your Heart (And Let the Sunshine In)" w.m. Stuart Hamblen
• "Papa Loves Mambo" w.m. Al Hoffman, Dick Manning & Bix Reichner
• "Pledging My Love" w.m. Ferdinand Washington & Don Robey
• "The Poor People of Paris" w.(Eng) Jack Lawrence (Fr) Rene Rouzaud m. Marguerite Monnot "La Goulante du Pauvre Jean"
• "Release Me" w.m. Eddie Miller & W. S. Stevenson
• "River of No Return" w. Ken Darby m. Lionel Newman from the film River of No Return.
• "Shake, Rattle And Roll" w.m. Charles Calhoun
• "Sh-Boom" w.m. James Keyes, Claude & Carl Feaster, Floyd F. McRae & William Edwards
• "Sincerely" w.m. Harvey Fuqua & Alan Freed
• "Sisters" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Skokiaan" w. Tom Glazer m. August Musarurwa
• "Smile" w. John Turner & Geoffrey Parsons m. Charles Chaplin
• "Steam Heat" w.m. Richard Adler & Jerry Ross
• "There Once Was a Man" w. m. Richard Adler & Jerry Ross. Introduced by John Raitt and Janis Paige in the musical The Pajama Game
• "This Ole House" w.m. Stuart Hamblen
• "Three Coins In The Fountain" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jule Styne
• "Tweedle Dee" w.m. Winfield Scott
• "What a Dream" w.m. Chuck Willis
• "Whither Thou Goest" w.m. Guy Singer
• "Wonderful, Wonderful Day" w. Johnny Mercer m. Gene De Paul from the film Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
• "Work with Me, Annie" w.m. Hank Ballard
• "Young And Foolish" w. Arnold B. Horwitt m. Albert Hague from the 1955 musical Plain and Fancy

Other notable songs

• "Le Déserteur" – Boris Vian
• Tierra bendita y divina – a traditional Spanish language Christian hymn is published.
• "V Put" – Vasili Solovyov-Sedoy and Mikhail Dudin

Classical music

Premieres

• ¹ Recording for the Austrian Radio. The Symphony received its two first concert performances in 1955 under Alois Melichar in Graz and Jan Koetsier in Munich.

Compositions

• William Alwyn – Autumn Legend for Cor Anglais and Strings
• Luciano Berio – Nones for orchestra
• Boris Blacher – Viola Concerto
• Havergal Brian – Symphony No. 10
• Carlos Chávez – Symphony No. 3
• George Crumb – String Quartet
• Mario Davidovsky – Concertino for Percussion and Strings
• George Enescu – Chamber Symphony in E major, Op. 33
• Ross Lee Finney – Piano Trio No. 2
• Gerald Finzi – Cello Concerto
• André Fleury – Messe pour la fête de tous les saints
• Armstrong Gibbs – Dale and Fell, suite for strings
• Howard Hanson – Sinfonia sacra (Symphony No. 5)
• Andrew Imbrie – Violin Concerto
• Alemdar Karamanov – Symphony No. 1
• Wojciech Kilar –
• The Bird for voice and piano
• Sonata for horn and piano
• Ernst Krenek
• Symphony "Pallas Athene", Op. 137
• Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 140
• György Kurtág - Mouvement for viola and orchestra
• György Ligeti – Métamorphoses nocturnes (String Quartet No. 1)
• Witold Lutosławski
• Concerto for Orchestra
• Dance Preludes, for clarinet and piano
• Bohuslav Martinů – Sonata for Piano, H. 350
• Darius Milhaud – West Point Suite
• Per NørgÃ¥rd - Metamorfosi
• Walter Piston – Symphony No. 5
• Edmund Rubbra – Symphony No. 6
• John Serry Sr. –
• Allegro – m. Joseph Haydn, arranged for accordion quartet
• The Golden Wedding – m. Jean Gabriel-Marie, arranged for accordion quartet
• Tango of Love – arranged for accordion quartet
• Roger Sessions – Idyll of Theocritus
• Robert Simpson – String Quartet No. 3
• Karlheinz Stockhausen – Studie II
• Igor Stravinsky – In memoriam Dylan Thomas
• Virgil Thomson – Concerto for Flute, Strings, Harp and Percussion
• Ernst Toch – String Quartet No. 13
• Henri Tomasi – Horn Concerto
• Eduard Tubin – Symphony No. 6
• Edgard Varèse – Déserts
• Ralph Vaughan Williams
• Sonata in A Minor for Violin and Piano
• Tuba Concerto
• Heitor Villa-Lobos – String Quartet No. 15
• Stefan Wolpe
• Symphony for 24 Instruments
• Piece for Oboe, Cello, Percussion and Piano, "Oboe Quartet"
• Iannis Xenakis - Metastaseis
• Bernd Alois Zimmermann - Nobody knows the trouble I see Concert for trumpet and chamber orchestra

Opera

• Jack Beeson – Hello, Out There
• Benjamin Britten – The Turn of the Screw
• Valentino Bucchi – Il contrabasso (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, 20 June)
• Aaron Copland – The Tender Land
• Paul Hindemith – Neues vom Tage, revised version of 1929 opera
• Bohuslav Martinů – Mirandolina
• Jerome Moross – The Golden Apple
• William Walton – Troilus and Cressida

Film

• Leonard Bernstein - On the Waterfront
• Bernard Herrmann & Alfred Newman - The Egyptian
• Akira Ifukube - Godzilla
• Nino Rota - La Strada
• Max Steiner - The Caine Mutiny
• Dimitri Tiomkin - Dial M for Murder
• Dimitri Tiomkin - The High and the Mighty
• Franz Waxman - Rear Window
• Victor Young - Johnny Guitar

Jazz

Musical theater

• After the Ball (Music, Lyrics and Book: Noël Coward) London production opened at the Globe Theatre on June 10 and ran for 188 performances
• The Boy Friend Broadway production opened at the Royale Theatre on September 30 and ran for 485 performances
• By the Beautiful Sea (Music: Arthur Schwartz Lyrics: Dorothy Fields) Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 8 and transferred to the Imperial Theatre on October 2 for a total run of 268 performances. Starring Shirley Booth
• Can-Can London production opened at the Coliseum on October 14 and ran for 394 performances
• The Duenna ( Music: Julian Slade Lyrics & Book: Dorothy Reynolds) London production opened at the Westminster Theatre on July 28 and ran for 134 performances
• Fanny Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on November 4 and transferred to the Belasco Theatre on December 4, 1956, for a total run of 888 performances
• The Girl in Pink Tights Broadway production opened at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on March 5 and ran for 115 performances
• The Golden Apple Broadway production opened at the Alvin Theatre on April 20 and ran for 125 performances
• Happy Holiday (Music: George Posford Lyrics & Book: Eric Maschwitz and Arnold Ridley) London production opened at the Palace Theatre on December 22 and ran for 31 performances
• House of Flowers Broadway production opened at the Alvin Theatre on December 30 and ran for 165 performances
• On Your Toes Broadway revival opened at the 46th Street Theatre on October 11 and ran for 64 performances
• The Pajama Game (Richard Adler and Jerry Ross) — Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on May 13 and transferred to the Shubert Theatre on November 24, 1956, for a total run of 1063 performances
• Pal Joey (Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics: Lorenz Hart Book: John O'Hara) London production opened at Princes Theatre on August 4 and ran for 245 performances
• Peter Pan Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on October 20 and ran for 152 performances
• Salad Days (Music: Julian Slade Lyrics & Book: Dorothy Reynolds and Julian Slade) London production opened at the Vaudeville Theatre on August 5 and ran for 2283 performances
• You'll Be Lucky London revue opened at the Adelphi Theatre on February 25. Starring Sally Barnes and Lauri Lupino Lane.
• Zuleika — premiere in Cambridge, England

Musical films

• Athena, starring Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Edmund Purdom and Vic Damone
• Brigadoon
• Carmen Jones
• Casanova's Big Night starring Bob Hope
• Chandraharam, starring N.T. Rama Rao
• Deep in My Heart, starring José Ferrer
• French Cancan, starring Jean Gabin and María Félix
• The French Line, starring Jane Russell
• Living It Up, starring Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis and Janet Leigh
• Lucky Me, starring Doris Day, Robert Cummings and Phil Silvers
• Mayurpankh, directed by and starring Kishore Sahu
• New Faces
• Red Garters, starring Rosemary Clooney, Jack Carson and Guy Mitchell
• Rhapsody, starring Elizabeth Taylor
• River of No Return, starring Marilyn Monroe
• Rose Marie, starring Ann Blyth and Howard Keel
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, starring Jane Powell, Howard Keel and Julie Newmar.
• A Star Is Born
• The Student Prince, starring Ann Blyth and Edmund Purdom with Mario Lanza dubbing for Purdom.
• There's No Business Like Show Business
• Top Banana (film), starring Phil Silvers
• White Christmas, starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen

Musical television

• Babes in Toyland
• Lady in the Dark (starring Ann Sothern)

Births

January–April

• January 1 – Richard Edson, American drummer
• January 2 – Glenn Goins, American R&B/funk guitarist and singer (Parliament-Funkadelic) (died 1978)
• January 4 – Eugene Chadbourne, American guitarist and songwriter
• January 7 – José María Vitier, Cuban pianist and composer
• January 13 – Trevor Rabin, rock guitarist and vocalist (Yes) and film composer
• January 16 – Cheryl Bentyne, vocalist (The Manhattan Transfer)
• January 19 – Katey Sagal, American singer-songwriter and actress
• January 25 – Richard Finch, funk composer (K.C. and the Sunshine Band)
• January 29 – Richard Manitoba, singer
• February 1 – Chuck Dukowski, American singer-songwriter and bass player (Black Flag, Würm, Black Face and October Faction)
• February 10 – Carita Holmström, pianist, singer and songwriter
• February 18 – John Travolta, actor, singer and dancer
• February 19 – Jimmy Pursey, vocalist (Sham 69)
• February 20 – Jon Brant, bass guitar player (Cheap Trick)
• February 27 –
• JoAnn Falletta, orchestral conductor
• Neal Schon, rock musician (Journey) Santana
• March 2 – Hunt Sales, American drummer (Tin Machine)
• March 3 -
• Chris Hughes, british producer and drummer (Adam and the Ants)
• John Lilley, American singer/songwriter and guitarist (The Hooters)
• March 10 – Tina Charles, disco singer
• March 16 – Nancy Wilson, rock singer-songwriter (Heart)
• March 27 – Wally Stocker, rock guitarist (The Babys)
• March 31 – Tony Brock, rock drummer (The Babys)
• April 1 – Knut Værnes, Norwegian guitarist
• April 2 – Susumu Hirasawa, singer-songwriter, guitarist and keyboardist (P-MODEL)
• April 4 – Michel Camilo, pianist
• April 5 – Peter Case, singer-songwriter and guitarist,
• April 13 – Jimmy Destri, rock keyboard player and songwriter (Blondie)
• April 17 – Michael Sembello, singer, instrumentalist and songwriter
• April 22 – Regina, American singer and songwriter
• April 28 – Michael Daugherty, composer

May–December

• May 1 – Ray Parker Jr., guitarist, songwriter and record producer
• May 2 –
• Angela Bofill, singer songwriter
• Elliot Goldenthal, composer
• May 10 – Barrington Pheloung, screen composer (died 2019)
• May 11 – Judith Weir, composer, Master of the Queens Music
• May 13 – Johnny Logan, Australian-Irish singer
• May 18 – Reinhold Heil, composer
• May 20 – Jimmie "Soybean" Henderson, rock guitarist (Black Oak Arkansas) (died 2016)
• May 21 – Marc Ribot, session guitarist and composer
• May 31 – Vicki Sue Robinson, US disco singer (died 2000)
• June 3 – Dan Hill, singer-songwriter
• June 8 – Greg Ginn, punk guitarist (Black Flag)
• June 13 – Robert Donaldson (Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods)
• June 14 – Gianna Nannini, Italian rock musician
• June 15 – Terri Gibbs, country singer
• June 20 – Michael Anthony, hard rock bassist (Van Halen)
• July 7 –
• Pam Bricker, American singer and guitarist (died 2005)
• Ron Jones, composer
• July 10 – Neil Tennant, British singer-songwriter and record producer (Pet Shop Boys)
• July 18 –
• Tobias Picker, American composer
• Ricky Skaggs, American singer-songwriter, mandolin player and producer (New South)
• August 11 – Joe Jackson, singer-songwriter and composer
• August 17 – Eric Johnson, guitarist, songwriter and record producer
• August 25 – Elvis Costello, singer-songwriter
• September 7 – Sergio Rendine, Italian composer (died 2023)
• September 14 – Barry Cowsill, drummer/bassist with family harmony group The Cowsills (died 2005)
• September 17 – Joël-François Durand, French composer
• September 21 – Phil Taylor, English heavy metal drummer (Motörhead) (died 2015)
• September 28 – George Lynch, American heavy metal guitarist (Dokken)
• September 30 –
• Basia, Polish singer
• Patrice Rushen, American pianist, singer and composer
• October 3 – Stevie Ray Vaughan, guitarist and singer-songwriter (died 1990)
• October 3 – Dawayne Bailey, guitarist and singer-songwriter (alias Bob Seger-Chicago)
• October 9 – James Fearnley, folk punk accordionist (The Pogues)
• October 10 –
• Susan Frykberg, electroacoustic composer and sound artist
• David Lee Roth (Van Halen)
• October 12 – Michael Roe, guitarist, lead singer of The 77s
• October 24 – Amadou Bagayoko, worldbeat guitarist and singer (died 2025)
• November 3 – Adam Ant, singer
• November 4 – Chris Difford, singer, songwriter and record producer (Squeeze)
• November 9 – Dennis Stratton, heavy metal guitarist (Iron Maiden)
• November 10 – Mario Cipollina, rock bassist (Huey Lewis and the News)
• November 14 –
• Anson Funderburgh, American guitarist and bandleader
• Yanni, pianist, keyboardist and composer
• November 15 – Randy Thomas, American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer (Sweet Comfort Band and Allies)
• November 16 – Donald Runnicles, conductor
• November 18 – John Parr, singer
• November 23 – Bruce Hornsby, pianist and singer-songwriter (Grateful Dead)
• December 11 – Jermaine Jackson, singer (The Jackson 5)
• December 16 – Spagna, Italian singer and songwriter
• December 25 –
• Robin Campbell (UB40)
• Annie Lennox, singer
• date unknown – Gérard Buquet, tubist, conductor and composer

Deaths

• January 9 – Eugen Coca, violinist and composer, 60
• January 11 – Oscar Straus, Viennese operetta composer, 83
• January 21 – Per Reidarson, composer and music critic, 86
• March 3 – Noel Gay, English songwriter, 55
• March 11 – Frankie Newton, American trumpeter, 48
• March 19 – Walter Braunfels, pianist and composer, 71
• March 27 – Carl T. Fischer, composer and jazz pianist, 41
• April 5 – Claude Delvincourt, pianist and composer, 66
• April 8 – Edwin Grasse, violinist and composer, 69
• April 9 – Philip Greeley Clapp, pianist and composer, 65
• April 11 – Paul Specht, violinist and bandleader, 59
• April 14 – Lil Green, blues singer, 34 (pneumonia)
• April 17 – Torsten Ralf, operatic tenor, 53
• May 1 – Arthur Johnston, songwriter, 56
• May 19 – Charles Ives, composer, 79
• May 20 – Linda Lee Thomas, socialite and wife of Cole Porter, 70
• May 31 – Pedro Elías Gutiérrez, musician and composer, 84
• June 17 – Danny Cedrone, session guitarist (soloist on "Rock Around the Clock"), 33 (fell downstairs)
• July 7 – Idabelle Smith Firestone, American composer and songwriter, 79
• July 16 – Lucien Muratore, operatic tenor and actor, 77
• August 8 – Phil Ohman, film composer and pianist, 57
• August 13 – Demetrius Constantine Dounis, violin teacher
• August 17 – Billy Murray, singer, 77
• August 24 – Fred Rose, songwriter, music publisher, 56
• October 24 – Pepito Arriola, pianist, 57
• October 27 – Franco Alfano, composer and pianist, 79
• November 11 – J. Rosamond Johnson, composer and singer
• November 29 – Dink Johnson, jazz musician, 56
• November 30 – Wilhelm Furtwängler, conductor and composer, 68
• December 14
• Papa Celestin, jazz musician, 70
• Sergei Protopopov, Russian composer and music theorist, 61
• December 25
• Johnny Ace, American rhythm and blues singer, 25 (shooting accident)
• Rosario Scalero, violinist, teacher and composer, 84

References