TOP 100 ONE-WORD TITLE HITS
OF THE '50S AND '60S
- Cry - Johnnie Ray and The Four Lads - 1952
- Tammy - Debbie Reynolds - 1957
- Wanted - Perry Como - 1954
- Sincerely - The McGuire Sisters - 1955
- If - Perry Como - 1951
- Don't - Elvis Presley - 1958
- Tequila - The Champs - 1958
- Venus - Frankie Avalon - 1959
- Sherry - The 4 Seasons - 1962
- Honey - Bobby Goldsboro - 1968
- Honeycomb - Jimmie Rodgers - 1957
- Runaway - Del Shannon - 1961
- Diana - Paul Anka - 1957
- Windy - The Association - 1967
- Dizzy - Tommy Roe - 1969
- Groovin' - The Young Rascals - 1967
- Dominique - The Singing Nun - 1963
- Butterfly - Andy Williams - 1957
- Patricia - Perez Prado - 1958
- Yesterday - The Beatles - 1965
- Telstar - The Tornadoes - 1962
- Sukiyaki - Kyu Sakamoto - 1963
- Delicado - Percy Faith - 1952
- Exodus - Ferrante and Teicher - 1961
- Calcutta - Lawrence Welk - 1961
- Michael - The Highwaymen - 1961
- Cherish - The Association - 1966
- Downtown - Petula Clark - 1965
- Help! - The Beatles - 1965
- Sheila - Tommy Roe - 1962
- Stay - Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs - 1960
- Respect - Aretha Franklin - 1967
- Surrender - Elvis Presley - 1961
- Donna - Ritchie Valens - 1959
- Greenfields - The Brothers Four - 1960
- Jezebel - Frankie Laine - 1951
- Why - Frankie Avalon - 1960
- Searchin' - The Coasters - 1958
- Oh! - Pee Wee Hunt - 1953
- Apache - Jorgen Ingmann - 1961
- Raunchy - Bill Justis - 1957
- Raindrops - Dee Clark - 1961
- Sunny - Bobby Hebb - 1966
- Lollipop - The Chordettes - 1958
- Hair - The Cowsills - 1969
- Crying - Roy Orbison - 1961
- Pretend - Nat "King" Cole - 1953
- Gone - Ferlin Husky - 1957
- Ringo - Lorne Greene - 1964
- Jambalaya - Jo Stafford - 1951
- Silhouettes - The Rays - 1958
- Problems - The Everly Brothers - 1958
- Ruby - Richard Hayman - 1953
- Bewitched - Bill Snyder - 1950
- Jean - Oliver - 1969
- Sugartime - The McGuire Sisters - 1958
- Daydream - The Lovin' Spoonful - 1966
- Memphis - Johnny Rivers - 1964
- Reflections - Diana Ross and the Supremes - 1967
- Fire - The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - 1968
- Secretly - Jimmie Rodgers - 1958
- Butterfly - Charlie Gracie - 1957
- More - Perry Como - 1956
- Spooky - Classics IV - 1968
- Dragnet - Ray Anthony - 1953
- Maybellene - Chuck Berry - 1955
- Norman - Sue Thompson - 1962
- Wheels - The String-A-Longs - 1961
- Skokiaan - Ralph Marterie - 1954
- Suspicion - Terry Stafford - 1964
- Traces - Classics IV featuring Dennis Yost - 1969
- Slowly - Webb Pierce - 1954
- Everybody - Tommy Roe - 1963
- Night - Jackie Wilson - 1960
- People - Barbra Streisand - 1964
- Something - The Beatles - 1969
- He - Al Hibbler - 1955
- Waterloo - Stonewall Jackson - 1959
- Java - Al Hirt - 1964
- Pipeline - The Chantays - 1963
- Tiger - Fabian - 1959
- Things - Bobby Darin - 1962
- Volare - Bobby Rydell - 1960
- Shotgun - Jr. Walker and the All Stars - 1965
- Kicks - Paul Revere and the Raiders - 1966
- Tragedy - Thomas Wayne - 1959
- Marianne - Terry Gilkyson and the Easy Riders - 1957
- Seventeen - Boyd Bennett and his Rockets - 1955
- One - Three Dog Night - 1969
- Hurt - Timi Yuro - 1961
- When - The Kalin Twins - 1958
- Stormy - Classics IV featuring Dennis Yost - 1968
- Undecided - The Ames Brothers - 1951
- Kiddio - Brook Benton - 1960
- Because - The Dave Clark Five - 1964
- Valleri - The Monkees - 1968
- Flamingo - Earl Bostic - 1951
- Rainbow - Russ Hamilton - 1957
- Mockingbird - Inez Foxx - 1963
- Still - Bill Anderson - 1963
Only one word in a song title is accepted on this list...no extra words like "a" or "the," no hyphenated words nor additional words in parentheses. Proper names are plentiful! Foreign and slang words are okay too. In rare instances a song was released under two titles (example: Lloyd Price's hit "Personality," also known as "(You've Got) Personality") and is not included. Rankings are based on the popularity of each recording during the period of 1950 through 1969.
Four artists lead the list with three songs apiece: Perry Como comes out on top, with two of his three in the top ten. Tommy Roe, The Beatles and Classics IV also displayed a tendency toward one-word titles.
