What song held the number one spot for the longest in 1959?
When it comes to choosing which decade was the greatest for music, a lot of people often lean towards the 1960s, and you can understand why.
So much happened during the ‘60s which formed the foundation of a lot of the modern music industry, both in terms of how a band should sound, look, and market themselves. One of the biggest examples comes in the form of The Beatles, who didn’t just make great music, but also had an attitude and a business strategy that showed bands how they could make it big.
“There was no real future for a British band before The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964,” explained Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, discussing the British invasion. “That was the turning point, after which there was an avalanche. It totally transformed the possibilities, and as usual The Beatles were the frontrunners. In music, there is The Beatles and then there is everybody else.”
Of course, it wasn’t just the Beatles making waves – you had the likes of The Beach Boys, the Eagles, the Rolling Stones, Joni Mitchell, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Dylan all leaving their mark on how music was crafted. Even now, in 2025, when modern artists chat about their influences, you can bet at least one of those names will crop up.
It makes sense that people respond to the ‘60s so well because of how influential the decade was; however, it’s often treated as the decade where music began, and this simply wasn’t the case. All of those acts, which played such a fundamental role in the development of music, were inspired by those who came in the decade prior. The world didn’t know how to deal with or accept rock stars back in the ‘50s, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t exist.
There were a number of huge acts releasing music in the ‘50s who we now view as legends of music, those who managed to create something to be inspired by while lacking direct inspiration themselves. You want true innovation? You need to look past the ‘60s and enjoy the artists who dragged rock and pop songs from the influence of jazz, gospel and old musical numbers. There were plenty of wonderful minds making music back in the ‘50s, but which of them were being widely accepted by the mainstream?
Towards the back end of the decade, the biggest moments in music were brewing, changing sounds stood on the precipice, and artists were really starting to find themselves. So, which of them was the most successful in doing this?
So, what song was number one for the longest time in 1959?
It’s rare that there is a draw for the song which was number one for the longest time in a certain year, but 1959 has proven itself to be an anomaly. There were two songs which spent six weeks at the top spot towards the back end of the ‘50s, both of which are classics but which have also been forgotten slightly, lost (in part) to the sands of time.
The first track was Bobby Darin’s ‘Mack the Knife’. The track was written for a music drama, The Threepenny Opera, which was released in 1928. Bobby Darin recorded his own version of the song in the ‘50s, which proved to be the most popular version of the track. The song very much leans on the side of jazz and lounge music, which was very popular at the time. There is a narrative attached to the track, and the way that Darin tells the story of ‘Mack The Knife’ is likely what appealed to so many people.
The second song, which spent six weeks at number one, was Johnny Horton’s ‘The Battle of New Orleans’. Again, this track was written decades earlier and later covered (and some would argue popularised) by Horton. It’s much different to ‘Mack the Knife’ as it has a folk feel to it, with Horton employing a touch of gravel in his voice not unlike the vocals of some rock musicians.
Both tracks are relatively underappreciated in the modern age, but in 1959, there weren’t many people who didn’t own these tracks.
