Various Artists ~ Billboard Top Rock'n'Roll Hits 1955

With Elvis Presley represented along with usual suspects Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, and Carl Perkins on the initial '50s volumes, the discs are more comprehensive than some other, earlier attempts at this kind of compilation, and are essential in their entirety. The 1955 volume kicks off well enough, with the song that declared rock & roll's arrival at the top of the charts, Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" (in what, in 1988, was the best remastering available -- and it still sounds good 20 years later). Chuck Berry's "Maybellene," Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame," and the Penguins' "Earth Angel" fill the next three slots, and then listeners get to slightly more outre (though still well-known and mostly essential) music, the Platters' "Only You," LaVern Baker's "Tweedlee Dee," and the Moonglows' "Sincerely" sandwiching "Hearts of Stone" by the Fontane Sisters and "Black Denin Trousers" by the Cheers. Those two pieces constitute novelty tunes that intersect somewhat with rock & roll, but are hardly representative of what was happening in music (or rock & roll) in 1955 -- indeed, they are more representative of the non-rock & roll world's reaction to the rise of youth culture, exploiting and ridiculing it. But among the surprises is one genuine jewel, the El Dorados' "At My Front Door," about as good an R&B harmony vocal (i.e., doo wop) rocker as there is in this series. The sound has held up well, but the annotation is sorely lacking. 

1 Bill Haley and His Comets - Rock Around the Clock

2 Chuck Berry - Maybellene

3 The Penguins - Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)

4 Fats Domino - Ain't That a Shame

5 The Fontane Sisters - Hearts of Stone

6 The Cheers - Black Denim Trousers

7 The Platters - Only You (And You Alone)

8 LaVern Baker - Tweedlee Dee

9 The El Dorados - At My Front Door

10 The Moonglows - Sincerely