Following on from last week, the EP was a popular format in the late 1950s through to mid 1960s. For record buyers who couldn’t afford an expensive LP, they could purchase at a reasonable price a 45rpm disc with four tracks from their favourite artist. An EP chart was first published in Melody Maker on 21st November 1959, with Record Retailer following in March 1960 becoming the main publication to use for chart analysis. With minimal sales, it was discontinued on 16th December 1967. The following reflects the top chart performing EP artists of that era. It has been compiled by working out a ranking for highest chart position reached, and another based on chart longevity. Both rankings are then averaged together to give the ultimate chart ranking.
| Rank | Artist | Chart Date | Hiighest Position | Weeks on chart | No.1 weeks |
| 1 | The Shadows (includes 376 weeks backing Cliff Richard) | 21-Nov-1959 | 1 | 864 | 75 |
| 2 | The Beatles | 20-Jul-1963 | 1 | 393 | 63 |
| 3 | Elvis Ppresley | 28-Nov-1959 | 1 | 400 | 46 |
| 4 | The Rolling Stones | 18-Jan-1964 | 1 | 153 | 37 |
| 5 | Cliff Richard | 21-Nov-1959 | 1 | 484 | 19 |
| 6 | The Beach Boys | 29-Aug-1964 | 1 | 110 | 34 |
| 7 | Four Tops | 29-Oct-1966 | 1 | 101 | 22 |
| 8 | Paddy Roberts | 21-Nov-1959 | 1 | 106 | 22 |
| 9 | Manfred Mann | 21-Nov-1964 | 1 | 111 | 17 |
| 10 | Frank Ifield | 08-Dec-1962 | 1 | 103 | 13 |
| 11 | The Seekers | 24-Jul-1965 | 1 | 170 | 4 |
| 12 | Helen Shapiro | 25-Nov-1961 | 1 | 92 | 13 |
| 13 | The Kinks | 12-Dec-1964 | 1 | 79 | 8 |
| 14 | The Searchers | 21-Sep-1963 | 1 | 99 | 6 |
| 15 | Adam Faith | 24-Sep-1960 | 1 | 97 | 3 |
| 16 | The Jordanaires (backing Elvis Presley) | 13-Feb-1960 | 1 | 161 | 17 |
| 17 | Nina and Frederik | 21-Nov-1959 | 2 | 179 | |
| 18 | Joan Baez | 17-Apr-1965 | 1 | 97 | 1 |
| 19 | The Bachelors | 14-Mar-1964 | 1 | 99 | 2 |
| 20 | Billy Fury | 09-Jun-1962 | 2 | 92 | |
| 21 | Val Doonican | 20-Feb-1965 | 1 | 44 | 4 |
| 22 | Mr. Acker Bilk | 26-Mar-1960 | 2 | 136 | |
| 23 | The George Mitchell Minstrels | 09-Dec-1961 | 1 | 67 | 1 |
| 24 | Jim Reeves | 01-Dec-1962 | 1 | 79 | 1 |
| 25 | The Walker Brothers | 18-Jun-1966 | 1 | 25 | 13 |
| 26 | Norrie Paramor (backing Frank Ifield, Cliff Richard, The Shadows) | 04-Jun-1960 | 1 | 111 | 3 |
| 27 | Nat ‘King’ Cole | 28-May-1960 | 2 | 103 | |
| 28 | Donovan | 21-Aug-1965 | 1 | 36 | 8 |
| 29 | Bob Newhart | 10-Jun-1961 | 2 | 65 | |
| 30 | Tornados (includes 16 weeks backing Billy Fury) | 15-Dec-1962 | 2 | 88 | |
| 31 | Tony Bennett | 04-Dec-1965 | 2 | 74 | |
| 32 | Paul Jones | 06-May-1967 | 1 | 33 | 3 |
| 33 | Bobby Vee | 26-Aug-1961 | 1 | 47 | 1 |
| 34 | Gerry and The Pacemakers | 13-Jul-1963 | 2 | 51 | |
| 35 | Temperance Seven | 13-May-1961 | 2 | 57 | |
| 36 | The Who | 26-Nov-1966 | 1 | 20 | 4 |
| 37 | Roy Orbison | 01-Jun-1963 | 3 | 101 | |
| 38 | Peter, Paul and Mary | 30-Nov-1963 | 3 | 100 | |
| 39 | Russ Conway | 21-Nov-1959 | 1 | 35 | 4 |
| 40 | Mario Lanza | 21-Nov-1959 | 1 | 41 | 1 |
| 41 | Mantovani | 12-Mar-1960 | 3 | 74 | |
| 42 | The Animals | 09-Jan-1965 | 3 | 55 | |
| 43 | Emile Ford and The Checkmates | 09-Apr-1960 | 1 | 23 | 3 |
| 44 | Merseybeats | 21-Mar-1964 | 2 | 37 | |
| 45 | Bob Dylan | 03-Jul-1965 | 3 | 57 | |
| 46 | Georgie Fame | 16-Jan-1965 | 2 | 50 | |
| 47 | Martin Slavin and His Orchestra (backing Helen Shapiro) | 25-Nov-1961 | 1 | 43 | 9 |
| 48 | Shirley Bassey | 22-Oct-1960 | 3 | 79 | |
| 49 | Tommy Steele | 05-Dec-1959 | 2 | 29 | |
| 50 | Andy Williams | 07-Aug-1965 | 3 | 55 |
Once again, my grateful thanks to Neil Warwick for his hard work in providing this information.