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 EPs 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 | Title | Artist | Chart Date | Position | Weeks on chart | No.1 weeks |
| 1 | The Shadows To The Fore | The Shadows | 10-Jun-1961 | 1 | 115 | 28 |
| 2 | The Beach Boy Hits | The Beach Boys | 14-May-1966 | 1 | 84 | 34 |
| 3 | Strictly For Grown-Ups | Paddy Roberts | 21-Nov-1959 | 1 | 82 | 20 |
| 4 | The Shadows | The Shadows | 21-Jan-1961 | 1 | 86 | 20 |
| 5 | Twist And Shout | The Beatles | 20-Jul-1963 | 1 | 64 | 21 |
| 6 | Five By Five | The Rolling Stones | 22-Aug-1964 | 1 | 54 | 21 |
| 7 | Four Tops Hits | The Four Top | 11-Mar-1967 | 1 | 41 | 22 |
| 8 | The Rolling Stones | The Rolling Stones | 18-Jan-1964 | 1 | 57 | 14 |
| 9 | Highlights From South Pacific | An Original Soundtrack Recording | 06-Aug-1960 | 1 | 87 | 10 |
| 10 | Follow That Dream – 4 Great Songs From This Great Movie | Elvis Presley | 09-Jun-1962 | 1 | 51 | 20 |
| 11 | Frank Ifield’s Hits | Frank Ifield | 08-Dec-1962 | 1 | 59 | 13 |
| 12 | Kid Galahad | Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires – | 03-Nov-1962 | 1 | 44 | 17 |
| 13 | Strictly Elvis | Elvis Presley | 23-Jan-1960 | 1 | 70 | 6 |
| 14 | All My Loving | The Beatles | 08-Feb-1964 | 1 | 44 | 8 |
| 15 | Adam’s Hit Parade | Adam Faith | 24-Sep-1960 | 1 | 77 | 3 |
| 16 | Expresso Bongo (Original Soundtrack) | Cliff Richard and The Shadows | 19-Dec-1959 | 1 | 40 | 11 |
| 17 | Cliff’s Silver Discs | Cliff Richard and The Shadows | 10-Dec-1960 | 1 | 57 | 3 |
| 18 | Spotlight On The Shadows | The Shadows | 10-Feb-1962 | 1 | 60 | 8 |
| 19 | The One In The Middle | Manfred Mann | 12-Jun-1965 | 1 | 38 | 9 |
| 20 | Helen | Helen Shapiro | 25-Nov-1961 | 1 | 43 | 9 |
| 21 | Long Tall Sally | The Beatles | 04-Jul-1964 | 1 | 37 | 7 |
| 22 | The Seekers | The Seekers | 24-Jul-1965 | 1 | 50 | 3 |
| 23 | Hits From The Seekers | The Seekers | 16-Jul-1966 | 2 | 75 | |
| 24 | Kwyet Kinks | The Kinks | 25-Sep-1965 | 1 | 32 | 7 |
| 25 | Nina And Frederik | Nina and Frederik | 02-Jan-1960 | 2 | 123 | |
| 26 | I Need You | The Walker Brothers | 18-Jun-1966 | 1 | 25 | 13 |
| 27 | The Green Shades Of Val Doonican | Val Doonican | 20-Feb-1965 | 1 | 39 | 4 |
| 28 | Theme Music From ‘The Boys’ | The Shadows | 13-Oct-1962 | 1 | 46 | 3 |
| 29 | The Beatles’ Hits | The Beatles | 21-Sep-1963 | 1 | 44 | 3 |
| 30 | The Four Tops | The Four Tops | 29-Oct-1966 | 2 | 60 | |
| 31 | Beatles For Sale | The Beatles | 10-Apr-1965 | 1 | 47 | 6 |
| 32 | Morningtown Ride | The Seekers | 11-Feb-1967 | 1 | 45 | 1 |
| 33 | The Button-Down Mind Of Bob Newhart | Bob Newhart | 10-Jun-1961 | 2 | 64 | |
| 34 | Helen’s Hit Parade | Helen Shapiro | 10-Feb-1962 | 1 | 36 | 4 |
| 35 | From The Black And White Minstrel Show | The George Mitchell Minstrels | 23-Jun-1962 | 1 | 55 | 1 |
| 36 | Got Live If You Want It! | The Rolling Stones | 19-Jun-1965 | 1 | 42 | 2 |
| 37 | The Universal Soldier | Donovan | 21-Aug-1965 | 1 | 30 | 8 |
| 38 | Paul Jones Sings Songs From The Film Privilege | Paul Jones | 06-May-1967 | 1 | 33 | 3 |
| 39 | Extracts From The Film A Hard Day’s Night | The Beatles | 14-Nov-1964 | 1 | 30 | 6 |
| 40 | The Beatles’ Million Sellers | The Beatles | 11-Dec-1965 | 1 | 26 | 4 |
| 41 | No Living Without Loving | Manfred Mann | 27-Nov-1965 | 1 | 24 | 7 |
| 42 | The Best Of Bennett | Tony Bennett | 07-Jan-1967 | 2 | 49 | |
| 43 | Billy Fury In Play It Cool | Billy Fury | 09-Jun-1962 | 2 | 45 | |
| 44 | Four Hits And A Mister | Mr. Acker Bilk | 14-Apr-1962 | 2 | 56 | |
| 45 | With God On Our Side | Joan Baez | 26-Mar-1966 | 1 | 36 | 1 |
| 46 | Hits From The Young Ones | Cliff Richard-The Shadows | 14-Apr-1962 | 1 | 39 | 2 |
| 47 | The Bachelors’ Hits | The Bachelors | 09-May-1964 | 1 | 33 | 2 |
| 48 | Such A Night | Elvis Presley with The Jordanaires | 05-Nov-1960 | 2 | 69 | |
| 49 | Easy Come, Easy Go (Oiginal Soundtrack) | Elvis Presley | 01-Jul-1967 | 1 | 25 | 3 |
| 50 | Unforgettable | Nat King Cole | 15-Oct-1960 | 2 | 62 |
With grateful thanks to my co-author on the Complete Book of the Briish Charts, Neil Warwick for providing this information.