List of 1950s UK Albums Chart number ones

UK number-one albums
1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
UK Albums Chart Official Charts Company Christmas number one

The canon was further modified when psephologists Alan Smith and Keith Badman discovered that the album charts dated back to 28 July 1956, not 8 November 1958 as previously thought.^[1] The first album chart was a Top 5 published in Record Mirror.^[2] From 8 November 1958, a Top 10 album chart was compiled by Melody Maker;^[2] although the Mirror chart continued to run after this date, Melody Maker is taken as the canonical source as it had a larger sample.^[3] In 1959, from June to August a newspaper strike prevented the album chart from being published and the previous chart was duplicated in these weeks.^[2] Nevertheless, the South Pacific soundtrack was number one for the entire duration of 1959.

The following albums were all number one in the United Kingdom in the 1950s.^[4]^[5]^[6]

There were 15 number-one albums in this decade. The longest run at number-one was the original soundtrack of the movie South Pacific, which held on to the top spot for 60 consecutive weeks in the 1950s, and went on to attain another 50 weeks in 1960 & 1961, totalling a record of 110 weeks at number-one in the UK. It was number-one for the entire year in 1959.

1 Number-one albums
2 Comparison to Record Mirror album chart
3 Notes
4 References
5 External links

Number-one albums

Key: † – Best-selling album of the year^[7]^[3]^[8]^[9]^[10]; ^{[nb #]} – The album spent a week at number one where it shared the top spot with another album.

Contents
1950s: 1956 · 1957 · 1958 · 1959 · 1960s →

Artist^{[nb 1]}	Album	Reached #1	Weeks
Sinatra, FrankFrank Sinatra	Songs for Swingin' Lovers!	01956-07-28 28 July 1956	2
Original Soundtrack	Carousel †	01956-08-11 11 August 1956	2
Sinatra, FrankFrank Sinatra	Songs for Swingin' Lovers!	01956-08-25 25 August 1956	1
Original Soundtrack	Carousel †	01956-09-01 1 September 1956	4
Original Soundtrack	Oklahoma!	01956-09-29 29 September 1956	2
Original Soundtrack	The King and I	01956-10-13 13 October 1956	2
Haley, Bill !Bill Haley & His Comets	Rock 'n' Roll Stage Show	01956-10-27 27 October 1956	1
Original Soundtrack	The King and I	01956-11-03 3 November 1956	1
Presley, ElvisElvis Presley	Rock 'N' Roll	01956-11-10 10 November 1956	1
Original Soundtrack	The King and I	01956-11-17 17 November 1956	14.5^{[nb 2]}15^{[nb 2]}
Artist^{[nb 1]}	Album	Reached #1	Weeks
Original Soundtrack	High Society	01957-02-16 16 February 1957	1.0^{[nb 2]}1^{[nb 2]}
Sinatra, FrankFrank Sinatra	This Is Sinatra!	01957-03-02 2 March 1957	1
Original Soundtrack	The King and I †	01957-03-09 9 March 1957	1
Sinatra, FrankFrank Sinatra	This Is Sinatra!	01957-03-16 16 March 1957	1
Original Soundtrack	The King and I †	01957-03-23 23 March 1957	1
Sinatra, FrankFrank Sinatra	This Is Sinatra!	01957-03-30 30 March 1957	1
Original Soundtrack	The King and I †	01957-04-06 6 April 1957	3
Sinatra, FrankFrank Sinatra	This Is Sinatra!	01957-04-27 27 April 1957	3
Original Soundtrack	The King and I †	01957-05-04 4 May 1957	5.5^{[nb 3]}6^{[nb 3]}
Cole, Nat KingNat King Cole	Love Is the Thing	01957-06-08 8 June 1957	1.0^{[nb 3]}1^{[nb 3]}
Original Soundtrack	Oklahoma!	01957-06-15 15 June 1957	1
Original Soundtrack	The King and I †	01957-06-22 22 June 1957	4
Steele, TommyTommy Steele	The Tommy Steele Story	01957-07-20 20 July 1957	3
Original Soundtrack	The King and I †	01957-08-10 10 August 1957	3
Steele, TommyTommy Steele	The Tommy Steele Story	01957-08-31 31 August 1957	1
Presley, ElvisElvis Presley	Loving You (OST)	01957-09-07 7 September 1957	2
Sinatra, FrankFrank Sinatra	A Swingin' Affair	01957-09-21 21 September 1957	7
Presley, ElvisElvis Presley	Loving You (OST)	01957-11-09 9 November 1957	1
Original Soundtrack	The King and I †	01957-11-16 16 November 1957	11
Artist^{[nb 1]}	Album	Reached #1	Weeks
Original Soundtrack	Pal Joey	01958-02-02 2 February 1958	7
Original Soundtrack	The King and I	01958-03-22 22 March 1958	1
Original Soundtrack	Pal Joey	01958-03-29 29 March 1958	4
Original Soundtrack	The Duke Wore Jeans	01958-04-26 26 April 1958	2
Original Cast	My Fair Lady †	01958-05-10 10 May 1958	19
Presley, ElvisElvis Presley	King Creole	01958-09-20 20 September 1958	7
Original Soundtrack	South Pacific †	01958-11-08 8 November 1958	70
Artist^{[nb 1]}	Album	Reached #1	Weeks

Comparison to Record Mirror album chart

From 8 November 1958, Melody Maker is regarded as the canonical source. Record Mirror continued to compile an album chart with the following differences:^[3]

Dates	Melody Maker	Record Mirror
8 November – 01958-12-27 27 December 1958	Original Soundtrack – South Pacific (8 weeks)	Presley, ElvisElvis Presley – King Creole (1 week) Original Cast – My Fair Lady (4 weeks) Original Soundtrack – South Pacific (3 weeks)

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d The artist, album name, week-ending date of number one and its consecutive duration are those given by The Official Charts Company.^[11]
^ ^a ^b Both Original Soundtracks for The King and I and High Society were classified jointly as number one on 16 February 1957. In the weeks before and after The King and I held the number-one spot outright.^[11]
^ ^a ^b Both the Original Soundtrack for The King and I and Nat King Cole's Love Is the Thing were classified jointly as number one on 8 June 1957. The King and I was number one spot the previous week and the following week the Oklahoma! soundtrack took the top spot.^[11]

References

Footnotes

^ Sharp, Johnny (29 July 2006). "Chart and soul". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguide/music/story/0,,1831551,00.html. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c Warwick, Kutner & Brown 2004, p. viii.
^ ^a ^b ^c Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1958". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 22 June 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070622180002/www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1958.php. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
^ http://www.everyhit.com/numberalb1.html
^ http://www.theofficialcharts.com/all_the_no1_albums.php
^ http://www.chartstats.com/number1s.php?type=albums&decade=1950
^ Warwick, Kutner & Brown 2004, p. 26.
^ Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1956". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070613012913/www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1956.php. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
^ Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1957". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 22 June 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070622175942/www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1957.php. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
^ Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1959". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 4 July 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070704140652/www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1959.php. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Number 1 Albums – 1950s". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 7 April 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080407233142/www.theofficialcharts.com/all_the_no1_albums.php. Retrieved 30 October 2010.

Sources

Warwick, Neil; Kutner, Jon; Brown, Tony (2004). The Complete Book Of The British Charts: Singles and Albums (3rd ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 1-84449-058-0.

External links

Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1956". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070613012913/www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1956.php. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1957". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 22 June 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070622175942/www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1957.php. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1958". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 22 June 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070622180002/www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1958.php. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1959". The Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 4 July 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070704140652/www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1959.php. Retrieved 30 October 2010.

UK Music Charts

UK Singles Chart	Number ones (of the 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s • 2010s) Best-selling (of the 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s) Best-selling by year • Christmas number ones • Number-one artists • Most number ones • Most weeks on chart • One-hit wonders • Instrumental number ones • Posthumous number ones • Simultaneous UK and US number ones • Top 10 singles • Records

UK Albums Chart	Number ones (of the 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s • 2010s) Best-selling (of the 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s) Best-selling by year • Christmas number ones • Most number ones • Most weeks on chart • One-hit wonders • Posthumous number ones • Simultaneous UK and US number ones

UK Official Download Chart	Number-one singles (of the 2000s • 2010s) Number-one albums (of the 2000s • 2010s) Best-selling • Christmas number ones • Number-one artists • Most number-one singles • One-hit wonders

Other charts	Fab 40 • NME number-one singles • Number-one EPs • Number-one singles by radio airplay • Official Subscription Plays Chart • Record Mirror number-one singles • Scottish Singles and Albums Charts • UK Classical Charts • UK Compilation Chart • UK Dance Chart • UK Indie Chart • UK Indie Breakers Chart • UK Rock Chart • UK R&B Chart

Related	Midweeks • Music Week • Official Charts Company • The Radio 1 Chart Show • UKChartsPlus • UK DVD Chart • UK music charts (1952–1969) • UKHOT40 • The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles • The Vodafone Big Top 40