List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 1950s
Introduction Frank Sinatra spent 14 weeks at the top of the UK Album Chart during the 1950s, longer than any other artist.|alt=The UK Albums Chart is a record chart based on weekly album sales; during the 1950s, a total of 17 different albums reached number one. 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 55 weeks in 1960 and 1961, totalling a record of 115 weeks at number-one in the UK. It was number-one for the entire year in 1959.The UK Albums Chart canon was modified when chart fans Alan Smith and Keith Badman discovered that charts of albums in the UK dated back to 28 July 1956, not 8 November 1958 as previously thought. The first album chart was a Top 5 published in ''Record Mirror''. The album at number one on this chart was ''Songs for Swingin' Lovers!'' by Frank Sinatra. From 8 November 1958, a Top 10 album chart was compiled by ''Melody Maker''. Although the ''Record Mirror'' chart continued to run after this date, ''Melody Maker'' is taken as the canonical source as it had a larger sample. 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. Nevertheless, the ''South Pacific'' soundtrack was number one for the entire duration of 1959.
Number ones +Keynth album to top the UK Albums ChartreReturn of an album to number oneBest-selling album of the yearThe album spent a week at number onewhere it shared the top spot with another album19561957195819591960s →ArtistAlbumRecord labelReached number oneWeeks atnumber one''Songs for Swingin' Lovers! ''Capitol2Original soundtrack''Carousel'' Capitol2''Songs for Swingin' Lovers! ''Capitol1Original soundtrack''Carousel'' Capitol4Original soundtrack''Oklahoma! ''Capitol2Original soundtrack''''Capitol2''Rock 'n' Roll Stage Show''Brunswick1Original soundtrack''''Capitol1''Rock 'N' Roll''HMV1Original soundtrack''''Capitol14.515 Original soundtrack''High Society''Capitol1.01 ''This Is Sinatra! ''Capitol1Original soundtrack'''' Capitol1''This Is Sinatra! ''Capitol1Original soundtrack'''' Capitol1''This Is Sinatra! ''Capitol1Original soundtrack'''' Capitol3''This Is Sinatra! ''Capitol1Original soundtrack'''' Capitol5.56 ''Love Is the Thing''Capitol1.01 Original soundtrack''Oklahoma! ''Capitol 1Original soundtrack'''' Capitol410''''Decca3Original soundtrack'''' Capitol3''''Decca 111''Loving You''RCA212''''Capitol7''Loving You''RCA1Original soundtrack'''' Capitol1113Original soundtrack''Pal Joey''Capitol7Original soundtrack''''Capitol1Original soundtrack''Pal Joey''Capitol414Original soundtrack''''Decca215Original cast''My Fair Lady'' Philips1916''King Creole''RCA717Original soundtrack''South Pacific''RCA Victor70''No new number one – the original soundtrack to South Pacific remained at the top of the chart throughout 1959  and into 1960 ''19561957195819591960s →===By artist===Elvis Presley topped the UK Albums Chart for 11 weeks during the 1950s.|alt=Five artists topped the album chart during the 1950s. Original soundtracks and cast recordings are omitted.ArtistNumber onesWeeks at number oneAlbums314''Songs for Swingin' Lovers!'' (1956, three weeks at number one)''This Is Sinatra!'' (1957, four weeks)''A Swingin' Affair!'' (1957, seven weeks)311''Rock 'N' Roll'' (1956, one week at number one)''Loving You'' (1957, three weeks)''King Creole'' (1958, seven weeks)14''The Tommy Steele Story'' (1957, four weeks at number one)11''Love Is the Thing'' (1957, one week at number one)11''Rock 'n' Roll Stage Show'' (1957, one week at number one)
Christmas number ones In the UK, Christmas number-one albums are those that are at the top of the UK Albums Chart on Christmas Day. Typically, this will refer to the album that was announced as number one on the Sunday before 25 December—when Christmas Day falls on a Sunday itself, the official number one is considered by the OCC to be the one announced on that day's chart. During the 1950s, the following albums were Christmas number ones.YearArtistAlbumRecord labelWeeks atnumber one1956Original soundtrack''''Capitol481957Original soundtrack''''Capitol481958Original soundtrack''South Pacific''RCA Victor1151959Original soundtrack''South Pacific''RCA Victor115
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:DatesMelody MakerRecord Mirror8 November –Original soundtrack – ''South Pacific'' (8 weeks) – ''King Creole'' (1 week) Original cast – ''My Fair Lady'' (4 weeks)Original soundtrack – ''South Pacific'' (3 weeks)
Notes
References ;Footnotes;Sources*
External links * Archive of all UK Number One Albums of the 1950s with images of original packaging* Official UK Albums Top 100 at the Official Charts Company* The Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart at BBC Radio 1