UK Number One Albums in the 60s

The United Kingdom Albums Chart (currently called the Official Albums Chart) was published for the first time on July 22, 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on Fridays (previously Sundays). It is broadcast on BBC Radio 1 (top 5) and published in Music Week magazine (top 75), and on the OCC website (top 100).

To qualify for the Official Albums Chart the album must be the correct length and price. It must be more than three tracks or 20 minutes long and not be classed as a budget album. A budget album costs between £0.50 and £3.75. Additionally, various artist compilations – which until January 1989 were included in the main album listing – are now listed separately in a compilations chart. Full details of the rules can be found on the OCC website.

According to the canon of the OCC, the official British albums chart was the Melody Maker chart from November 8, 1958 to March 1960 (although the Record Mirror published charts from July 22, 1956); the Record Retailer chart from 1960 to 1969; and the Official Albums Chart from 1969 on. In the 1970s the new album chart was revealed at 12:45 pm on Thursdays on BBC Radio 1, and then moved to 6:05 pm (later 6:30 pm) on Wednesday evenings during the Peter Powell and Bruno Brookes shows. In October 1987 it moved to Monday lunchtimes, during the Gary Davies show, and from April to October 1993 it briefly had its own show from 7:00–8:00 pm on Sunday evenings, introduced by Lynn Parsons. Since October 1993 it has been included in The Official Chart show from 4:00 – 5:45 pm on Fridays (previously from 4:00 – 7:00 pm on Sundays). A weekly 'Album Chart' show was licensed out to BBC Radio 2 and presented by Simon Mayo, until it ended on April 2, 2007.

Though album sales tend to produce more revenue and, over time, act as a greater measure of an artist's success, this chart receives less media attention than the UK Singles Chart, because overall sales of an album are more important than its peak position.

The first number one album of the UK Albums Chart was Songs for Swingin' Lovers! by Frank Sinatra on July 22, 1956.

## UK Number One Albums of the 60s

### Diana Ross & The Supremes

***The Supremes*** were an American female singing group and the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and are, to date, America's most successful vocal group. The Supremes were originally Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross, and Betty McGlown. Barbara Martin replaced McGlown in 1960, and the group signed with Motown the following year as the Supremes. Martin left the act in early 1962, and Ross, Ballard, and Wilson carried on as a trio.

Most of these hits were written and produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland. At their peak in the mid-1960s, the Supremes rivalled the Beatles in worldwide popularity, and it is said that their success made it possible for future African American R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success.

During the mid-1960s, the Supremes achieved mainstream success with Ross as lead singer and Holland-Dozier-Holland as its songwriting and production team. In 1967, Motown president Berry Gordy renamed the group Diana Ross & the Supremes, and replaced Ballard with Cindy Birdsong.

#### February 17, 1968: Greatest Hits

Released as a two-LP collection of singles and b-sides recorded in the US, the collection was the first LP to credit the group under the new billing Diana Ross & the Supremes. However, overseas it was shortened to one LP. The track listing for this version includes only the major singles, omitting "Ask Any Girl", "Standing at the Crossroads of Love", "Everything is Good About You", "There's No Stopping Us Now", "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes", and "Run, Run, Run". Although founding member Florence Ballard is pictured on all album artwork and sings on all the tracks, by the time the set was released, she had been fired from the group and replaced by Cindy Birdsong.

* Released August 29, 1967
* Three weeks
* Listen to *Greatest Hits* (Prof Nostalgia playlist) on Spotify

#### February 15, 1969: Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations

***Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations*** is a collaborative album combining Motown's two best selling groups, Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations. Issued by Motown to coincide with the broadcast of the Supremes/Temptations TCB television special.

* Released November 8, 1968
* Four weeks
* Listen to *Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations* on Deezer

### Four Tops

***The Four Tops*** are a vocal quartet from Detroit, Michigan, USA, who helped to define the city's Motown sound of the 1960s. The group's repertoire has included soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, doo-wop, jazz, and show tunes.Founded as the Four Aims, lead singer Levi Stubbs, Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton remained together for over four decades, performing from 1953 until 1997 without a change in personnel.

A change of lineup was forced on the group when Lawrence Payton died in 1997. The group initially continued as a three-piece under the name the Tops, before Theo Peoples (formerly of the Temptations) was recruited as the new fourth member. Peoples eventually took over the role of lead singer when Stubbs suffered a stroke in 2000, with Ronnie McNeir then joining the group. In 2005, Benson died of lung cancer. Payton's son Roquel Payton replaced him. Levi Stubbs died in 2008.

Fakir, McNeir, Roquel Payton, and Harold "Spike" Bonhart, who replaced Peoples in 2011, are still performing together as the Four Tops. Fakir is the only surviving founding member of the group.

#### February 10, 1968: *Four Tops* *Greatest Hits*

***The Four Tops Greatest Hits*** peaked at #4 on the Billboard album chart in the United States, remaining on that chart for 73 weeks, and is the first Motown album to reach #1 in Britain.

* Released August 29, 1967
* One week
* Listen to Four Tops Greatest Hits on *Spotify* (playlist)

### Val Doonican

***Val Doonican*** (February 3, 1927 – July 1, 2015) was an Irish singer of traditional pop, easy listening, and novelty songs, who was noted for his warm and relaxed style. A crooner, he found popular success, especially in the United Kingdom where he had five successive Top 10 albums in the 1960s as well as several hits on the UK Singles Chart, including "If the Whole World Stopped Lovin'", "Walk Tall" and "Elusive Butterfly". The Val Doonican Show, which featured his singing and a variety of guests, had a long and successful run on BBC Television from 1965 to 1986 and Doonican won the Variety Club of Great Britain's BBC-TV Personality of the Year award three times. Doonican had a gentle baritone voice and, according to The Guardian, he had "an easygoing, homely charm that enchanted middle England".

#### January 6, 1968: *Val Doonican Rocks, But Gently*

**Val Doonican Rocks, But Gently** was the only number one in the UK Albums Chart for the Irish singer, Val Doonican. The idea for the album came from the popular closing sequence of Doonican's TV show, in which he sang a song while seated in a rocking chair.

* Released November, 1967
* Three weeks
* Listen to a partial playlist of *Val Doonican Rocks, But Gently* on Deezer.

### Original Soundtrack

#### June 5, 1965: *The Sound of Music*

The soundtrack of the film ***The Sound of Music*** was released in 1965. It was the biggest-selling album in the UK during 1965, 1966, and 1968, and the second biggest-selling of the decade after the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Three songs from the Broadway production, "An Ordinary Couple", "How Can Love Survive?", and "No Way to Stop It" were replaced with two new songs, "I Have Confidence" and "Something Good". For the original Broadway show, the music was written by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II; the lyrics and music for the new songs were written by Rodgers, as Hammerstein died in 1960.

* 10 weeks, plus 60 further weeks:
* October 16, 1965 (10 weeks);
* February 19, 1966: (10 weeks);
* June 25, 1966 (seven weeks);
* October 1, 1966 (18 weeks);
* March 25, 1967 (seven weeks);
* May 20, 1967 (one week);
* June 3, 1967 (one week);
* November 18, 1967 (one week);
* December 2, 1967 (three weeks);
* January 27, 1968 (one week); and
* November 23, 1968 (one week)
* Listen to *The Sound of Music* on Deezer.