UK Number One Albums in the 70s

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 in the 70s

### ABBA

***ABBA*** were a Swedish pop group, formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They became one of the most commercially successful acts in the history of popular music, topping the charts worldwide from 1974 to 1982. ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest 1974, giving Sweden its first triumph in the contest. They are the most successful group to have taken part in the competition.

#### February 4, 1978: *The Album*

Released in conjunction with ABBA: The Movie, it featured several of the songs from the film.

The album contained two UK number-one singles, "Take a Chance on Me" and "The Name of the Game", as well as European hits "Eagle" and "Thank You for the Music".

* Released January 13, 1978
* Seven weeks
* Platinum
* Listen to *The Album* on Google Play Music

### Bread

***Bread*** was an American soft rock band from Los Angeles, California. The band consisted of David Gates (vocals, bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, violin, viola, percussion), Jimmy Griffin (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion) and Robb Royer (bass guitar, guitar, flute, keyboards, percussion, recorder, backing vocals). On their first album session musician Jim Gordon played drums, percussion, and piano. Mike Botts became their permanent drummer when he joined in the summer of 1969, and Larry Knechtel replaced Royer in 1971, playing keyboards, bass guitar, guitar, and harmonica.

#### November 26, 1977: *The Sound of Bread - Their 20 Finest Songs*

***The Sound of Bread, Their 20 Finest Songs*** is a compilation album by American soft rock band, Bread. The album was issued in the US in 1985 as Anthology of Bread.

* Released October 21, 1977
* Two weeks; returned to No 1 on January 21, 1978 for a further week
* Platinum
* Listen to *The Sound of Bread* on Deezer.

### Fleetwood Mac

***Fleetwood Mac*** are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967 and have become one of the world's best-selling bands. In 1998, selected members of Fleetwood Mac were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.

Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, with bassist John McVie joining in time to record their self-titled debut album. Danny Kirwan joined as a third guitarist in 1969, and keyboardist Christine Perfect, who was used as a session musician starting with the second album, later married John McVie and joined the band in 1970. During this time period, the band was primarily a British blues outfit, scoring a UK number one with "Albatross".Personal problems led to original guitarists Green and Spencer leaving, replaced by Bob Welch and Bob Weston. However, by 1974, Welch and Weston had both left, leaving the band without a primary male vocalist or lead guitarist.

In late 1974, the band were introduced to folk-rock duo Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The band sought to add Buckingham as their new lead guitarist, who agreed under the condition that Nicks, his singing partner and girlfriend at the time, also would join the band. The addition of Buckingham and Nicks caused the band to take on a more pop rock sound, with their 1975 album Fleetwood Mac becoming their best selling record to date, reaching No. 1 in the US. Rumours (1977), Fleetwood Mac's second album after the incorporation of Buckingham and Nicks, has sold over 40 million copies worldwide. During the recording of Rumours, the band went through personal turmoil, as both of the romantic partnerships in the band (John & Christine McVie and Buckingam & Nicks) separated, though the band kept making music together.

The lineup remained stable through three more studio albums, but by the late 1980s the band began to disintegrate. First to leave was Buckingham, followed by Nicks in 1991, to be replaced by a series of short-term guitarists and vocalists. In 1993, a one-off performance for the Presidential Inauguration of Bill Clinton featured the five key members back together for the first time in six years, and by 1997, a full reunion occurred. In 1998, Christine McVie retired from touring, and the band stayed together as a four-piece with John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks.

#### January 28, 1978: *Rumours*

***Rumours*** is the eleventh studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. Largely recorded during 1976, the record reached the top of both the United States Billboard chart and the United Kingdom Albums Chart. The songs "Go Your Own Way", "Dreams", "Don't Stop", and "You Make Loving Fun" were released as singles. Rumours is Fleetwood Mac's most successful release; along with winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978, the album has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. Rumours has received diamond certifications in several countries, including the US, Canada, and Australia.

The Rumours studio sessions were marked by hedonistic behaviour and interpersonal strife among members; these experiences shaped the album's lyrics and tracks were recorded using a combination of acoustic and electric instruments. The mixing process delayed the completion of Rumours, but was finished by the end of 1976.

Rumours garnered widespread critical acclaim. Praise centred on its production quality and harmonies, which frequently relied on the interplay among three vocalists. Often considered Fleetwood Mac's best release, it has featured in several publications' lists of the best albums of the 1970s and the best albums of all time.

* Released February 11, 1977
* One week, 10x Platinum
* Has spent over 700 weeks in the UK charts
* A remastered and expanded release in 2004 has achieved Gold status
* Listen to *Rumours* on Deezer

#### November 10, 1979: *Tusk*

***Tusk*** is the twelfth album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. Released as a double album in 1979, it is considered experimental, primarily due to Lindsey Buckingham's sparser songwriting arrangements and the influence of punk rock and new wave on his production techniques. Although Tusk polarised critics and the public alike upon its initial release, it has since been reevaluated over time and praised for its experimentation. Compared to the sales of 1977's Rumours the album was regarded as a commercial failure by the label.

* Released October 19, 1979

* One week, Platinum
* Listen to *Tusk* on Deezer

### Cliff Richard

***Cliff Richard*** is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor and philanthropist. Richard has sold more than 250 million records worldwide. He has total sales of over 21 million singles in the United Kingdom and is the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart history, behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley. With his backing group, The Shadows, Richard dominated the British popular music scene in the pre-Beatles period of the late 1950s to early 1960s.

Over a career spanning almost 60 years, Richard has amassed many gold and platinum discs and awards, including three Brit Awards—winning Best British Male twice and the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, and two Ivor Novello Awards. He has had more than 130 singles, albums and EPs make the UK Top 20, more than any other artist.

#### November 5, 1977: *40 Golden Greats*

***40 Golden Greats*** is a double compilation album by Cliff Richard made up of his biggest hit songs from the start of his music career (with his original backing band The Shadows) through to his most recent solo hits of the time.

* One week, Platinum
* Released September, 1977
* Listen to *40 Golden Greats* on Deezer.

### Sex Pistols

***The Sex Pistols*** were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although they initially lasted just two and a half years and produced only four singles and one studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, they have been called one of the most influential acts in the history of popular music, having initiated the punk movement in the United Kingdom, and inspired many later punk and alternative rock musicians.

#### November 12, 1977: *Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols*

* Two weeks, Gold (November 17, 1977), Platinum (January 15, 1988)
* Released October 28, 1977
* Listen to Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols on Deezer.

### Various Artists

#### December 10, 1977: *Disco Fever*

* Six weeks, Platinum
* Released November 1, 1977
* Listen to Disco Fever (Prof Nostalgia partial playlist) on Deezer.

In 1966 K-Tel of Canada released their first compilation album, 25 Country Hits, every copy of which sold. Their second release, "25 Polka Greats" sold 1.5m copies in the US alone. A UK-based division of K-Tel Records was founded in the early 70s and the company released compilation albums that combined material from a number of popular artists onto a single theme album using the tag line "20 Original Hits! 20 Original Stars!".

Disco Fever contained "20 Original disco hits" from artists such as Baccara, Hot Chocolate, Billy Ocean, Brotherhood of Man, Showaddywaddy and The Boomtown Rats.