The UK Albums Chart is a weekly record chart based on album sales from Sunday to Saturday in the United Kingdom. It listed only physical album sales until 2007, after which it also included albums sold digitally and streams (the latter included in 2015).[1] The chart is currently compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on behalf of the UK music industry,[2] and each week's new number one is first announced by BBC Radio 1 on their weekly chart show.[3]

The definition of a "one-hit wonder", as given by the reference text The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums, was any act that achieves a number one on the UK Album Chart and no other Top 40 entry. However, when Guinness first published the list in the 1980s the hit albums chart was a Top 100 with compilations included, until being split at the end of 1989 into a Top 75 Hit/Official Albums Chart and Top 20 Hit/Official Compilations Chart,[4] with a Top 200 artist albums chart being available to industry insiders from the 1990s. One hit wonders on the Singles Chart are artists with their number one being also their only Top 75 entry. Since the album chart was first published on 28 July 1956,[5] 21 acts have reached number one and had no other hit albums (Top 75 entries). Artists who have topped the album chart as solo artists but also charted as members of groups are exempted from the main list as well as those with smaller hits (listed separately).

One-hit wonders

Artist Album Record label Reached number
one (for the week ending)
Weeks at number one Notes Ref.
Freddy Cannon The Explosive Freddy Cannon Top Rank 12 March 1960 1 The first number one album on the Record Retailer chart [6]
Blind Faith Blind Faith Polydor 20 September 1969 2 Although the band Blind Faith had one number-one album and nothing else, each member of the supergroup (including Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton) had further album chart success. [7]
Johnny Hates Jazz Turn Back the Clock Virgin 23 January 1988 1 Follow-up album Tall Stories (with The Cure's Phil Thornalley on vocals) failed to make the Top 75, while a couple of reunion albums in the 21st Century also failed to reach the chart. [8]
The Farm Spartacus Produce 16 March 1991 1 Follow-up albums failed to make the Top 75 [9]
Chaka Demus & Pliers Tease Me Mango 29 January 1994 2 Had originally peaked at number 26 in July 1993, before being re-released and topping the chart in January 1994. [10]
Steve Brookstein Heart and Soul Syco 21 May 2005 1 Winner of the 2004 series of The X Factor. Follow-up album 40,000 Things failed to make the Top 75 [11]
Ray Quinn Doing It My Way Syco 24 March 2007 1 Runner-up in the 2006 series of The X Factor Follow-up album Undeniable failed to chart. [12]
The Commonwealth Band Sing Decca 9 June 2012 3 Co-credit with Gary Barlow [13]
Pnau Good Morning to the Night Mercury 28 July 2012 1 Co-credit with Elton John. Pnau have had charting albums in their native country Australia, band member Nick Littlemore has had three albums chart on the UK Album Top 100 with Empire of the Sun[14] [15]
Conor Maynard Contrast Parlophone 11 August 2012 1 Follow-up album Covers failed to make the Top 75. [16]
Jahméne Douglas Love Never Fails RCA 3 August 2013 1 Runner-up in the 2012 series of The X Factor. Follow-up album Unfathomable Phantasmagoria failed to make the Top 75. [17]
Viola Beach Viola Beach Fuller Beans 11 August 2016 1 The band's only album was released posthumously, all of the band members having died in a road accident earlier in the year. [18]
Tom Walker What a Time to Be Alive Relentless 14 March 2019 1 In 2017, Walker released a five-track live EP (mini-album) called Blessings which did not chart. As of November 2019 he is working on a follow-up album.[19] [20]
Celeste Not Your Muse Polydor 11 February 2021 1 Compilation 1.1, a digital-exclusive re-issue of the EP Lately with extra songs "Coco Blood" and "Strange", reached number 7 on the UK Album Downloads Chart. [21]
Wet Leg Wet Leg Domino 15 April 2022 1 As well as getting an OCC Award for a number one album, this duo were nearly in the running for the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles list of 'Least successful chart acts' (one single at number 75 for one week) as their discography now consists of two singles which have peaks of number 74 and 75,[22] with each single staying on the chart for 1 week each. [23]
Sam Ryder There's Nothing but Space, Man! Parlophone/Warners 22 December 2022 1 Ryder was the entry for the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022, with his song "Space Man" coming second on 466 points.[24] [25]
Boygenius The Record Interscope 7 April 2023 1 Boygenius is an indie supergroup[26] with the act collectively having two Top 75 album chart hits to their name before releasing The Record. Out of the three members, Phoebe Bridgers[27] has had the most success in the UK chart as a solo artist with Punisher, her second studio album, getting to number 6 in July 2020, while Julien Baker's third album Little Oblivions peaked at number 51[28] in March 2021. In addition to these solo Top 75 hits, Home Video by the band's third member Lucy Dacus managed a number 85 chart position on the Top 100 in July 2021, but has no solo hits to her name, whether on the singles or albums chart.[29] In addition, The Record also debuted at number one on the Official Charts Company's Irish Albums Chart Top 50, making them a one hit wonder in Ireland as well.[30] [31]
Cian Ducrot Victory Polydor 17 August 2023 1 This album sold the same amount of CDs (10,299) as the number two, Smile by Skindred, and managed to reach the number one spot with a gap of 149 units with Ducrot's 15,668 total sales being made up of 1,413 LPs, 689 cassettes, 1,484 downloads and points from streaming (the 15,519 sales for Skindred was also made up of CDs, digital sales, LPs and cassettes plus 312 USB sticks). However, neither act was at number one in the first released chart update, with People Like Me & You by The Sherlocks at the top and Skindred taking over the top spot for most of the week until the very last day.[32] [33]
Ren Sick Boi The Other Songs 26 October 2023 1 This album was placed at number two in the midweek charts with Rick Astley's Are We There Yet? being the number one album for most of the week. As Ren Gill was only 133 sales behind Astley when the update was issued on Wednesday, it was decided that a £4.99 digital version of his album would go on sale on his website on the Thursday, securing 4,533 more sales on the last day of tracking and the number one spot when the Official Albums Chart was released on 20 October 2023.[34][35][36][37] [38]
The Last Dinner Party Prelude to Ecstasy Island 9 February 2024 1 The 2024 Brit Award Rising Star winner sold 32,846 copies, including 14,058 LPs, 10,981 CDs and 1,852 cassettes, to debut at number one.[39] [40]
Noah Kahan Stick Season Republic 16 February 2024 1 The Stick Season album reached number one due to a new edition of the album being released, which featured new track "Forever" alongside collaborations with Hozier, Post Malone and Sam Fender. Stick Season topped the chart 69 weeks after the original album was released and 35 weeks after it first charted in the UK albums chart.[41][42][43][44] [45]

Most recent one-hit wonder to be removed from the list: Sour by Olivia Rodrigo (September 2023)

Artists with a number one album and a smaller Top 75 hit

The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums was first issued in 1983, six years before the Top 75 albums chart hit definition came into being (with a full Top 150 Artist Albums Chart being published for people within the industry at this time).[46] As of January 2022, the OCC still track the number of Top 75 album hits on their website, but make available a Top 100 countdown to the public. The following list includes artists with more than one album chart hit who would have been seen as a one-hit wonder under the Guinness definition of 1983.

  • Neil Reid reached number one for three weeks on 19 February 1972 with his self-titled debut album on Decca, after winning the 1971 series of Opportunity Knocks. He was the youngest person ever to top the album chart but success was short lived as follow-up album Smile peaked at number 47 in September 1972.[47]
  • Journey South hit number one on the albums chart on 1 April 2006 with their self-titled debut album (Syco Music) after coming third in the 2005 series of The X Factor. Follow-up album Home peaked at number 43 in November 2007.

Number one albums: One-week wonders

When The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums was last published in the 1990s, the list of 'number one albums with the fewest weeks on the chart' was based on the Top 75, with the shortest chart stay for a number one album being 5 weeks with acts such as Little Angels (with their 1993 album Jam),[48] topping the list. In 2021, a never-to-be-beaten record was set with a number of albums debuting at the top and exiting the Top 75 the next week. In 2023, The Lottery Winners became the first artist to have a number 1 album go from #1 to outside the top 200.

The following is an update to the original 'number one albums with the fewest weeks on the chart' list but only lists those number one hit albums with one week in the Top 75 (as per The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums data):

See also

References

  1. ^ "Who We Are – History of the Official Charts – The Teens". Official Charts Company.
  2. ^ "The Charts We Compile". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  3. ^ "The Official UK Top 40 Albums Chart". London: BBC Radio 1. 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  4. ^ "Who We Are – History of the Official Charts – The Eighties". Official Charts Company.
  5. ^ Mawer, Sharon (2008). "1956". London: The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 8 March 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  6. ^ "Freddy Cannon". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  7. ^ "Blind Faith". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  8. ^ "Johnny Hates Jazz". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  9. ^ "Farm". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  10. ^ "Chaka Demus & Pliers". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  11. ^ "Steve Brookstein". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  12. ^ "Ray Quinn". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  13. ^ "Gary Barlow & The Commonwealth Band". London: Official Charts Company. 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  14. ^ "Empire of the Sun | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company.
  15. ^ "Pnau". London: Official Charts Company. 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  16. ^ "Conor Maynard". London: Official Charts Company. 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  17. ^ "Jahmene Douglas". London: Official Charts Company. 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
  18. ^ "Viola Beach". London: Official Charts Company. 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Tom Walker: 'I get really excited about Irish gigs'". RTÉ. 17 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  20. ^ "Tom Walker". London: Official Charts Company. 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  21. ^ "Viola Beach". London: Official Charts Company. 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  22. ^ "Wet Leg | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
  23. ^ "Wet Leg". London: Official Charts Company. 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  24. ^ "Eurovision 2022 Results: Voting & Points". Eurovisionworld. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  25. ^ "Sam Ryder | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  26. ^ "Charts analysis: Boygenius hit the top spot with debut full-length | Analysis | Music Week".
  27. ^ "Phoebe Bridgers | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
  28. ^ "JULIEN BAKER | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
  29. ^ "LUCY DACUS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
  30. ^ "Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50 | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
  31. ^ "boygenius". London: Official Charts Company. 2023. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  32. ^ "Charts analysis: Cian Ducrot claims Victory in albums contest | Analysis | Music Week".
  33. ^ https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/59536/cian-ducrot/
  34. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts". Official Charts.
  35. ^ https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/53929/ren/
  36. ^ "Ren Outpaces Rick Astley for First U.K. Albums Chart Title". Billboard.
  37. ^ "Charts analysis: Ren scores first No.1 with Sick Boi | Analysis | Music Week".
  38. ^ https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/53929/ren/
  39. ^ https://www.musicweek.com/analysis/read/charts-analysis-the-last-dinner-party-s-no-1-debut-tops-30-000-sales/089244
  40. ^ https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/last-dinner-party/
  41. ^ https://www.musicweek.com/labels/read/island-celebrates-incredible-thoroughly-deserved-chart-double-for-noah-kahan/089302
  42. ^ https://www.musicweek.com/analysis
  43. ^ https://www.musicweek.com/analysis/read/charts-analysis-noah-kahan-s-magnificent-seven-weeks-at-top-of-singles-rundown/089304
  44. ^ https://www.musicweek.com/analysis/read/charts-analysis-stick-season-finally-ascends-to-albums-summit/089303
  45. ^ https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/63540/noah-kahan/
  46. ^ "Who We Are - History of the Official Charts - the Eighties". Official Charts.
  47. ^ "Neil Reid". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  48. ^ "LITTLE ANGELS | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.
  49. ^ "You Me At Six | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.
  50. ^ "Ben Howard | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.
  51. ^ "The Wombats – 'Fix Yourself, Not The World' review: bold brushstrokes and modernist melody". Nme.com. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  52. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  53. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  54. ^ "Higher than heaven | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
  55. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". Official Charts.
  56. ^ "Charts analysis: Enter Shikari land first No.1 album | Analysis | Music Week". www.musicweek.com. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  57. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  58. ^ "Charts analysis: The Lottery Winners hit the jackpot with first No.1 album | Analysis | Music Week". www.musicweek.com. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  59. ^ "Charts analysis: The Lottery Winners hit the jackpot with first No.1 album | Analysis | Music Week". www.musicweek.com. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  60. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  61. ^ "Charts analysis: Ed Sheeran lands sixth consecutive No.1 and biggest weekly sale in seven months | Analysis | Music Week".
  62. ^ Bugel, Safi (18 May 2023). "'It's not a pop-the-champagne moment any more': is the UK album chart broken?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  63. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100 | Official Charts". Official Charts.
  64. ^ "Charts analysis: Olivia Rodrigo debuts at No.1 and outsells rest of Top 10 combined | Analysis | Music Week".

External links

  1. Live @ Isle Of Wight Festival, UK 15 06 2019 - Fatboy Slim 01:12:50
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  39. BACK TO THE ODD SCHOOL feat. FATBOY SLIM's Desert Eagle Disc top ten 27 11 2016 03:00:42
  40. Essential Millennium 1999 (Disc 2) Fatboy Slim 01:16:05
  41. Live @ Boiler Room, Brighton, UK 11 10 2016 - Fatboy Slim 02:55:40
  42. One Mix: Fatboy Slim - Ep27 20 01 2016 - Beats 1 59:55
  43. Live @ Bestival 2016, Essential Mix, BBC Radio 1, UK 17 09 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:59:48
  44. Celebrating 20 years of Better Living @ The Social, London, UK 13 09 2016 - Fatboy Slim 29:09
  45. Live At Carl Cox: Music Is Revolution, Space, Ibiza, Spain 10 08 2016 - Fatboy Slim 01:57:43
  46. Live On A Night with Annie Nightingale, Maida Vale Studio, BBC Radio 1,UK 09 09 2010 - Fatboy Slim 21:29
  47. Live @ The House Of Blues, New Orleans, USA 25 03 2000 - Fatboy Slim 02:00:03
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  50. Live @ The Metro, Chicago, USA 03 03 1998 – Fatboy Slim 02:03:33
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  56. Live At Newquay Beach, Essential Selection, BBC Radio 1, UK 21 06 2002 - Fatboy Slim & Eric Morillo 01:29:08