(I don't have a fancy graphic for the OP like there was for the previous thread, if anyone would like to make one I can edit it in here :magic:)

 

So, as I've been teasing for a few months, now that we finally caught up with listening back to every UK #1 single, it's time to rewind the clock back to 22nd July 1956 when Frank Sinatra topped the first ever UK Albums Chart with his 10th album 'Songs For Swingin' Lovers!', and time for a wild ride through the 1,292* and counting collections of tunes that have topped the chart since then, with yours truly taking over as your host to give Julian a well deserved break :funky:

 

Now I expect most people who will be interested in this were already part of the usual crew from the #1 singles sessions so will know roughly how I plan to do this but we're a friendly bunch and open to anyone new who wants to join so don't be put off, and for the unititiated here's how these sessions are going to work:

 

- Firstly, to address the obvious question, we're obviously not going to be listening to all of the UK #1 albums in full - we do want this to end at some point :lol: Instead we shall just be listening to one carefully curated song to represent each album. That will be the song that has the highest play count on Spotify, excluding any songs that charted at either #1 or #2 in the singles chart (to avoid repeating songs from the #1 singles sessions and from the planned future #2 sessions).

 

- We'll congregate together on SyncTube, a website that allows us to all watch videos from YouTube in sync with each other. The site also has a live chat box so we can discuss the songs as they play and any other relevant or indeed irrelevant side chatter. In the previous sessions the link for the room changed every week but SyncTube has recently started allowing the creation of permanent rooms so I have set one of those up to avoid having to post a new link every week! (Feel free to bookmark it, but failing that, there'll always be a link here in this OP... in fact that link is right here).

 

- Unless there is a mass revolt demanding a change in the schedule I plan to just continue in the same timeslot as the #1 singles sessions were in as that seemed to work well enough for most, that is 4-7pm on Sundays. Regulars will be aware that I have a bad habit of being absent for the start of the sessions due to my questionable time management skills, now that I actually have the responsibility of hosting I will try my utmost to make sure I stick to the schedule but hopefully it shouldn't ever start more than about 15 minutes late.

 

- With the list of #1 albums being slightly less ubiquitous than that of the #1 singles, and the song choices not necessarily always being predictable, I'm going to keep the tracklists for the sessions a secret at first for the element of surprise although I will post them in the thread for documentation after each session wraps up. You can just peek the playlist on SyncTube for spoilers, or look up yourself what songs will be upcoming, but where's the fun in that.

 

*according to Wikipedia, I'm unsure if this number includes any questionable double counting this time x

Planning to kick off on Sunday - and for haters of 1950s music you'll be pleased to know there won't be much of it, and in fact we should be ploughing deep into the 60s in the very first session as the early days of the albums chart were characterised primarily by just a small handful of #1s hogging the top spot for very long periods of time (specifically looking at you South Pacific holding down the #1 spot for the entirety of 1959). Of course that doesn't last forever and some of the more recent years may take up an entire session by themselves! But anyway, under the assumption that 3 hours of music is roughly 45 songs, it appears that'll take us from the inaugural album chart in 1956 all the way up to circa 1966(!)

 

I'll probably continue the tradition of playing a few bonus songs at the end of the sessions as well although not totally decided on what criteria to base those choices on yet, we'll see, open to any suggestions I suppose! (I am in mind to play an extra song from South Pacific this time so there is some representation for 1959 for one thing :lol:)

Very much looking forward to a brand new marathon with you all again :cheer:

It's happening! :cheer: Looking forward to this and hearing plenty of songs I've not heard before as well as some old classics!

Ooh yes, this should be wonderful *. I look forward to the choices, especially in recent years where we'd have quite an eclectic mix

 

I would've probably listened to a few of these as part of my album bucket list so I'd be interested to revisit them!

Unfortunately I’m going to Sardinia from tomorrow to the 9th and assume I’ll miss both sessions. :( Will definitely catch up in my own time anyway.

Looking forward to this Bre, I should hopefully be able to make the first session or at least some of it.

 

 

Great! Maybe for extras we could play albums that peaked at #2, like with the singles

 

I'll try to join as much as possible but pretty difficult for me, I'll probably only end up present like 25% of the time like with the singles but I'll try

Looking forward to this. Sunday's bonuses, as well as an extra South Pacific track, could just be a few tracks from some of the albums kept off the top by SP's greed.

 

It will be interesting to see how far down the Spotify list you have to go for some albums, particularly Greatest Hits sets where some of the tracks may already have been played from their parent album. It's just as well compilations such as The Beatles' 1 also featured US number ones!

I'm finally preparing the tracklist for tomorrow now and already running into issues with some of these albums not being on Spotify and whatnot oops but I'll do my best and make note of any song choices that I have had to compromise on!

I’m free tomorrow afternoon - so I’ll join you for the start :)

I'll be there.

We'll be kicking off on time for the first session miraculously!

 

I underestimated how short a lot of 50s/60s songs are (the 2 minute song trend is not a new thing it appears :lol:) so we're actually going to be going even further into the 60s than I expected - in fact all the way up to January 1969!

 

If you're a fan of 50s musicals, Elvis and The Beatles you're in for a treat from 4pm right here B-)

 

(should also give a fair warning that there was a certain TV show that was popular in the early 60s which produced 3 #1 albums that is... better left in the past, or preferably an alternate timeline where blackface was never considered acceptable mainstream light entertainment)

I’m so ready for the trip (quite literally in the latter years) of all The Beatles songs today :cheeseblock:

As promised here is the tracklist for the first week, covering our first 61 #1 albums. (This first session has already covered nearly 1/5 of the entire history of the albums chart time wise, but under 1/20 of the unique #1 albums :lol:)

 

Thanks everyone who turned up today, hooray for kicking off with such a high turnout and no technical hitches! I will aim to sort the playlist for next week in the next couple of days and will ask for suggestions for bonus tracks in here once I know what the timeframe for that will be (but I suspect there may have to be a Pink Floyd track for one).

 

1 Frank Sinatra - Songs For Swingin' Lovers! // Frank Sinatra - I've Got You Under My Skin

2 Carousel OST // Shirley Jones and Gordon Macrae - If I Loved You

3 Oklahoma! OST // Gordon Macrae - Oh What A Beautiful Mornin'

4 The King And I OST // Deborah Kerr, Marni Nixon and Yul Brynner - Shall We Dance?

5 Bill Haley And His Comets - Rock 'N Roll Stage Show // Bill Haley And His Comets - Choo Choo Ch'Boogie

6 Elvis Presley - Rock 'N' Roll (aka Elvis Presley) // Elvis Presley - Blue Suede Shoes

7 High Society OST // Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly - True Love

8 Frank Sinatra - This Is Sinatra! // Frank Sinatra - I've Got The World On A String

9 Nat King Cole - Love Is The Thing // Nat King Cole - Stardust

10 Tommy Steele - The Tommy Steele Story // Tommy Steele & The Steelmen - Water, Water

11 Elvis Presley - Loving You // Elvis Presley - (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear

12 Frank Sinatra - A Swingin' Affair! // Frank Sinatra - The Lady Is A Tramp

13 Pal Joey OST // Rita Hayworth - Bewitched Bothered And Bewildered

14 The Duke Wore Jeans OST // Tommy Steele - Princess

15 My Fair Lady Cast - My Fair Lady // Julie Andrews and Philippa Bevans - I Could Have Danced All Night

16 Elvis Presley - King Creole // Elvis Presley - Trouble

17 South Pacific OST // Nellie Forbush and The Ken Darby Singers - I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair

18 Freddy Cannon - The Explosive Freddy Cannon // Freddy Cannon - Way Down Yonder In New Orleans

19 Elvis Presley - Elvis Is Back! // Elvis Presley - Fever

20 101 Strings - Down Drury Lane To Memory Lane // 101 Strings - Drury Lane To Broadway

21 Elvis Presley - G.I. Blues // Elvis Presley - Pocketful Of Rainbows

22 The George Mitchell Minstrels - The Black And White Minstrel Show // The George Mitchell Minstrels - Leslie Stuart Melodies

23 The Shadows - The Shadows // The Shadows - Sleepwalk

24 Cliff Richard and The Shadows - 21 Today // Cliff Richard - How Wonderful To Know

25 The George Mitchell Minstrels - Another Black And White Minstrel Show // The George Mitchell Minstrels and Al Jolson - Alabamy Bound

26 Elvis Presley - Blue Hawaii // Elvis Presley - Blue Hawaii

27 Cliff Richard and The Shadows - The Young Ones // Cliff Richard - When The Girl In Your Arms Is The Girl In Your Heart

28 West Side Story OST // Betty Wand and George Chakiris - America

29 Elvis Presley - Pot Luck // Elvis Presley - Suspicion

30 Kenny Ball, Chris Barber and Acker Bilk - The Best Of Ball, Barber & Bilk // Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen - Chimes Blues

31 The Shadows - Out Of The Shadows // The Shadows - Cosy

32 The George Mitchell Minstrels - On Stage With The George Mitchell Minstrels // The George Mitchell Minstrels - The Frog And The Mouse

33 Cliff Richard and The Shadows - Summer Holiday // Cliff Richard and The Shadows - Dancing Shoes

34 The Beatles - Please Please Me // The Beatles - Twist And Shout

35 The Beatles - With The Beatles // The Beatles - All My Loving

36 The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones // The Rolling Stones - Route 66

37 The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night // The Beatles - And I Love Her

38 The Beatles - Beatles For Sale // The Beatles - Eight Days A Week

39 The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones No. 2 // The Rolling Stones - Time Is On My Side

40 Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan // Bob Dylan - Blowin' In The Wind

41 Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home // Bob Dylan - Mr. Tambourine Man

42 The Sound Of Music OST // Julie Andrews - My Favorite Things

43 The Beatles - Help! // The Beatles - Yesterday

44 The Beatles - Rubber Soul // The Beatles - In My Life

45 The Rolling Stones - Aftermath // The Rolling Stones - Under My Thumb

46 The Beatles - Revolver // The Beatles - For No One

47 The Monkees - The Monkees // The Monkees - Last Train To Clarksville

48 The Monkees - More Of The Monkees // The Monkees - (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone

49 The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band // The Beatles - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

50 Val Doonican - Val Doonican Rocks, But Gently // Val Doonican - Scarlet Ribbons

51 The Four Tops - Greatest Hits // The Four Tops - Baby I Need Your Loving

52 Diana Ross & The Supremes - Greatest Hits // The Supremes - When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes

53 Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding // Bob Dylan - All Along The Watchtower

54 Scott Walker - Scott 2 // Scott Walker - Jackie

55 Andy Williams - Love, Andy // Andy Williams - Can't Take My Eyes Off You

56 Otis Redding - The Dock Of The Bay // Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay

57 Small Faces - Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake // Small Faces - Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake

58 Tom Jones - Delilah // Tom Jones - My Elusive Dreams

59 Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends // Simon & Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson

60 The Hollies - Hollies' Greatest // The Hollies - Bus Stop

61 The Beatles - The Beatles // The Beatles - Blackbird

 

I'm also keeping a running Google Sheet for these which includes my notes on which songs I skipped due to being top 2 hits / albums where I compromised on the song choice due to the albums not being on Spotify (in most cases I am just going with track 1 on these albums to avoid having to painstakingly look up the streams for every song, if the songs are even available separately, should be a safe bet for old greatest hits compilations at least). The link to that is here but don't look at it before the sessions if you don't want to see spoilers.

 

A couple of those songs are highlighted in red because I am also also making a running Spotify playlist of all of the songs played here, the ones in red are not available on Spotify in any form (others were available on Spotify but not from the album they are assigned to above). Again avert gaze from the bottom of the list before the sessions to avoid spoilers. x

 

Also the bonus tracks this week were:

 

Sam Smith and Kim Petras - Unholy (opening song for continuity from the end of the #1 singles sessions)

Bloody Mary - Happy Talk (bonus South Pacific song for 1959 representation)

The Beach Boys - Wouldn't It Be Nice (from #2 album Pet Sounds)

Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke - Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (from #2 album Mary Poppins OST)

Coolio - C U When U Get There (feat. 40 Thevs) (RIP)

Great session today Bre.

 

I actually made a great new discovery in Scott Walker's Jackie which i've been listening to since.

I'm loving all of the effort to document this!

 

'Jackie' was a great discovery for me as well as 'Ogden's Nut Gone Flake' by Small Faces.

I guess getting the album chart runs is no easy task? even only a top 40... maybe once we are past those albums with gigantic chart runs

Im pretty sure they had them at ukmix

Could you please play something from the first McCartney solo album as a bonus please next week, as that peaked at #2? I guess Maybe I’m Amazed is the most streamed?