THE ALBUMS WITH THE MOST WEEKS AT NUMBER ONE IN THE UK - BY DECADE

To mark the Beatles "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" hitting Number One again on its 50th anniversary, I am listing below the albums that have sent the longest at Number One in the UK, broken down by decade.

1950's

1.  60 weeks (60 consecutive) - South Pacific (Original Soundtrack)(1 run)(see also 1960's)

2.  48 weeks (15 consecutive) - The King And I (Original Soundtrack)(11 runs)

3.  19 weeks (19 consecutive) - My Fair Lady (Original Soundtrack)(1 run)

4.  11 weeks (7 consecutive) - Pal Joey (Original Soundtrack)(2 runs)

5.  7 weeks (7 consecutive) - A Swingin' Affair (Frank Sinatra)(1 run)

=.  7 weeks (7 consecutive) - King Creole Soundtrack (Elvis Presley)(1 run)

1960's

1.  70 weeks (18 consective) - The Sound Of Music (Original Soundtrack)(12 runs)

2.  55 weeks (19 consecutive) - South Pacific (Original Soundtrack)(9 runs) - 115 weeks in total

3.  30 weeks (30 consecutive) - Please Please Me (The Beatles)(1 run)

4.  27 weeks (23 consecutive) - Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Beatles)(4 runs) - also 1 week in 2010's

5.  22 weeks (12 consecutive) - GI Blues Soundtrack (Elvis Presley)(3 runs) 

1970's

1.  33 weeks (13 consecutive) - Bridge Over Troubled Water (Simon & Garfunkel)(8 runs)

2.  18 weeks (18 consecutive) - Saturday Night Fever (Original Soundtrack)(1 run)

3.  17 weeks (11 consecutive) - The Singles: 1969-1973 (The Carpenters)(4 runs)

4.  13 weeks (13 consecutive) - Grease (Original Soundtrack)(1 run)

5.  11 weeks (8 consecutive) - All Time Hits of the 50's (Various Artists)(2 runs)

=.  11 weeks (11 consecutive) - Elton John's Greatest Hits (Elton John)(1 run)

=.  11 weeks (9 consecutive) - Greatest Hits - Abba (2 runs)

(Honorary mention for Abbey Road by the Beatles which spent 17 weeks at Number One (12 in the 1960's and 5 in the 1970's))

1980's

1.  14 weeks (10 consecutive) - Brothers In Arms (Dire Straits)(3 runs)

2.  12 weeks (10 consecutive) - Kings Of The Wild Frontier (Adam & the Ants)(2 runs)

=.  12 weeks (8 consecutive) - The Kids From "Fame" (The Kids From "Fame")(2 runs)

=.  12 weeks (12 consecutive) - Legend (Bob Marley & the Wailers)(1 run)

5.  9 weeks (9 consecutive) - Super Trouper (Abba)(1 run)

=.  9 weeks (7 consecutive) - Love Songs (Barbra Streisand)(2 runs)

=.  9 weeks (8 consecutive) - Introducing The Hardline According To... (Terence Trent d'Arby)(2 runs)

1990's

1.  15 weeks (8 consecutive) - Spice (The Spice Girls) (5 runs)

2.  12 weeks (5 consecutive) - Stars (Simply Red)(5 runs)

3.  12 weeks (6 consecutive) - Urban Hymns (The Verve)(3 runs)

4.  11 weeks (5 consecutive) - Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell (Meat Loaf)(5 runs)

=.  11 weeks (8 consecutive) - Jagged Little Pill (Alanis Morrisette)(3 runs)

(Honorary mention for ...But Seriously by Phil Collins which spent 15 weeks at Number One (5 in the 1980's and 10 in the 1990's))

2000's

1.   10 weeks (4 consecutive) - Life For Rent (Dido)(4 runs)

=.  10 weeks (8 consecutive) - Back To Bedlam (James Blunt)(3 runs)

3.  9 weeks (9 consecutive) - 1 (The Beatles))(1 run)

4.  8 weeks (6 consecutive) - Beautiful World (Take That)(2 runs)

=.  8 weeks (7 weeks) - Spirit (Leona Lewis)(2 runs)

(Honorary mentions for Come On Over by Shania Twain which spent 11 weeks at Number One (9 in the 1990's and 2 in the 2000's), The Man Who by Travis which spent 9 weeks at Number One (2 in the 1990's and 7 in the 2000's & Gold: Greatest Hits by Abba which spent 8 weeks at Number One (6 in the 1990's and 2 in the 2000's))


2010's

1.  23 weeks (11 consecutive) - 21 (Adele)(7 runs)
2.  13 weeks (8 consecutive) - x (Ed Sheeran)(4 runs)
=.  13 weeks (7 consecutive) - 25 (Adele)(4 runs)
4.  10 weeks (2 consecutive) - Our Version Of Events (Emeli Sande)(7 runs)
=.  10 weeks (9 consecutive) - Divide (Ed Sheeran)(2 runs)

So, from the album that has spent a record 115 weeks at the top, including 70 consecutive weeks from 8th November 1958 to 5th March 1960, (in fact apart from 7 weeks, it was Number One for all of 1959 & 1960), "South Pacific" this is a track taken to Number 1 in 1982 by Captain Sensible.

This is "Happy Talk".