List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 1970s

Swedish group ABBA spent 35 weeks at the top of the UK Album Chart during the 1970s, longer than any other artist.

The UK Albums Chart is a record chart based on weekly album sales in the United Kingdom; during the 1970s, a total of 148 albums reached number one. In October 1971, Imagine by John Lennon and The Plastic Ono Band became the 100th album to top the UK chart; seven years later, Nightflight to Venus by Boney M. became the 200th album to do so. ^[1]

Number ones

Key

No.	nth album to top the UK Albums Chart
re	Return of an album to number one
†	Best-selling album of the year [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
‡	Best-selling album of the decade

Contents
← 1960s  • 1970  • 1971  • 1972  • 1973  • 1974  • 1975  • 1976  • 1977  • 1978  • 1979  • 1980s →

No.	Artist [a]	Album [a]	Record label [b]	Reached number one (for the week ending) [a] [21]	Weeks at number one [a]
1970
re	The Beatles	Abbey Road	Apple	27 December 1969	6
74	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin II	Atlantic	7 February 1970	1
75	Various artists	Motown Chartbusters Volume 3	Tamla Motown	14 February 1970	1
76	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge Over Troubled Water ‡	CBS	21 February 1970	13
77	The Beatles	Let It Be	Apple	23 May 1970	3
re	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge Over Troubled Water ‡	CBS	13 June 1970	4
78	Bob Dylan	Self Portrait	CBS	11 July 1970	1
re	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge Over Troubled Water ‡	CBS	18 July 1970	5
79	The Moody Blues	A Question of Balance	Threshold	22 August 1970	3
80	Creedence Clearwater Revival	Cosmo's Factory	Liberty	12 September 1970	1
81	The Rolling Stones	Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert	Decca	19 September 1970	2
re	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge Over Troubled Water ‡	CBS	3 October 1970	1
82	Black Sabbath	Paranoid	Vertigo	10 October 1970	1
re	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge Over Troubled Water ‡	CBS	17 October 1970	1
83	Pink Floyd	Atom Heart Mother	Harvest	24 October 1970	1
84	Various artists	Motown Chartbusters Volume 4	Tamla Motown	31 October 1970	1
85	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin III	Atlantic	7 November 1970	3
86	Bob Dylan	New Morning	CBS	28 November 1970	1
87	Andy Williams	Andy Williams' Greatest Hits	CBS	5 December 1970	1
re	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin III	Atlantic	12 December 1970	1
re	Andy Williams	Andy Williams' Greatest Hits	CBS	19 December 1970	4
1971
re	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge Over Troubled Water ‡	CBS	16 January 1971	3
88	George Harrison	All Things Must Pass	Apple	6 February 1971	8
89	Andy Williams	Home Lovin' Man	CBS	3 April 1971	2
90	Various artists	Motown Chartbusters Volume 5	Tamla Motown	17 April 1971	3
91	The Rolling Stones	Sticky Fingers	Rolling Stones	8 May 1971	4
92	Paul and Linda McCartney	Ram	Apple	5 June 1971	2
re	The Rolling Stones	Sticky Fingers	Rolling Stones	19 June 1971	1
93	Emerson, Lake & Palmer	Tarkus	Island	26 June 1971	1
re	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge Over Troubled Water ‡	CBS	3 July 1971	5
94	Various artists	Hot Hits 6	Music for Pleasure	7 August 1971	1
95	The Moody Blues	Every Good Boy Deserves Favour	Threshold	14 August 1971	1
96	Various artists	Top of the Pops, Volume 18	Hallmark	21 August 1971	3
re	Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge Over Troubled Water ‡	CBS	11 September 1971	1
97	The Who	Who's Next	Track	18 September 1971	1
98	Deep Purple	Fireball	Harvest	25 September 1971	1
99	Rod Stewart	Every Picture Tells a Story	Mercury	2 October 1971	4
100	John Lennon and The Plastic Ono Band	Imagine	Apple	30 October 1971	2
re	Rod Stewart	Every Picture Tells a Story	Mercury	13 November 1971	2
101	Various artists	Top of the Pops, Volume 20	Hallmark	27 November 1971	1
102	Led Zeppelin	Led Zeppelin IV	Atlantic	4 December 1971	2
103	T.Rex	Electric Warrior	Fly	18 December 1971	6
1972
104	George Harrison , Bob Dylan and others	The Concert for Bangladesh	Apple	29 January 1972	1
re	T.Rex	Electric Warrior	Fly	5 February 1972	2
105	Neil Reid	Neil Reid	Decca	19 February 1972	3
106	Neil Young	Harvest	Reprise	11 March 1972	1
107	Paul Simon	Paul Simon	CBS	18 March 1972	1
108	Lindisfarne	Fog on the Tyne	Charisma	25 March 1972	4
109	Deep Purple	Machine Head	Purple	22 April 1972	2
110	T.Rex	Prophets, Seers & Sages: The Angels of the Ages / My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows	Fly Double Back	6 May 1972	1
re	Deep Purple	Machine Head	Purple	13 May 1972	1
111	T.Rex	Bolan Boogie	Fly	20 May 1972	3
112	The Rolling Stones	Exile on Main St.	Rolling Stones	10 June 1972	1
113	Various artists	20 Dynamic Hits †	K-tel	17 June 1972	8
114	Various artists	20 Fantastic Hits	Arcade	12 August 1972	5
115	Rod Stewart	Never a Dull Moment	Philips	16 September 1972	2
re	Various artists	20 Fantastic Hits	Arcade	30 September 1972	1
116	Various artists	20 All Time Greats of the 50s	K-tel	7 October 1972	8
117	Various artists	25 Rockin' and Rollin' Greats	K-tel	2 December 1972	3
re	Various artists	20 All Time Greats of the 50s	K-tel	23 December 1972	3
1973
118	Slade	Slayed?	Polydor	13 January 1973	1
119	Gilbert O'Sullivan	Back to Front	MAM	20 January 1973	1
re	Slade	Slayed?	Polydor	27 January 1973	2
120	Elton John	Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player †	DJM	10 February 1973	6
121	Alice Cooper	Billion Dollar Babies	Warner Bros.	24 March 1973	1
122	Various artists	20 Flash Back Greats of the Sixties	K-tel	31 March 1973	2
123	Led Zeppelin	Houses of the Holy	Atlantic	14 April 1973	2
124	Faces	Ooh La La	Warner Bros.	28 April 1973	1
125	David Bowie	Aladdin Sane	RCA Victor	5 May 1973	5
126	Various artists	Pure Gold	EMI	9 June 1973	3
127	Original soundtrack	That'll Be the Day	Ronco	30 June 1973	7
128	Peters and Lee	We Can Make It	Philips	18 August 1973	2
129	Rod Stewart	Sing It Again Rod	Mercury	1 September 1973	3
130	The Rolling Stones	Goats Head Soup	Rolling Stones	22 September 1973	2
131	Slade	Sladest	Polydor	6 October 1973	3
132	Status Quo	Hello!	Vertigo	27 October 1973	1
133	David Bowie	Pin Ups	RCA Victor	3 November 1973	5
134	Roxy Music	Stranded	Island	8 December 1973	1
135	David Cassidy	Dreams Are Nuthin' More Than Wishes	Bell	15 December 1973	1
136	Elton John	Goodbye Yellow Brick Road	DJM	22 December 1973	2
1974
137	Yes	Tales from Topographic Oceans	Atlantic	5 January 1974	2
re	Slade	Sladest	Polydor	19 January 1974	1
138	Perry Como	And I Love You So	RCA Victor	26 January 1974	1
139	The Carpenters	The Singles: 1969–1973 †	A&M	2 February 1974	4
140	Slade	Old New Borrowed and Blue	Polydor	2 March 1974	1
re	The Carpenters	The Singles: 1969–1973 †	A&M	9 March 1974	11
141	Rick Wakeman	Journey to the Centre of the Earth	A&M	25 May 1974	1
re	The Carpenters	The Singles: 1969–1973 †	A&M	1 June 1974	1
142	David Bowie	Diamond Dogs	RCA Victor	8 June 1974	4
re	The Carpenters	The Singles: 1969–1973 †	A&M	6 July 1974	1
143	Elton John	Caribou	DJM	13 July 1974	2
144	Paul McCartney & Wings	Band on the Run	Apple	27 July 1974	7
145	Mike Oldfield	Hergest Ridge	Virgin	14 September 1974	3
146	Mike Oldfield	Tubular Bells	Virgin	5 October 1974	1
147	Bay City Rollers	Rollin'	Bell	12 October 1974	1
148	Rod Stewart	Smiler	Mercury	19 October 1974	1
re	Bay City Rollers	Rollin'	Bell	26 October 1974	1
re	Rod Stewart	Smiler	Mercury	2 November 1974	1
re	Bay City Rollers	Rollin'	Bell	9 November 1974	2
149	Elton John	Elton John's Greatest Hits	DJM	23 November 1974	11
1975
150	Engelbert Humperdinck	His Greatest Hits	Decca	8 February 1975	3
151	Status Quo	On the Level	Vertigo	1 March 1975	2
152	Led Zeppelin	Physical Graffiti	Swan Song	15 March 1975	1
153	Tom Jones	20 Greatest Hits	Decca	22 March 1975	4
154	The Stylistics	The Best of the Stylistics †	Avco	19 April 1975	2
155	Bay City Rollers	Once Upon a Star	Bell	3 May 1975	3
re	The Stylistics	The Best of the Stylistics †	Avco	24 May 1975	5
156	Wings	Venus and Mars	Apple	28 June 1975	1
157	The Carpenters	Horizon	A&M	5 July 1975	2
re	Wings	Venus and Mars	Apple	19 July 1975	1
re	The Carpenters	Horizon	A&M	26 July 1975	3
re	The Stylistics	The Best of the Stylistics †	Avco	16 August 1975	2
158	Rod Stewart	Atlantic Crossing	Warner Bros.	30 August 1975	5
159	Pink Floyd	Wish You Were Here	Harvest	4 October 1975	1
re	Rod Stewart	Atlantic Crossing	Warner Bros.	11 October 1975	2
160	Jim Reeves	40 Golden Greats	Arcade	25 October 1975	3
161	Max Boyce	We All Had Doctors' Papers	EMI	15 November 1975	1
162	Perry Como	40 Greatest Hits	K-tel	22 November 1975	5
163	Queen	A Night at the Opera	EMI	27 December 1975	2
1976
re	Perry Como	40 Greatest Hits	K-tel	10 January 1976	1
re	Queen	A Night at the Opera	EMI	17 January 1976	2
164	Roy Orbison	The Best of Roy Orbison	Arcade	31 January 1976	1
165	Slim Whitman	The Very Best of Slim Whitman	United Artists	7 February 1976	6
166	Status Quo	Blue for You	Vertigo	20 March 1976	3
167	Rock Follies	Rock Follies	Island	10 April 1976	2
168	Led Zeppelin	Presence	Swan Song	24 April 1976	1
re	Rock Follies	Rock Follies	Island	1 May 1976	1
169	ABBA	Greatest Hits †	Epic	8 May 1976	9
170	Rod Stewart	A Night on the Town	Riva	10 July 1976	2
171	The Beach Boys	20 Golden Greats	Capitol	24 July 1976	10
172	The Stylistics	The Best of the Stylistics Volume II	H&L	2 October 1976	1
173	Dr. Feelgood	Stupidity	United Artists	9 October 1976	1
re	ABBA	Greatest Hits †	Epic	16 October 1976	2
174	Various artists	Soul Motion	K-tel	30 October 1976	2
175	Led Zeppelin	The Song Remains the Same	Swan Song	13 November 1976	1
176	Bert Weedon	22 Golden Guitar Greats	Warwick	20 November 1976	1
177	Glen Campbell	Glen Campbell's Twenty Golden Greats	Capitol	27 November 1976	6
1977
178	Queen	A Day at the Races	EMI	8 January 1977	1
179	ABBA	Arrival †	Epic	15 January 1977	1
180	Slim Whitman	Red River Valley	United Artists	22 January 1977	4
181	The Shadows	20 Golden Greats	EMI	19 February 1977	6
182	Frank Sinatra	Portrait of Sinatra – Forty Songs from the Life of a Man	Reprise	2 April 1977	2
re	ABBA	Arrival †	Epic	16 April 1977	9
183	The Beatles	The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl	Parlophone	18 June 1977	1
184	The Muppets	The Muppet Show	Pye	25 June 1977	1
185	Barbra Streisand & Kris Kristofferson	A Star Is Born	CBS	2 July 1977	2
186	Johnny Mathis	The Mathis Collection	CBS	16 July 1977	4
187	Yes	Going for the One	Atlantic	13 August 1977	2
188	Connie Francis	20 All Time Greats	Polydor	27 August 1977	2
189	Elvis Presley	Elvis' 40 Greatest	Arcade	10 September 1977	1
190	Diana Ross & the Supremes	20 Golden Greats	Motown	17 September 1977	7
191	Cliff Richard & The Shadows	40 Golden Greats	EMI	5 November 1977	1
192	Sex Pistols	Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols	Virgin	12 November 1977	2
193	Bread	The Sound of Bread	Elektra	26 November 1977	2
194	Various artists	Disco Fever	K-tel	10 December 1977	6
1978
re	Bread	The Sound of Bread	Elektra	21 January 1978	1
195	Fleetwood Mac	Rumours	Warner Bros.	28 January 1978	1
196	ABBA	The Album	Epic	4 February 1978	7
197	Buddy Holly & The Crickets	20 Golden Greats	EMI	25 March 1978	3
198	Nat King Cole	20 Golden Greats	Capitol	15 April 1978	3
199	Original soundtrack	Saturday Night Fever †	RSO	6 May 1978	18
200	Boney M.	Nightflight to Venus	Atlantic	9 September 1978	4
201	Original soundtrack	Grease	RSO	7 October 1978	13
1979
202	Showaddywaddy	Greatest Hits 1976-1978	Arista	6 January 1979	2
203	Various artists	Don't Walk – Boogie	EMI	20 January 1979	3
204	Various artists	Action Replay	K-tel	10 February 1979	1
205	Blondie	Parallel Lines †	Chrysalis	17 February 1979	4
206	Bee Gees	Spirits Having Flown	RSO	17 March 1979	2
207	Barbra Streisand	Barbra Streisand's Greatest Hits Vol. 2	CBS	31 March 1979	4
208	Leo Sayer	The Very Best of Leo Sayer	Chrysalis	28 April 1979	3
209	ABBA	Voulez-Vous	Epic	19 May 1979	4
210	Electric Light Orchestra	Discovery	Jet	16 June 1979	5
211	Tubeway Army	Replicas	Beggars Banquet	21 July 1979	1
212	Various artists	The Best Disco Album in the World	WEA	28 July 1979	6
213	Led Zeppelin	In Through the Out Door	Swan Song	8 September 1979	2
214	Gary Numan	The Pleasure Principle	Beggars Banquet	22 September 1979	1
215	Boney M	Oceans of Fantasy	Atlantic	29 September 1979	1
re	Gary Numan	The Pleasure Principle	Beggars Banquet	6 October 1979	1
216	Blondie	Eat to the Beat	Chrysalis	13 October 1979 [c]	1
217	The Police	Reggatta de Blanc	A&M	13 October 1979 [23]	4
218	Fleetwood Mac	Tusk	Warner Bros.	10 November 1979	1
219	ABBA	Greatest Hits Vol. 2	Epic	17 November 1979	3
220	Rod Stewart	Greatest Hits, Vol. 1	Riva	8 December 1979	5

Contents
← 1960s  • 1970  • 1971  • 1972  • 1973  • 1974  • 1975  • 1976  • 1977  • 1978  • 1979  • 1980s →

By artist

Simon & Garfunkel's album Bridge Over Troubled Water topped the albums chart for 33 weeks during the 1970s, and was the decade's biggest-seller.

Rod Stewart (right) released seven number-one albums during this decade.

Five artists spent 20 weeks or more at number one on the albums chart during the 1970s.

Artist	Number-one albums	Weeks at number one
ABBA	5	35
Simon & Garfunkel	1	33
Rod Stewart	7	27
The Carpenters	2	22
Elton John	4	21

By record label

Eight record labels spent 20 weeks or more at number one on the albums chart during the 1970s.

Record label	Number-one albums	Weeks at number one
CBS Records	9	53
K-tel	8	39
Epic Records	5	35
RSO Records	3	33
Apple Records	8	29
A&M Records	4	27
EMI Records	8	22
DJM Records	4	21

Notes

1. The artist, album, date of reaching number one and number of weeks at number one are those given by the OCC. ^{[10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]}
2. The record labels are those given by the OCC. ^[20]
3. ^[22] "During October 1979, a change in the publication date of the album chart meant that two rundowns were published in one week, which results (naturally) in two number 1 albums – Blondie’s Eat to the Beat and The Police’s Regatta De Blanc. Contrary to some databases, we take the view that both charts are valid – so Eat to the Beat WAS a number 1, despite the fact that some histories indicate that it peaked at 2."

References

1. Howard, Amy (20 June 2010). "Oasis Score 900th Number 1 for Official Albums Chart". London: Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
2. Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1970". The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
3. Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1971". The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
4. Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1972". The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 29 July 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
5. Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1973". The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
6. Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1974". The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
7. Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1975". The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 16 December 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
8. Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1976". The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
9. Mawer, Sharon. "Album Chart History: 1977". The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
10. "All the Number One Albums: 1970". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
11. "All the Number One Albums: 1971". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
12. "All the Number One Albums: 1972". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
13. "All the Number One Albums: 1973". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
14. "All the Number One Albums: 1974". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
15. "All the Number One Albums: 1975". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
16. "All the Number One Albums: 1976". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
17. "All the Number One Albums: 1977". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
18. "All the Number One Albums: 1978". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
19. "All the Number One Albums: 1979". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
20. "Artist Chart History". London: Official Charts Company. 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
21. "All the Official Albums Chart Number 1s". Official Charts .
22. "How we built our database". London: Official Charts Company . Retrieved 2 January 2021.
23. "Blogabillyboogie: October 13th: On this Day in Music History". 2011.

External links

• Archive of all UK Number One Albums of the 1970s with images of original packaging
• Official UK Albums Top 100 at the Official Charts Company