| 1950s in music in the UK |
| Events |
|---|
| Top 10 singles |
| Top 10 albums |
The UK Albums Chart is one of many music charts compiled by the Official Charts Company that calculates the best-selling albums of the week in the United Kingdom. [1] [2] [3] Before 2004, the chart was only based on the sales of physical albums. Melody Maker magazine published the United Kingdom album charts for the first time in 1956. This list shows albums that peaked in the Top 5 of the UK Albums Chart during 1956, as well as albums which peaked in 1957 but were in the top 5 in 1956. The entry date is when the album appeared in the top 5 for the first time (week ending, as published by the Official Charts Company, which is six days after the chart is announced).
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts Company (OCC) on Fridays. It is broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and published in Music Week magazine, and on the OCC website.
The Official Charts Company, also referred to as Official Charts is a British inter-professional organisation that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, including the UK Singles Chart, the UK Albums Chart, the UK Singles Downloads Chart and the UK Album Downloads Chart, as well as genre-specific and music video charts. The OCC produces its charts by gathering and combining sales data from retailers through market researchers Millward Brown, and claims to cover 99% of the singles market and 95% of the album market, and aims to collect data from any retailer who sells more than 100 chart items per week.
Melody Maker was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies, and—according to its publisher IPC Media—the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born composer, publisher Lawrence Wright; the first editor was Edgar Jackson. In 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.
Contents
- Background
- Multiple entries
- Chart debuts
- Soundtrack albums
- Top-five albums
- Entries by artist
- Notes
- See also
- References
- External links
Fifteen albums were in the top five this year. High Society credited to Various artists was released in 1956 but did not reach its peak until 1957. Two artists scored multiple entries in the top 5 in 1956 (excluding Various artists, who are all different performers under the same name). Bill Haley & His Comets, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Lonnie Donegan and Mario Lanza are among the many artists who achieved their first UK charting top 5 album in 1956.
High Society is a 1956 soundtrack album, featuring Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong and Grace Kelly. This was Crosby's fifth LP album, and his first recorded for Capitol Records. It was the soundtrack for the MGM feature film High Society, also released in 1956. Initially issued on vinyl either in mono or stereo format, the album has been issued on CD by Capitol in Japan in 1991 and by Capitol in the UK in 1995. The album was also included in a 3-CD box set called "Original Soundtrack Recordings" issued by the EMI Music Group Australasia
Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band, founded in 1952 and continued until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group placed nine singles in the Top 20, one of those a number one and three more in the Top Ten. The single Rock Around the Clock became the biggest selling rock n roll single in the history of the genre.
Elvis Aaron Presley, also known mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King".
The first album to reach number-one in the United Kingdom was Songs for Swingin' Lovers by Frank Sinatra. Six different albums peaked at number-one in 1956, with albums credited to Various artists (3) having the most albums hit that position.
Francis Albert Sinatra was an American singer, actor and producer who was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide.
