The

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) 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 C ...

is one of many music charts compiled by the

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

that calculates the best-selling albums of the week in the United Kingdom. Before 2004, the chart was only based on the sales of physical albums. This list shows albums that peaked in the Top 5 (top 10 from November) of the

during

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, as well as albums which peaked in

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

or 1959 but were in the top 5/10 in 1958. The entry date is when the album appeared in the top 5/10 for the first time (week ending, as published by the Official Charts Company, which is six days after the chart is announced). Thirty-nine albums were in the top ten this year. Three albums from 1956 and eleven albums from 1958 remained in the top 10 for several weeks at the beginning of the year, while ''Songs for Swingin' Sellers'' by Peter Sellers and ''Time to Celebrate'' by

Russ Conway Russ Conway, DSM (born Trevor Herbert Stanford; 2 September 1925 – 16 November 2000) was an English popular music pianist and composer. Conway had 20 piano instrumentals in the UK Singles Chart between 1957 and 1963, including two number one ...

were both released in 1959 but did not reach their peak until 1960. Five artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 1959. were among the artists who achieved their first UK charting top 10 album in 1959. ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...

'' progressed to its peak position of number three in 1962. '' Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely'' by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, '' Oh Boy!: Original Television Soundtrack'' credited to various artists, ''Pack Up Your Troubles'' by

, ''

Songs by Tom Lehrer ''Songs by Tom Lehrer'' is the debut album of musical satirist Tom Lehrer, released in 1953 on his own label, Lehrer Records. In 2004 it was included into the National Recording Registry. Production and release history ''Songs by Tom Lehrer'' was ...

'' by Tom Lehrer and '' The Student Prince''/'' The Great Caruso'' by Mario Lanza were the albums from 1958 to reach their peak in 1959. The 1958

Christmas number-one In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that top the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls. The singles have often been novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Historically, the volume ...

album, '' South Pacific: Original Soundtrack'' credited to Various artists, remained at number one for the duration of 1959.

Background

Multiple entries

Thirty-nine albums charted in the top 10 in 1959, with twenty-eight albums reaching their peak this year. Five artists scored multiple entries in the top 10 in 1959.

secured the record for most hit albums in 1959 with five entries. Peter Sellers' three albums and Duane Eddy's two entries were all released this year.

Chart debuts

The following table (collapsed on desktop site) does not include does not include acts who had previously charted as part of a group and secured their first top 10 solo album, or featured appearances on compilations or other artists recordings.

Soundtrack albums

Cast recordings from various films and musicals made the top 5/10 this year. These included ''

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

'', ''

The Duke Wore Jeans ''The Duke Wore Jeans'' is a 1958 British comedy musical film by producer Nat Cohen starring Tommy Steele and June Laverick. The songs for the film were released in 1958 by Decca on a 10" LP, a 7" EP and two 7" singles and, in more recent times, ...

'', '' My Fair Lady'', ''

The Pajama Game ''The Pajama Game'' is a musical based on the 1953 novel '' 7½ Cents'' by Richard Bissell. The book is by George Abbott and Richard Bissell; the music and lyrics are by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. and dances were staged by Bob Fosse in his c ...

'', '' Pal Joey'' and ''

South Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

''.

Top-ten albums

;Key

Entries by artist

The following table shows artists who achieved two or more 10 entries in 1959, including albums that reached their peak in 1958 and 1960. The figures only include main artists, with featured artists and appearances on compilation albums not counted individually for each artist. The total number of weeks an artist spent in the top ten in 1959 is also shown.

Notes

* Recordings credited to Original Soundtrack by the Official Charts Company but all had different artists as featured performers. * ''Elvis Rock 'N' Roll'' originally peaked at number-one upon its initial release in 1956. * Figure includes album that peaked in 1958. * Figure includes album that peak in 1960. * ''Songs for Swingin' Sellers'' reached its peak of number three on 16 January 1960 (week ending).

References

General * Specific

External links

1959 album chart archive
at the

(click on relevant week) {{UK Music Charts United Kingdom top 10 albums Top 10 albums

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...