Product Description

From Abracadabra by the Steve Miller Band to Zoom by ELO, this indispensable, innovatively designed book celebrates fifty years of British album charts, telling you everything you could possibly want to know about every album to reach the Top 100. With new feature material covering a huge range of areas, bands and history, it's an essential part of any serious music fan's collection. The Virgin Book of British Hit Albums covers everything, from the classics (Sgt Pepper, Nevermind, The Dark Side of the Moon) to the dodgy (Spiceworld, Seriously Orchestra) and the downright bizarre (Smurfs Go Pop!, Seventies Dinner Party). Where else are you going to find out that: Bridge over Troubled Water spent 307 weeks in the charts: Pavarotti has topped the album charts twice: Lily Allen went triple-platinum in 2006 with Alright, Still: Oasis sold 356,000 copies of Be Here Now in one day alone: Both Gary Glitter and Mariah Carey released an album called Glitter.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4961 in Books
• Published on: 2009-06-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

From the Back Cover
DID YOU KNOW THAT … ?

Barry White has never had a UK No. 1 album (nor has Stevie Wonder or Britney Spears)

Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band spent an initial 149 weeks in the album charts (27 of them at No. 1)

The Wombles released four albums in the 1970s

Lily Allen's album Alright, Still has been certified platinum six times

Queen have spent 21 weeks at the top of the album charts (but Queens of the Stone Age haven’t reached the top yet)

Diana Ross has released over 50 albums

From Daniel with Love, From Donny with Love and From Dusty with Love all failed to reach the top of the album charts

The film soundtrack to Mamma Mia, including performances by Meryl Streep and Colin Firth, reached No. 1 in 2008

Elvis had eleven No. 1 albums

The album from the TV series Cold Feet went platinum in 2003

Nevermind by Nirvana only ever made it to No. 7

About the Author
Martin Roach is a bestselling author who has penned dozens of books on music, youth culture, celebrity and film. He has also ghostwritten several high-profile celebrity autobiographies. His books have sold over 1.5 million copies and have been translated into twelve languages. He is editor of The Virgin Book of Hit Singles.

Customer Reviews

Excellent book of album trivia !!!!!
An updated book on the UK album charts is always a welcome release, and this one from 1956 - 2008 is no exception, and thankfully it is extremely detailed. Sprinkled throughout the book are some very detailed facts that will keep you enthralled for hours, including `Most Weeks at no. 1',' Biggest First Week Sales', `Best Selling Download Albums', and the `Top Selling Soundtracks' to name but a few.
There's a fascinating introduction to the book called `From Tranzophobia to Hell and Back Again' which makes for interesting reading (all 10 pages of it) which is a unique synopsis of the past 40 years of the album charts.
Listed chronologically are all the no. 1 albums from 1956 - 2008, and we also get the complete list of no. 1 compilations since its separation from the main artists album charts in 1989, and a timeline of the changes the album charts have undergone throughout its existence.
As ever we get the A to Z of every act who's had a top 40 hit album and a detailed biog on all the major artists, but this book goes much further. There are detailed artist biographies on specific artists throughout the book, some which have had considerable success (Mariah Carey and Stevie Wonder) but others are a surprise inclusion having actually not set the album charts on fire over the years (Dr Dre, Flood/Youth and Otis Redding amongst them).
Even the 15 notable albums that are discussed in detail are a surprise choice. There's no Beatles, Oasis, Queen or Michael Jackson mentioned. Instead we get Chuck Berry, Billy Fury, MC5, Public Enemy and My Chemical Romance, but I suppose Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Madonna, The Smiths and Jeff Buckley just about balance things up.
One great insight into the top selling artists is that we get the top three selling albums and sales figures by those artists which you don't get to see very often and makes for interesting reading, and I'm sure you'll find the odd printing error that all books of this nature comprise of. No matter how many times you proof read a book of this magnitude and detail, there's always a mistake to point out, and the first one I found was while reading about Spandau Ballet.
So if you want to know what are the Top 20 Best Selling Download Albums of All Time, which album sold 663,000 copies in its first week, how many days it took Oasis to sell a million copies of `Be Here Now', which album from this decade has sold over 3 million copies, which act has spent most weeks on the charts, which three albums on the chart that have spent the longest time there are separated by only four weeks, or what are the biggest selling artist compilations albums, or film soundtracks, then this is most definitely the book for you. You just won't be able to put it down. Best book I've read this year!

Excellent!
Much better than last Years's 'Hit Singles' Book. Yes, it has some
mistakes in it, but so do all Chart Books.
It contains Lists of the UK's Top 100 Studio Albums, The Top 40 Artist
'Hits' Albums, & the Top 5 Film Soundtracks - all brought up-to-date, to
2009, & all with their Sales Totals next to them. There are many other
Facts & Feats Lists in the Book, too.
Well worth buying - don't be put off by the 2008 Singles Book - this is
a vast improvement!!!

Bring back Guinness
I bought this book from Amazon and they delivered promptly as ever, so no problem with them. The book is generally ok but it has not been checked or proof-read properly. The first 2 Artists I looked up contained errors. Paul Weller's debut album doesn't appear and The Enemy are described as an "American" Band.
Come on Virgin, I expected more. I guess this has been rushed out, but that's no excuse. If I buy a reference book I expect it to contain accurate information. I've only had it a day so I've no idea what errors I'll find next!