Related page: UK Singles Chart Number Ones
The UK Albums Chart, now known as the Official Albums Chart, is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for albums. First published in 1956, the chart is compiled every week and currently made public on Fridays. To qualify for the Official Albums Chart, the album must be more than three tracks or 20 minutes long and not be classed as a budget album.
Once ranked by sales only, entries are now based on physical sales, downloads and audio streaming.
Links to Peel[]
The following is a list UK no.1 albums featured by John Peel plus those played by other presenters who guest hosted on his radio programmes. Albums are listed by year of release, which may differ from year the album reached no.1, and first known play. Some shows may have featured multiple tracks, see individual pages for tracks played.
Performing Artist | Album | First Known Play
1950s[]
- 1956
- Elvis Presley - Rock 'n' Roll 06 June 1970[1]
- 1957
- Elvis Presley - Loving You (soundtrack) 17 August 1978
1960s[]
- Cliff Richard & The Shadows - The Young Ones 24 April 1973
- 1963
- The Beatles - Please Please Me 03 June 1972 (Radio Luxembourg)
- The Beatles - With The Beatles 20 August 1976
- 1964
- The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones 18 July 1967
- The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night 20 August 1976
- The Beatles - Beatles For Sale 31 March 1972
- 1965
- Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan 12 February 2004
- Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home 06 August 1967
- The Beatles - Rubber Soul 18 July 1967
- 1966
- The Rolling Stones - Aftermath 05 November 1967
- The Beatles - Revolver 19 July 1967
- 1967
- Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding 11 February 1968
- T. Rex - My People Were Fair And... 19 May 1968[3]
- T. Rex - Prophets, Seers and Sages, The Angels of the Ages 20 October 1968[3]
- The Small Faces - Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake 02 June 1968
- The Beatles - The Beatles 17 November 1968
- 1969
- Cream - Goodbye 09 February 1969
- Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline 20 April 1969
- Blind Faith - Blind Faith 20 July 1969
- The Beatles - Abbey Road 21 September 1969
- The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed 29 November 1969
- Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II 25 October 1969[4]
1970s[]
- 1970
- Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory 05 September 1970
- Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! The Rolling Stones in Concert 25 April 1970
- Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water 07 February 1970
- Black Sabbath - Paranoid 04 August 1978
- Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother 26 September 1970
- Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III 03 October 1977
- 1971
- George Harrison - All Things Must Pass 12 December 1970
- Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers 26 December 1978
- Who - Who's Next 1971 Mix Reel / 07 April 1975
- Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story 24 July 1971
- John Lennon - Imagine 18 October 1973
- Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV 03 January 1977
- T. Rex - Electric Warrior 20 October 2004[5]
- George Harrison & Friends - The Concert for Bangladesh 07 January 1972
- 1972
- Neil Young - Harvest 05 April 1976
- Deep Purple - Machine Head 02 December 2003
- Rolling Stones - Exile On Main St. 19 May 1972
- Rod Stewart - Never A Dull Moment 11 July 1972[6]
- Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy 05 April 1973
- Faces - Ooh La La 22 March 1973
- David Bowie - Aladdin Sane 17 April 1973
- Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells 29 May 1973[4]
- Status Quo - Hello! 25 September 1973
- Roxy Music - Stranded 30 October 1973
- Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 09 October 1973
- Paul McCartney and Wings - Band on the Run 18 December 1973[4]
- 1974
- David Bowie - Diamond Dogs 12 September 1992
- Mike Oldfield - Hergest Ridge 27 August 1974
- Rod Stewart - Smiler 24 September 1974
- 1975
- Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti 24 February 1975
- Wings - Venus and Mars 05 June 1975
- Rod Stewart - Atlantic Crossing 18 August 1975
- Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here 28 November 1975
- Status Quo - Blue For You 17 February 1976
- Led Zeppelin - Presence 06 April 1976
- Dr Feelgood - Stupidity 17 September 1976
- Queen - A Day at the Races 15 December 1976[4]
- 1977
- Beatles - The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl 29 April 1977
- Yes - Going For The One 30 June 1977
- Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols 21 October 1977
- 1978
- Blondie - Parallel Lines 04 September 1978 (Paul Gambaccini)[4]
- Buddy Holly & The Crickets - 20 Golden Greats 06 September 1978 (Paul Gambaccini)
- Bee Gees on Various Artists - Saturday Night Fever 16 July 1979[7]
- 1979
- Tubeway Army - Replicas 05 April 1979
- Led Zeppelin - In Through The Out Door 03 September 1979
- Gary Numan - The Pleasure Principle 12 September 1979
- Blondie - Eat to the Beat 04 October 1979
1980s[]
- 1980
- Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue 23 June 1980[8]
- Kate Bush - Never For Ever 29 March 1981 (BFBS)[9]
- David Bowie - Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) 15 September 1980
- Adam and the Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier 03 November 1980
- Human League - Dare 26 October 1981
- 1982
- The Jam - The Gift 01 March 1982
- ABC - The Lexicon of Love 22 June 1982
- 1983
- Pink Floyd - The Final Cut 24 March 1983
- Paul Young - No Parlez 01 August 1983[10][4]
- 1984
- Simple Minds - Sparkle in the Rain 11 January 1984
- Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Welcome To The Pleasuredome 29 October 1984
- 1985
- The Smiths - Meat Is Murder 05 February 1985
- 1988
- Morrissey: Viva Hate 09 March 1988
- 1989
- New Order - Technique 17 January 1989
1990s[]
- 1990
- Charlatans - Some Friendly 17 September 1990
- 1991
- The Farm - Spartacus 23 February 1991
- 1992
- The Orb - U.F.Orb 03 July 1992
- 1993
- Depeche Mode - Songs Of Faith And Devotion 05 April 1993 (John Peel Is Jakki Brambles)
- Suede - Suede 05 April 1993 (John Peel Is Jakki Brambles)
- David Bowie - Black Tie White Noise 07 April 1993 (John Peel Is Jakki Brambles)
- Nirvana - In Utero 10 September 1993
- 1994
- Blur - Parklife 05 May 1997
- 1995
- Elastica - Elastica 17 February 1995
1995
- Supergrass - I Should Coco 07 April 1995
- Pulp - Different Class 07 October 1995
- 1996
- The Bluetones - Expecting to Fly 17 February 1996
- 1997
- Blur - Blur 08 February 1997
- Charlatans - Tellin' Stories 05 May 1997
- Verve - Urban Hymns 30 October 1997

2003
- 1998
- Fatboy Slim: You've Come A Long Way, Baby 23 December 1998
- 1999
- Blur: 13 23 December 1999
2000s[]
- 2000
- Radiohead - Kid A 19 September 2000
- 2001
- Ash - Free All Angels 14 March 2001
- Radiohead - Amnesiac 14 June 2001
- 2002
- Chemical Brothers - Come With Us 06 February 2002
- 2003
- White Stripes - Elephant 29 January 2003[11]
Sessions[]
John Peel sessions which featured or previewed no.1 album tracks.
1960s[]
- T. Rex Sessions #, #3, #4, #5 first broadcast March - November 1968. Songs from My People Were Fair And... / Prophets, Seers and Sages (both 1968, UK No.1 double LP set in 1972).
- Small Faces Session first broadcast 14 April 1968 features 'Lazy Sunday', lead single from Ogdens' Nut Gone Flake (June 1968).
- Cream Session #2 first broadcast 14 January 1968 features 'The Politician' later included on Goodbye (1969)
1970s[]
- Tubeway Army Session #1 first broadcast 16 January 1979. Songs from Replicas (1979)
- Tubeway Army Session #2 first broadcast 25 June 1979. Songs later feature on Numan debut solo album The Pleasure Principle (1979)
1980s[]
- Tears For Fears Session first brodcast 01 September 1982. Songs from No.1 album The Hurting released March 1983. No evidence of album play.
- Frankie Goes To Hollywood Session #1 first broadcast 02 December 1982 - three songs would feature on Welcome to the Pleasuredome (October 1984)
- The Smiths Session #3 first broadcast 09 August 1984 - two songs later featured on Meat is Murder (Feb. 1985)
1990s[]
- The Farm Session #5 first broadcast 24 May 1990 - three songs from Spartacus (March 1991)
- The Orb Session #3 first broadcast 05 June 1992 features O.O.B.E from U.F.Orb (July 1992)
- Elastica Session #1 first broadcast 18 September 1993 - three songs on Elastica (March 1995)
- Supergrass Session #1 first broadcast 04 February 1995 - all songs feature on I Should Co-Co (May 1995)
- The Bluetones Session #1 first broadcast 21 January 1995 - songs featured on Expecting to Fly (Feb. 1996). Two actual session recordings included on Collector's ed. CD 2
Live[]
Live concerts broadcasted by Peel, featuring songs from UK No.1 albums.
- Faces Recorded 1973-04-01 (some sources give 1973-03-29), Paris Theatre, features songs from Ooh La La 21 April 1973
- Pink Floyd Concert first broadcast 19 July 1970 features songs later released on Atom Heart Mother (October 1970)
- Supergrass Glastonbury live set first broadcast 23 June 1995 features songs from I Should Coco (May 1995)
- The Bluetones Reading Festival: 1995-08-26. Broadcast: 26 August 1995 - songs from Expecting to Fly (Feb. 1996)
- Embrace live performances 30 April 1997 & 27 October 1997 feature songs from The Good Will Out (no.1 June 1988). No known play of the album.
Festive Fifty[]
The following were single John Peel Festive Fifty tracks which had featured on No.1 albums.
- New Order 'Regret' taken from Republic (May 1993) - FF#13 25 December 1993 "Available in about 3,000 different mixes, so I thought it was probably easier to stick with the version on the LP."
- Ash 'Oh Yeah' taken from 1977 (May 1996) - FF #38 21 December 1996 "..another record borrowed from our Flossie's collection".
- Fatboy Slim 'Rockafeller Skank' from You've Come A Long Way Baby (Oct. 1998, no.1 Jan. 1999)- FF#28 23 December 1998
- Massive Attack 'Teardrop' from Mezzanine (May 1998) - FF#21 23 December 1998
- Radiohead - There There from Hail To The Thief (June 2003) - FF#37 24 December 2003
Notes[]
- ↑ Peel had played the track 'One-Sided Love Affair' in 1967, possibly from the US version of the same album entitled Elvis Presley
- ↑ Premiere play on Ed Stewart show, featuring a John Peel slot.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Number 1 in 1972 when re-released as a double-LP package.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Went to Number 1 in the UK the following year.
- ↑ Show hosted by Siouxsie Sioux. A contemporary play date is probable but unavailable to date.
- ↑ Played in full.
- ↑ 35 secs. of 'Stayin' Alive'.
- ↑ Most of the album is played by Paul Gambaccini sitting in for a sick Peel.
- ↑ The track, 'Violin' from the album was played deliberately at the wrong speed as a request.
- ↑ For the Love Will Tear Us Apart cover version.
- ↑ See Elephant controversy.