The canon was further modified when psephologists Alan Smith and Keith Badman discovered that the album charts dated back to 28 July 1956, not 8 November 1958 as previously thought. The first album chart was a Top 5 published in Record Mirror

Record Mirror

Record Mirror was a British weekly pop music newspaper, founded by Isadore Green and featured, news articles, interviews, record charts, record reviews, concert reviews, letters from readers and photographs. The paper became respected by both mainstream pop music fans and serious record collectors...

. From 8 November 1958, a Top 10 album chart was compiled by Melody Maker

Melody Maker

Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...

; although the Mirror chart continued to run after this date, Melody Maker is taken as the canonical source as it had a larger sample. In 1959, from June to August a newspaper strike prevented the album chart from being published and the previous chart was duplicated in these weeks. Nevertheless, the South Pacific

South Pacific (film)

South Pacific is a 1958 musical romance film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, and based on James A. Michener's Tales of the South Pacific...

soundtrack was number one for the entire duration of 1959.
The following albums were all number one in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in the 1950s.

There were 15 number-one albums in this decade. The longest run at number-one was the original soundtrack of the movie South Pacific

South Pacific (film)

South Pacific is a 1958 musical romance film adaptation of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, and based on James A. Michener's Tales of the South Pacific...

, which held on to the top spot for 60 consecutive weeks in the 1950s, and went on to attain another 50 weeks in 1960 & 1961, totalling a record of 110 weeks at number-one in the UK. It was number-one for the entire year in 1959.

Number-one albums

Key

– Best-selling album of the year

– The album spent a week at number one where it shared the top spot with another album.

1950s:  19561957195819591960s →

	Album	Reached #1	Weeks
	Songs for Swingin' Lovers!		2
Original Soundtrack	Carousel †		2
	Songs for Swingin' Lovers!		1
Original Soundtrack	Carousel †		4
Original Soundtrack	Oklahoma! Oklahoma! (soundtrack) Oklahoma! is the original soundtrack album of the 1955 film Oklahoma!, an adaptation of the musical play of the same name. The soundtrack charted #1 on the Billboard Pop Album Chart in 1956 and has been in continual print...		2
Original Soundtrack	The King and I		2
	Rock 'n' Roll Stage Show Rock 'n' Roll Stage Show Rock 'n' Roll Stage Show was the fourth album of rock and roll music by Bill Haley and His Comets. Released by Decca Records in August 1956 it was the group's first album to include new, as opposed to previously-released material. And although the album spawned several singles, it also featured...		1
Original Soundtrack	The King and I		1
	Rock 'N' Roll Elvis Presley (album) -1999 Reissue with Bonus Tracks:Catalogue data reflects simultaneous release of all tracks from LPM 1254 as singles in August, 1956; chart positions from Billboard Pop Singles chart.-2006 FTD Reissue:Disc OneDisc Two-Personnel:...		1
Original Soundtrack	The King and I		14.515
	Album	Reached #1	Weeks
Original Soundtrack	High Society		1.01
	This Is Sinatra! This Is Sinatra! This Is Sinatra! is an album by Frank Sinatra, released in 1956.This is the first collection of Sinatra's singles and B-sides with Nelson Riddle. This album is now available on CD All of the tracks also appear on the box set The Complete Capitol Singles Collectionand various Capitol reissues...		1
Original Soundtrack	The King and I †		1
	This Is Sinatra! This Is Sinatra! This Is Sinatra! is an album by Frank Sinatra, released in 1956.This is the first collection of Sinatra's singles and B-sides with Nelson Riddle. This album is now available on CD All of the tracks also appear on the box set The Complete Capitol Singles Collectionand various Capitol reissues...		1
Original Soundtrack	The King and I †		1
	This Is Sinatra! This Is Sinatra! This Is Sinatra! is an album by Frank Sinatra, released in 1956.This is the first collection of Sinatra's singles and B-sides with Nelson Riddle. This album is now available on CD All of the tracks also appear on the box set The Complete Capitol Singles Collectionand various Capitol reissues...		1
Original Soundtrack	The King and I †		3
	This Is Sinatra! This Is Sinatra! This Is Sinatra! is an album by Frank Sinatra, released in 1956.This is the first collection of Sinatra's singles and B-sides with Nelson Riddle. This album is now available on CD All of the tracks also appear on the box set The Complete Capitol Singles Collectionand various Capitol reissues...		3
Original Soundtrack	The King and I †		5.56
	Love Is the Thing Love Is the Thing Love Is the Thing is a 1957 album released by American jazz vocalist Nat King Cole. It is the first of four collaborations between Cole and influential arranger Gordon Jenkins. Launching the charting single "Stardust", which peaked at #79, the album reached #1 on Billboard's "Pop Albums" chart and...		1.01
Original Soundtrack	Oklahoma! Oklahoma! (soundtrack) Oklahoma! is the original soundtrack album of the 1955 film Oklahoma!, an adaptation of the musical play of the same name. The soundtrack charted #1 on the Billboard Pop Album Chart in 1956 and has been in continual print...		1
Original Soundtrack	The King and I †		4
	The Tommy Steele Story		3
Original Soundtrack	The King and I †		3
	The Tommy Steele Story		1
	Loving You (OST) Loving You (album) Loving You is the third album by Elvis Presley, issued on RCA Victor Records in mono, LPM 1515, in July 1957 - the July 1 release date is unconfirmed. Recording sessions took place on January 15, 16, 17, and 18, 1957, at the Paramount Pictures Scoring Stage, and on January 12, 13, 19, and February...		2
	A Swingin' Affair A Swingin' Affair! A Swingin' Affair! is the tenth studio album by Frank Sinatra. It is claimed to be the sequel to Songs for Swingin' Lovers."The Lady Is a Tramp" was bumped from the original album and replaced with "No One Ever Tells You", which had been recorded months earlier. Later, "The Lady is a Tramp"...		7
	Loving You (OST) Loving You (album) Loving You is the third album by Elvis Presley, issued on RCA Victor Records in mono, LPM 1515, in July 1957 - the July 1 release date is unconfirmed. Recording sessions took place on January 15, 16, 17, and 18, 1957, at the Paramount Pictures Scoring Stage, and on January 12, 13, 19, and February...		1
Original Soundtrack	The King and I †		11
	Album	Reached #1	Weeks
Original Soundtrack	Pal Joey		7
Original Soundtrack	The King and I		1
Original Soundtrack	Pal Joey		4
Original Soundtrack	The Duke Wore Jeans		2
Original Cast	My Fair Lady †		19
	King Creole King Creole (album) King Creole is the sixth album by Elvis Presley, issued on RCA Victor Records, LPM 1884 in mono in September 1958, recorded in three days at Radio Recorders in Hollywood. It contains songs written and recorded expressly for the film, and peaked at #2 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart. It...		7
Original Soundtrack	South Pacific †		70
Artist	Album	Reached #1	Weeks

Comparison to Record Mirror album chart

From 8 November 1958, Melody Maker is regarded as the canonical source. Record Mirror continued to compile an album chart with the following differences:

Dates	|Melody Maker	Record Mirror
8 November –	Original Soundtrack – South Pacific (8 weeks)	– King Creole King Creole (album) King Creole is the sixth album by Elvis Presley, issued on RCA Victor Records, LPM 1884 in mono in September 1958, recorded in three days at Radio Recorders in Hollywood. It contains songs written and recorded expressly for the film, and peaked at #2 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart. It... (1 week) Original Cast – My Fair Lady (4 weeks) Original Soundtrack – South Pacific (3 weeks)