Put into eclipse ... Gilbert O'Sullivan kept Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon from the No 1 slot in 1973
The problem with the Official Charts Company's website, is that it turns normal people into complete nerds.
Among other list-y ephemera, it includes every No 1 album and single since the charts began in the 1950s. Fair enough, but until you look at the lists, you can't imagine the terrible, anorakish addictiveness of them. The singles list is compelling enough, providing enough fodder for hundreds of pub quizzes (you can hardly credit it, but Simply Red spent four weeks at No 1 in 1995 with Fairground) but the album chart is the one that takes you to downtown Geeksville.
Take this tiny example. In 1964, only four albums reached No 1: With the Beatles, Beatles for Sale, A Hard Day's Night and the Rolling Stones' eponymous debut. The Stones spent 12 weeks at the top - the memory of which must make Sir Mick pine for the old days - and the Beatles occupied the other 40. The only other huge hits of the early 60s were the soundtracks of Broadway musicals, which hung around No 1 for months at a time. And I could go on, but it would be too sad.
The album chart will turn 50 on July 28, and, naturally, much is being made of this by the OCC. The new edition of Guinness's doorstopping British Hit Singles & Albums contains various special features, and the OCC site invites you to vote for your favourite No 1 album of all time, which can be anything from the very first, Frank Sinatra's Songs for Swingin' Lovers, to the current (and much less worthy) incumbent, Shayne Ward's self-titled pool of dribble.
Apparently, Radio 2 is considering making a programme of the result, which is likely to mirror those "best album" polls that are always won by OK Computer.
More interesting, and worthier of a dedicated programme, are the all-time classic albums that never reached No 1. Prince's Sign o' the Times, say, which peaked at 4. Dylan's epochal trinity The Times They Are a-Changin', Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde - 4, 4 and 3. There's also the Stone Roses (9), The Smiths (2), Nirvana's Nevermind (7), Stevie Wonder's Innervisions (8), Dark Side of the Moon (2), The Clash's London Calling (9), Public Enemy's Fear of a Black Planet (4). All are technically also-rans, critically venerated but never accruing enough sales in any one week to vault past the likes of Gilbert O'Sullivan's Back to Front. That was what kept Pink Floyd from debuting at No 1 in 1973.
So over to you - what are your best non-chart-toppers of all time?
