If you have been involved with enough quizzes, seen enough quiz shows, and care about pop trivia you will know that The Who never had a UK #1 hit single. They were Stuck at 2 twice: “My Generation” was kept off the top for 2 weeks by “The Carnival Is Over” (The Seekers, 1965) and “I’m a Boy” was kept at #2 for a week by “Distant Drums” (Jim Reeves, 1966). They did reach #1 in the album charts, but only for a single week (“Who’s Next”, 1971). This well-known fact (for me at least) got met thinking. How many other major acts spent a single week at #1 in the album charts?

Not for the first time, I used this page on the Official Chart Company website (“All The Number 1 Albums”) as my starting point. It turns out that over 200 acts have had a single week at the top of the album charts. There are some very successful singles acts there, not least Shakin’ Stevens, who was the best-selling singles artist of the 1980s. His only chart-topping album was “Shaky” (for 1 week in 1981). The Jam had 4 UK #1 singles but “The Gift” was their only album to reach the top, in 1982.

Barry Manilow has never had a #1 single in the UK. In fact, he has only reached the Top 10 once. Can you guess which song took him there? I have set this challenge to many people over the years, face-to-face, and nobody has ever got it right. The answer appears after this paragraph. He is another artist who has had just a single week at the top of the UK album chart (“Barry Live in Britain”, 1982). Continuing with the 80s theme, the following UK acts, who all spent several weeks at the top of the singles chart, also only managed a single week at the top of the album charts: Spandau Ballet (“True”, 1983), Duran Duran (“Seven and the Ragged Tiger”, also 1983) and Frankie goes to Hollywood (“Welcome to the Pleasuredome”, 1984).

Barry Manilow’s only UK Top 10 hit, for the record, was “I Wanna Do It With You”. Not “Mandy” (#11), “Could It Be Magic” (#25), “Bermuda Triangle” (#15) or “I Write the Songs” (never a UK hit).

Here, in table form, are 40 notable artists who only had a single week at the top of the UK album chart. There is at least one entry for every decade between the 1950s and the 2010s. There are plenty of acts from the 2020s who have only had a single week at the top (Celeste, Wolf Alice, KSI, Wet Leg, Sam Ryder…) but I’ll give them the chance for a follow-up before adding them to this list.

In keeping with the source of the original data (the Official Chart Company link further back) I have left the text in All Caps.

Year	Album	Artist
1956	ROCK N ROLL STAGE SHOWS	BILL HALEY & HIS COMETS
1968	FOUR TOPS GREATEST HITS	FOUR TOPS
1968	DOCK OF THE BAY	OTIS REDDING
1971	TARKUS	EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER
1971	WHO’S NEXT	WHO
1972	HARVEST	NEIL YOUNG
1973	BACK TO FRONT	GILBERT O’SULLIVAN
1973	BILLION DOLLAR BABIES	ALICE COOPER
1973	OOH-LA-LA	FACES
1974	JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH	RICK WAKEMAN
1981	SHAKY	SHAKIN’ STEVENS
1982	THE GIFT	JAM
1982	BARRY LIVE IN BRITAIN	BARRY MANILOW
1983	TRUE	SPANDAU BALLET
1983	SEVEN AND THE RAGGED TIGER	DURAN DURAN
1984	WELCOME TO THE PLEASUREDOME	FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD
1985	OUR FAVOURITE SHOP	STYLE COUNCIL
1987	BRIDGE OF SPIES	T’PAU
1990	I DO NOT WANT WHAT I HAVEN’T GOT	SINEAD O’CONNOR
1991	SHEPHERD MOONS	ENYA
1992	UP	RIGHT SAID FRED
1992	THE BEST OF BELINDA VOLUME I	BELINDA CARLISLE
1993	WALTHAMSTOW	EAST 17
1993	VERY	PET SHOP BOYS
1994	FROM THE CRADLE	ERIC CLAPTON
1998	FIVE	FIVE
2000	7	S CLUB 7
2000	SAINTS AND SINNERS	ALL SAINTS
2001	HOT SHOT	SHAGGY
2005	THE MASSACRE	50 CENT
2006	ST ELSEWHERE	GNARLS BARKLEY
2007	COLLECTION	TRAVELING WILBURYS
2007	LONG ROAD OUT OF EDEN	THE EAGLES
2009	OVERCOME	ALEXANDRA BURKE
2009	JLS	JLS
2012	PINK FRIDAY – ROMAN RELOADED	NICKI MINAJ
2012	ORA	RITA ORA
2013	MAGNA CARTA HOLY GRAIL	JAY-Z
2014	GIRL	PHARRELL WILLIAMS
2019	ENCORE	THE SPECIALS