Donovan never had a number-one single or number-one album in his native UK;[1] however, his Universal Soldier EP spent eight weeks at the top of the EP chart.

In the 1950s and 1960s "a third vinyl format" was introduced alongside long-playing (LP) albums, and singles. The extended play (EP) used the same formats as singles but contained more tracks.[2] Singles were the popular record format at the time – predominantly 10-inch 78 rpm and 7-inch 45 rpm formats[3] – and the first singles chart was published by New Musical Express in 1952 with many other publications also producing singles charts in the 1950s and 1960s.[4] Record Mirror published the first album chart in 1956,[3] and when Record Retailer began compiling an LP chart on 12 March 1960, they also compiled an EP chart. The EP chart consisted of a top ten and was expanded to fifteen positions the following week, and twenty the week after that.[5] EPs "died out in the late 1960s"[2] and Record Retailer reduced the chart to ten positions on 16 April 1966, publishing the final EP chart on 16 December 1967.[5] For six weeks in 1966 and two weeks in December 1967, Record Retailer did not publish EP charts but they were compiled and Record Mirror published them;[5] Record Mirror had begun publishing charts compiled by Record Retailer in March 1962, following a decision to stop compiling their own albums and singles charts.[4]

The longest consecutive duration at the top of the chart was 23 weeks for The Shadows' EP The Shadows to the Fore.[6] The most weeks at number one was achieved by The Beach Boys' EP Hits which spent 34 weeks there from June 1966 and was the incumbent number one when the chart ceased at the end of 1967.[7] The Beatles had eight different EPs top the chart as did The Shadows (four with Cliff Richard and four on their own). The Shadows spent 69 weeks with an EP on top of the chart in comparison to The Beatles' 63 weeks. Conversely, only four acts spent a total of one week atop the chart; Joan Baez, Jim Reeves, George Mitchell Minstrels and Bobby Vee (with The Crickets). Although official music recording sales certifications were not introduced until the British Phonographic Industry was formed in 1973, Disc introduced an initiative in 1959 to present a gold disc to records that sold over one million units and a silver disc to records selling over 250,000 units.[8] Seven EPs are recorded as going silver: The Beatles' number-one EPs Twist and Shout, The Beatles' Hits, All My Loving, Long Tall Sally as well as The Beatles (No. 1) and Magical Mystery Tour (which did not reach number one but would have done so had the EP chart lasted only a few more weeks) and The Rolling Stones' number-one EP Five by Five.[8]

Number-one EPs

No. Artist[nb 1] EP[nb 1] Reached
number one[nb 2] 		Weeks at
number one[nb 1]
1960
1 Cliff Richard and The Shadows Expresso Bongo 12 March 1960 1
2 Elvis Presley Strictly Elvis 19 March 1960 5
re Cliff Richard and The Shadows Expresso Bongo 23 April 1960 1
3 Paddy Roberts Strictly for Grown Ups 30 April 1960 1
4 Emile Ford and the Checkmates Emile 7 May 1960 1
re Paddy Roberts Strictly for Grown Ups 14 May 1960 1
re Emile Ford and the Checkmates Emile 21 May 1960 2
re Paddy Roberts Strictly for Grown Ups 4 June 1960 12
5 Paddy Roberts Paddy Roberts Strikes Again 27 August 1960 2
re Paddy Roberts Strictly for Grown Ups 10 September 1960 1
6 Original Soundtrack Highlights from South Pacific 17 September 1960 1
re Paddy Roberts Strictly for Grown Ups 24 September 1960 3
re Original Soundtrack Highlights from South Pacific 15 October 1960 3
re Paddy Roberts Strictly for Grown Ups 5 November 1960 1
re Original Soundtrack Highlights from South Pacific 12 November 1960 5
7 Adam Faith Adam's Hit Parade 17 December 1960 1
8 Cliff Richard and The Shadows Cliff's Silver Discs 24 December 1960 1
re Original Soundtrack Highlights from South Pacific 31 December 1960 1
1961
re Cliff Richard and The Shadows Cliff's Silver Discs 7 January 1961 2
re Adam Faith Adam's Hit Parade 21 January 1961 1
9 The Shadows The Shadows 28 January 1961 17
re Adam Faith Adam's Hit Parade 27 May 1961 1
re The Shadows The Shadows 3 June 1961 3
10 The Shadows The Shadows to the Fore 24 June 1961 23
11 Helen Shapiro Helen 2 December 1961 9
1962
re The Shadows The Shadows to the Fore 3 February 1962 4
12 The Shadows Spotlight on The Shadows 3 March 1962 3
13 Helen Shapiro Helen's Hit Parade 24 March 1962 3
re The Shadows Spotlight on The Shadows 14 April 1962 5
re The Shadows The Shadows to the Fore 19 May 1962 1
re Helen Shapiro Helen's Hit Parade 26 May 1962 1
14 Cliff Richard and The Shadows Hits from "The Young Ones" 2 June 1962 2
15 Elvis Presley Follow That Dream 16 June 1962 20
16 The Shadows The Boys 3 November 1962 3
17 Elvis Presley Kid Galahad 24 November 1962 5
18 George Mitchell Minstrels From The Black and White Minstrel Show 29 December 1962 1
1963
re Elvis Presley Kid Galahad 5 January 1963 11
19 Frank Ifield Frank Ifield's Hits 23 March 1963 1
re Elvis Presley Kid Galahad 30 March 1963 1
re Frank Ifield Frank Ifield's Hits 6 April 1963 8
20 Bobby Vee and The Crickets Just for Fun 1 June 1963 1
21 Cliff Richard and The Shadows Holiday Carnival 8 June 1963 1
re Frank Ifield Frank Ifield's Hits 15 June 1963 2
re Cliff Richard and The Shadows Holiday Carnival 29 June 1963 1
re Frank Ifield Frank Ifield's Hits 6 July 1963 2
re Cliff Richard and The Shadows Holiday Carnival 20 July 1963 1
22 The Beatles Twist and Shout 27 July 1963 10
23 The Searchers Ain't Gonna Kiss Ya 5 October 1963 4
24 The Beatles The Beatles' Hits 2 November 1963 3
re The Beatles Twist and Shout 23 November 1963 11
1964
25 The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones 8 February 1964 3
26 The Beatles All My Loving 29 February 1964 8
re The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones 25 April 1964 11
27 The Beatles Long Tall Sally 11 July 1964 7
28 The Rolling Stones Five by Five 29 August 1964 15
29 The Beatles Extracts from the Film "A Hard Day's Night" 12 December 1964 2
30 The Bachelors The Bachelors' Hits 26 December 1964 2
1965
re The Beatles Extracts from the Film "A Hard Day's Night" 9 January 1965 3
re The Rolling Stones Five by Five 30 January 1965 1
re The Beatles Extracts from the Film "A Hard Day's Night" 6 February 1965 1
re The Rolling Stones Five by Five 13 February 1965 1
31 The Kinks Kinksize Session 20 February 1965 1
re The Rolling Stones Five by Five 27 February 1965 1
32 Val Doonican The Green Shades of Val Doonican 6 March 1965 3
re The Rolling Stones Five by Five 27 March 1965 3
re Val Doonican The Green Shades of Val Doonican 17 April 1965 1
33 The Beatles Beatles for Sale 24 April 1965 5
34 The Searchers Bumble Bee 29 May 1965 2
re The Beatles Beatles for Sale 12 June 1965 1
35 Manfred Mann The One in the Middle 19 June 1965 1
36 The Rolling Stones Got Live If You Want It! 26 June 1965 1
re Manfred Mann The One in the Middle 3 July 1965 4
re The Rolling Stones Got Live If You Want It! 31 July 1965 1
re Manfred Mann The One in the Middle 7 August 1965 4
37 Donovan The Universal Soldier 4 September 1965 8
38 The Kinks Kwyet Kinks 30 October 1965 7
39 Manfred Mann No Living Without Loving 18 December 1965 7
1966
40 The Beatles The Beatles' Million Sellers 5 February 1966 2
41 The Seekers The Seekers 19 February 1966 3
re The Beatles The Beatles' Million Sellers 12 March 1966 2
42 The Beatles Yesterday 26 March 1966 8
43 Joan Baez With God on our Side 21 May 1966 1
44 Manfred Mann Machines 28 May 1966 1
45 The Beach Boys Hits 4 June 1966 4
46 The Walker Brothers I Need You 2 July 1966 10
re The Beach Boys Hits 10 September 1966 4
re The Walker Brothers I Need You 8 October 1966 3
re The Beach Boys Hits 29 October 1966 7
47 The Who Ready Steady Who 17 December 1966 2
48 Jim Reeves A Christmas Card from Jim 31 December 1966 1
1967
re The Who Ready Steady Who 7 January 1967 2
re The Beach Boys Hits 21 January 1967 7
49 The Seekers Morningtown Ride 11 March 1967 1
50 Four Tops Four Top Hits 18 March 1967 10
51 Paul Jones Paul Jones Sings Songs from the Film Privilege 27 May 1967 3
re Four Tops Four Top Hits 17 June 1967 5
52 Elvis Presley Easy Come, Easy Go 22 July 1967 3
re The Beach Boys Hits 12 August 1967 6
re Four Tops Four Top Hits 23 September 1967 1
re The Beach Boys Hits 30 September 1967 1
re Four Tops Four Top Hits 7 October 1967 1
re The Beach Boys Hits 14 October 1967 1
re Four Tops Four Top Hits 21 October 1967 5
re The Beach Boys Hits 25 November 1967 4

By artist

The following artists achieved two or more number-one EPs. Artists The Beatles and The Shadows were the most successful acts of the decade in terms of number-one EPs, each having eight EPs reach the top of the chart. In total, The Shadows spent 69 weeks occupying the top of chart (59 weeks from 4 EPs as an instrumental group and 10 weeks from 4 EPs accompanying Cliff Richard) and The Beatles spent a total of 63 weeks at number one.

Artist Number-one EPs Total weeks
The Shadows 8 69
The Beatles 8 63
Elvis Presley 4 45
Cliff Richard 4 10
The Rolling Stones 3 37
Manfred Mann 3 17
Paddy Roberts 2 21
Helen Shapiro 2 13
The Kinks 2 8
The Searchers 2 6
The Seekers 2 4

Notes

  1. ^ a b c The artist, EP name, and number of consecutive weeks at number one are those given by Warwick, Kutner, and Brown in The Complete Book of The British Charts: Singles and Albums (3rd ed.).[9]
  2. ^ The date given is for the first week of a consecutive duration at number one. The date is "the Saturday of the relevant week"[10] as given by Warwick, Kutner, and Brown in The Complete Book of The British Charts: Singles and Albums (3rd ed.).[9] This may not coincide with the date Record Retailer was published; charts from 10 March 1960 until 8 June 1967 were week-ending on a Thursday and from 19 July 1967 until 23 July 1969 were week-ending on a Wednesday.[11]

References

Footnotes
  1. ^ "Artist Chart History: Donovan". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
  2. ^ a b "EP". Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Media, Industry and Society. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. 2003. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  3. ^ a b Mawer, Sharon. "The Official UK Albums Chart: Introduction". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 22 June 2007. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  4. ^ a b Smith, Alan. "50s & 60s UK Charts – The Truth!". Dave McAleer's website. Archived from the original on 3 September 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  5. ^ a b c Warwick, Kutner & Brown 2004, p. viii.
  6. ^ Warwick, Kutner & Brown 2004, p. 27.
  7. ^ Warwick, Kutner & Brown 2004, p. 28.
  8. ^ a b Smith, Alan. "UK First Charts & Silver Discs". Dave McAleer's website. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  9. ^ a b Warwick, Kutner & Brown 2004, pp. 24–28.
  10. ^ Warwick, Kutner & Brown 2004, p. x.
  11. ^ "Number 1 Singles – 1960s". Official Charts Company. Archived from the original on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 13 July 2010.
Sources
  • Warwick, Neil; Kutner, Jon; Brown, Tony (2004). The Complete Book of The British Charts: Singles and Albums (3rd ed.). London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 1-84449-058-0.

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