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List of Billboard Best Selling Pop Albums number ones of 1951

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Two albums recorded by Mario Lanza (pictured in 1949) topped the charts in 1951. His soundtrack to the film The Great Caruso topped the 33 1/3 and 45 rpm chart for ten weeks each from June to August. His christmas record Mario Lanza Sings Christmas Songs reached number one on both charts in late December.

The Billboard magazine publishes a weekly chart that ranks the best-selling albums in the United States. The chart nowadays known as the Billboard 200 was titled Best Selling Pop Albums in 1951. Starting with the issue dated July 22, 1950, Billboard decided to split the popular albums chart between the two common album formats at the time–33 1/3 rpm and 45 rpm, because the versions of the albums were often not released simultaneously and larger retailers had issues filling out Billboards questionnaire.

The cast recording of the 1949 musical South Pacific, composed by Richard Rodgers and mainly recorded by Ezio Pinza and Mary Martin, spent nineteen combined weeks on top between January and April. The most dominant individual artist in 1951 was Mario Lanza. Three albums recorded by Lanza topped the charts for thirty combined weeks. The first of which, the soundtrack to the 1950 film The Toast of New Orleans, in which Lanza starred in topped the 45 rpm chart for six weeks in February and March.[1] The soundtrack to his follow-up film The Great Caruso reigned atop each of the charts for ten consecutive weeks. The album sold more than 100,000 copies before the film was released and became the first LP to sell more than one million copies in the US.[2] Finally, Lanza's christmas album Mario Lanza Sings Christmas Songs was number one for the final two weeks of the year on both charts. This made 1951 the first year since the charts inception in 1945, that Bing Crosby's Merry Christmas did not reach number one in December.[A] Billboard did not issue a year-end chart for albums in 1951. The women's album that reigned at the top of the Billboard was The Voice of Xtabay of Yma Sumac in which she remained at the top for 6 weeks.

Chart history

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Chart history
Issue date 33 1/3 R.P.M. 45 R.P.M. Ref.
Album Artist(s) Label Album Artist(s) Label
January 6 Merry Christmas Bing Crosby Decca Merry Christmas Bing Crosby Decca [5]
January 13 South Pacific Original Cast Columbia [6]
January 20 South Pacific Original Cast Columbia [7]
January 27 [8]
February 3 [9]
February 10 [10]
February 17 [11]
February 24 The Toast of New Orleans Mario Lanza RCA Victor [12]
March 3 [13]
March 10 [14]
March 17 Guys and Dolls Original Cast Decca [15]
March 24 South Pacific Original Cast Columbia [16]
March 31 [17]
April 7 Voice of the Xtabay Yma Sumac Capitol [18]
April 14 [19]
April 21 Lullaby of Broadway Doris Day / Soundtrack Columbia [20]
April 28 Voice of the Xtabay Yma Sumac Capitol Records Voice of the Xtabay Yma Sumac Capitol [21]
May 5 [22]
May 12 Lullaby of Broadway Doris Day / Soundtrack Columbia [23]
May 19 Voice of the Xtabay & Lullaby of Broadway tied Yma Sumac & Doris Day tied Capitol & Columbia tied [24]
May 26 Voice of the Xtabay Yma Sumac Capitol [25]
June 2 Mario Lanza Sings Selections from The Great Caruso Mario Lanza RCA Victor [26]
June 9 Mario Lanza Sings Selections from the Great Caruso Mario Lanza RCA Victor [27]
June 16 [28]
June 23 [29]
June 30 [30]
July 7 [31]
July 14 [32]
July 21 [33]
July 28 [34]
August 4 [35]
August 11 Show Boat Soundtrack MGM [36]
August 18 Show Boat Soundtrack MGM [37]
August 25 [38]
September 1 [39]
September 8 [40]
September 15 [41]
September 22 [42]
September 29 [43]
October 6 [44]
October 13 [45]
October 20 [46]
October 27 [47]
November 3 [48]
November 10 [49]
November 17 [50]
November 24 [51]
December 1 [52]
December 8 [53]
December 15 [54]
December 22 Mario Lanza Sings Christmas Songs Mario Lanza RCA Victor Mario Lanza Sings Christmas Songs Mario Lanza RCA Victor [55]
December 29 [4]

Notes

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  1. ^ Bing Crosby's Merry Christmas first reached the top of the album chart in the issue dated December 8, 1945.[3] It spent at least one week atop the chart, every christmas season until January 1951. In December 1951, it peaked at number four on both charts, in the last issue.[4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Ankeny, Jason. "Mario Lanza Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  2. ^ L. Bessette, Roland (1999). Mario Lanza: Tenor in Exile. Amadeus Press. p. 103.
  3. ^ "Best-Selling Popular Record Albums". Billboard. December 8, 1945. p. 28.
  4. ^ a b "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. December 29, 1951. p. 16. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  5. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. January 6, 1951. p. 16. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  6. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. January 13, 1951. p. 28. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  7. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. January 20, 1951. p. 20. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  8. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. January 27, 1951. p. 22. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  9. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. February 3, 1951. p. 20. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  10. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. February 10, 1951. p. 26. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  11. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. February 17, 1951. p. 22. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  12. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. February 24, 1951. p. 24. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  13. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. March 3, 1951. p. 22. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  14. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. March 10, 1951. p. 20. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  15. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. March 17, 1951. p. 94. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  16. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. March 24, 1951. p. 24. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  17. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. March 31, 1951. p. 28. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  18. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. April 7, 1951. p. 28. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  19. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. April 14, 1951. p. 24. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  20. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. April 21, 1951. p. 30. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  21. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. April 28, 1951. p. 24. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  22. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. May 5, 1951. p. 26. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  23. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. May 12, 1951. p. 20. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  24. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. May 19, 1951. p. 22. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  25. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. May 26, 1951. p. 22. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  26. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. June 2, 1951. p. 22. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  27. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. June 9, 1951. p. 24. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  28. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. June 16, 1951. p. 20. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  29. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. June 23, 1951. p. 26. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  30. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. June 30, 1951. p. 26. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  31. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. July 7, 1951. p. 20. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  32. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. July 14, 1951. p. 20. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  33. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. July 21, 1951. p. 22. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  34. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. July 28, 1951. p. 26. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  35. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. August 4, 1951. p. 22. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  36. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. August 11, 1951. p. 28. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  37. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. August 18, 1951. p. 20. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  38. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. August 25, 1951. p. 24. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  39. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. September 1, 1951. p. 24. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  40. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums" (PDF). Billboard. September 8, 1951. p. 24. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  41. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. September 15, 1951. p. 74. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  42. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. September 22, 1951. p. 28. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  43. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. September 29, 1951. p. 34. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  44. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. October 6, 1951. p. 26. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  45. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. October 13, 1951. p. 24. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  46. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. October 20, 1951. p. 26. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  47. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. October 27, 1951. p. 34. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  48. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. November 3, 1951. p. 36. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  49. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. November 10, 1951. p. 36. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  50. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. November 17, 1951. p. 30. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  51. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. November 24, 1951. p. 34. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  52. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. December 1, 1951. p. 70. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  53. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. December 8, 1951. p. 36. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  54. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. December 15, 1951. p. 28. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  55. ^ "Best Selling Pop Albums". Billboard. December 22, 1951. p. 24. Retrieved April 5, 2021.

See also

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