Led Zeppelin Tops the Charts in Poll of MPs
‘Pop Goes the Library’
50 Years of the Album Charts
26 July – 31 December
Visitors can listen to their favourite summer sounds and discover some golden oldies as well as the latest stars at the British Library display celebrating 50 years of the album charts which first began on 28 July 1956. The display is supported by the Official UK Charts Company.
In a poll conducted by the British Library, MPs responded with a diverse range of top album picks. Topping the list of number ones albums chosen by MPs was Led Zeppelin’s Led Zeppelin II, followed closely by three Beatles albums, including Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport Tessa Jowell MP’s favourite, and Michael Howard MP’s pick, The Beatles ( known as The White Album).
"Zeppelin made a new kind of music. They created a genre which many have copied but no-one has equalled. And 'Whole Lotta Love' is the greatest rock song ever,” said Lembit Opik MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and Wales.
John Robertson MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Music selected Deep Purple, Machine Head (22 Apr 1972) and commented, “Best rock band of the last 50 years. I was present in Green's Playhouse in Glasgow in 1970 when they set the Guiness Book of Records for the loudest performance (at the time of the "Deep Purple in Rock" concert). Ian Gillan, as lead singer, gave the band a range of vocals no other group has, in my opinion, ever matched. Machine Head was their most commercial album but every track a classic."
From the first number one, Sinatra’s Songs for Swinging Lovers, visitors can choose from over 10,000 tracks and discover how musical tastes have changed over the last half century. There is something for everyone with famous musicals, crooners, the original rock and roll kings Elvis and Bill Haley; pop and rock gods the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Pink Floyd, David Bowie; boy and girl bands such as the Spice Girls and Take That as well as this year’s new stars the Arctic Monkeys and Gnarls Barkley.
For many years it was assumed that the first album chart dated from 1958, but recent research, with help from the British Library collections, revealed album charts in existence from July 1956.
From 28 July 2006 each of the albums that reached the Number One spot in the charts will be available at a number of listening stations in the British Library entrance hall.
Further information
For further information, contact Anne Marie Todaro at the British Library Press Office: +44 (0)20 7412 7112 or annemarie.todaro@bl.uk.
Notes for editors
The display is supported by the Official Charts Company and is part of a wide range of events and programmes to celebrate 50 years of the album charts. The Official UK Charts Company website - www.theofficialcharts.com -includes extensive Album Chart information. Visitors to the site are invited to vote for their favourite Number One Album of all time; the resulting league table will be used as a radio programme.
The British Library is the national Library of the United Kingdom. It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world’s largest and most comprehensive research collection.
The MPs Top Album Picks are as follows:
Janet Anderson MP – Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II.
Graham Brady MP – Queen, Queen’s Greatest Hits (14 Nov. 1981).
Kevin Brennan MP – The Beatles, Revolver (13 Aug. 1966) “Boringly predictable but apart from a great collection of pop songs from the lads at their peak Tomorrow never Knows was a turning point in rock and roll, and is as radically fresh sounding as it was 40 years ago - my 12 year old daughter's favourite Beatles track It's an album that sounds different to everything that came before it - and has influenced so much that came after, from Emmylou Harris to the Jam, Stone Roses and Britpop. It combines perfect pop with an emerging psychedelia, and some of the strongest songwritng from Lennon, McCartney and Harrison. The Beatles emerge fully formed from being a great pop group into important musical artists in Revolver. Favourite tracks beside Tomorrow never Knows - I love John's 'I'm only sleeping' - any 21st century band could record it as a straight cover and it would sound more contemporary that much current original material. Eleanor Rigby is Paul's songwriting at its most poignant and evocative (matched only perhaps by She's Leaving Home on Sergeant Pepper) - and the use of the string quartet by George Martin took pop music to another level.Even the cover artwork broke new ground and still looks great today. Surely Revolver is the winner!”
Chris Bryant MP – U2, The Joshua Tree (21 Mar. 1987) “Just one track is enough.”
David Chaytor MP – Bob Dylan, John Wesley Harding (9 Mar. 1968) “One of Dylan’s best – unique.”
Michael Connarty MP – Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Tarkus (26 June 1971) and Roxy Music, Avalon (5 June 1982) “’Mountain Climbing’ by Mountain (Felix Pappalardi, Leslie West & Corky Laing).
Nigel Evans MP – Fleetwood Mac, Rumours.
David Evenett MP – Annie Lennox, Diva (18 Apr. 1992) “Brilliant album by one of the best British female singers ever. I bought this album in 1992 and still enjoy playing it today.”
Mark Field MP - Swing Out Sister, It's Better to Travel (23 May 1987) “Close run thing for me not least as most of my favourite albums failed (many by a fair way!) to make it to number one. Tempted to go for Keane's "Hopes and Fears" which I have played to destruction over the past two years but will plump instead for an album which brings back wonderful memories of my undergraduate days in the mid-to-late 1980s, "It's Better to Travel" by Swing Out Sister - still brings me out in goosepimples and smiles!”
George Galloway MP – Bob Dylan, Blood on the Tracks.
Cheryl Gillan MP – Tubular Bells, Mike Oldfield (1973).
Damian Green MP – Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II (7 Feb. 1970) “The ultimate album for teenage boys—metal as art. No one ever topped it. The opening riff is straightforward perfection.”
Peter Hain MP – Manic Street Preachers, This is My Truth Tell Me Yours.
Michael Howard MP – Beatles, The Beatles (The White Album) (7 Dec 1968).
Alan Johnson MP – Beatles, Revolver.
Tessa Jowell MP - The Beatles, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, (10 Jun 1967).
Alan Keen MP – Frank Sinatra, Songs for Swingin’ Lovers (28 July 1956) “Songs for Swingin Lovers - as brilliant and relevant now as it was in the 50s."
Peter Kilfoyle MP – Beatles, Revolver (13 Aug 1966).
Jim Knight MP - Different Class, Pulp.
David Lammy MP – Marvin Gaye, What’s Gong On?
Ian Lucas MP – Paul Simon, Graceland (4 Oct. 1986) “It combines the melodic genius of one of the West's greatest songwriters with the flair and vibrancy of with the flair and vibrancy of the music of South Africa. It opened the door to a wide appreciation of ‘World Music’.”
Peter Luff MP – Elton John, The Very Best of Elton John (10 Nov 1990).
John Mann MP– Pink Floyd, Atom Heart Mother (24 Oct. 1970) “I like marmalade.”
Rosemary McKenna MP - Original Soundtrack, Saturday Night Fever (6 May 1978).”Very difficult choice to make as I have a very broad taste in Music. My favourite Album is Carol King's Tapestry, however it did not make number one and could not be considered. My favourite Number One Album is Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack. It is from an excellent film which was an absolute reflection of it's time. It is a fantastic dance album and never fails to make me smile. It is the most played on my i-pod and in my car."
Greg Mulholland MP – Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here (4 Oct 1975).
Mark Oaten MP - Human League, Dare (31 Oct 1981) “This album reminds me of my last year at school, and brings up lots of happy memories. Every track is a killer, not a filler.”
Lembit Opik MP – Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II (7 Feb 1970) “Zeppelin made a new kind of music. They created a genre many have copied but no one’s equalled. And 'Whole Lotta Love' is the greatest rock song ever."
Ian Pearson MP – Pulp, Different Class.
Eric Pickles MP – Beatles, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (10 June 1967) and Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here (4 Oct. 1975).
Greg Pope MP - Sex Pistols, Never Mind The Bo****ks Here's The Sex Pistols (12 Nov 1977) “It changed the face of music forever and meant we never had to listen to Boney M again!”
Steve Pound MP – Jam, The Gift (20 Mar 1982) “Dead heat between ‘Forever Changes’ (Love), ‘Astral Weeks’ (Van Morrison), ‘What’s Going On’ (Marvin Gaye)”.
Linda Riordan MP - Elvis Presley, Loving You (OST) (07 Sep 1957).
John Robertson MP – Deep Purple, Machine Head (22 Apr 1972) “Best rock band of the last 50 years. I was present in Green's Playhouse in Glasgow in 1970 when they set the Guiness Book of Records for the loudest performance (at the time of the "Deep Purple in Rock" concert). Ian Gillan, as lead singer, gave the band a range of vocals no other group has, in my opinion, ever matched. Machine Head was their most commercial album but every track a classic."
Dan Rogerson MP – Eric Clapton, From the Cradle to the Grave (24 Sept. 1994) “As a blues fan it was great to see Eric return to his first love. A fine collection of reinterpreted standards and some lesser known tracks wonderfully executed by an all-star band. This album fits in to the late eighties/early nineties blues revival and was one I snapped up while a student at University. I have been a fan of blues music since my early teens. Other important albums of this time for me were Feels Like Rain by Buddy Guy, John Lee Hooker's comeback albums (The Healer, Mr Lucky, Boom Boom, Chill Out and Don't Look Back) and Gary Moore's Still Got the Blues.”
Alison Seabeck MP – Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II (7 Feb 1970) “Led Zeppelin simply blew me away!”
Jim Sheridan MP – Lionel Richie, Back to Front (6 Jun 1992).
Jo Swinson MP - Oasis (What's The Story) Morning Glory? 14-Oct 1995 “Ultimate Kylie and Madonna's Greatest Hits don't seem to be on these lists! Lovely trip down memory lane looking at the 90s and 00s albums. Not sure Oasis was the best, but it sums up the 1990s more than any other.
Ed Vaizey MP – Blondie, Parallel Lines (17 Feb 1979) “First album I ever bought. My favourite album is London Calling by The Clash, but it never seemed to get to number 1.”
Mike Weir MP – David Bowie, Diamond Dogs (8 Jun 1974) “A fantastic album that blends the theatrical with superb music. Sweet Thing is one of the greatest class. Sweet Thing is one of the great Bowie classics, although sadly overlooked. The whole album captures the feel of the mid seventies and worries about future directions. Paranoia and rebellion run through it. You should also listen to the excellent David Live where the songs are played live and interspersed with Bowie's other material - it really is a picture of a man on the edge.”
John Whittingdale MP - Deep Purple, Machine Head (22 Apr 1972) “Deep Purple, Made in Japan (largely the version of Machine Head) perhaps the greatest live recording ever. I should add that the list of albums from which to select omitted a number which I would have chosen such as Rattus Norvegicus by the Stranglers, Bat Out Of Hell by Meatloaf, Screaming for Vengeance by Judas Priest and Rainbow Rising. However, I realise that not all will share my tastes.”
Jenny Willott MP – U2, The Best of 1980 – 1990 & B Sides (14 Nov 1998) “This reminds me of being at school and university and listening to U2, amongst others while pulling all-nighters writing essays. I still listen to it whilst in the car and can’t help singing along to every song. I saw U2 live in my constituency last year just after getting elected and they are still one of the best bands of the last few decades.”