Get into the festive spirit with Christmas number one albums at the British Library!

Pop Goes the Library: 50 Years of the Album Charts: extended until 25 March 2007 due to popular demand.

Cher, The Beatles, Meatloaf, The Beautiful South, Phil Collins. All of these artists have scored Christmas Number Ones in the album charts. So which act is the Christmas turkey and which is at the top of the tree? Decide for yourself by rediscovering the bestselling albums of Christmas past with the British Library's Pop Goes The Library exhibition supported by The Official UK Charts Company. The display includes every album to reach number one since UK album charts began, including every album that has ever hit the top spot at Christmas time.

More than 20% of albums purchased throughout the year are sold in December alone and the exhibition offers a fascinating insight into what albums people have found in their Christmas stockings over the years, either at their own request or as the beneficiary of kindly-intentioned relatives. So who had Meat Loaf with their mince pies in 1993? And how many people were delighted to discover Robson & Jerome's eponymous debut offering in their Christmas stockings in 1995?

Whether their success is due to cannily timed releases aimed at Christmas shoppers, or their status as the UK's most wanted, several artists have repeatedly made it to the festive top spot. The Beatles have notched up seven Christmas number one albums, with John Lennon's posthumous collection also hitting the Number One position in 1982. Robbie Williams has topped the album charts at Christmas three times, with Abba, Queen and Sir Elton John each reaching the peak position twice. Sir Cliff Richard, regarded by many as the quintessential Christmas crooner, has actually only achieved a Christmas number one album once, having considerably more success with his Christmas singles.

The first Christmas number one album in 1956 was the original soundtrack to The King and I, which remained at the festive top spot in 1957 before being toppled the following year by the South Pacific soundtrack - Christmas number one album three years running, from 1958 to 1960. The 1980s saw a surge in popularity for a number of Various Artists' compilations which topped the Christmas charts from 1983 to 1987. Last year's most popular Christmas album was Eminem's Curtain Call - The Hits.

Andy Linehan, Popular Music Curator at the British Library, comments, "The British Library Sound Archive aims to collect and preserve copies of every recording commercially issued in the UK, and our extensive reference library and online services make us the premier public research facility for pop music in the UK. With over 10,000 tracks to choose from, the Pop Goes the Library audio exhibition is a fantastic opportunity to discover how the nation's musical tastes have changed over the last 50 years. At this time of year, it is also a great chance to get an insight into the musical purchases of the nation's Christmas shoppers over the decades."

For further information, contact Ruth Howlett at the British Library Press Office: +44 (0)20 7412 7112 or ruth.howlett@bl.uk

Notes for Editors

Andy Linehan, Popular Music Curator at the British Library, is available for interview.

Recent research, with help from the British Library collections, revealed album charts in existence from July 1956. In the Pop Goes the Library display, each of the albums that have reached the Number One spot in the charts can be heard via a number of listening stations.

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.

Pop Goes the Library is supported by The Official UK 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.

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. Further information is available on the Library's website at www.bl.uk

Christmas number one albums 1956 - 2005

1956	The King and I	Original Soundtrack
1957	The King and I	Original Soundtrack
1958	South Pacific	Original Soundtrack
1959	South Pacific	Original Soundtrack
1960	South Pacific	Original Soundtrack
1961	Another Black and White Minstrel Show	George Mitchell Minstrels
1962	The Black and White Minstrel Show	George Mitchell Minstrels
1963	With the Beatles	The Beatles
1964	Beatles for Sale	The Beatles
1965	Rubber Soul	The Beatles
1966	The Sound of Music	Original Soundtrack
1967	Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band	The Beatles
1968	The Beatles	The Beatles
1969	Abbey Road	The Beatles
1970	Andy Williams Greatest Hits	Andy Williams
1971	Electric Warrior	T. Rex
1972	20 All Time Hits of the 50's	Various Artists
1973	Goodbye Yellow Brick Road	Elton John
1974	Elton John's Greatest Hits	Elton John
1975	A Night at the Opera	Queen
1976	20 Golden Greats	Glen Campbell
1977	Disco Fever	Various Artists
1978	Grease	Original Soundtrack
1979	Rod Stewart - Greatest Hits Vol. 1	Rod Stewart
1980	Super Trouper	Abba
1981	The Visitors	Abba
1982	The John Lennon Collection	John Lennon
1983	Now That's What I Call Music	Various Artists
1984	The Hits Album/The Hits Tape - 32 Original Hits	Various Artists
1985	Now - The Christmas Album	Various Artists
1986	Now That's What I Call Music 8	Various Artists
1987	Now That's What I Call Music 10	Various Artists
1988	Private Collection 1979-1988	Cliff Richard
1989	. But Seriously	Phil Collins
1990	The Immaculate Collection	Madonna
1991	Greatest Hits II	Queen
1992	Cher 's Greatest Hits: 1965-1992	Cher
1993	Bat Out of Hell II - Back Into Hell	Meat Loaf
1994	Carry On Up the Charts - The Best of the Beautiful South	The Beautiful South
1995	Robson & Jerome	Robson & Jerome
1996	Spice	Spice Girls
1997	Lets Talk About Love	Celine Dion
1998	Ladies & Gentlemen - The Best of George Michael	George Michael
1999	Come On Over	Shania Twain
2000	1	The Beatles
2001	Swing When You're Winning	Robbie Williams
2002	Escapology	Robbie Williams
2003	Life For Rent	Dido
2004	Greatest Hits	Robbie Williams
2005	Curtain Call - The Hits	Eminem