The Beach Boys on the UK charts
 
  The history of The Beach Boys in the UK charts is slightly more problematical than their US history, something due entirely to the nature of the UK chart over the years.  Whereas in the US, it was always the Top 100 singles and (after a few small modifications) a Top 200 albums, the UK charts have never been as settled in composition until comparatively recently.
 
  The singles chart, at the time of the band's first entry in August 1963 comprised a Top 50, and although most, if not all, of the major UK music weeklies compiled their own listings, it was the Record Retailer chart that was generally accepted as the most accurate. The singles chart continued as a Top 50  - excepting 7 weeks as a Top 40 commencing February 6th 1971, due to a postal strike, and two weeks (January 6th & December 22nd 1973) as a Top 30 - until expanding to a Top 75 on May 6th 1978. Whilst the places down to 100 are also published, only the Top 75 is considered 'official', thus only those figures will be included here. As an aside, the various pirate radio charts from the 60s were based not on any sales figures or even airplay, but rather the preference of the DJs !
 
  The album chart is frankly something of a nightmare: at the time of the band's first charting album in 1965, it consisted of merely a Top 20. This increased to a Top 30 on April 16th 1966, then to a Top 40 on December 10th the same year. For reason no-one seems sure of, between January 31st 1970 and January 9th the following year, the album chart fluctuated randomly between a Top 47 and a Top 77, before settling down to a Top 50 on January 16th 1971. July 5th 1975 saw the listings increase to a Top 60, and again to a Top 75 on December 2nd 1978. A Top 100 album chart was inaugurated on August 8th 1981: this lasted until January 14th 1989 when various artist compilations and soundtrack albums were moved to their own chart and the Top 100 reverted to a Top 75.
 
  For those familiar with the US album releases of The Beach Boys, the UK charting sequence can be the cause of much puzzlement, unless one is aware that following Surfin' Safari, the LPs up to and including Pet Sounds, were released in the UK in an entirely different order, thus (UK release sequence on the left):
 
Surfin' Safari  
4/63    
10/62    
   Surfin' Safari
Shut Down, Volume 2  
7/64    
3/63    
   Surfin' USA
The Beach Boys Christmas Album  
11/64    
9/63    
   Surfer Girl
Beach Boys Concert  
2/65    
10/63    
   Little Deuce Coupe
All Summer Long  
6/65    
3/64    
   Shut Down, Volume 2
Surfin' USA  
8/65    
7/64    
   All Summer Long
Little Deuce Coupe  
10/65    
10/64    
   The Beach Boys Christmas Album
Beach Boys Party !  
2/66    
10/64    
   Beach Boys Concert
The Beach Boys Today !  
4/66    
3/65    
   The Beach Boys Today !
Pet Sounds  
6/66    
7/65    
   Summer Days (And Summer Nights !!)
Summer Days (And Summer Nights !!)  
6/66    
11/65    
   Beach Boys Party ! 
  Surfer Girl  
3/67    
5/66    
   Pet Sounds
 
  Here would also be a good place to note that the UK versions of the three Best Of The Beach Boys compilations released in the 60s featured different - and vastly superior - track listings to their US counterparts.
 
  Just to complicate matters further, until December 16th 1967 Record Retailer also published a seperate EP chart. At the time of the band's first EP chart entry, it was a Top 20, which was reduced to a Top 10 on 16 April 1966. Four Beach Boys EPs made this chart and one of them - The Beach Boys Hits EP - remained in the Top 10 for a continuous 84 weeks, 34 of those at No. 1 (they were, in fact, occupying the top slot when the chart was discontinued).
 
  As with the US chart listings, the notations are very simple - singles are in normal font, EPs are in italics and albums are in bold italics. Solo releases are suffixed by the artist's initials. Again, all I've done here is to compile pre-existing information, and my task was made immesurably easier by the chance discovery of the Chart Stats website, a resource alas no longer available: however the Official Charts site is a more than adequate substitute. As ever, corrections, additions and comments to bellagio@btinternet.com.
 
Created 3/30/2010
Last updated 4/19/2020
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