(Credits: Far Out)
Tue 10 March 2026 4:00, UK
When perusing which artists hogged the lion’s share of US album number ones, three out of four big names stand as the usual suspects.
While standing at a lowly four, The Monkees’ Billboard 200 chart-topping success is arguably the most impressive considering the short length of time. From the moment the pop group were corralled in 1966, their first four LPs all shot to number one: The Monkees, More of the Monkees, Headquarters, and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd, all nabbing the premier top spot of the US albums chart with a hefty push by their popular NBC sitcom show.
While the magic had long died in the eyes of many hardcore fans, it’s easy to forget how commercially successful Elvis Presley was across the 1960s. Soldiering through bad movies and a crisis of relevancy amid the countercultural explosion, the King nonetheless was able to coast through the tumultuous decade, counting a respectable seven number one LPs under his belt from 1960’s GI Blues and 1969’s Elvis in Memphis, setting the stage for early 1970s hurrah before the drugs spelt his downward spiral and eventual death in 1977.
Obviously, The Beatles steal the show. They perhaps had an unfair advantage over much of the competition, their US Capitol Records distributor scooping up the Fab Four’s various B-sides and standalone singles and mashed together for American exclusive LPs, as well as expanding the Magical Mystery Tour to an album length over the UK’s double-EP issue, but The Beatles indeed won a whopping 14 album number ones across the Atlantic during the 1960s.
Who is the forgotten band that counted five chart-topping albums?
There are certain songs that dream up musical pieces that you’ve known all your life, if unable to ever identify. A ubiquitous soundtrack of easy listening jazz pop, and forever present in pop culture across the Casino Royale James Bond spoof to The Simpsons, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass’ distinct mariachi instrumentals would prove one of the decade’s mammoth sellers.
In late May 1966, Albert enjoyed five Tijuana Brass records in the Billboard 200’s Top 20. At number 20 was his The Lonely Bull debut, with South of the Border in at 17, Whipped Cream & Other Delights at eight, Going Places confidently dwelling in fourth position, and What Now My Love taking silver medal in second place all at the same time.
For the next three weeks, the Billboard 200 just couldn’t shift Alpert’s jaunty brass numbers, with three Tijuana Brass LPs sailing up to the Top Five of the US album charts, holding the following week with What Now My Love reaching number one.
Around such a feat, five of the second albums cut all topped the charts, including 1967’s Sounds Like… and the following year’s The Beat of the Brass.
Years later, a solo Alpert would top the Billboard Hot 100 with 1979’s disco-tinged ‘Rise’, later to be lifted by The Notorious BIG for his defining ‘Hypnotize’ single in 1997.