Scottish Singles and Albums Charts


The Scottish Albums Chart is a chart compiled by the Official Charts Company which is based on how physical and digital sales towards the UK Albums Chart fare in Scotland. The official singles chart for Scotland, the Scottish Singles Chart, which was based on how physical and digital sales towards the UK Singles Chart were faring in Scotland has not been published since 20 November 2020.
Since 20 November 2020, only the Scottish Albums Chart has been published by the OCC, and it has been based on physical sales only, with the OCC only publishing the albums chart on their website since 11 December 2020.

History

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Radio & Record News and Record Business magazines compiled Scottish charts which were broadcast on Independent Local Radio stations such as Radio Clyde and Radio Forth; these showed particular favour for hard rock, punk and new wave while soul and other "black" styles would fare less well; for example, on 23 June 1978, Radio & Record News placed Heatwave at number 15 UK-wide but number 40 in Scotland, the O'Jays at number 21 UK-wide but not in the Scottish Top 40 and Bob Marley at number 26 UK-wide but not in the Scottish Top 40, but AC/DC at number 38 UK-wide and number 20 in Scotland, the Clash at number 62 UK-wide and number 22 in Scotland, and the Vibrators at number 65 UK-wide but number 39 in Scotland.
In the late 1980s, as frustration in Scotland at perceived isolation from the Thatcher government grew, pressure was applied for the creation of an official Scottish chart; Brian Guthri of the Scottish Record Industry Association claimed that the official UK charts did not pick up many sales by Scottish acts as they were not polling enough shops in Scotland, citing Win's "You've Got the Power" as an example and a month of research determined significant differences from the UK charts, with indie acts selling particularly well. That autumn, the SRIA voted to set up its own chart, suggesting that the balance of 75 chart return shops in Greater London to 45 in Scotland was unfair. Although a Scottish chart had been broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland beforehand, the first official Scottish Gallup charts were published on 17 March 1991; notably, they placed Scottish band the Silencers at number 6 in the album chart and The Simpsons Sing the Blues album higher than the Inspector Morse soundtrack, which was 11 places higher UK-wide. The launch of this chart was heralded by Neil Ross of the Scottish Record Industry Association, who again suggested that the UK charts were disproportionately slanted towards sales in London and the south of England, while music manager Bruce Findlay suggested that Scotland could potentially produce a music TV show with as much international appeal as the then-popular DEF II series Rapido. From 20 September 1991, a short weekly TV programme based around the Scottish chart was broadcast by BBC1 Scotland on Friday nights, hosted by Nicky Campbell, then of Radio 1 and the chart continued to be broadcast on Monday nights on BBC Radio Scotland although it was dropped, along with other night-time music programmes on that station, during the last year of Gallup's contract. Frankie Miller's song "Caledonia", also included in McEwan's adverts which were only shown in Scotland and Northern Ireland, topped the Scottish chart while only being a minor UK-wide hit. An unofficial Scottish Network Chart was also taken by Scottish commercial stations, including Radio Tay, in the early 1990s.
Archives on the Official Charts Company website go back to February 1994, when Millward Brown took over as chart compilers and the number of retailers sampled throughout the UK increased. After this relaunch, Scottish Television launched a show based around the official Scottish chart, called Chart Bite.
How the UK and Scottish charts were compiled diverged several times from 1994. Whereas digital downloads were incorporated into the UK singles chart from April 2005 and albums from April 2006, the Scottish charts remained physical sales only until the week ending 10 October 2009 when digital sales were included. This brought how the two charts were compiled in line for almost five years until the week ending 6 July 2014, when streaming was included in the UK singles chart and later in the UK album chart for the week ending 1 March 2015. The Scottish charts remained compiled of digital and physical sales only until the week ending 20 November 2020, when the singles chart was discontinued and only physical sales are counted for the album chart. The final number one single was "Always" by Scottish band the Snuts.

Number ones

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Chart date
SongArtistSalesReferences
1 January"When We Collide"Matt CardleProgressTake That
8 January"When We Collide"Matt CardleLoudRihanna
15 January"What's My Name?"Rihanna featuring DrakeLoudRihanna
22 January"Grenade"Bruno MarsLoudRihanna
29 January"Grenade"Bruno MarsDoo-Wops & HooligansBruno Mars
5 February"We R Who We R"Kesha21Adele
12 February"Price Tag"Jessie J featuring B.o.B21Adele
19 February"Price Tag"Jessie J featuring B.o.B21Adele
26 February"Born This Way"Lady Gaga21Adele
5 March"Someone Like You"Adele21Adele
12 March"Someone Like You"Adele21Adele
19 March"Someone Like You"Adele21Adele
26 March"Don't Hold Your Breath"Nicole Scherzinger21Adele
2 April"Someone Like You"Adele21Adele
9 April"On the Floor"Jennifer Lopez featuring Pitbull21Adele
16 April"On the Floor"Jennifer Lopez featuring Pitbull21Adele
23 April"Party Rock Anthem"LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRockWasting LightFoo Fighters
30 April"Party Rock Anthem"LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock21Adele
7 May"Party Rock Anthem"LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock21Adele
14 May"Where Them Girls At"David Guetta featuring Flo Rida and Nicki Minaj21Adele
21 May"Where Them Girls At"David Guetta featuring Flo Rida and Nicki Minaj21Adele
28 May"Give Me Everything"Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer21Adele
4 June"Give Me Everything"Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and NayerBorn This WayLady Gaga
11 June"Give Me Everything"Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack and NayerBorn This WayLady Gaga
18 June"Changed the Way You Kiss Me"ExampleSuck It and SeeArctic Monkeys
25 June"Bounce"Calvin Harris featuring KelisProgressTake That
2 July"Don't Wanna Go Home"Jason DeruloBorn This WayLady Gaga
9 July"Don't Wanna Go Home"Jason Derulo4Beyoncé
16 July"Louder"DJ Fresh featuring Sian Evans21Adele
23 July"Glad You Came"The Wanted21Adele
30 July"Glad You Came"The Wanted21Adele
6 August"She Makes Me Wanna"JLS featuring Dev21Adele
13 August"Swagger Jagger"Cher LloydBack To BlackAmy Winehouse
20 August"Promises"NeroBack To BlackAmy Winehouse
27 August"Moves Like Jagger"Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera21Adele
3 September"Feel So Close"Calvin HarrisEchoesWill Young
10 September"Moves Like Jagger"Maroon 5 featuring Christina AguileraNothing but the BeatDavid Guetta
17 September"All About Tonight"Pixie Lott21Adele
24 September"What Makes You Beautiful"One Direction+Ed Sheeran
1 October"No Regrets"DappyVelociraptor!Kasabian
8 October"Loca People"Sak NoelThe AwakeningJames Morrison
15 October"We Found Love"Rihanna featuring Calvin HarrisThe AwakeningJames Morrison
22 October"We Found Love"Rihanna featuring Calvin HarrisThe Ultimate CollectionSteps
29 October"We Found Love"Rihanna featuring Calvin HarrisNoel Gallagher's High Flying BirdsNoel Gallagher's High Flying Birds
5 November"Read All About It"Professor Green featuring Emeli SandéMylo XylotoColdplay
12 November"Read All About It"Professor Green featuring Emeli SandéCeremonialsFlorence and the Machine
19 November"We Found Love"Rihanna featuring Calvin HarrisSomeone to Watch Over MeSusan Boyle
26 November"Good Feeling"Flo RidaFallen EmpiresSnow Patrol
3 December"Levels"AviciiTalk That TalkRihanna
10 December"Wishing on a Star"X Factor Finalists 2011 featuring JLS and One DirectionChristmasMichael Bublé
17 December"Dance with Me Tonight"Olly MursChristmasMichael Bublé
24 December"Cannonball"Little MixChristmasMichael Bublé
31 December"Wherever You Are"Military Wives with Gareth MaloneChristmasMichael Bublé