As we predicted a few weeks ago, Pink Floyd’s venerable “Dark Side of the Moon” album returned to the Billboard 200 chart this week, after a change in the magazine’s methodology forced it off the list in 1988.
“Dark Side” returned for its 742nd week on the chart, appearing at #189. Its last week on the chart was Oct. 8, 1988.
Billboard recently began basing its chart on Nielsen SoundScan sales data, an all-inclusive list that disregards release date. This change was responsible for the album’s return. (Read more about the change in our previous post.)
The album, which debuted on the chart March 17, 1973, is the longest charting album in Billboard history — by far:
- “Dark Side of the Moon,” Pink Floyd (1973), 742 weeks
- “Johnny’s Greatest Hits,” Johnny Mathis (1958), 490 weeks
- “My Fair Lady,” Original Cast (1956), 480 weeks
- “Highlights From the Phantom of the Opera,” Original Cast (1990), 331 weeks
- “Tapestry,” Carole King (1971), 302 weeks
A clarification to your story: ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ was not forced off the chart in 1988 due to a change in methodology. In fact, this new rule wasn’t implemented at all until the Billboard flipped their album charts to Nielsen Soundscan-sourced data in the spring of 1991.
Thanks. Perhaps, “not allowed back on the chart” due to the change would have been more accurate.