This week marks the 65th anniversary of Billboard's first album chart. The chart was just a top 10 listing when it first appeared in the issue dated March 24, 1945. It expanded to its current 200 positions in 1967.

Like just about every top 10 that has followed in the past 65 years, that first top 10 featured a mix of legends (Glenn Miller, Judy Garland, Tommy Dorsey) and hit-makers that had just a brief time in the spotlight. (Does anybody out there remember orchestra leader Mark Warnow or the "boogie woogie" piano duo of Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons? I didn't think so.)

To get the party started, here are 20 all-time record-holders from the past 65 years. I also identify the two closest runners-up.

The first six categories are open to all artists. The next six are divided by musical genre. Carving 65 years of music into genres is something only a fool would attempt. Naturally, I couldn't resist. As you might imagine, I have a fair amount of Fine Print after the list.

The Beatles:

Men and women are working together at the highest levels. And, no, I'm not talking about Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. I'm going right to the top, to the uppermost reaches of The Billboard 200. For the first time in chart history, the top three albums are all by mixed-gender groups. Sade's Soldier Of Love holds at #1 for the second week, Lady Antebellum's Need You Now holds at #2 and the Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. rebounds to #3.

Mixed-gender groups weren't always so common. From 1945, when Billboard published its first album chart, to 1962, not one mixed-gender group hit #1. The first one to achieve the feat was Peter, Paul & Mary in September 1962. The Grammy-winning trio featured Mary Travers, who died last September.

In the past 47 years, 22 more mixed-gender groups and duos have reached #1. Just about all major genres are represented, from pop and rock to country and rap.

Here's a list of all 23 mixed-gender groups and duos that have had #1 albums on The Billboard 200.

Sade's Soldier Of Love enters the Billboard 200 at #1, becoming the group's eighth consecutive top 10 album. The group, named after lead singer Sade Adu, has never missed the top 10, in a chart career that began 25 years ago this month. Sade's consistency is remarkable because the group breaks most of the key rules of the music business. Like these, for instance:

Maintain a regular flow of product. Soldier Of Love is Sade's first studio album since 2000's Lovers Rock. And that was their first studio album since 1992's Love Deluxe. Most acts would be reluctant to stay away that long between albums. They'd worry that a similar act would swoop in and fill their niche. Sade has the confidence, and the uniquely strong bond with its fans, to go at its own pace.

This is a singles-driven business. Though Sade has sold millions of albums, it has had just five top 40 hits on the Hot 100, the most recent being "No Ordinary Love" in early 1993. Lovers Rock reached #3 and won a Grammy for Best Pop

To help celebrate Black Music Month, here's a quick look at African American artists who have made history on the Billboard charts, from the Mills Brothers to Jay-Z. I also show key achievements by black artists at the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards.

Of course, black artists are so central to the history of popular music that the idea of spotlighting them in this way is probably a little dated. Still, it's a useful way of conveying information about black trailblazers--which is the point of Black Music Month.

Michael Jackson has set so many records that I could fill up a column listing just his achievements. (In fact, I did last June, right after he died.) Combining his solo recordings and his hits with the Jackson 5, he has had more top 10 singles on the Hot 100 (39) and more top 40 singles (60) than any other black artist.

In the same way, combining her solo recordings and her Supremes releases, Diana Ross has had more top 40 albums on The Billboard 200 (34) than any other