The Context Whilst the Official Charts Company wasn't founded until 1969, versions of the chart existed from 1952 onwards and these are considred 'canon' by the company. The very first chart was founded in 1952 by Percy Dickins of the magazine New Musical Express (NME). He phoned twenty record shops and asked them what their top ten selling singles were that week. He then aggregated the results into a top 12 hit parade which was published each week in NME. The Artist Al Martino was an Italian-American singer born in Philadelphia with the name Jasper Cini. His parents were immigrants from the Italian town of Abruzzo and ran a construction business. While growing up Cini worked alongside his brothers as a bricklayer. He aspied to become a singer with his inspirations being the likes of Al Jolson and Perry Como and family friend Mario Lanza who was a Hollywood star. His career as Martino took off when he came first place TV show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts in 1952, ...
A look back at every song to top the UK Singles Chart