Until 1952, the popularity of songs in the UK was measured by sales of sheet music, purchased both by professional musicians to perform live in pubs, clubs and theatres, and by keen amateurs who would play the latest offering from Tin Pan Alley on their upright pianos. All this changed towards the end of 1952 when music promoter Maurice Kinn bought a struggling publication called the Accordion Times And Musical Express and renamed it the New Musical Express. Kinn had long been an enthusiastic follower of the US Billboard charts and reckoned that something of that type would boost sales of his magazine. The editorial staff planned a campaign with near-military precision. They compiled a list of fifty-two record shops around the country and, on 14 November 1952, the very first UK record chart was published within the pages of the NME. It was called the Hit Parade and consisted of twelve titles. Al Martino’s ‘Here In My Heart’ had the distinction of topping that first UK chart. A glance down at the other eleven reveals familiar names such as Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Guy Mitchell, Vera Lynn and Max Bygraves. The Hit Parade was eventually extended in October 1954 when Frank Sinatra’s ‘Three Coins In The Fountain’ became the first record to reach the summit of the new Top Twenty. In those early days the charts were dominated by what would later be known as ‘easy listening’, with the occasional novelty song thrown in for good measure. In 1953, for example, Lita Roza (a singer with the Ted Heath Orchestra) topped the Hit Parade with ‘How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?’ The song was originally recorded by Patti Page in the US, but Roza’s version set a precedent which continued throughout the Fifties where UK artists would cash in on the success of American hits by releasing their own versions. It has been said by rock historians that songs such as ‘Doggie’ indirectly led to the rock‘n’roll phenomenon. Movie producer and historian Michael Uslan has said: ‘A lot of songs at that time were extremely bland, squeaky-clean stuff. The music field was ripe for something new, something vibrant to shake the rafters.’ That ‘something new’ arrived with a bang in November 1955 when Bill Haley’s ‘Rock Around The Clock’ topped the UK charts, boosted by its inclusion in Richard Brooks’ Blackboard Jungle movie. The Number 1 positions for that year were otherwise dominated by the likes of Jimmy Young (‘The Man From Laramie’ and ‘Unchained Melody’), Rosemary Clooney (‘Mambo Italiano’) and Alma Cogan (‘Dreamboat’). The following year saw another advance scout of the rock‘n’roll invasion arrive when Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers’ classic ‘Why Do Fools Fall In Love’ topped the charts in the summer of 1956. 1957, however, saw three portents of what was to come. The first was home-grown talent Lonnie Donegan, who initiated the short-lived ‘skiffle boom’. This proved immensely influential on, among others, two young lads from Liverpool who formed their own group, the Quarrymen. They were John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and their band the Beatles would dominate the UK charts throughout the Sixties. Meanwhile, back in the Fifties, Lonnie Donegan had Number 1 hits with ‘Cumberland Gap’ and ‘Putting On The Style’. Although skiffle was influenced heavily by American folk, Lonnie managed to imbue it with a peculiar Englishness by incorporating elements of the British music-hall tradition. The other two significant chart toppers of 1957 were Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly. Presley’s first British Number 1 came in July of that year with ‘All Shook Up’, a song inspired by what happens when you shake a bottle of Pepsi Cola! Buddy Holly’s first UK chart-topper was ‘That’ll Be The Day’ in November of the same year. Although the disc is credited to the Crickets, it is nonetheless a Holly song. He had two concurrent record deals and releases were alternately labelled band or solo performances. Fast forward now to 1958, and cue ‘something vibrant to shake the rafters’ – Jerry Lee Lewis’s ‘Great Balls Of Fire’, which topped the first UK chart of that year. Written by Otis Blackwell under the pseudonym of ‘Jack Hammer’, the song became a worldwide smash, selling over five million copies. Not to be outdone, Elvis replaced Lewis at Number 1 with ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, one of his finest rock‘n’roll numbers that had topped the US chart back in 1956. The final year of the Fifties saw two Number 1s from the UK’s answer to Elvis, Cliff Richard. ‘Living Doll’ and ‘Travellin’ Light’ sent out a clear message that, before long, it would be British artists who would dominate not just their own chart but those in America and all other countries around the world.