{"id":93659,"date":"2025-12-12T09:56:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T09:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=93659"},"modified":"2025-12-12T12:37:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T12:37:53","slug":"its-1952-and-the-first-uk-singles-chart-just-arrived","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2025\/12\/its-1952-and-the-first-uk-singles-chart-just-arrived\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s 1952 and the First UK Singles Chart Just Arrived"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While it\u2019s possible to trace musical talent back as far as you\u2019re willing (the clubbed together sticks of a Neanderthal band no doubt once drew an audience), the art of collating and ordering tracks is a relatively modern invention.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In fact, the UK Singles Chart didn’t exist until after the Second World War, debuting in November 1952. Almost 80 years on, its originator still exists in the form of New Musical Express, or NME.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Marketing Potential<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s perhaps a surprise that it took so long for the UK to put together a singles chart. Of course, it\u2019s easy to look back from an era where everything can be placed on a list and wonder what civilisation was doing with its time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The widespread organisation of things today owes itself to the split of media into genres, formats, and interactive experiences, such as games. Lists or, in this case, leaderboards, are good at keeping people engaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, the Nike Run and Peloton fitness platforms use leaderboards to encourage their users to open the app. Casino operators may use contests to attract players, where daily tournaments form part of a promotion suite along with a casino sign-up bonus<\/a>. The latter might be a deposit bonus or some free spins on a slot game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to deny the marketing potential of a chart for pop music. It\u2019s all somebody needs to discover their next favourite song or artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Streaming Media<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US Billboard chart began in 1913 as a top sellers list of sheet music, and wouldn\u2019t start ranking pop music until 1936. Just to stress the novelty of the latter during the inter-war years, radio performances and songs from theatres got their own charts before pop music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charts have arguably become more eclectic as time has moved on, with streaming media greatly influencing what gets played and when. It explains why a 1985 single from Kate Bush, ‘Running Up That Hill’, landed at the top of the charts in 2022. The ChartTimeMachine website notes that NME’s list and those from its many rivals<\/a> (Record Mirror, Melody Maker, Record Retailer) were based on different sources. A unified reference didn’t appear until the BBC intervened in 1969.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back then, the Official UK Charts Company was still a long way off, beginning life as the Chart Information Network in 1990 before it adopted its current name in 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al Martino<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NME founder Percy Dickins is credited with creating the first UK singles chart, compiling sales data from 20 stores for its first edition in late 1952<\/a>. The Al Martino song ‘Here in My Heart’ reached the top spot first and remained there for nine weeks. Music magazine FarOut describes it as “among the most obscure” British singles ever to grace the chart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n