Stop Press Hits - How the UK Pop Charts Became Front Page News 1956-69 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781919273709)

Stop Press Hits chronicles how the UK pop charts leapt from the pages of the music press into the heart of mainstream media.

From the arrival of rock 'n' roll and Elvis to the rise of the Beatles and beyond, rival charts vied for attention in the national newspapers - reaching millions of readers every week. Controversies, rivalries and surprise chart-toppers all made the headlines.

There's a comprehensive newspaper-by-newspaper guide to which of the charts - from New Musical Express, Melody Maker, Record Mirror and Disc - appeared where, and how the papers brought the stories behind the hits to life. Year by year, Stop Press Hits reveals which of the charts was most seen by people across the UK.

Special features include:

• A full rundown of the up-to-the-minute Number One hits revealed exclusively each week in the Sunday papers
• The Beatles' all-conquering domination of those rarely-seen updated charts
• How Radio Luxembourg's pioneering Top 20 show became fastest on the air with the latest hits
• The pop papers' battle for readers as Beatlemania swept the nation
• How a Scottish newspaper beat the whole of Fleet Street to get a chart into print.
• And the forgotten BBC radio hit parade of the pre-war era

A landmark reference and a vivid chronicle of a golden era in pop music, Stop Press Hits reveals how 15 years of musical and social change was reported as it happened.