On the 14th of November 1952, the New Musical Express published its very first UK Singles Chart, a list of the Top Twelve best-selling singles sourced directly from regional stores across the United Kingdom. This bold move transformed a struggling tabloid into a cultural phenomenon, with sales jumping by 50% almost overnight. The paper was originally known as the Accordion Times and Musical Express, a publication that was literally minutes away from being officially closed when London music promoter Maurice Kinn purchased it for just £1,000. Under the editorship of Ray Sonin, the paper began publishing artist interviews and industry gossip, establishing a format that would eventually become known as a rock inkie. The first number one on this new chart was Here in My Heart by Al Martino, a fact that marked the beginning of a sixty-year legacy that would see the publication evolve from a simple newsprint tabloid into a global brand encompassing film, gaming, and culture.
The Punk Revolution And Political Stance
By the early 1970s, the New Musical Express had lost ground to its rival Melody Maker, and the paper was on the verge of closure by its owner IPC. In 1972, editor Alan Smith was given a stark ultimatum to turn things around or face shutdown. To achieve this, Smith and his assistant editor Nick Logan raided the underground press, recruiting writers like Charles Shaar Murray and Nick Kent to inject a new rebellious energy into the publication. The paper became the gateway to a more rebellious world, first championing glam rock bands like T. Rex and then punk rock acts such as the Sex Pistols, X-Ray Spex, and Generation X. Writers like Julie Burchill and Tony Parsons used a nihilistic tone to narrate the punk years, creating a new identity for the magazine that resonated with the nation's listless youth. The paper also became more openly political during this era, taking an editorial stance against the National Front and adopting a broadly socialist stance following the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979. In 1976, the magazine lambasted the German electronic band Kraftwerk with a headline declaring their music to be what fathers fought to save their children from, a sentiment that highlighted the paper's resistance to electronic music at the time.The Hip Hop Wars And Britpop Rivalry
During the mid-1980s, the New Musical Express hit a rough patch, with sales dropping and the paper in danger of closing due to internal conflicts known as the hip-hop wars. The staff was split between those who wanted to cover hip hop and those who wanted to stick to rock music, leading to a lack of direction that caused readers to desert the magazine for competitors like The Face and Smash Hits. The situation became so dire that three senior editorial staff members, including editor Ian Pye, were sacked in 1987, and former Sounds editor Alan Lewis was brought in to rescue the paper. Lewis prioritized readership over editorial independence, a decision that led to the departure of several prominent writers who signed a letter of no confidence in him. The paper found a new lease of life with the rise of the Madchester scene and the Acid house movement, but by the end of the decade, it was directionless again. The 1990s brought a new challenge with the rise of grunge from Seattle, which the NME took to slowly compared to its rivals. The paper's relationship with the music scene was further complicated by a public dispute with Morrissey in 1992, which led to the singer refusing to speak to the paper for the next 12 years. The magazine eventually found its footing again with the rise of Britpop, a genre influenced by 1960s British music and culture, which was coined by the NME after the band Blur released their album Parklife in the month of Kurt Cobain's death.