The Record Mirror is a former British weekly pop music newspaper. From 1955 until 1962, the Record Mirror compiled its own record chart which was used by many national newspapers. It formed as a rival to the existing chart published by NME. The Mirror 's chart was based on the postal returns from record stores that were financed by the newspaper—rival chart, NME, was based on a telephone poll. On 22 January 1955, the Mirror compiled its first chart using figures from 24 shops. The first chart-topper was "Mambo Italiano" by Rosemary Clooney, with the newspaper having compiled a Top Ten. The chart was expanded from a Top Ten to a Top Twenty on 8 October 1955. In the early 1960s some national newspapers switched to using a chart compiled by Melody Maker and, ultimately, the cost of collecting