But the American crooner, who died this week at the age of 82, was the UK's first chart-topper. His song, Here In My Heart, claimed the number one spot when the New Musical Express introduced its chart way back in the mists of time in November 1952.
It remained there for nine weeks and in the intervening 57 years only six singles have stayed at number one for longer, including the Bryan Adams hit Everything I Do (I Do It for You), which topped the charts for 16 long, agonising, godless weeks.

At the time Martino reached the pinnacle of the UK "hit parade", the chart was compiled very differently to the way it is today. Back then the figures were compiled from just a handful of shops, mainly in London, as opposed to the digitised nationwide network that
exists now.

But the former bricklayer's passing is a noteworthy moment in the history of the pop charts. And it's one that has triggered memories of my youth – when pop music and the charts were the epicentre of my wide-eyed world.

Every Saturday my friends and I, armed with our weekly pocket money, would head into town or, more specifically, the handful of high street record shops, to pick up the latest singles from the likes of Duran Duran, The Thompson Twins, or (if you were really cool) Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

I remember the first vinyl single I ever bought – The Riddle by Nik Kershaw – cost me a mere 65 pence from Our Price back in 1984.

But if record shops were our Mecca, then the radio was our spiritual guide. My Sunday evenings were religiously spent huddled over my radio cassette player listening, with almost zen-like concentration, to the latest chart positions and waiting with bated breath to find out who was top of the pops.

Such beatific moments were replicated in bedrooms up and down the land, as thousands of teenagers sat poised to record their favourite songs of the week.

In a sense, there is little different between this and today's downloading culture, except that 25 years ago the pop charts actually mattered – whereas these days nobody cares.

Do you have any idea who's in the number one slot at the moment? It's probably something, or someone, from The X Factor.

Personally, I don't care and I doubt whether most 12 or 13 year-olds do either. And why should they? The advent of YouTube, iPods and the ability to download individual songs, EPs and albums at the click of a button, has revolutionised the way we buy and listen to music.

We've come a long way from the days of scratchy 45s and with Al Martino's death we're reminded how much the world has changed – which is why it's good to stop and remember the way things used to be.