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Fifty years ago, in 1959, the very first Welsh singer to reach the top of the charts was Shirley Bassey with her song As I Love You. At the time, the charts were compiled by the NME staff calling record shops and gathering sales data. It might have been a rough'n'ready method, but it was effective as a marketing tool.

Artists strived for the coveted Number One spot, and as sales data collection became more precise and 'official' that desire has never waivered; when Duffy became the 18th artist to have a Number One around the world, it meant just as much.

Looking back to the 1960s, the decade was something of a golden period for artists from Wales: Just over a year after Bassey hit the top, the first Welsh male reached Number One. Ricky Valance is a classic 'one hit wonder' with Tell Laura I Love Her, but he continued his success in Scandinavia and mainland Europe. His UK career, he believes, was ruined by press coverage of an assault charge.

The Voice of the Valleys, Tom Jones was sans-band by the time he hit Number One for the first time in 1965 with It's No Unusual. He may have been criticised by his former bandmates for abandoning them, but his star was rising as a soloist, singing the songs of other people. The next year he'd have a Christmas Number One with the country song Green Green Grass Of Home.

Also in 1965 and 1966 were a couple of Number Ones from Swansea's Spencer Davis. Keep On Running is still a classic rock staple over 45 years on.

In 1968, The Beatles lent a hand to Pontardawe's Mary Hopkin by signing her to the Apple label and Paul McCartney producing her hit single, Those Were The Days.

The decade drew to a close with Cardiff's Amen Corner hitting the top of the chats with (If Paradise Is) Half As Nice. They'd almost got a Number One the previous year with Bend Me, Shape Me but it stalled at third spot.

Guitar virtuoso Dave Edmunds - after melting the speakers of many music fans with Love Scuplture's Sabre Dance - got the first Welsh Number One of the 1970s with the Christmas Number One I Hear You Knocking.

It was to prove the end of 11 golden years of Welsh pop. The 1970s were barren, as few Welsh acts joined in the glam rock and disco party that characterised the decade. The only bright spot was the first foray by Skewen's Bonnie Tyler into international charts. It's A Heartache, barely remembered domestically, hit Number One in France, Sweden and Norway.

It took one of the stars of the London club and New Romantic scene to shake Welsh pop from its torpor. Steve Strange was the androgynous lead singer of Visage and the Porthcawl native took his band to number eight in the UK but hit the top of the charts across Europe. The dark synth pop of Fade To Grey was an instant success that has proved a classic in the long term.

The 1980s in Welsh pop was characterised by the rock'n'roll pastiche of Shakin' Stevens. He's in estimable company, lest we forget: He shares the distinction of of being the most successful UK singles performer in a single decade with The Beatles (1960s) and Elton John (1970s). He scored hit after hit in the 1980s and hit Number One with four of them, making him the most successful Welsh artist in terms of Number One singles.

Another Welsh artist scored a Christmas Number One in the 1980s. Actor Brian Hibbard took his Flying Pickets to Number One in 1983 with Only You, their cover of the Yazoo hit.

The second half of the decade and virtually the whole of the 1990s was another drought for Welsh pop however, despite the coining of the 'Cool Cymru' epithet. Catatonia nearly made it to the summit, but the only Welsh artists to make their presence felt internationally in the period were World Party in 1990 with Way Down Now and Donna Lewis in 1998 with Love Him who got to Number One in the US Modern Rock and Dance charts respectively.

It was left to the Welsh rock stalwarts Manic Street Preachers to restore some pride in 1998 - albeit with one of their worst songs in If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next.

They repeated the feat with the far superior Masses Against The Classes, which became the first chart-topper of the new millennium.

South Africa took Feeder to their hearts in 2001 with Buck Rogers and the French went back to the future in 2003 by taking Bonnie Tyler to Number One with Si Demain (Turn Around).

The new generation of Welsh rock bands are represented by Lostprophets who were US Alternative Rock number one in 2004 with Last Train Home. And 10 years after they formed, Stereophonics' had their sole UK chart-topper so far, Dakota, in 2005.

Which brings us to 2008 and the all-pervasive Mercy by Duffy. The Nefyn singer has high expectations for her next album, but will she be adding to this list? If not her, a couple of other Welsh women may do it: Ellie Goulding and Marina And The Diamonds both have backing and a bit of hype, but time will tell if their takes on pop will take them to the top.