That great British institution, the Top 40, or for older readers the Hit Parade, celebrated its 50th birthday last week.

Although nowadays nothing more than a marketing exercise for record companies, it still holds a special place in the popular culture of this country.

Probably in the same way you never forget the name of your first love, I'll wager every reader of this column can still remember the first record they bought and probably where they purchased it from.

My debut as a vinyl consumer was in 1973 when I made my way down to A to Z records in Tarring Broadway and handed over 25p in exchange for a copy of Hellraiser by the Sweet.

That shop has sadly long closed, along with most of the other independent record shops in the town such as Fine Records in Montague Street and Mansfields which was opposite the Odeon. In fact, while penning this week's offering I had one of those blocks when I found myself struggling to remember the name of the record shop which was in Crescent Road.

If anyone remembers, let me know.

As for the chart, throughout the years a number one hit has in most cases been a passport to fame and fortune although sometimes it's not always such a direct route.

Back in 1966 a young Welsh singer had already topped the charts with his debut single but that didn't cut any ice with Lancing night club owner Tony Hills.

Even back then, the singer's management was talking telephone numbers to do a spot at The Place prior to a late night cabaret at the Kings Club in Eastbourne.

Tony, now host at the Hare and Hounds in Portland Road, politely told them that if that was the final non-negotiable price, Mr Tom Jones certainly wouldn't be singing at his club on that night or any other night.

The cinema release of Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets and James Bond's Die Another Day once again highlights the fallout from one of the most scandalous episodes in Worthing's history during the Eighties.

Almost 17 years after they pulled it down I still cannot fathom why the council demolished the Odeon cinema with no viable replacement.

What's worse was that to get the motion passed the council had to get the legendary picture house removed from the listed buildings register.

Before anyone pipes up that there are alternatives, a town this size needs more than the occasional film at the Connaught and the Dome as its source of cinematic entertainment.

The Dome is a lovely place, if you like that sort of thing. Personally I don't. The last time I went the film was held up because they found a Japanese Prisoner of War living in the toilets!

I would like to invite anyone from the ruling Worthing Borough Council Tory group of 1986 to please let me know what your reason was for getting rid of it and why, 16 years later, we still have no decent replacement.

If I get a reply (and let me tell you readers if I initially don't I'll start naming the people), the words Teville Gate will come into the equation.

Let me tell you something about our Seventies "state of the art" shopping centre.

Saddam Hussein has removed it from his target list because his experts say if he blew it up it would only do about £15 worth of damage.