This is it.  The Daddy of them all.  I think that must always have been the intention to carry on with the series after this initial dabble – it’s so easy with hindsight of course.

Anyway, this being 1983 the compilation was released on the twin format of a 2 vinyl records and the ever dependable (double) personal cassette.  CD’s not around at the time blah blah blah.  I think that this sort of thing is what the personal cassette player had been crying out for.  Vinyl has a much more luxurious vibe – and was certainly not portable.

Here is the track list:

Side 1

Phil Collins – You Can’t Hurry Love
Duran Duran – Is There Something I Should Know
UB40 – Red Red Wine
Limahl – Only for Love
Heaven 17 – Temptation
KC and the Sunshine Band – Give It Up
Malcolm McLaren – Double Dutch
Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse of the Heart

Side 2

Culture Club – Karma Chameleon
Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance
Kajagoogoo – Too Shy
Mike Oldfield – Moonlight Shadow
Men at Work – Down Under
Rock Steady Crew – (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew
Rod Stewart – Baby Jane
Paul Young – Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home)

Side 3

New Edition – Candy Girl
Kajagoogoo – Big Apple
Tina Turner – Let’s Stay Together
The Human League – (Keep Feeling) Fascination
Howard Jones – New Song
UB40 – Please Don’t Make Me Cry
Peabo Bryson & Roberta Flack – Tonight I Celebrate My Love

Side 4

Tracey Ullman – They Don’t Know
Will Powers – Kissing with Confidence
Genesis – That’s All
The Cure – The Lovecats
Simple Minds – Waterfront
Madness – The Sun and the Rain
Culture Club – Victims

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Well it must have sold well (;-)) because here we are with the sequel.

Released on 7 April 1984, like the original album, Now That’s What I Call Music II was released on two vinyl records or double personal cassette.  And that’s about it…

Side 1

Queen – Radio Ga Ga
Nik Kershaw – Wouldn’t It Be Good
Thompson Twins – Hold Me Now
Matt Bianco – Get Out of Your Lazy Bed
Carmel – More, More, More
Madness – Michael Caine
The Flying Pickets – Only You

Side 2

Nena – 99 Red Balloons
Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Tracey Ullman – My Guy’s Mad at Me
Matthew Wilder – Break My Stride
Julia & Company – Breaking Down (Sugar Samba)
Joe Fagin – That’s Livin’ Alright
Hot Chocolate – I Gave You My Heart (Didn’t I)
Snowy White – Bird of Paradise

Side 3

Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Relax
Eurythmics – Here Comes the Rain Again
Howard Jones – What Is Love?
The Smiths – What Difference Does It Make?
Fiction Factory – (Feels Like) Heaven
Re-Flex – The Politics of Dancing
Thomas Dolby – Hyperactive
China Crisis – Wishful Thinking

Side 4

David Bowie – Modern Love
Culture Club – It’s a Miracle
Rolling Stones – Undercover of the Night
Big Country – Wonderland
Slade – Run Runaway
Duran Duran – New Moon on Monday
Paul McCartney – Pipes of Peace

Here we go, get ready for the third incarnation of the sumptuous series.

Released in the summer – possibly a quiet period for music releases, Now 3 contributed to the Now That’s What I Call Music series building up a serious head of steam.  This one features some of the real big hitters of the time, with the likes of Duran Duran, FGTH and Queen to name but three.  As with the two previous releases, format were limited to vinyl and cassette.  Will someone please invent the CD and a suitable player?

Side 1

Duran Duran – The Reflex
Nik Kershaw – I Won’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me
Sister Sledge – Thinking of You
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Locomotion
Ultravox – Dancing with Tears in My Eyes
Howard Jones – Pearl in the Shell
Blancmange – Don’t Tell Me
Phil Collins – Against All Odds

Side 2

Frankie Goes to Hollywood – Two Tribes
Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel – White Lines (Don’t Don’t Do It)
The Special A.K.A – Nelson Mandela
Womack & Womack – Love Wars
The Style Council – You’re The Best Thing
Bob Marley & The Wailers – One Love
Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy

Side 2

Queen – I Want to Break Free
Cyndi Lauper – Time After Time
Alison Moyet – Love Resurrection
The Bluebells – Young at Heart
Bananarama – Robert DeNiro’s Waiting
Propaganda – Dr. Mabuse
Tina Turner – What’s Love Got to Do with It
The Flying Pickets – When You’re Young and in Love

Side 4

Wham! – Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
The Thompson Twins – You Take Me Up
The Weather Girls – It’s Raining Men
Gary Glitter – Dance Me Up
The Art Company – Suzanna
Madness – One Better Day
David Sylvian – Red Guitar

Here we go!  Someone, somewhere has at last invented the CD and a suitable player!

But wait!  Some of these tracks were on Now 3… and Now 2… … and there’s only 15 of ’em.  Grr!  And with that the experiment was halted until Now 8 when a single CD release of 17 of the tracks from the vinyl / tape issue was made.

Now 4 (CD) Listing:

Duran Duran – The Reflex
Ray Rarker Jr. – Ghostbusters
Culture Club – The War Song
John Waite – Missing You
O.M.D. – Locomotion
UB40 – If It Happens Again
Tina Turner – What’s Love Got To Do With It
Bronski Beat – Why?
Style Council – Shout To The Top
Phil Collins – Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)
Giorgio Moroder with Phil Oakey – Together In Electric Dreams
Julian Lennon – Too Late For Goodbyes
Status Quo – The Wanderer
Thompson Twins – Doctor! Doctor!
Queen – Radio Ga Ga

Now 4 (vinyl and audio cassette) Listing:

Side 1

Paul McCartney – No More Lonely Nights (Special Dance Mix)
Giorgio Moroder & Philip Oakey – Together in Electric Dreams
Bronski Beat – Why?
Limahl – The NeverEnding Story
Nick Heyward – Warning Sign
John Waite – Missing You
Michael Jackson – Farewell My Summer Love
Lionel Richie – Hello

Side 2

Culture Club – The War Song
Elton John – Passengers
Julian Lennon – Too Late for Goodbyes
The Style Council – Shout to the Top!
Thompson Twins – Doctor! Doctor!
Heaven 17 – Sunset Now
Kane Gang – Respect Yourself
Tina Turner – Private Dancer

Side 3

Queen – It’s a Hard Life
Status Quo – The Wanderer
Big Country – East of Eden
U2 – Pride (In the Name of Love)
Feargal Sharkey – Listen to Your Father
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – Tesla Girls
Kim Wilde – The Second Time
Nik Kershaw – Human Racing

Side 4

Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters (Searchin for the Spirit)
UB40 – If It Happens Again
Pointer Sisters – Jump (For My Love)
Level 42 – Hot Water
Eurythmics – Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
Rockwell – Somebody’s Watching Me
Malcolm McLaren – Madam Butterfly
Eugene Wilde – Gotta Get You Home Tonight

And so to Now 5. There were none of that new-fangled CD malarky. It were down to business straight away with a reet grand vinyl / cassette release. (That’s enough Yorkshire – Ed).

This year for good measure, they skipped a Spring issue, preferring to jump to 17 August 1985 for the first release of 85. I’m not sure if this is true or not, and call me a cynic, but perhaps a little event at Wembley Stadium in July might have had some bearing on the issue. Or not. I don’t know…

Side 1

Duran Duran – A View to a Kill
Scritti Politti – The Word Girl
Harold Faltermeyer – Axel F
Fine Young Cannibals – Johnny Come Home
Dead or Alive – In Too Deep
Stephen ‘Tintin’ Duffy – Icing on the Cake
Kool & the Gang – Cherish
Paul Young – Every Time You Go Away

Side 2

Marillion – Kayleigh
Bryan Ferry – Slave to Love
David Bowie – This Is Not America
Simple Minds – Don’t You (Forget About Me)
Power Station – Get It On (Bang A Gong)
China Crisis – Black Man Ray
Phil Collins – One More Night

Side 3

Sister Sledge – Frankie
Mai Tai – History
Simply Red – Money’s Too Tight (To Mention)
Steve Arrington – Feel So Real
Jaki Graham – Round and Around
The Conway Brothers – Turn It Up
Loose Ends – Magic Touch
The Commentators – N-N-Nineteen Not Out

Side 4

U2 – The Unforgettable Fire
The Style Council – Walls Come Tumbling Down
Katrina And The Waves – Walking On Sunshine
Gary Moore & Phil Lynott – Out In The Fields
The Damned – The Shadow Of Love
Howard Jones – Life in One Day
Jimmy Nail – Love Don’t Live Here Anymore

After Now 5‘s no-CD-Back-to-Basics approach – they stuck with the tired (surely tried) and tested record and tape format again.

I think that it’s safe to say that the first side of this one is the best – Bryan Adams and Tina Turner apart – they’re just not my taste OK. And who’s writing this, eh?

Side 1

Queen – One Vision
Nik Kershaw – When a Heart Beats
Feargal Sharkey – A Good Heart
Eurythmics – There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)
Simple Minds – Alive and Kicking
Bryan Adams & Tina Turner – It’s Only Love
Gary Moore – Empty Rooms
Marillion – Lavender

Side 2

Elton John – Nikita
Kate Bush – Running Up that Hill
Level 42 – Something About You
Tina Turner – We Don’t Need Another Hero (Thunderdome)
UB40 – Don’t Break My Heart
Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin – Separate Lives
Cliff Richard – She’s So Beautiful

Side 3

Arcadia – Election Day
UB40 featuring Chrissie Hynde – I Got You Babe
Fine Young Cannibals – Blue
Midge Ure – If I Was
Siouxsie and the Banshees – Cities in Dust
Madness – Uncle Sam
Lloyd Cole and the Commotions – Lost Weekend
Communards – You Are My World

Side 4

Paul Hardcastle – Just For Money
Jan Hammer – Miami Vice Theme
Maria Vidal – Body Rock
Baltimora – Tarzan Boy
Mai Tai – Body And Soul
Cameo – Single Life
Jaki Graham & David Grant – Mated

Another August release, Now 7 features a further eclectic selection of chart hits.

There really is something for everyone here; including a bonus track on certain copies of the 3rd side.  Again, the fourth side is perhaps the weakest, although it does feature Nu Shooz and their classic, I Can’t Wait.  Having said that, side 2 starts with Chris De Burgh’s The Lady in Red… pass the sick bucket…

Side 1

Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer
UB40 – Sing Our Own Song
Sly Fox – Let’s Go All the Way
Level 42 – Lessons in Love
Pet Shop Boys – Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money)
Pete Wylie – Sinful!
Stan Ridgway – Camouflage
Art of Noise with Max Headroom – Paranoimia

Side 2

Chris De Burgh – The Lady in Red
David Bowie – Absolute Beginners
Genesis – Invisible Touch
Simple Minds – All the Things She Said
The Housemartins – Happy Hour
Big Country – Look Away
Furniture – Brilliant Mind
Midge Ure – Call of the Wild

Side 3

Wham! – The Edge of Heaven
Owen Paul – My Favourite Waste of Time
Amazulu – Too Good to Be Forgotten
Doctor and the Medics – Spirit in the Sky
Bananarama – Venus
Bucks Fizz – New Beginning (Mamba Seyra)
A-Ha – Hunting High And Low
Simply Red – Holding Back the Years
Queen – A Kind of Magic (bonus track on select copies)

Side 4

Billy Ocean – When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going
Jaki Graham – Set Me Free
Nu Shooz – I Can’t Wait
The Real Roxanne with Hitman Howie Tee – (Bang Zoom) Lets Go Go
Lovebug Starski – Amityville (The House on the Hill)
Midnight Star – Headlines
Aurra – You and Me Tonight
Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald – On My Own

Aha! Another CD release. These things must have been getting popular!

Furthermore, PolyGram had decided to join the party now, so the choice of hits to include got just that little bit wider.

As with the experiment with Now 4, Now 8‘s CD release did not feature the full 32 tracks available on the vinyl / tape version.  The 17 tracks which did make it were handpicked from the original 32.  So, what CD buyers lacked in terms of quantity they more than made up for in quality.  E.g. the truly execrable Jermaine Stewart track We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off and the frankly EVEN worse* Every Loser Wins from Nick Berry were omitted.

Now 8 (vinyl and audio cassette) listing:

Side 1

Duran Duran – Notorious
Pet Shop Boys – Suburbia
Run D.M.C. – Walk This Way
Communards – Don’t Leave Me This Way
Swing Out Sister – Breakout
Steve Winwood – Higher Love
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – (Forever) Live and Die
Genesis – In Too Deep

Side 2

Cameo – Word Up!
Grace Jones – I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect for You)
Mel & Kim – Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend)
Jermaine Stewart – We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off
Jaki Graham – Step Right Up
Janet Jackson – What Have You Done for Me Lately
The Human League – Human
Boris Gardiner – I Want to Wake Up with You

Side 3

Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush – Don’t Give Up
The Housemartins – Think for a Minute
Madness – (Waiting For) The Ghost Train
Status Quo – In the Army Now
Huey Lewis and the News – Stuck with You
Big Country – One Great Thing
Billy Bragg – Greetings to the New Brunette
Cutting Crew – (I Just) Died in Your Arms

Side 4

Kim Wilde – You Keep Me Hangin’ On
It Bites – Calling All the Heroes
Doctor & The Medics with Roy Wood- Waterloo
Debbie Harry – French Kissin’ in the USA
Robert Palmer – I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On
Paul Hardcastle – The Wizard
Gwen Guthrie – (They Long to Be) Close to You
Nick Berry – Every Loser Wins

Now 8 (CD) Listing:

Duran Duran – Notorious
Pet Shop Boys – Suburbia
Run DMC – Walk This Way
Cameo – Word Up
Grace Jones – I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect for You)
Mel & Kim – Showing Out (Get Fresh at the Weekend)
Jaki Graham – Step Right Up
Swing Out Sister – Breakout
Kim Wilde – You Keep Me Hangin’ On
It Bites – Calling All the Heroes
Doctor & The Medics with Roy Wood – Waterloo
Debbie Harry – French Kissin’ in the USA
Huey Lewis and the News – Stuck with You
Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush – Don’t Give Up
Madness – (Waiting For) The Ghost Train
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – (Forever) Live and Die
Genesis – In Too Deep

*I think that you did get the impression that Mr Stewart’s effort was in some way tongue in cheek.  Nick Berry was deadly serious…

We move into 1987 with Now 9. Things in the pop world were starting to take a down turn – the quality on this compilation, I think, bears that out.

Obviously there’s some good stuff, but the amount of filler has definitely increased.  And here’s me thinking that having an extra partner on board the project would make the choice of good stuff that little bit wider.  That said, it’s got Europe’s Perfect Poodle Pop Power Splurge The Final Countdown so I suppose it can’t be all that bad*.

Again, the CD release was a single disc only, so only half of the tracks chosen for the vinyl / cassette release were included.

Now 9 (vinyl and audio cassette) listing:

Side 1

Jackie Wilson – Reet Petite
Mental As Anything – Live It Up
Simply Red – The Right Thing
Erasure – Sometimes
Robbie Nevil – C’est La Vie
Hot Chocolate – You Sexy Thing
The Blow Monkeys – It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way
The Housemartins – Caravan of Love

Side 2

Boy George – Everything I Own
UB40 – Rat in Mi Kitchen
Gap Band – Big Fun
5 Star – Stay Out Of My Life
Pepsi & Shirlie – Heartache
Bananarama – A Trick of the Night
Berlin – Take My Breath Away

Side 3

Freddie Mercury – The Great Pretender
Ben E. King – Stand by Me
Curiosity Killed the Cat – Down to Earth
The Communards – So Cold the Night
Steve Silk Hurley – Jack Your Body
Taffy – I Love My Radio (Midnight Radio)
Nick Kamen – Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever
A-Ha – Manhattan Skyline

Side 4

Westworld – Sonic Boom Boy
Bon Jovi – Livin’ on a Prayer
Genesis – Land of Confusion
Europe – The Final Countdown
Gary Moore – Over the Hills and Far Away
Ward Brothers – Cross That Bridge
The Pretenders – Hymn to Her

Now 9 (CD) listing:

Jackie Wilson – Reet Petite
Mental As Anything – Live It Up
Simply Red – The Right Thing
Robbie Nevil – C’est La Vie
Hot Chocolate – You Sexy Thing
The Blow Monkeys – It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way
Boy George – Everything I Own
UB40 – Rat in Mi Kitchen
5 Star – Stay Out Of My Life
Pepsi & Shirlie – Heartache
Berlin – Take My Breath Away
Freddie Mercury – The Great Pretender
Ben E. King – Stand By Me
Curiosity Killed the Cat – Down to Earth
Genesis – Land of Confusion
The Pretenders – Hymn to Her

*Note, this is deliberately ambiguous. Whether or not I liked The Final Countdown is a matter of confusion for me even now, all these years later.

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At last! The double CD release matches the vinyl / audio cassette version.

Some great tracks abide here, it’s perhaps the strongest Now compilation of them all – in my humble opinion.

I think there’s only the obligatory Cliff Richard track that anyone could take offence at.  Oh and perhaps Curiosity Killed the Cat. What was his name… ah yes, Ben Volpeliere-Pierrot.  Sorry mate, but not my cup of tea at all.  Having said that, I did buy one of their singles – Down to Earth.  Perhaps if he’d changed his name to Ben Parrot he and the band may have had wider appeal?  Yes, I know it’s un perroquet, that’s not the point…  (You know, when you’re in a hole, the best plan is to stop digging.  Perhaps that’s what I’ll do now…)

Disc 1

Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé – Barcelona
Pet Shop Boys – Rent
The Communards – Never Can Say Goodbye
M|A|R|R|S – Pump Up the Volume
Hue & Cry – Labour of Love
Jellybean feat. Steven Dante – The Real Thing
Johnny Hates Jazz – I Don’t Want to be a Hero
The Style Council – Wanted
T’Pau – China in Your Hand
Heart – Alone
Kiss – Crazy Crazy Nights
Billy Idol – Mony Mony
Whitesnake – Here I Go Again
The Alarm – Rain in the Summertime
Marillion – Sugar Mice

Disc 2

Wet Wet Wet – Sweet Little Mystery
Curiosity Killed the Cat – Misfit
Los Lobos – La Bamba
Fat Boys – Wipeout
Bananarama – Love in the First Degree
Cliff Richard – My Pretty One
Karel Fialka – Hey, Matthew
Jan Hammer – Crockett’s Theme from Miami Vice
Nina Simone – My Baby Just Cares for Me
Erasure – The Circus
The Housemartins – Build
Level 42 – It’s Over
ABC – When Smokey Sings
Squeeze – Hourglass
The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl – A Fairytale of New York*

*NB the actual title of this track does away with the indefinite article ‘a’.  The boys and girls at Now were being a little over generous. OK, OK I know. But humour me please, eh?

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