Now Yearbook 1986

It's April 2023 and after going backwards in NOW'S inspired compilation series Now Yearbook to a catch up 80-84 Main and Extra we now move forward to Now Yearbook '86 which as the title suggests is a whole volume on 4 cds (and three records) to hits of 1986.

As you can see it features the now legendary book form housing the discs with background notes although there is a "plain jane" fold over card version with just the discs and titles for a bit less.

The usual licensing issues prevent hits from David Bowie (Absolute Beginners, Underground), Prince (Kiss and Anotherloverholeinyohead) and Madonna (True Blue) from being presented but they are on those artists own compilations that you might well have.

There was a noticable change following the previous year as many of the artists of the early 80's struggled to have hits as tastes on the top 40 changed with "hair metal", "chicago house" and hip hop becoming more popular as well as Hi-Nrg acts.

There were in hindsight far more memorable songs than you might of thought with soulful hits such as Holding Back The Year, Set Me Free, How Will I Know, Dancing on The Ceiling and Rain or Shine being personal favourites.

Few could forget that series of songs The Edge Of Heaven and A Different Corner announcing the era of Wham! who'd taken american soul, funk and rap and wrapped it around a UK context to great effect the group would be no more but left us with some great solo George Michael songs to come.

The Bangles arrived in full force with Manic Monday, Paul Simon went controversually  to South Africa and gave us You Can Call Me Al, A-ha continued their success from 1985 with The Sun Always Shines On T.v. and Kim Wilde returned to the charts with a cover of the Supreme's 60's hit You Keep Me Hangin' On.

1986 was the year the NOW and HITS compilations arrived on the new cd format with Now'86 and Now 8 plus Hits 5 towards the end of that year albeit as single cds and not doubles like the record and tape versions.

That patchy representation in year themed cds - no HITS4 for instance with its early 1986 CBS/WEA hits was the reason for buying this set which does write that very well not detracting too much from the flawed cd reissues of NOW 7 (which never had a cd isssue) and the fullish reissue to the original truncated 8 a few years back.

Favourite of all of the tracks is Susanna Vega's haunting folksy Marlene On The Wall from her debut album.

As with this series there is a matching Extra released April 7th that expands upon the original generous set although it comes in tri-fold card sleeve which doesn't properly slot neatly with it.

The first disc kicks off with the Queen classic 'A Kind Of Magic', Eurythmics' 'When Tomorrow Comes', the lead single from their 'Revenge' album, and smash hits from The Bangles and a-ha. Sophisticated Pop from Sade, Bryan Ferry, and Sting follows and some of the greatest vocalists of the era are up next including Patti Labelle, Tina Turner, and Anita Baker with the timeless 'Sweet Love'. 

Hits from Five Star, Paul Young, and Stan Ridgway are joined by movie tracks from The Style Council, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and 'Left Of Center' - the collaboration between Suzanne Vega and Joe Jackson, plus the title track 'Graceland' from Paul Simon's controversisal 1986 best-seller. 

Bon Jovi open Disc 2 with 'You Give Love A Bad Name', followed by Kenny Loggins' 'Top Gun' film anthem 'Danger Zone', alongside huge tracks from Spandau Ballet, Robert Palmer, Simple Minds, and Julian Cope, before some classic Power Pop from Cutting Crew, ZZ Top, and Mr. Mister. 

Pure Pop hits from Modern Talking, Samantha Fox, Elton John, and Jennifer Rush follow before the disc closes with timeless 'The Way It Is' from Bruce Hornsby & The Range. 

Disc 3 begins with a run of fantastic Indie and Synth-Pop smashes including The Housemartins, The Smiths, New Order, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Dead Or Alive, and Falco's 'Vienna Calling'. 

Debut hits from Latin Quarter and Sly Fox follow, plus 'Pull Up To The Bumper' - a big hit on re-release for Grace Jones while Soul music legend James Brown scored a big hit with 'Living In America', and Jellybean, Cherrelle & Alexander O'Neal, and The S.O.S Band enjoyed three of the year's biggest Dance tracks. 

The collection winds down with soulful ballads from Atlantic Starr, Billy Ocean and Freddie Jackson before signing off with one of the greatest tracks of all-time; 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine' from Marvin Gaye - a smash hit again 18 years after it originally hit #1 after sound-tracking an ad campaign which became a trend for the next two years.