Now Vault 1982

Now it has warmed up a little  we'll resume on a series of entries from 2024.

In June 2024 Now launched a sub series VAULTS, which aims to cover minor hits of the sort that tended to pad out our Ronco and K Tel sets as much as we may of preferred some of them to the big hits back in the day and also American Hits which unless someone did a American Hit compilation you didn't get so I'd buy the 45's where available.

Issued Friday 16 January, it follows the broad theme of things that for all the music industry talk didn't trouble the top 30 and american hits that weren't in the UK (and should of been I'd add).

Opening the set on disc 1 we have the era-defining style with ‘The Hanging Garden’ from The Cure, taken from their album ‘Pornography’, and Bauhaus with ‘Spirit’ ahead of the collaboration ‘Bamboo Houses’ from David Sylvian & Ryuichi Sakamoto. 

A single in the U.S., ‘Secret Journey’ from The Police comes ahead of ‘Athena’ from The Who, and ‘Valerie’ from Steve Winwood – which would be a bigger hit when remixed five years later and closing the first side a beautiful song – ‘Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)’ from Elton John.

Flipping to side two we have a run of new wave and post-punk gems including from Elvis Costello, The Clash, Theatre Of Hate and Gang Of Four. Melancholic pop from The Teardrop Explodes leads to disc 1's  closers from Mike Oldfield, and a classic ‘Tug Of War’ by Paul McCartney from the album of the same name.

Disc 2 kicks off with a run of pure pop: Culture Club’s ‘I’m Afraid Of Me’ was the single before their #1 breakthrough, and is joined by Spandau Ballet, Level 42, Bananarama and Toyah with a re-recording of her 1980 anthem ‘Ieya’. 

A trio of synth-pop essentials closes the side: Visage with ‘Pleasure Boys’ their third single in 1982, Blancmange with ‘Feel Me’ – their second single, (the next would be their Top 10 breakthrough) and ‘Flowers’ by singer-songwriter Zaine Griff – produced by Hans Zimmer and featuring unmistakable backing vocals by Kate Bush. 

Flipping over the side sees the fusions of Electronic Music with hip hop and disco celebrated, opening with three huge tracks: ‘Planet Rock’ from Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force, the floor-filling ‘Loopzilla’ from George Clinton and ‘Let It Whip’ a Top 5 U.S. smash from the Dazz Band – ’82 R&B from Aretha Franklin leads into retro-influenced pop from Mari Wilson and a jazz-influenced club classic from Blue Rondo A La Turk. The LP finishes with Imagination who created one of 1982’s essential albums with ‘In The Heat Of The Night’, from which this title track was taken as a single.

The concluding disc celebrates what was happening in the U.S. in 1982 on its first side. ‘Atlantic City’ from Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska’ leads, ahead of huge stars Billy Joel and John Mellencamp. 

1982 would be the year that Daryl Hall & John Oates broke through in the UK with two Top 10 hits – but here featuring their U.S. Top 10 ‘Did It In A Minute’, plus, Michael McDonald who hit the Top 5 in the States with his debut solo single ‘I Keep Forgettin’ while Quarterflash leads into Asia, who had the year’s biggest selling album in America, and Journey with their biggest hit, the massive ballad ‘Open Arms’ from their Escape album.

The final side opens with an instrumental theme to a TV series U.S. Police drama ’Hill Street Blues’ ran for six years and peaked in popularity in 1982 – with its theme by Mike Post featuring  Larry Carlton spending over five months on the chart, hitting the Top 10 in the U.S. and #25 in the UK. Fun Boy Three hit with their cover of ‘Summertime’, which comes ahead of Grace Jones and Men At Work. 

This is followed by U.S. new wave from The Go-Go’s, The Waitresses, and The B-52s and closing the collection Siouxsie And The Banshees’ stunning interpretation of the traditional French carol, ‘Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant’.

This set just fits nicely between my original Ronco, K Tel and Telstar compilations and the rather good Now Yearbook 1982 set, rounding out that years great colourful sounds.

Now Yearbook 1997&1998

After a bit of a gap February to be precise we get back on the trail of the late 1990's in the now established Now Yearbook series.

I love that packaging.

Tracklistings are on the rear and in order on the pages of notes and a quiz.

1997 was a year we saw the launch of Channel Five aided by the Spice Girls in a year that saw woman and woman lead groups do well, some great songs before Brit pop ceased to be a thing, Messres Barlow and Williams achive sucess outside of Take That, the continued intrest in dance music and hip hop which wasn't my maine thing by a long shot.

NOW Yearbook 1997 gathers up some 78 popular tracks across 4 CDs – housed in the deluxe version I bought ‘hard-back-book’ packaging, including a 28-page booklet featuring a summary of the year and a track-by-track guide which just great for bring back memories.

Disc one kicks off in style, with the stunning jazz-drenched ballad from legend George Michael, ‘Older’, before Natalie Imbruglia's huge debut single ‘Torn’. Texas scored a UK top 5 with ‘Say What You Want’ and Hanson hit the US & UK #1 with ‘MMMBop’. ‘Barbie Girl’ from Aqua and the Spice Girls’ anthemic ‘Spice Up Your Life’ were both #1s and lead a run of pure pop including Boyzone (‘Picture Of You’), Louise (‘Arms Around The World’), 911 (‘Bodyshakin’’) and Backstreet Boys (‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)’) alongside Steps with their debut ‘5, 6, 7, 8’, and Ricky Martin’s global smash ‘María’. Up next is Elton John’s superb ‘Something About The Way You Look Tonight’ - one half of the biggest selling single of all time. Eternal feat. Bebe Winans hit #1 with ‘I Wanna Be The Only One’ and All Saints made their debut with ‘I Know Where It’s At’. En Vogue’s powerful ‘Don’t Let Go (Love)’ and Gabrielle’s remake of ‘Walk On By’ lead into the discs closing trio: - the atmospheric ‘Out Of My Mind’ from Duran Duran, the genre-blending #1 ‘Your Woman’ from White Town, and Pet Shop Boys’ brilliant version of the musical classic ‘Somewhere’. 

On Disc two we open with another George Michael classic from his ‘Older’ album, the beautiful ‘You Have Been Loved’, ahead of a second contemporary masterpiece ‘Secret Garden’ from Bruce Springsteen. Next Up, Paul McCartney’s ‘Young Boy’ and Sheryl Crow’s top 10 hit ‘A Change Would Do You Good’. Meredith Brooks makes her debut with ‘Bitch’ and Robbie Williams’ ‘Old Before I Die’, became his second smash as a solo artist. Different styles of dance pop are celebrated in a run of floor fillers including Jamiroquai’s groovy ‘Alright’, and from Tina Moore (‘Never Gonna Let You Go (Kelly G. Bump-N-Go Vocal Mix)’), Whitney Houston (‘Step By Step’) and Lutricia McNeal (‘Ain’t That Just The Way’). Finley Quaye and Ginuwine feature before rap from LL COOL J enjoying his first UK #1 with ‘Ain’t Nobody’, and Coolio with the ear-worm ‘C U When U Get There’. Soulful vocals close this disc with Mary J. Blige’s ‘Everything’, ahead of great covers from Shola Ama with You Might Need Somebody’, and ‘Wonderful Tonight’ from Damage. 

Disc three kicks off with Radiohead’s defining ‘Paranoid Android' from the album OK Computer, and Oasis’s huge #1 ‘D’You Know What I Mean?’ – the lead single from their third album ‘Be Here Now’. Indie-pop anthems follow from The Seahorses (‘Love Is The Law’), Supergrass (‘Richard III’), from In It For The Money, The Charlatans (‘North Country Boy’) and Ocean Colour Scene (‘Hundred Mile High City’). 90s alt-pop continues with Cast’s ‘Free Me’ from the marvellous Mother Nature Calls, Kula Shaker’s hit cover of Deep Purple's 1968 single‘Hush’ and Embrace’s ‘All You Good Good People’. Echo & The Bunnymen returned in ‘97 with ‘Nothing Lasts Forever’, and James also scored a Top 10 hit with ‘She’s A Star’. The Cardigans had a #2 smash with ‘Lovefool’ and ‘Ready To Go’ gave Republica a Top 20 chart debut. Next up, some of the years’ electronic dance music highlights: - The Chemical Brothers with the massive ’Block Rockin’ Beats’ ahead of Moby with his re-imagining of the classic film-series theme: ‘James Bond Theme (Moby’s Re-Version)’. Orbital provided the theme to the remake of ‘The Saint’ and Smoke City provide trip-hop brilliance with ‘Underwater Love’, ahead of the disc finishing with the atmospheric version of 'You Showed Me’ by The Lightning Seeds’ and Suede’s plaintive ‘Saturday Night’. 

We complete the set with Disc four that features mainly dancefloor hits.

 Opening with the club juggernaut and #1 ‘Professional Widow’ from Tori Amos, remixed for single release by Armand Van Helden, ahead of the collaboration between Lisa Stansfield and The Dirty Rotten Scoundrels on the remix of ‘People Hold On’, Olive’s UK #1 ‘You’re Not Alone’, the huge ’97 ‘Now Voyager’ remix of ‘You Got The Love’ from The Source feat. Candi Staton, and ‘Remember Me’ from Blue Boy. Ultra Naté and Dannii Minogue had euphoric dance-pop smashes with ‘Free’ and ‘All I Wanna Do’, which are featured before pan-European hits from Sash! (‘Encore Une Fois’) and Dario G (‘Sunchyme’). Eurovision glory happened for the UK in 1997, and winners Katrina And The Waves with ‘Love Shine A Light’ are up next before gems from Céline Dion, Backstreet Boys and the second solo #1 for Gary Barlow with ‘Love Won’t Wait’. Gina G keeps things ‘Fresh’, No Mercy hit #2 with the infectious ‘Where Do You Go’, and N-Trance (featuring Rod Stewart) reimagined the classic: ‘Da Y Think I’m Sexy’. Five achieved a Top 10 debut with ‘Slam Dunk (Da Funk)’, East 17 enjoyed their 11th visit to the Top 10 with ‘Hey Child’, and Wet Wet Wet’s ‘If I Never See You Again’ was another Top 5 hit for the enduringly popular band celebrating their 10th anniversary. The journey back to 1997 closes with the huge #1 ballad from the Spice Girls – ‘Too Much’ – the year’s Christmas #1 and their 6th chart-topper in an unbroken run to date…which ends the collection on a perfect pop high. 

There are many tracks that bring back memories here.

The last time we looked at this series was in early November 2024 as we made our way back in time to 1977 but to our amazement it was announced the next edition would be this, the 1998 one which meant we started an new Arc in this series 1995 though to 1999.

As usual I opted for the deluxe edition with the book style presentation with notes on each featured track as that helps to bring back memories of that year as I continued in the main to follow "Brit Pop" but read magazines like Blues and Soul as I was also listening to a lot of Soul and modern R&B watching MTV's The Lick Show too.

Looking back at it the charts were more varied than you may of remembered so there is much I did enjoy at the time so with that, we'll look at what's on each disc in the set.

Disc 1 opens with George Michael’s ‘Outside’, that was the lead track from his massive ‘Ladies And Gentlemen’ collection, followed by Cher’s global smash ‘Believe’ which held the #1 spot for 7 weeks in the UK, becoming the biggest seller of the year. RUN-DMC vs. Jason Nevins’ dance-floor phenomenon ‘It’s Like That’ also claimed the top spot, cementing itself as an era defining track. 

The chart-topping ‘Never Ever’ from All Saints along with ‘The Boy Is Mine’ from Brandy & Monica (and it featured on BOTH their albums) showcases some of the best R&B pop from the year, while the Spice Girls’ ‘Stop’, Billie Piper’s ‘Because We Want To’ and B*Witched’s infectious ‘C’est La Vie’ bring a fresh, vibrant pure pop. 

With more enjoyable smash hits from Aqua, Steps, and Ricky Martin, before the disc draws to its close with Meja, Ace Of Base and The Corrs, who enjoyed a huge hit with their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s classic ‘Dreams’.

Disc 2 celebrates the best of ‘98’s alt-pop, my main preference then,  kicking off with Radiohead, R.E.M., and the Manic Street Preachers’ ‘If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next’, which became their first #1 single. Oasis’ epic ‘All Around The World’, topped the chart and became the longest-running UK #1 single of the year. 

The brilliant Jamiroquai enjoyed their first #1, The Cardigans’ ‘My Favourite Game’, Stereophonics’ ‘The Bartender and the Thief’ and Natalie Imbruglias’‘Big Mistake’ were among the years’ big successes for recently established chart hitmakers.

Disc 3 is a celebration of dance, club anthems, and infectious electronic beats – opening with Air and the timeless brilliance of ‘Sexy Boy’. Cornershop’s ‘Brimful Of Asha’ claimed the #1 spot, with a remix by Norman Cook who is up next as Fatboy Slim with ‘The Rockafeller Skank’, and also remixed ‘Renegade Master’ for Wildchild which became a defining dance floor anthem once again in 1998.

 Faithless’ ‘God Is A DJ’ continued their run of hits, while Sash., Vengaboys, Dario G, and Bus Stop & Carl Douglas enjoyed enjoyed crossover dance-pop smashes. More R&B/pop follows from Robyn, Ultra Naté, M People and Melanie B who became the first of the Spice Girls to achieve a #1 away from the group – with ‘I Want You Back’, a collaboration with Missy Elliott….and the disc finishes with another collaboration – between Texas and Wu-Tang Clan (& Robert F. “Price Rakeem Diggs) on a reworking of ‘Say What You Want’, extending the title to ‘Say What You Want (All Day Every Day)’.

The final disc delivers a combination of massive hit ballads and infectious pop anthems. 

Robbie Williams’ iconic ‘Angels’ became a career-defining track, while Céline Dion’s ‘My Heart Will Go On’ topped charts worldwide and became one of the best-selling singles of all time. Boyzone’s ‘No Matter What’ became their biggest hit, and Aqua hit #1 for the third time with ‘Turn Back Time’.

 Steps, 911, Cleopatra and Des’ree all made big impacts on the charts, and Catatonia, The Beautiful South and Fat Les all enjoyed huge hits, plus 1998 saw the return of Culture Club to the charts after a twelve year absence. 

We conclude this review of 1998’s hits with a run of the years’ biggest pop ballads including from the Backstreet Boys, K-Ci & JoJo, B*Witched before signing off with the Spice Girls with their #1 ‘Viva Forever'.

The now familiar extra made its appearence on March 28 with an extra 60 tracks across three well filled cds.

Disc 1 gets going withwith Robbie Williams’ classic ‘Let Me Entertain You’, followed by a run of hits from Stereophonics, Natalie Imbruglia, Sheryl Crow and The Corrs with the Tin Tin Out Remix of ‘What Can I Do’ – taken from 1998’s biggest selling album ‘Talk On Corners’. 

Space and Cerys Matthews’ collaboration on ‘The Ballad Of Tom Jones’ adds touch of alternative pop ahead of All Saints with their #1 version of ‘Lady Marmalade’, and Billie Piper’s #1 smash ‘Girlfriend’.

 More classic 90s pop anthems next with huge hits from B*Witched and Five, before Busta Rhymes, Usher and Brandy featuring Ma$e deliver unforgettable hip-hop and R&B smashes. The disc closes with superb vocals from the Lighthouse Family, Simply Red and Elton John!

Disc 2 opens with the raw energy of the Manic Street Preachers with ‘The Everlasting’, the second single from their platinum ‘This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours’ album, followed by ‘Brand New Start’ from Paul Weller, ahead of a run of indie-pop from some of the most popular bands of the era:- Ocean Colour Scene, Embrace, James, Ash and The Bluetones. Alt-Pop hits from Republica and Catatonia lead to more gems from Simple Minds and Robbie Williams’ with his second feature on this collection with ‘No Regrets’. 

Unforgettable dance-floor anthems from Fatboy Slim, Faithless, Lovestation and Dario G come next, and the disc signs off with a couple of crossover pop- club smashes from Sash! with ‘La Primavera’ and Gloria Estefan’s ‘Oye’!

Disc 3 opens with some of the years’ best chilled pop: ‘War Of Nerves’ by All Saints, followed by Shania Twain’s ‘From This Moment On’ and Sarah McLachlan’s ‘Adia’. Paula Cole provided the theme to TV drama ‘Dawson’s Creek’ with ‘I Don’t Want To Wait’, and that’s up next ahead of more dance-pop gems from Lutricia McNeal, Tin Tin Out & Shelley Nelson and ‘98’s UK Eurovision entry from Imaani. 

Another run of massive pop from Louise, Boyzone, 911, E-17, Another Level and Hanson are ahead of sophisticated soul and R&B from Dina Carroll, Monica, Brandy and the Honeyz – while the final word is from the biggest pop band of the era – Spice Girls with their eighth #1- also 1998’s Christmas chart-topper, ‘Goodbye’.

Now Yearbook 1977

 Did say the other week new music releases were coming think and fast but this one slots in well with the overall theme of this blog well being more than a list all  your purchases and in run post because it takes me right back to my childhood, just a teen, in a radically changing musical environment. 

There is a cheap folded wrap around version but I opted for the book form editions as it gives you short entries about each featured track and even a little about the years main events which is why I buy these editions.

They are more like end of year pop annuals with hits and much talked about tracks included better for being centred around when it charted and in 1977 many of our favourites from the last four to five years lost momentum as the New Wave such as Elvis Costello, Jam and Stranglers crashed in but it wasa  year with very broad tastes which suited me fine.

Kicking off Disc 1 with a timeless anthem from Queen with ‘We Are The Champions’ as the "old wave" rose to the challenge of the new and followed by the huge instrumental rock of ‘Fanfare For The Common Man’ by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. The song that would open ‘Live Aid’ years later is next up from Status Quo with their signature ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’, and 1977 saw ‘Way Down’ from Elvis Presley go to #1 in the wake of his death. Classic pop-rock from 10CC with ‘Good Morning Judge’ is followed by a trio of ballads from Electric Light Orchestra with ‘Telephone Line’, Leo Sayer with his trans-Atlantic chart topper ‘When I Need You’, and David Soul actor in tv's Starsky and Hutch with another UK and US #1 ‘Don’t Give Up On Us’. Hot Chocolate enjoyed their first #1 with ‘So You Win Again’ and is followed by a superb run of dance-pop from Candi Staton, Patsy Gallant, Donna Summer, Boney M. and The Rah Band. More pop-rock from Suzi Quatro, Smokie and a hit from the soundtrack of the tv series ‘Rock Follies’ lead toward the emotionally charged closing tracks on the first disc – from Elkie Brooks with ‘Pearl’s A Singer’, Liverpool Express and ‘Every Man Must Have A Dream’, and the #1 ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ from the concept album for the upcoming musical ‘Evita’ by Julie Covington along with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

Disc 2 opens with an amazing run of punk and new wave classics: The Stranglers with ‘No More Heroes’, Ramones with ‘Sheena Is A Punk Rocker’, The Clash with their debut ‘White Riot’, and The Jam with their first Top 20 hit ‘All Around The World’. The Boomtown Rats debuted with ‘Lookin’ After No.1’ and defining hits are featured from Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers, Mink DeVille and Elvis Costello with the peerless ‘Watching The Detectives’. A genre defying hit from the Tom Robinson Band leads into a sequence of hits that includes singer-songwriters Paul Simon, Boz Scaggs and Bryan Ferry, rock smashes from Boston and Santana, and to close the disc softer rock from Thin Lizzy and beautiful ballads from Racing Cars with ‘They Shoot Horses Don’t They’, and Yes with ‘Wonderous Stories’, where prog actually charted on the singles chart!

The charts in 1977 were fantastically diverse, and one of the biggest genres of hits was Disco and it is that that owns  Disc 3.

Arguably one of pop music’s defining moments came in 1977 with Donna Summer’s #1 ‘I Feel Love’ with it’s production showcasing the role of the synthesiser. European disco smashes found huge success: Baccara topped the charts with ‘Yes Sir, I Can Boogie’, along-side massive tracks from Belle Epoque and the debut ‘Daddy Cool’ for Boney M. – who a year later would become the biggest selling singles act of 1978. Meco re-worked the ‘Star Wars’ theme into a US disco chart topper, and The Trammps, Heatwave, The Emotions, Rose Royce, Thelma Houston and chart newcomers Chic all feature here in a stellar run of floor-filling hits. Marvin Gaye had a massive track with ‘Got To Give It Up – Pt.1’ and Gladys Knight & The Pips continued their run of hits with ‘Baby, Don’t Change Your Mind’. The disc finishes with 3 of 1977’s greatest soul tracks: Deniece Williams took ‘Free’ to #1, and the Commodores released an all-time classic, with ‘Easy’ from the album known as Zoom in the uk, featuring Lionel Richie on vocals, whilst Detroit R&B vocal group The Floaters scored their only UK hit in style with ‘Float On’ reaching #1 in August.

The final disc opens with 1977’s biggest seller – the first single to sell over two million copies, all time personal favourite – and the years’ Christmas #1, ‘Mull Of Kintyre’ from Paul McCartney & Wings. Two more #1s follow: Manhattan Transfer with ‘Chanson D’Amour’, and the second chart-topper in the year for David Soul with ‘Silver Lady’. Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Sam’ continues the run of ‘easy-listening’ pop that also includes #1 ‘Angelo’ from Brotherhood Of Man’, sublime tracks, ‘The Things We Do For Love’, from 10CC, ‘Oh Lori’ from Alessi Brothers, and the Boz Scaggs penned ‘We’re All Alone’ by Rita Coolidge, plus pop gems from Carole Bayer Sager and Meri Wilson all feature. Kenny Rogers hit #1 with ‘Lucille’, Billy Ocean enjoyed his second #2 smash with ‘Red Light Spells Danger’, while The Dooleys and Andrew Gold made their chart debuts.

Rock ‘n’ roll was enjoying a revival and two contemporary groups both enjoyed massive success - Showaddywaddy continued their run of hits with ‘Dancin’ Party’, and Darts arrived with a medley of ‘Daddy Cool’ and ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’….and the collection finishes with two instrumental hits, ‘Portsmouth’ from Mike Oldfield reached #3 in the first week of the year, whilst unexpectedly ‘The Floral Dance’ became a massive seller for the Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band, spending the last four weeks of 1977 at #2 behind ‘Mull Of Kintyre’ which lead to the Terry Wogan version too.

Now 12 inch 80's Pt.II

 The World of NOW, gets bigger and bigger taking in numbered volumes of Now That's What I Call Music,, Now Yearbook, themed Now That's What I Call ..... and was joined by the cd only Now 12" 80's series which looks at 12" singles from a specific year rather than the three compilations of 80's 12 inch singles.

The first bunch 1980 to 1982 are on an earlier post.

My original intentions were to group post all the series together but the 1982 edition gained two volumes which doubles the post and you will note they've done the same with this edition so it seems that the remainder will follow the two part format.

That makes it more sensible to break them into chunks and update each.

As ever this is a bare bones card wrap around cover set which is a pity as a book form with some notes as with the Deluxe Now Yearbooks would of been better as this is amimed more at music fans and collectors but we live in their world....

Disc 1 opens with two of 1983’s biggest artists with Wham!’s "Bad Boys”, followed by Eurythmics’ (over 12 minutes remix of) "Right By Your Side”before being joined by Duran Duran with "Union Of The Snake (The Monkey Mix)", and the extended “Communication” by Spandau Ballet. The Human League keeps the momentum with their massive hit "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" which I bought straight on 12 single back then, while Howard Jones and Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark keeps up the Synth-Pop  with "New Song" and "Genetic Engineering" from the Dazzleships album respectively. Extended versions from Blancmange, Ultravox, and Tears For Fears  "The Way You Are" are also feature on the first disc.

Disc 2 celebrates Pop Gold with Adam Ant’s "Puss 'N Boots"one I remember from early Signal Radio here, Bananarama’s "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye", plus The Belle Stars, and Bucks Fizz. Pop and New Wave fused on fabulous tracks from Haysi Fantayzee, and Altered Images with the unforgettable "Don't Talk To Me About Love", and hits from a huge chart year for Kajagoogoo and Paul Young. The disc closes with more Synth-Pop from Heaven 17, Soft Cell and a huge U.S. hit for Taco with an unexpected cover choice in “Puttin’ On The Ritz”.

Disc 3 starts from the dancefloor with the iconic "Flashdance…What A Feeling", from Irene Cara, and the stunning Electropop work-out in extended form on Freeez’s "I.O.U. (Megamix)" a personal favourite. The legendary Arthur Baker produced “Confusion” for New Order, and “The Harder They Come” for Rockers Revenge, and Forrest enjoyed a smash covering “Rock The Boat” while Modern Romance and Level 42 bought Pop and Funk crossover to the charts. This disc works towards its finale with four UK acts who all enjoyed great success in ’83 with these 12” versions enhancing already great tracks – Madness, Fun Boy Three, The Style Council, and Nick Heyward who’s “Whistle Down The Wind” was his first solo hit.

Disc 4 offers a star-studded line-up opening with 12” and remixed versions of Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson’s "Say Say Say" that took much effort to steem a sudden drop in the charts and Billy Joel’s "Tell Her About It" before The Fixx appear with their huge US hit “One Thing Leads To Another” from the album Reach The Beach, followed by Debbie Harry, and Laura Branigan who achieved a global success with “Gloria” from her first album. Hi-Energy floor-fillers from Miquel Brown and Divine, are next alongside Ryan Paris’ pan-European smash “Dolce Vita”. The collection concludes with classic dance hits from Lydia Murdock and Phil Fearon & Galaxy and a great collaboration between the legendary Donna Summer and Musical Youth.

For gathering so many interesting and important 12 inch singles of the year, a good number I personally bought at the time, this set is well worth it filling next to Now Yearbook 1983 (and Extra+Vault) before the next instalment is released. 

On October 18 Part 2 duly arrived adding some additional 49 tracks to this years selection packaged in its now common place wrap around card sleeve.

Just why these cannot be in book form like "Yearbooks" or "Yearbook Vaults" really escapes me as the material more than justifies such treatment with pictures and commentary.

Disc 1 kicks off with the U.S. remix of Wham!’s classic "Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?)", starting off a stellar run of huge hits in their 12” versions: Spandau Ballet with the iconic "Gold", "Who's That Girl?" by Eurythmics, Bananarama with "Cruel Summer", while Culture Club’s infectious "I'll Tumble 4 Ya" was a big U.S. and an essential 12” version. Some of 1983’s new chart stars are up next…the extended version of Marilyn’s "Calling Your Name" and Kajagoogoo’s "Too Shy (Midnight Mix)" feature alongside The Lotus Eaters, Men Without Hats and Flash And The Pan. The first disc wraps up with 12” gems including Joe Jackson’s cool, synth driven "Steppin' Out", and Mike Oldfield’s Top 5 hit ‘Moonlight Shadow’.

Within a collection of ‘80s 12” versions, Disc 2 couldn’t open with anything more legendary than New Order with their groundbreaking "Blue Monday" – released only on 12” in 1983. Some timeless new-wave follows including The Cure with the extended version of "The Lovecats", Echo & The Bunnymen’s "Never Stop (Discotheque)" and Public Image Limited with the remix of "This Is Not A Love Song". Aztec Camera’s "Walk Out To Winter" adds a touch of indie-pop before huge chart pop from Madness with "The Sun And The Rain", and TRACIE and Tracey Ullman providing a fun, upbeat interlude. The disc closes with extended versions of anthemic pop from Paul Young with "Love Of The Common People", Rick Springfield’s "Human Touch", and Yes with the ‘Special Remix Dance Version’ of “Owner Of A Lonely Heart”.

Disc 3 is all about the dancefloor, opening with one of the decades’ biggest floor-fillers from Lionel Richie with "All Night Long (All Night)", followed by KC & The Sunshine Band’s irresistible #1 "Give It Up". Donna Summer’s empowering "She Works Hard For The Money" is up next, followed by ‘80s disco classics, Indeep’s "Last Night A D.J. Saved My Life", and Divine’s “Love Reaction”. Enjoyable mash ups of hip-hop and electro-pop follow courtesy of Malcolm McLaren with the iconic ‘Double Dutch’ in its full 12” version, and Rock Steady Crew with the extended version of “(Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew”. More dance-pop from Modern Romance, and Shalamar, while Booker Newberry III’s soulful "Love Town", Billy Griffin’s ‘Hold Me Tighter In The Rain’ and Level 42’s smooth "The Sun Goes Down (Living It Up)" round off this funky disc.

Disc 4 begins with the Monster Mix of Duran Duran’s first #1 "Is There Something I Should Know" and Heaven 17’s timeless "Temptation". Tears For Fears deliver brilliant pop on the extended version of "Change", while Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and Blancmange continue a superb run of synth-pop gold with “Telegraph” and “That’s Love, That It Is”, ahead of Japan’s cover of “All Tomorrows Parties” and Annabel Lamb’s cover of "Riders On The Storm". The disc concludes in style with Yello ahead of Talk Talk’s "My Foolish Friend" and Midge Ure’s collaboration with Mick Karn on "After A Fashion" – even more sublime in its’ extended version, wrapping up this second volume of 1983’s 12” essentials!

Now Yearbooks 1990

After looking at a few issues in this life, let's go back to 1990 and enjoy ourselves shall we?

Book format with chart information and  pictures are present in this edition of the Now Yearbook.

We last touched base as the cool kids say with Now Yearbook last September with the 1973 issue and it's worth saying I'd stopped buying compilations like the Now's apart from the mid to late 90's Shine Indies ones.

1990 was a transitional year format was as I'd moved from lp with Early 1989 with Now 14 to cd by Summer's Now 15 and that was to run on 1991 and many of main trends of 1989 continued into 1990.

As with the other titles it is also available in deluxe 4 cd book form and cheaper fold round card cd versions with more tracks apart from the vinyl release.

Starting the rewind back to 1990 are George Michael with ‘Praying For Time’, and Elton John with his #1 single ‘Sacrifice’, followed by Roxette’s ‘It Must Have Been Love’ from the soundtrack to ‘Pretty Woman’. Disc One includes #1s from New Order, New Kids On The Block sadly missing on the vinyl edition, Steve Miller Band, and The Beautiful South, as well as Pop smashes from The KLF, The B-52’s, Kylie Minogue, Whitney Houston Kim Appleby, and concluding with the theme from Twin Peaks, Julee Cruise’s ‘Falling’, Chris Isaak with ‘Wicked Game’ and Pet Shop Boys defining ‘Being Boring’.

Dance floor-fillers start off Disc 2 from Deee-Lite with ‘Groove Is In The Heart’, #1s from SNAP!, and from Adamski & Seal plus club classics from Bass-O-Matic and Adventures Of Stevie V with ‘Dirty Cash (Money Talks)’, plus the unexpected collaboration between DNA & Suzanne Vega. British R&B legends Innocence and Soul II Soul appear ahead of a run of Indie-Alt legends including Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, The Charlatans, Primal Scream and The Cure – before finishing on Candy Flip’s cover of ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’, and ‘All Together Now’ from The Farm.

Disc 3 opens with the brilliant interpretation of Prince’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ from the late Sinéad O'Connor. Up next are film related hits; Maria McKee’s ‘Show Me Heaven’, from the ‘Days Of Thunder’ soundtrack, and the ‘Young Guns II’ track ‘Blaze Of Glory’ from Jon Bon Jovi. Faith No More had their UK Top 40 Chart debut with ‘Epic’, and the Grammy Award-winning US #1 for Alannah Myles ‘Black Velvet’ appears, alongside huge US artists Cher, Heart, and 1990’s biggest US hit from Wilson Phillips… and there’s still room for Pop-Reggae from UB40 and Maxi Priest, and the mega rap debut from M.C. Hammer and a further two #1 singles – both debuts - from Partners In Kryme with ‘Turtle Power’ and Vanilla Ice with ‘Ice Ice Baby’ that samples Queen's Under Pressure.

The tenth consecutive Top 10 hit for Pet Shop Boys ‘So Hard’ opens the concludiing disc, followed by the superb cover of the Disco classic ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)’ from Jimmy Somerville, before a second appearance from Kylie Minogue with her Disco anthem ‘Step Back In Time’ and one of Stock, Aitken & Waterman’s greatest dancefloor tracks ‘Happenin’ All Over Again’ from Lonnie Gordon. Pop/Dance gold from 49ers, Blue Pearl, and Bananarama lead into timeless Pure-Pop from Dusty Springfield, Halo James, Jason Donovan, Adam Ant with Room At The Top and another track from the ‘Pretty Woman’ soundtrack – this time from Go West before the collection winds down with two classic covers from Deacon Blue and a-ha, closing with two ‘60s hits that became hits once again, Bobby Vinton’s ‘Blue Velvet’ following its use in film, and tv commercials, and The Righteous Brothers with their rendition of ‘Unchained Melody’ – featured in 1990’s biggest film ‘Ghost’ which helped catapult the song to #1, 25 years since its initial release, when it reached #14.

This is a more comprehensive selection than the period Now 17 and 18 albums I bought on compact disc that year.

Issued March 15th the Extra edition that tops up the main volume emerged in its simple card cover which may be effective but does stick out like a sore thumb next to the beautiful main edition.

This just finishes off nicely the year adding singles both major hits like How Am I Supposed To Live With You, a cover of the Laura Branigan hit  and Betty Boo's Doin' The Do and minor ones.

Now Yearbooks 1973

 Last week was different both at home for needing less on due to the very hot weather and of course having a content a bit different from the run of the mill on this blog.

After a brief run with alternative offerings, Now That's What I Call Music returned September 8th to the Yearbook series interestingly bypassing the last 1970's batch and going with 1973 which signals the series will run from 1970 to 1974 rather than opting for 1977 although I'm sure that'll emerge soon.

1973 is a year I know well - possibly even too well - being but a year out of double digits in a year that obviously included religiously watching Blue Peter and John Craven's Newsround where I learned about Skylab, I started to notice I liked girls clothes and a good deal of industrial action took place apart from catching The Sky At Night.

My older brother was a bit of influence musically, as I watched Top Of The Pops with him and he'd play records to me such as Roger Daltrey's (of the Who) Giving It All Away and I'm Free although I had my own suitably "tween" ones.

As with the reminder of this series on cd you have a bare bones folded card 4 cd edition and a book with a short write up on each song and a quiz which is what I opted for while for record fans there is a shorter 3 lp 47 track edition too.

I could easily criticize it for including a few songs that just were not UK hits like Blinded By The Light and Rocky Mountain Way as much as I like Bruce Springsteen and Joe Walsh plus for contractual reasons we don't have David Bowie's RCA era hits which include Drive-in Saturday and Sorrow plus missing out Gary Glitter who had two big number one singles and few others this year.M

We'll take a tour around this set.

Opening the first cd we have the iconic ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ from Elton John from the amazing double lp of the same name and followed by Paul McCartney & Wings’ Bond theme ‘Live And Let Die’ proof he's got past been seen as an ex-beatle but a serious solo artist, this epic beginning to this journey back to 1973 continues with a run of massive Glam-Rock infused hits from T. Rex, Mud and Alvin Stardust, and #1s from Suzi Quatro, Wizzard, 10cc, ‘Cum On Feel The Noize’ from Slade and Sweet with ‘Blockbuster’. 

Pop classics from Gilbert O’Sullivan with the #1 ‘Get Down’, and from Jackson 5, The Osmonds and the re-issued ‘The Laughing Gnome’ from David Bowie lead into some soulful vocalists including Aretha Franklin, Rod Stewart and Gladys Knight & The Pips to complete this first disc. 

Disc Two opens with an awe-inspiring run of legendary artists: John Lennon, Bob Dylan, and Paul Simon, plus the debut single from Bruce Springsteen with ‘Blinded By The Light’ and timeless signature releases from Billy Joel with ‘Piano Man’ another great non hit and ‘You’re So Vain’ from Carly Simon that got everybody wondering just who she meant.

Defining tracks from Ike & Tina Turner, Thin Lizzy and Stealers Wheel lead into Rock classics from Faces, Free, Electric Light Orchestra, Status Quo, Joe Walsh, Alice Cooper and Nazareth… and the disc closes with ‘Albatross’ from Fleetwood Mac – a #1 in 1969 and a #2 when re-released in 1973. 

A run of stunning ballads kicks off the third disc; Paul McCartney & Wings with ‘My Love’ which was to become a "standard", Roberta Flack with the peerless ‘Killing Me Softly With His Song’, and ‘Always On My Mind’ from Elvis Presley before Diana Ross with Touch Me In The  Morning ushers in an incredible line-up of Soul smashes including from, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes feat. Teddy Pendergrass, Billy Paul, Barry White, The Temptations, Michael Jackson and ‘Let’s Get It On’ from Marvin Gaye. 

In hindsight it is easy to forget just how much great soul music was on the chart from the Atlantic, Motown and Philadelphia International stables.

The final disc is all about more huge Pop smashes, opening with the era-defining ‘The Ballroom Blitz’ from Sweet, second inclusions for Suzi Quatro and Mud, plus Mott The Hoople, Roxy Music, Barry Blue and the debut hit from David Essex, ‘Rock On’. Donny Osmond’s #1 ‘Young Love’ and 1973’s biggest seller - Dawn feat. Tony Orlando’s ‘Tie A Yellow Ribbon...’ lead an Easy-Pop run including massive hits from Shirley Bassey, Perry Como, Olivia Newton-John, Eurovision singles; winner Anne-Marie David, Cliff Richard’s second contest entry, and #1s from Peters & Lee, plus ‘Eye Level’ - the theme to one of the year’s most popular TV shows by the Simon Park Orchestra. 

This Yearbook 1973 closes in magnificent style with two of the biggest and most loved Christmas classics of all time – Wizzard with ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ and ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ from Slade.

Back then Christmas hits were a thing and we loved those two.

In the main though when you look at all that it does deliver on those hits we did like, that take us back that year which is really the strength of this set as anthologies of this era back then were either the "soundalike" Hallmark Top of the Pops 12 track selections or ghastly sounding 22 or even 24 track K tel single lps with cut down songs and thin sound to get it all to fit.

I was bought the Top of the Pop's ones which at least sounded better on my portable stereo record player with built on AM radio which lived in my bedroom.

Strongly recommended.

As has become usual, there is a top up three cd set with 60 more hits from 1973 some of which did belong more as hits of the first set than what was included but, hey, there at least here covering everything from pop, soul, glam rock and even French crooners!

Disc: 1

1 Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me - Slade

2 Angel Fingers - Wizzard

3 Solid Gold Easy Action - T.Rex

4 Hell Raiser - Sweet

5 Daytona Demon - Suzi Quatro

6 Hypnosis - Mud

7 Do You Wanna Dance? - Barry Blue

8 All the Way from Memphis - Mott the Hoople

9 Pyjamarama - Roxy Music

10 Lamplight - David Essex

11 The Dean and I - 10cc

12 Why Oh Why Oh Why - Gilbert O'Sullivan

13 The Twelfth of Never - Donny Osmond

14 Daddy's Home - Jermaine Jackson

15 The Look of Love - Gladys Knight & The Pips

16 Break Up to Make Up - The Stylistics

17 Skywriter - The Jackson 5

18 I'm Doin' Fine Now - New York City

19 Ghetto Child - The Spinners

20 Why Can't We Live Together - Timmy Thomas

Disc: 2

1 Hi, Hi, Hi - Paul McCartney & Wings

2 Showdown - Electric Light Orchestra

3 Joybringer - Manfred Mann's Earth Band

4 Broken Down Angel - Nazareth

5 All Because of You - Geordie

6 Paper Plane - Status Quo

7 Frankenstein - The Edgar Winter Group

8 Hello Hooray - Alice Cooper

9 God Gave Rock 'N' Roll to You - Argent

10 The Free Electric Band - Albert Hammond

11 Ramblin' Man - The Allman Brothers Band

12 Pick Up the Pieces - Hudson-Ford

13 Loves Me Like a Rock - Paul Simon

14 Baby I Love You - Dave Edmunds

15 Hallelujah Day - The Jackson 5

16 Keep On Truckin' - Eddie Kendricks

17 Take Me Girl, I'm Ready - Jr. Walker & The All Stars

18 You're a Special Part of Me - Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye

19 Pillow Talk - Sylvia

20 Drift Away - Dobie Gray

Disc: 3

1 Daniel - Elton John

2 The Right Thing to Do - Carly Simon

3 Time in a Bottle - Jim Croce

4 Delta Dawn - Helen Reddy

5 Rocky Mountain High - John Denver

6 Dueling Banjos - Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandel

7 My Friend Stan - Slade

8 The Groover - T.Rex

9 Ball Park Incident - Wizzard

10 Honaloochie Boogie - Mott the Hoople

11 Randy - Blue Mink

12 Step Into a Dream - White Plains

13 Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose - Dawn

14 Pinball Wizard/See Me Feel Me - The New Seekers

15 Avenues and Alleyways - Tony Christie

16 I've Been Hurt - Guy Darrell

17 Spanish Eyes - Al Martino

18 Fool - Elvis Presley

19 The Old Fashioned Way (Les Plaisirs Démodés) - Charles Aznavour

20 Monster Mash - Bobby 'Boris' Pickett & The Crypt Kickers

Those were the hits I recall and it's nice to hear them all again.

Now That's What I Call USA: 80's

We did mention on here a few months back Now 80's Alternative, a themed compilation those extremely busy Now people put out whose more condensed version on two lps was more usable and they've done something similar here with a set themed around 80's American hits.

Issued on August 11th this takes a broad stab at the American charts in the 80's and in the early to mid 80's I did follow them, something that did show up in the individual albums I bought then and actually last Monday Dad did find an old school exercise book with chart information and clippings from publications.

The set is not perfect, for instance we really don't need Duran Duran's The Reflex (remix) even though this was a US no.1 as it was too in the UK and has a place in Now 3 where something like Talk Talk's It's My Life or Def Leppard's Photograph big US hits that did little in the UK do fit better.

Syncronicity II also would of been a better choice than Every Breath You take being a big hit over there for a Police track but over all it does work adding often missed off tracks by Corey Hart. Bruce Springsteen, Belinda Carlisle and The Fixx that I loved.

For reasons best know to themselves each disc has a seperate colour -blue, white and red- and isn't a gatefold but I'd forgive that given the low budget folded card cover of the four cd version as this looks more something you'd be proud to own.

LP 1

Side A

Bruce Springsteen – Hungry Heart

John Mellencamp – Jack & Diane

The Police – Every Breath You Take

Pat Benatar – Love Is A Battlefield

Kim Carnes – Bette Davis Eyes

Daryl Hall & John Oates – You Make My Dreams (Come True)

Rick Springfield – Jessie’s Girl

REO Speedwagon – Keep On Loving You

Side B

Diana Ross – Upside Down

Lipps Inc. – Funkytown

Company B - Fascinated

Michael Sembello – Maniac

Aretha Franklin – Freeway Of Love

The S.O.S Band – Take Your Time (Do It Right)

Ray Parker Jr. – Ghostbusters

LP 2

Side A

Steve Miller Band – Abracadabra

Yes - Owner Of A Lonely Heart

Duran Duran - The Reflex

A Flock Of Seagulls – I Ran (So Far Away)

Corey Hart – Sunglasses At Night

Peter Schilling – Major Tom (Coming Home)

Nena – 99 Luftballons

Side B

Kenny Loggins – Danger Zone (From “Top Gun” Original Soundtrack)

Christopher Cross - Ride Like The Wind

The J. Geils Band – Centerfold

Night Ranger – Sister Christian

Journey – Open Arms

Richard Marx – Endless Summer Nights

Foreigner - Waiting For A Girl Like You

LP 3

Side A

Blondie – Call Me (Theme From “American Gigolo”)

R.E.M. – Stand

The Fixx – One Thing Leads To Another

Pretenders - Show Me

Belinda Carlisle – Mad About You

The Bangles – Walk Like An Egyptian

Culture Club – I’ll Tumble 4 Ya

Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat

Side B

Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson – Say Say Say

Olivia Newton-John – Physical

Tina Turner - What’s Love Got to Do With It

Juice Newton – Angel Of The Morning

Whitney Houston – You Give Good Love

Jennifer Holliday – And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going

Neil Diamond – America (From “The Jazz Singer” Soundtrack)

This set can be filed next to that other 80's set filling by theme some missing material given I didn't get and had in any event limited use for the 1983-86 volumes of the Now Yearbook series.

Now yearbooks 1978

In September of last year this epic series of cd sets took a leap into the nineteen seventies with the 1979 edition and corresponding (on cd) Extras set which was welcome as comprehensive Year based sets covering the 70's tend to be the exception and it was noted sales were high for it.

1978 is a year that some of us remember well from the soccer World Cup in Argentina, Israel winning Eurovision and on the radio and big screen the year being dominated by Saturday Night Fever and Grease as we got older and more aware of things happening in the UK and abroad.

It was a very diverse music scene not least on the singles charts which was something I loved back then as now so we're taking a trip through the contents.

Opening disc 1 we start with ‘Mr. Blue Sky’ from Electric Light Orchestra, the timeless ‘Baker Street’ from Gerry Rafferty, and Rod Stewart’s chart topping ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?’

 More chart toppers follow from ABBA with ‘Take A Chance On Me’ and 1978’s biggest selling single, ‘Rivers Of Babylon’ from Boney M. Pop-Reggae chart-toppers from 10cc and Althea and Donna are up next, before a run of dancefloor fillers including ‘I’m Every Woman’ from Chaka Khan, and Donna Summer’s incredible version of ‘Macarthur Park’, before a couple of Soul ballads from Rose Royce and 'Three Times A Lady’ from Commodores. The first disc draws to a close with a stack of Pop classics from Marshall Hain, Clout, Bonnie Tyler and Suzi Quatro and Wings with a personal favourite 'With A Little Luck'  before the peerless ‘The Man With The Child In His Eyes’ from Kate Bush.

The second disc pays tribute to the incredible line-up of artists in the charts of 1978 with their roots in Punk and the burgeoning New Wave movement, kicking off here with the stunning no.1 ‘Rat Trap’ from Ireland's The Boomtown Rats, the era-defining ‘Teenage Kicks’ from The Undertones, ‘Ever Fallen In Love…’ from Buzzcocks, and ‘Hanging On The Telephone’ from Blondie, alongside classic singles from Siouxsie And The Banshees, The Rezillos, The Clash, The Jam, Elvis Costello and The Attractions, and Ian Dury and The Blockheads plus America's Patti Smith and The Cars score huge hits. 

The remainder of Disc 2 features some of the year’s biggest Pop-Rock songs including hits from Billy Joel, The Who  with 'Who Are You?', Elton John, and Justin Hayward’s ‘Forever Autumn’ from the hugely successful Sci-Fi ‘Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version Of The War Of The Worlds’ album.

The third disc centres on disco in 1978 which was huge. A stunning run of disco gold, led by the sophisticated groove of ‘Le Freak’ from Chic, alongside ‘Boogie Oogie Oogie’, ‘Instant Replay’, ‘Let’s All Chant’ and ‘More Than A Woman’ by Tavares from the soundtrack of ‘Saturday Night Fever’. 

European created pop/disco from Baccara, Sheila and B Devotion, The Three Degrees, Eruption, and Voyage are included before a group of floor-fillers paying tribute to the sci-fi craze of the time: ‘I Lost My Heart To A Starship Trooper’, ‘Galaxy Of Love’, and ‘Automatic Lover’. More disco related hits from Hot Chocolate and Earth, Wind and Fire feature, before the disc closes with two of the year’s most beautiful ballads from Heatwave and the timeless ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’ from Rose Royce.

Disc four closing this set is all about the pop smashes of the year – opening with ‘Denis’ the chart breakthrough remake of the Randy and The Rainbows 1964 hit from Blondie, and two huge hits from the soundtrack to ‘Grease’ from Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. 

Darts paid tribute to 50s doo-wop, and Bill Withers and John Paul Young produced two of the most uplifting songs ever (‘Lovely Day’ and ‘Love Is In The Air’). They are followed by unique hits from Renaissance, Scott Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley, and Barry Manilow.

 Pop gems from Dollar, Andrew Gold, Boney M., a chart topper from Brotherhood Of Man, and the year’s UK Eurovision entry from Co-co follow, before a sublime run of Easy Listening Pop including ‘Lucky Stars’ from Dean Friedman, The Manhattan Transfer, Crystal Gayle, David Soul and Elkie Brooks. 

This rather topping collection closes with ‘Oh What A Circus’ a massive hit for David Essex, Brian and Michael’s no.1 ‘Matchstalk Men And Matchstalk Cats And Dogs’ before signing off with 1978’s no.2 peaking single – Father Abraham with the ‘Smurf Song’.

Part of that diversity came from having a wide age range of buyers from younger children who 'got' The Smurfs to older and more nostalgic adults who like the image of Matchstick Men and Clogs in a year that saw some of the highest ever sales figures while New Wave freshened up the charts with new and often highly talented artists.

June 9th sees the Extra volume to the main Yearbook issued in its card wrap around three disc form adding some 66 additional songs to this years collection.

The first disc kicks off with Queen’s classic ‘Bicycle Race from their Jazz album’ followed by New Wave hits from The Boomtown Rats with ‘Like Clockwork’, and Blondie with the first single from ‘Parallel Lines’, ‘Picture This’. 

We then move into massive chart hits from Electric Light Orchestra and Smokie lead into Rock’n’roll revival Pop from Darts, Showaddywaddy and John Travolta with ‘Greased Lightnin’’ (from the year’s biggest movie ‘Grease’) before encountering beautiful ballads from Crystal Gayle, Anne Murray and Hot Chocolate before closing the disc with a fantastic run of Soul including hits from Raydio, Third World and The O’Jays, and some fabulous European Disco from Amanda Lear, Voyage, Patrick Juvet and Boney M.

 We move to U.S. Disco gold from Cheryl Lynn and Musique before Donna Summer’s Academy Award winning ‘Last Dance’ ends the disc.

Disc two opens with Meat Loaf’s ‘Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad’ from ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ and is joined by timeless ballads from Billy Joel, Dean Friedman and Chris Rea, along with pure Pop from Lindisfarne and David Soul, plus a one-off non-album single ‘Ego’ from Elton John.

Rock from Status Quo and the epic ‘The Eve Of The War’ from Jeff Wayne & Justin Hayward leads into an amazing selection of Punk and New Wave including hits from The Clash, The Jam, Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Sham 69, Squeeze and Public Image Limited before the disc finishes with one-off’s from Yellow Dog, and Streetband with ‘Toast’ giving singer Paul Young his first hit.

Finally we come to disc three with more Pop gems from Blondie, Andrew Gold, Samantha Sang – with ‘Emotion’ – written by Barry and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees, and the duet ‘Stumblin’ In’ between Chris Norman and Suzi Quatro – a Top 5 single in the US, Germany, Australia and Canada. 

Sophisticated Disco hits from Earth, Wind & Fire, Donna Summer and Evelyn “Champagne” King feature alongside 1978 Eurovision competitors Baccara and winner Izhar Cohen & Alpha Beta. 

We are then treated to sublime Easy-listening Pop hits from Barry Manilow, Elkie Brooks and Johnny Mathis duet with Deniece Williams follow, before more retro inspired Pop from Leo Sayer, Child and second appearances for Darts and Showaddywaddy. 

We sign off 1978’s ‘extra’ with the second Top 20 hit from Father Abraham (and The Smurfs),that unforgettable ‘A Taste Of Aggro’ by The Barron Knights  – a million seller which parodied three of 1978’s biggest singles and finally the last track was fittingly the last  number 1 of the year, and Christmas chart topper – ‘Mary’s Boy Child / Oh My Lord’ from Boney M.

1978 was one of pops most fantastic years and this yearbook set in two parts is a testament to it.

Now Yearbook 1980

Phew what a hot week so far.

It just seems like ages ago but just two weeks ago we got the Extra set of the 1981 volume and this Friday we have a whole new volume that's going backwards.

It isn't the first time 1980 was compiled into a NOW compilation as when in 1993 NOW was marking its twentieth year they launched a series of two cd compilations of which the 1980 one was one of four (the thers being 1981 through to three) I bought because at the time there wasn't anything quite like it on cd.

Even in 1980 as far as I can recall being in my mid teens there wasn't a Chart Hits or Super Hits of 1980 issued by K Tel or Ronco.

1980 was a year that in terms of music styles was very broad which I felt was a good thing because I like a wide variety of music and don't appreciate things being too samey.

Going to a four cd (and there's bound to be an Extra issued soon) lets that diversity out compared to NOW 1980 although technically I think the mastering on the earlier set keeps more of the difference in volumes in.

The version of this release I bought was in a book form with short factual pieces about each track including chart position and small reproductions of the singles artwork with pockets for each disc although they were unlined so I put the discs in small cd inner sleeves to prevent scuffs and scratches.

Soul and Disco music which was still big in the UK is well represented with Upside Down,Behind The Groove, On The Radio, Funky Town and the classic smoochers With You I'm Born Again and One Day I'll Fly Away.

The emerging synthesizer sounds that were to become more more prevailent the next year rightly are included here such as Gary Numan's I Die You Die which wasn't included on lp versions of his Telekon album, Elona Gay by the at times magnificient OMD, Sleepwalk by Ultravox, Spandau Bellet's Too Cut A Long Story Short which did come out on cassette single, Living By Numbers by New Music and Echo Beach.

Rock was well represented by Ace Of Spades by Motorhead to which I did have the ten inch single of, Rainbow's All Night Long who's objectifying lyrics were criticized in the NME which I still own on 45, Going Underground by the Jam, the Quo's What You're Proposin', London Calling, Emotional Rescue by a fully functioning Rolling Stones and Another One Bites The Dust by Queen mixing funk with rock.

Pure Pop as I'd call it is well represent with Abba's The Winner Takes It All, Jona Lewie's Stop The Cavalry, the brilliant Atomic by Blondie and So Good To Be back Home Again by the Tourists who became the Eurythmics later on.

Ska and Reggae befitting the whole explosion around the Two Tone scene is represented by the more pop like Don't Stand So Close To Me, Too Much Too Young by the Selecter, Baggy Trousers, one schoolchildren can easily relate to, by Madness and Food For Thought by Birminghams UB40.

On Sept 2nd, the Extra top up set arrived offering an additional sixty six tracks from the likes of Kate Bush, Cliff Richard, Roxy Music, the Undertones and John Foxx with his unforgettable Underpass plus many soul and funk gems.

With that we'll see what the next Yearbook shall be!

These sets are just great "timepieces" that take us back to they were doing for some of us the exam taking Fifth Form and the Lower Sixth and are well worth getting.