NOW That’s What I Call 40 Years – Part 2
NOW continue their birthday celebrations
Back in November last year, NOW That’s What I Call Music marked its 40th anniversary with a series of releases including 100-track a 5CD set and various 3CD ‘era’ summaries and triple vinyl packages. In true NOW fashion, the celebrations continue next month with a NOW That’s What I Call 40 Years – Part 2 another 5CD set delivering “100 more essential hits” and a companion 43-track triple-vinyl set pressed on green, clear and pink vinyl.
The first CD kicks off at NOW ‘year zero’ and that’s 1983 with Duran Duran’s ‘Is There Something I Should Know?’ and ‘Temptation’ by Heaven 17 (both featured on NOW 1). Thereafter we move through the early 80s with hits such as ‘Here Comes The Rain Again’ by Eurythmics, synth-pop smashes from Howard Jones with ‘What Is Love?’ and ‘Smalltown Boy’ by Bronski Beat and ‘Two Tribes’ by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, which spent nine weeks at number one in 1984 (all on NOW 2 & 3) Other songs on this disc are from artists such as Kim Wilde, Bananarama, Simply Red, Fine Young Cannibals and Simple Minds.
CD 2 spans 1989 to 1994 and includes Neneh Cherry’s ‘Buffalo Stance’, Seal’s ‘Crazy’, Oleta Adams’ ‘Get Here’, Lenny Kravitz’s ‘Are You Gonna Go My Way’, Roxette’s Joyride, ‘Dreams’ from Gabrielle, and Pet Shop Boys’ cover of ‘Go West’.
Disc 3 spans seven years (1995-2002) in just 20 tracks, with a surprisingly low ‘rock’ quotient for the era (Oasis, Radiohead are the main exceptions) and instead focuses on pop with contributions from the likes of Boyzone, Spice Girls and Gina G, Kylie, Robbie, S Club, Westlife, Sugababes and Blue!
The penultimate disc extends its reach to 10 years (2003-2013) and features Elton John, Britney Spears, Snow Patrol, Amy Winehouse a reformed Take That along with Girls Aloud, Maroon 5, One Direction & Christina Aguilera.
The final disc in the collection focuses on the last decade. Its appeal will depend entirely on how much you’ve been ‘keeping up’ with modern pop (or even if you have, whether you think it’s any good!). It includes Lana Del Rey, OneRepublic, Sam Smith, Justin Bieber, Little Mix, Ariana Grande, Dua Lipa, Lewis Capaldi, Ed Sheeran and George Ezra.
As with the previous 5CD set, it’s packaged in a card sleeve, not the hardcover book of the deluxe Yearbooks. The 3LP coloured vinyl looks pretty cool and distills 100 tracks down to 43.
NOW That’s What I Call 40 Years – Part 2 is released on 12 July 2024.
Compare prices and pre-order
Various Artists
NOW 40 Years Part 2 - 5CD set
|
|
Compare prices and pre-order
Various Artists
NOW 40 Years Part 2 - 3LP coloured vinyl
|
|
Tracklisting
NOW 40 Years – Part 2 Various Artists /
-
-
CD 1
- Duran Duran – Is There Something I Should Know? (NOW 1, 1983)
- Heaven 17 – Temptation (NOW 1, 1983)
- Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart – Here Comes the Rain Again (NOW 2, 1984)
- Thompson Twins – Hold Me Now (NOW 2, 1984)
- Howard Jones – What Is Love? (NOW 2, 1984)
- Bronski Beat – Smalltown Boy (NOW 3, 1984)
- Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Two Tribes (NOW 3, 1984)
- Culture Club – The War Song (NOW 4, 1984)
- Paul Young – Every Time You Go Away (NOW 5, 1985)
- Marillion – Kayleigh (NOW 5, 1985)
- UB40 & Chrissie Hynde – I Got You Babe (NOW 6, 1985)
- Simply Red – Holding Back the Years (NOW 7, 1986)
- Level 42 – Lessons In Love (NOW 7, 1986)
- Kim Wilde – You Keep Me Hangin On (NOW 8, 1986)
- Bananarama – Love In The First Degree (NOW 10, 1987)
- Hazell Dean – Who’s Leaving Who (NOW 12, 1988)
- Inner City – Big Fun (NOW 13, 1988)
- Fine Young Cannibals – She Drives Me Crazy (NOW 14, 1989)
- Simple Minds – Belfast Child (NOW 14, 1989)
-
CD 2
- Neneh Cherry – Buffalo Stance (NOW 14, 1989)
- Tina Turner – The Best (NOW 16, 1989)
- Belinda Carlisle – Leave A Light On (NOW 16, 1989)
- Lonnie Gordon – Happenin’ All Over Again (Hip House Radio Mix) (NOW 17, 1990)
- C+C Music Factory – Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now) (NOW 19, 1991)
- Seal – Crazy (NOW 19, 1991)
- Oleta Adams – Get Here (NOW 19, 1991)
- Roxette – Joyride (NOW 20, 1991)
- Wet Wet Wet – Goodnight Girl (NOW 21, 1992)
- The Cure – Friday I’m In Love (NOW 22, 1992)
- Lenny Kravitz – Are You Gonna Go My Way (NOW 24, 1993)
- 4 Non Blondes – What’s Up? (NOW 25, 1993)
- Ace of Base – All That She Wants (NOW 25, 1993)
- Gabrielle – Dreams (NOW 25, 1993)
- Dina Carroll – Don’t Be A Stranger (NOW 26, 1993)
- Pet Shop Boys – Go West (NOW 26, 1993)
- M People – One Night In Heaven (NOW 26, 1993)
- Pato Banton – Baby Come Back (NOW 29, 1994)
- Sparks – When Do I Get To Sing “My Way” (NOW 29, 1994)
-
CD 3
- Boyzone – Love Me For A Reason (NOW 30, 1995)
- The Boo Radleys – Wake Up Boo! (NOW 30, 1995)
- Oasis – Wonderwall (NOW 34, 1996)
- Underworld – Born Slippy (Nuxx) (NOW 34, 1996)
- Gina G – Ooh Aah… Just A Little Bit (NOW 34, 1996)
- Spice Girls – Say You’ll Be There (NOW 35, 1996)
- Faithless – Insomnia (NOW 35, 1996)
- Radiohead – Paranoid Android (NOW 37, 1997)
- RUN DMC vs. Jason Nevins – It’s Like That (NOW 39, 1998)
- Shania Twain – That Don’t Impress Me Much (NOW 44, 1999)
- Texas – Summer Son (NOW 44, 1999)
- S Club – Reach (NOW 46, 2000)
- Kylie Minogue – Spinning Around (NOW 46, 2000)
- All Saints – Pure Shores (NOW 47, 2000)
- Robbie Williams – Rock DJ (NOW 47, 2000)
- Bon Jovi – It’s My Life (NOW 47, 2000)
- Westlife – Uptown Girl (NOW 50, 2001)
- Busted – What I Go To School For (NOW 53, 2002)
- Sugababes – Round Round (NOW 53, 2002)
- Blue – One Love (NOW 53, 2002)
-
CD 4
- Elton John – Are You Ready For Love? (NOW 56, 2003)
- Britney Spears – Toxic (NOW 57, 2004)
- The Shapeshifters – Lola’s Theme (NOW 58, 2004)
- Snow Patrol – Run (NOW 58, 2004)
- McFly – All About You (NOW 60, 2005)
- Kaiser Chiefs – I Predict A Riot (NOW 62, 2005)
- Kelly Clarkson – Because Of You (NOW 63, 2006)
- Amy Winehouse – Rehab (NOW 65, 2006)
- Take That – Patience (NOW 66, 2007)
- Duffy – Warwick Avenue (NOW 70, 2008)
- Girls Aloud – The Promise (NOW 71, 2008)
- Katy Perry – Hot N Cold (NOW 71, 2008)
- JLS – Beat Again (NOW 74, 2009)
- Tinie Tempah – Pass Out (NOW 75, 2010)
- Ellie Goulding – Your Song (NOW 78, 2011)
- Lady Gaga – Born This Way (NOW 79, 2011)
- Maroon 5 & Christina Aguilera – Moves Like Jagger (NOW 80, 2011)
- Olly Murs feat. Rizzle Kicks – Heart Skips A Beat (NOW 80, 2011)
- LMFAO – Sexy And I Know It (NOW 81, 2012)
- One Direction – One Way Or Another (Teenage Kicks) (NOW 84, 2013)
- P!nk feat. Nate Ruess – Just Give Me A Reason (NOW 84, 2013)
-
CD 5
- Lana Del Rey & Cedric Gervais – Summertime Sadness (Cedric Gervais Remix) (NOW 86, 2013)
- OneRepublic – Counting Stars (NOW 86, 2013)
- Coldplay – A Sky Full Of Stars (NOW 88, 2014)
- Sam Smith – Stay With Me (NOW 88, 2014)
- Carly Rae Jepsen – I Really Like You (NOW 91, 2015)
- Justin Bieber – Sorry (NOW 93, 2016)
- Justin Timberlake – CAN’T STOP THE FEELING! (from DreamWorks Animation’s “TROLLS”) (NOW 94, 2016)
- Little Mix – Shout Out To My Ex (NOW 95, 2016)
- Ariana Grande – One Last Time (NOW 97, 2017)
- George Ezra – Paradise (NOW 99, 2018)
- Shawn Mendes – In My Blood (NOW 100, 2018)
- Mark Ronson feat. Miley Cyrus – Nothing Breaks Like A Heart (NOW 102, 2019)
- Lizzo – Good As Hell (NOW 104, 2019)
- Dua Lipa – Don’t Start Now (NOW 105, 2020)
- The Weeknd – Save Your Tears (NOW 108, 2021)
- Lil Nas X – That’s What I Want (NOW 110, 2021)
- Ed Sheeran – Bad Habits (NOW 110, 2021)
- David Guetta, Becky Hill, Ella Henderson – Crazy What Love Can Do (NOW 112, 2022)
- Lewis Capaldi – Forget Me (NOW 113, 2022)
- Doja Cat – Paint The Town Red (NOW 116, 2023)
- Olivia Rodrigo – vampire (NOW 116, 2023)
-
CD 1
By Paul Sinclair
11