Now That’s What I Call Music 8 to be reissued as a two-CD set

1986 ‘various artists’ compilation Now That’s What I Call Music 8 will be issued as a two-CD set for the first time later this month.

Issued in November 1986, just three months after number seven, Now 8 was a massive seller, going quadruple platinum in the UK and reaching number one in the charts. They actually all reached number one (except for Now 4) until the rules were changed to exclude compilations from the ‘main’ album chart (Now 13 was the last chart-topper, fact fans).

Now 8 contained “32 top chart hits” (a 17-track CD was also released) and is a decent compilation, starting particularly strongly with Duran Duran‘s transatlantic top ten hit ‘Notorious’ and the remix of Pet Shop Boys ‘Suburbia’ –  the fourth, and final single from ‘Please’.

Other popular hits of the day include Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush‘s ‘Don’t Give Up’ (Gabriel’s second consecutive appearance on a ‘Now’), Run DMC‘s ‘Walk This Way’, the Communards‘ ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’, Swing Out Sister‘s ‘Breakout’, Steve Winwood‘s ‘Higher Love’, Cameo‘s ‘Word Up’, The Cutting Crew‘s ‘(I Just) Died In Your Arms’ and Robert Palmer‘s ‘I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On’.

I’d argue that this set is the last compilation in the series that still feels (more or less) like classic, high-quality, diverse ‘Eighties’ pop music. Subsequent sets still have their moments, of course, but as dance music (Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley, M/A/R/R/S etc.) and Stock-Aitken-Waterman productions creep in, the tone shifts and perhaps some ‘magic’ is lost.

There’s no confirmation, yet, as to how faithful the reissue will be to the original 32-track collection (the lack of attention to detail around mixes and random omissions has been well documented) but if ‘they’ are going to have licensing issues, then let’s hope we lose Nick Berry this time (with his Eastenders-promoted) ‘Every Loser Wins’, rather than, say, David Bowie!

Now That’s What I Call Music 8 will be reissued as a two-CD set on 26 March 2021.

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Various Artists

Now 8 / Various

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Original track listing. Reissue not confirmed.

1. Notorious
   Duran Duran
2. Suburbia
   Pet Shop Boys
3. Walk This Way
   Run DMC
4. Don’t Leave Me This Way
   The Communards
5. Breakout
   Swing Out Sister
6. Higher Love
   Steve Winwood
7. (Forever) Live And Die
   Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
8. In Too Deep
   Genesis
9. Word Up
   Cameo
10. I’m Not Perfect (But I’m Perfect For You)
    Grace Jones
11. Showing Out (Get Fresh At The Weekend)
    Mel & Kim
12. We Don’t Have To Take Our Clothes Off
    Jermaine Stewart
13. Step Right Up
    Jaki Graham
14. What Have You Done For Me Lately
    Janet Jackson
15. Human
    The Human League
16. I Wanna Wake Up With You
    Boris Gardiner
17. Don’t Give Up
    Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush
18. Think For A Minute
    The Housemartins
19. (Waiting For The) Ghost Train
    Madness
20. In The Army Now
    Status Quo
21. Stuck With You
    Huey Lewis & The News
22. One Great Thing
    Big Country
23. Greetings To The New Brunette
    Billy Bragg
24. (I Just) Died In Your Arms
    Cutting Crew
25. You Keep Me Hanging On
    Kim Wilde
26. Calling All The Heroes
    It Bites
27. Waterloo
    Doctor & The Medics
28. French Kissin’ In The USA
    Deborah Harry
29. I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On
    Robert Palmer
30. The Wizard
    Paul Hardcastle
31. (They Long To Be) Close To You
    Gwen Guthrie
32. Every Loser Wins
    Nick Berry