Day 21, and Now! #21 was released on 13th April 1992.
Let’s have a listen to the stuff that soundtracked those ungodly-long-to-a-seven-year-old three-hour car journeys to the caravan!
Track 1: Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
Absolute classic, the ultimate in epic atmospheres. A welcome return to the charts made it the Christmas number one for 1991. Beautiful piece of work.
Track 2: Wet Wet Wet – Goodnight Girl
Wet Wet Wet definitely into their slower, more introspective ’90s phase. Some lovely vocals here.
Track 3: Shakespear’s Sister – Stay
Beautiful, classic song, with both vocalists used to brilliant effect. Absolutely adore this one.
Track 4: The Temptations – My Girl
There seems to have been a bit of a trend in the early ’90s for ’60s classics coming back into the charts, though I think this example probably had something to do with the My Girl film. Lovely track, anyway.
Track 5: Simply Red – Stars
Nice instrumentals, but the vocals and tune on this one annoy me.
Track 6: The KLF – Justified And Ancient
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Bit of a messy track, with too much going on. Not keen on the tune to the vocals either.
Track 7: Madness – It Must Be Love
Re-release of Madness’ awesome 1981 cover of the Labi Siffre song. Great to have this song and its fabulous sax solo back in the mix!
Track 8: Genesis – I Can’t Dance
Great rock-edged head-nodder from Genesis. Love that singalong chorus, not to mention the classic shuffle in the video!
Track 9: Julia Fordham – (Love Moves In) Mysterious Ways
Nice piano instrumentals, but it’s too much of a slow, dull ballad otherwise.
Track 10: Crowded House – Weather With You
I’ve always liked the atmosphere of the verses on this – lovely guitar and vocals.
Track 11: Right Said Fred – Deeply Dippy
Typically daft track from Right Said Fred – nice tune on the bridge though.
Track 12: Mr Big – To Be With You
Argh, annoying vocals from the start, and that chant-along chorus only makes it worse! Never been a fan of this one – too cheesy for me.
Track 13: Everything But The Girl – Love Is Strange
Everything But The Girl are a bit hit and miss for me. This one’s too slow and too repetitive as far as I’m concerned.
Track 14: Roxette – Church Of Your Heart
Solid pop-rock as ever from Roxette – nice tune, good head-nodder.
Track 15: Brian May – Driven By You
Nice upbeat rock track, suitably epic lines going on. Really like this one.
Track 16: The Wonder Stuff – Welcome To The Cheap Seats
I actually had this one in my head earlier today because the interview I was transcribing for work contained the phrase ‘we’re in the cheap seats’.
Anyway, the song is an absolute belter and one of my favourite Wonder Stuff tracks. Stunning folk-rock instrumentals, singalong chorus, and bonus backing vocals from Kirsty MacColl. Beautiful.
Track 17: The Jesus & Mary Chain – Far Gone And Out
Great upbeat rock track – Jesus & Mary Chain are another band that nailed that ’90s sound early on.
Track 18: James – Born Of Frustration
Love this tune and the way it builds – that trumpet hook is truly epic!
Track 19: The Cure – High
Lovely, sweet track from the Cure – gorgeous tune.
Track 20: Shanice – I Love Your Smile
The vocal hook on this one has always annoyed me, and that rap is awful and misplaced. It gets one point for the sax solo, though.
Track 21: The Pasadenas – I’m Doing Fine Now
Pleasant, inoffensive cover of the ’70s classic. A little dull for my tastes, though.
Track 22: Kylie Minogue – Give Me Just A Little More Time
Another generic cover of a ’70s track. Not a fan of this trend.
Track 23: East Side Beat – Ride Like The Wind
Nice atmosphere, good upbeat dance track.
Track 24: 2 Unlimited – Twilight Zone
Typically epic dance from 2 Unlimited – great track.
Track 25: The KLF and The Children Of The Revolution – America: What Time Is Love?
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
An annoying doubling-up-the-artist faux pas from the Now! compilers – we’ve not had one of those for a while!
Unfortunately, this track is just as messy as the earlier one in my book – some nice samples, but they get drowned out by the cacophony.
Track 26: Clivilles & Cole – A Deeper Love
This one’s a bit generic – the piano instrumentals and vocals sound like pretty much every song that was released around this time.
Track 27: Opus III – It’s A Fine Day
Really like the vocal melody on this one.
Track 28: Erasure – Breath Of Life
Another perfect piece of synthpop from Erasure – those synth lines are to die for.
Track 29: MC Hammer – Addams Groove
Daft novelty track to tie in with the Addams Family film. Still better than most of the stuff MC Hammer did.
Track 30: Salt-N-Pepa – Expression
Not enough in the track to keep my interest here – pretty much Salt-N-Pepa-by-numbers. I do quite like the line ‘excuse us while we rap’, though.
Track 31: CeCe Peniston – We Got A Love Thang
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Annoying vocals, generic tune. Not a fan.
Track 32: Paula Abdul – Vibeology
Like the instrumentals, but the song structure is a bit messy. Also, that I-can-only-imagine-it’s-a-pregnancy-reference ‘in the funky way’ hook is insanely annoying.
Track 33: Alison Limerick – Make It On My Own
Not enough melody for me here – this one’s pretty dull.
Track 34: Tina Turner – Way Of The World
As is typical with most Tina Turner songs of this era, this one’s a bit slow and dull for me. Nice sax solo though.
Track 35: Curtis Stigers – I Wonder Why
Mega sax intro, but it can’t save this boring, saccharine ballad. Not for me.
Track 36: Diana Ross – When You Tell Me That You Love Me
And we’re back to an overblown, slow ballad to close the compilation. Nice tune, but it’s just too cheesy for me.