To my great surprise I found myself sunbathing at the beach this weekend (in the north-east of England! in April!), hence this week’s music videos are all beach-themed as I dream of the summer ahead and the summers from thirty-odd years ago.
10. Belinda Carlisle – Circle In The Sand
A nice near-literal video for this pretty 1988 track – there’s a lot of sand but not a lot of circles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS2Fs2nGOl0
9. Don Henley – The Boys Of Summer
It was perhaps inevitable that the ultimate ’80s summer anthem would have a beach scene in the video. The black and white film makes it a bit gloomy, but that’s consistent with the pessimistic feel of the song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWT90HzLF3U
8. Boy Meets Girl – Waiting For A Star To Fall
The video for this late ’80s cheesefest starts off with a suitably cheesy beach running scene. Love that epic sax solo!
7. Fleetwood Mac – Big Love
This is a more familiar sight for a British beach! Fleetwood Mac huddle in coats and scarves on a night-time beach in one of the many sequences of this brilliant video.
6. Blondie – Call Me
Bit of a seasonally-confused video here, as the beach shots of Debbie Harry are interspersed with her in a coat looking cold in New York City. Maybe she goes on holiday somewhere for the beach scenes.
5. Erasure – Ship Of Fools
The beach in this video is all made up of rocks and shells and therefore not at all suitable for sunbathing, although Andy Bell gives it a good go.
4. Wham! – Club Tropicana
Most of this ultimate summer holiday video is poolside, but George Michael does take a brief trip to the beach halfway through. It looks a bit overcast, though, so I don’t blame him for heading back to the pool.
3. The Bangles – Eternal Flame
A nice sunset beach scene here among the floaty images of Susanna Hoffs and co singing along to the song.
2. Duran Duran – Rio
Duran Duran made pretty much all of their videos on beaches during the jetsetting Rio era, but this one for the album’s title track is the most colourful and fun. The yacht scenes are the most iconic, but the beach scenes are blue-skied and beautiful and make me want to book a holiday.
1. Elton John – I’m Still Standing
I love everything about this ridiculous Cannes romp, from the ostentatious outdoor piano to Elton’s comedy glasses to the pre-Strictly Bruno Tonioli dancing his way through Cannes in a succession of ’80s leotards. The best bit, though, is when Elton lines up the dancers on the beach and pushes them over in a chain of human dominoes.
It’s starting to grey over here in Newcastle, so I suspect I won’t be taking any more trips to the beach for a couple of months now. I’ll have to make do with ’80s videos in the meantime!
Day 54, and Now! #54, which was released on 14th April 2003.
This is how the world looked in April 2003. No pictures of people this month, so you can have some nice scenery courtesy of one of Mum and Dad’s weekend trips away.
I don’t want to jinx things, but I’ve got a vague memory that this was the year when chart music started to improve a bit and became more rock-oriented.
Track 1: t.A.T.u – All The Things She Said
Loved it at the time and bought the single. It’s still a great tune, but there are obvious issues with the creepy male-gaze manufacturing of a couple of faux-lesbian Russian schoolgirls. I remember the Top of the Pops performance – the BBC refused to show a same-sex kiss on stage at 7pm and cut to an opposite-sex couple kissing in the crowd instead. We’ve come a long way since the early ’00s.
Track 2: Justin Timberlake – Like I Love You
I like the stop-start guitar at the beginning, but the tune to the vocals annoys me.
Track 3: Nelly and Kelly Rowland – Dilemma
One of my first-year uni flatmates was obsessed with this song and played it over and over. As such, I’m amazed I still quite like it.
Track 4: Richard X and Liberty X – Being Nobody
Dodgy pointless cover of Chaka Khan’s Ain’t Nobody with an irritating ’00s backing track. I strongly advise listening to the original instead.
Track 5: Room 5 and Oliver Cheatham – Make Luv
Classic dance track, good head-nodder, though it’s a little repetitive.
Track 6: Junior Senior – Move Your Feet
I’ve always found the chorus on this one highly irritating, but the song reminds me of my friend Sarah (who loved it at the time) so it’s not all bad.
Track 7: Girls Aloud – Sound Of The Underground
Still really like this one – great atmosphere, classic pop track.
Track 8: Busted – Year 3000
Yup, it’s awful (although the sanitised Jonas Brothers cover was even more awful). I remember the looks of horror on everyone’s faces when the DJ decided it would be a good idea to play this in Studio 24 (Edinburgh’s biggest rock club at the time). It only happened once, probably due to complaints.
Track 9: Melanie C – Here It Comes Again
The tune’s a bit bland, but I like the instrumentals.
Track 10: Sinéad Quinn – I Can’t Break Down
Great Spanish guitar, great atmosphere. Quite like this one.
Track 11: Darius – Rushes
Irritating vocals, but the tune on the chorus is okay.
Track 12: Appleton – Don’t Worry
Slow, dull acoustic-y ballad with an annoying tune. Not keen.
Track 13: Atomic Kitten – Love Doesn’t Have To Hurt
Cheesy, generic song. Not a fan of this one.
Track 14: Blue – U Make Me Wanna
Great atmosphere, great instrumentals, but the vocals are pretty irritating.
Track 15: Jay-Z and Beyoncé – ’03 Bonnie And Clyde
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Love the guitar on this track – awesome theme, great song.
Track 16: Jaimeson and Angel Blu – True
Quite interesting for a dance track – like the atmosphere.
Track 17: Zoe Birkett – Treat Me Like A Lady
Generic tune, pretty bland really.
Track 18: S Club – Alive
S Club 7, now calling themselves S Club due to one of them having left. The music is as irritating as ever.
Track 19: One True Voice – Sacred Trust
Repetitive, uninspired song – this one’s very dull.
Track 20: Kym Marsh – Cry
Appallingly saccharine, twee song. Don’t like this one at all!
Track 21: Ainslie Henderson – Keep Me A Secret
Boring and generic. We’re really getting into the nadir of the talent show era now.
Track 22: Daniel Bedingfield – If You’re Not The One
Awful track – whiny tune, hugely problematic stalker-y theme. It really creeps me out.
Track 23: David Sneddon – Stop Living The Lie
Nice tune, but the vocals leave a lot to be desired.
Track 24: Robbie Williams – Feel
Lovely tune, great atmosphere.
Track 25: Oasis – Songbird
It’s better than other Oasis tracks of this era, but it’s still a bit drone-y.
Track 26: Turin Brakes – Painkiller
Good bit of soft rock – quite like this one.
Track 27: Coldplay – Clocks
The piano instrumental is nice, but I find the rest of the track pretty dull.
Track 28: Lulu and Ronan Keating – We’ve Got Tonight
Painfully bland cheesy ballad. Not my thing.
Track 29: Sugababes – Stronger
Nice atmosphere, good tune. Quite like this track.
Track 30: Beenie Man – Street Life
Good head-nodder, but the tune’s a bit boring.
Track 31: Cam’Ron, Juelz Santana, Freekey Zeekey and Toya – Hey Ma
Oh, it’s this one. Repetitive and tuneless, but I suppose it’s got a good beat.
Track 32: Nelly and Justin Timberlake – Work It
Double repeated artist alert! We’ve already had both Nelly and Justin Timberlake on this Now! compilation.
The track’s okay, but there’s a bit too much going on.
Track 33: Panjabi MC – Mundian To Bach Ke
Absolute classic – brilliant piece of bhangra. Love this tune.
Track 34: Scooter – Weekend!
More daft rave from Scooter, with some insanely irritating chipmunk-tuned vocals in the middle. The rest of the track’s quite danceable.
Track 35: DJ Sammy – The Boys Of Summer
Awful trance cover of the Don Henley classic. Not a fan.
Track 36: Divine Inspiration – The Way (Put Your Hand In My Hand)
More trance. This has got quite a good atmosphere, though.
Track 37: Queen and DJ Vanguard – Flash
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Semi-cover of the 1980 classic with lots of repetitive hi-hat over the top. It kind of loses the epic atmosphere of the original.
Track 38: Erasure – Solsbury Hill
Good to see Erasure back in the charts for the ’00s, especially as they sound exactly like they did in the ’80s. This is a nice synthpop cover of the Peter Gabriel song.
Track 39: The Mock Turtles – Can You Dig It? [Fatboy Slim and Simon Thornton 2003 Remix]
Nice feelgood soft rock song, quite like this one.
Track 40: Counting Crows and Vanessa Carlton – Big Yellow Taxi
Pointless cover of the Joni Mitchell classic, but it’s a good song whoever does it (well, maybe I wouldn’t be saying that if it were one of DJ Sammy’s trance covers, but you know what I mean).
Track 41: Richard Ashcroft – Science Of Silence
Dull, drone-y track, but it’s at least more upbeat than most of Richard Ashcroft’s stuff.
Track 42: Massive Attack and Sinéad O’Connor – Special Cases
Love the slightly spooky atmosphere on this one – great track.
Day 29, and today’s Now! compilation takes us to 14th November 1994.
This is how the world looked in November 1994…that is a giant lie. This was September (we have no pictures that are closer in time), hence why the trees are still green. I imagine we were still wearing those dodgy jumpers into November, though.
Let’s listen to some more mid-’90s tracks.
Track 1: Pato Banton, Robin Campbell and Ali Campbell – Baby Come Back
I should find that chorus annoying, but I’ve always really liked this one. Classic track.
Track 2: Cyndi Lauper – Hey Now (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun)
Slightly odd chant-along track from Cyndi Lauper that reworks her 1984 classic and hence repeats the title. For about five years after it was released, this was the only Girls Just Wanna Have Fun I was aware of (urgh, ’90s childhood, you embarrass me yet again) and so I was fairly flummoxed any time somebody talked about how great it was. The 1984 original, of course, is wonderful, and was featured on Now! #2.
Track 3: Big Mountain – Baby, I Love Your Way
Super irritating chorus, super irritating lyrics! Not a fan of this one.
Track 4: Take That – Sure
I think this was the point that I started being not-quite-as-hugely-keen on Take That. I’ve never been a huge fan of this song, largely because of that annoying chorus.
Track 5: Michelle Gayle – Sweetness
Does what it says on the tin – saccharine as anything. Not keen.
Track 6: Whigfield – Saturday Night
An absolute singalong classic with built-in dance moves that are the best thing in the world when you’re nine. This was the highlight of every school disco for about two years.
Track 7: MC Sar & The Real McCoy – Another Night
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
The fanfare at the start is odd, but at least adds a bit of interest. The track itself is a solid dance track with great electro lines and so-so vocals, which is fairly standard for dance of this era.
Track 8: Corona – The Rhythm Of The Night
Wonderful, classic dance track – love this one.
Track 9: New Order – True Faith ’94
1994 update of the ’80s classic. Probably my favourite track from one of my favourite bands, and I’m lucky enough to have seen it live (well, half of it – when New Order played T in the Park 2005, the amps cut out during this track and the crowd had to finish the song for them. Bernard Sumner then made a crack about Scottish sound engineers being stingy with the voltage, which did not go down well). Beautiful, classic piece of synthpop.
Track 10: Sophie B Hawkins – Right Beside You
Interesting synth jingle at the beginning, then straight into a solid, atmospheric pop track. Really nice song.
Track 11: Youssou N’Dour and Neneh Cherry – 7 Seconds
Beautiful track – the vocals on this one are just something else, and that atmosphere is amazing.
Track 12: Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories – Stay (I Missed You)
Gorgeous tune, but it’s a little too acoustic-y for my liking.
Track 13: Crash Test Dummies – Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
As a kid, I always got this one confused with REM’s What’s The Frequency, Kenneth? for some reason. I think it was because Smash Hits put the lyrics to the two songs opposite each other in the lyrics section.
Anyway, this is a great track with inspired, whimsical lyrics. I’ve always liked this one.
Track 14: Louis Armstrong – We Have All The Time In The World
’60s classic (and James Bond associated song) back in the charts due to a My Bloody Valentine cover. Lovely tune.
Track 15: Robert Palmer – Know By Now
A welcome return to the charts for Robert Palmer – this song is a nice upbeat track with awesome spiky synth hooks and a great atmosphere.
Track 16: REM – What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?
As a kid, I always got this one confused with Crash Test Dummies’ Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm…uh, never mind, you’ve heard about that a few songs ago.
Great singalong chorus, good solid track.
Track 17: Oasis – Cigarettes And Alcohol
I liked Oasis a lot more in the ’90s than I do nowadays – their music has not aged well at all – but this is still a good singalong track.
Track 18: The Rolling Stones – Love Is Strong
Good brooding atmosphere, great guitar lines. Like this one.
Fun fact: in 1998, I named my self-published magazine, which I edited and printed out for my friends for about six years, after a misheard lyric from this song. (If you’re familiar with my teenage media ventures and are wondering just how deaf someone would have to be to mishear ‘in your head’ as ‘in my head’, well, I am that deaf.)
Track 20: East 17 – Around The World
Really nice tune, lovely instrumentals…annoying chorus. Seriously, I’d forgotten how much that chorus annoyed me. Oh well.
Track 21: Red Dragon and Brian & Tony Gold – Compliments On Your Kiss
Jaunty instrumentals, mid-century retro feel. Fun track.
Track 22: Chaka Demus & Pliers – Gal Wine
Nice bouncy reggae track, like the tune.
Track 23: R Kelly – She’s Got That Vibe
Good beat, but the tune is pretty dull and repetitive.
Track 24: The Brand New Heavies – Midnight At The Oasis
Nice lounge-y atmosphere and general retro tinge. Quite like this one, especially the sax solo.
Track 25: China Black – Stars
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Lovely piano intro, great atmosphere, but boring vocals.
Track 26: Music Relief – What’s Going On
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Charity multi-artist cover of the Marvin Gaye classic. It’s a bit pointless, but, you know, charity.
Track 27: Céline Dion – The Power Of Love
Pointless ’90s cover of the Jennifer Rush classic. Nothing added here at all other than an irritating dance-influenced spiky bit on the backing track.
Track 28: Kylie Minogue – Confide In Me
Lovely atmospheric track from Kylie, a bit more grown-up than her previous bubblegum pop stuff.
Track 29: Massive Attack – Sly
Great atmosphere, but the tune is pretty dull, and it’s a bit too slow for me.
Track 30: Eternal – So Good
Irritating drum hooks, irritating vocals, dull tune. Not keen.
Track 31: Ultimate Kaos – Some Girls
Argh, I’d forgotten about this terrible group! I’ve mentioned before that I find kiddie vocals pretty creepy, especially with a song as overtly sexual as this one. Eww!
Track 32: Reel 2 Real and The Mad Stuntman – Can You Feel It?
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Boring, repetitive tune, but it’s got a good, danceable beat.
Track 33: M-Beat and General Levy – Incredible
Not enough melody for me. Is that ‘Wicket, Wicket’ bit at the start a Return of the Jedi reference? I’d love it if it were, but somehow I doubt it.
Track 34: Shampoo – Trouble
Classic daft track with silly lyrics and fairly terrible vocals. Still love it though, mainly due to nostalgia.
Track 35: Blur and Phil Daniels – Parklife
Another wonderful chant-along classic from Blur. There are not many songs where I know all the words, but this track is one of the privileged few.
Track 36: Erasure – I Love Saturday
I love that Erasure were still bringing the synthpop in the mid-’90s. This is another great tune.
Track 37: Sparks – When Do I Get To Sing ‘My Way’
I’m a big Sparks fan, and this is a great, atmospheric track with an awesome dance beat. Lovely stuff.
Track 38: 2wo Third3 – I Want The World
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Great dance track! Wonderful tune, would be up on that dancefloor in the imaginary ’90s disco right now.
Day 28, and we’ve reached 1st August 1994 with the Now! compilations.
This is how the world looked in August 1994. Beaches have not changed, and neither has my wardrobe, apparently – the leggings/t-shirt/hightops combo is still my daily go-to. These days it’s because I work from home and rarely leave the house, but back then it was because I was an active girl who did things like building sandcastles.
Let’s get on with those summer hits.
Track 1: Wet Wet Wet – Love Is All Around
I remember the long, long summer when this was number one for fifteen weeks (which feels like a long time when you’re nine). I got so sick of it at the time, but I actually think nowadays that it’s quite a nice cover of the Troggs classic.
Google Image Search is failing me on this one, but the highlight of the whole thing was when Smash Hits did a parody cover from the year 2050 with ‘Wet Wet Wet still number one’ as the headline, four skeletons as the image, and a cover price of £21.50 or something. Well, I thought it was hilarious at the time. I’ll have to go through my old Smash Hits collection and see if I can find it.
Track 2: All-4-One – I Swear
In summer 1994, I visited the US for the first time with my family. I’d never been out of Europe before, and so going to North America was super, super exciting – we’re actually flying over a noticeable bump in the Earth’s surface! We’re going to see all those places from TV shows! Then I remembered that America was the place with the guns, and so I had a week-long freakout about OMG WHAT IF I GET SHOT.
Anyway, we went to New England for four weeks, none of us got shot, my dad had a good joke with airport security about how he wouldn’t like to have to stab anyone on the plane with his penknife (they laughed and let him take it in the cabin. Oh, 20th century, you were a different world!), my mum discovered iced cappuccino, we stayed in actual motels and swam in all the swimming pools, we ate silver dollar pancakes for breakfast at the Tremont House Hotel in Boston, and everywhere we went and everything we did, this song played on the radio, the biggest hit of the summer.
For the rest of the year, whenever we heard it anywhere, the wee bro and I would be all like OMG THIS REMINDS ME OF AMERICAAAA and get slightly emotional.
Uh, anyway, the track. Lovely tune, great sax solo, precious memories. Can’t beat it.
Track 3: Ace Of Base – Don’t Turn Around
Interesting tune, great jaunty beat. Like this one.
Track 4: Aswad – Shine
Great Latin-tinged track, gorgeous tune. Loved it then, love it now, a longtime favourite.
Track 5: The B-52s – (Meet) The Flintstones
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Novelty cover of the classic TV theme tune, released to tie in with the live-action film. I thought the film was terrible even when I was nine, but I quite like this version of the song.
Track 6: Let Loose – Crazy For You
Smash Hits had a huge bee in their bonnet around this time about how ‘old’ and ‘decrepit’ Let Loose were. Hang on a second while I depress myself by googling how old the band members actually were in 1994.
Answer: 24, 26 and 27. Yeah.
The track is edgier and rockier than I remember, with a slight ’80s throwback vibe about it. I really like it, actually.
Track 7: D:Ream – U R The Best Thing
We already had this one, on Now! #25, which was only three compilations ago! Did the Now! compilers think nobody would notice this stuff?
Urgh. See the link for my review.
Track 8: The Beautiful South – Everybody’s Talkin’
Pretty cover of the ’60s classic – good stuff.
Track 9: Marcella Detroit – I Believe
Nice tune, nice instrumentals, but a bit slow.
Track 10: Pretenders – I’ll Stand By You
I’ve always found the tune on this one annoying, and it’s not hard enough to be a rock ballad favourite. Not a huge fan.
Track 11: Stiltskin – Inside
The only version on Spotify is a live version, which would normally warrant a YouTube Pause (TM) (I hate live versions of stuff – if I want to hear it live, I’ll go see the band), but I’m a bit pushed for time tonight so I’m being lazy with this one.
That guitar riff is absolutely classic, so I hope they put a real version on Spotify soon so I can add it to my playlist.
Track 12: Blur – Girls And Boys
Classic chant-along Britpop anthem. Brilliant song from a brilliant album.
Track 13: M People – Renaissance
Great beat, but the tune is pretty repetitive.
Track 14: Eternal – Just A Step From Heaven
Like the atmosphere – this is a nice track when it’s not the slightly irritating chorus.
Track 15: Toni Braxton – Another Sad Love Song
Fairly generic pop ballad. Not keen on this one.
Track 16: China Black – Searching
Nice jaunty beat, but the tune’s a bit so-so.
Track 17: Dawn Penn – You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No)
Great, classic track – loved it then, love it now. You can’t not sing along to that chorus.
Track 18: Chaka Demus & Pliers – I Wanna Be Your Man
Annoying vocals, annoying tune. Not a fan.
Track 19: Erasure – Always
Quality synthpop as ever from Erasure, but due to this song playing on the radio during a bout of carsickness en route to the caravan (I probably wasn’t actually sick, just really nauseous due to reading in the backseat, but those associations are strong), I…still feel sick when I hear it.
Track 20: Seal – Prayer For The Dying
Lovely track from Seal – beautiful atmosphere, beautiful tune.
Track 21: The Grid – Swamp Thing
Like that banjo line – fairly solid dance track.
Track 22: Two Cowboys – Everybody Gonfi Gon
Two slightly country-inspired dance tracks in a row, but it turns out I don’t mind country-inspired so much when the Eurodance is this good. Great track, wonderful electro instrumentals.
Track 23: MAXX – Get-A-Way
Another great dance track. I may have to start making a list of requests for the next time I find myself at a ’90s night!
Track 24: Reel 2 Real and The Mad Stuntman – Go On Move
Classic bassline! The rest of the track’s not really anything special, though.
Track 25: The Prodigy – No Good (Start The Dance)
Not the first track to sample the ’80s classic You’re No Good For Me, but definitely the best. Classic stuff.
Track 26: Cappella – U And Me
Great atmosphere, great beat, great dance track. I’d forgotten how good 1994 was for dance!
Track 27: Haddaway – Rock My Heart
Pretty similar to What Is Love, but as that one’s a stone-cold classic I’m not complaining. Brilliantly danceable stuff.
Track 28: 2 Unlimited – The Real Thing
Another great dance track – how many of these were there at the time? Love those slightly eerie instrumentals.
Track 29: Sonic Surfers – Don’t Give It Up
I’m starting to feel like I’m in a nightclub. Was everything a dance track in summer 1994? Maybe I was so busy hearing Wet Wet Wet and All-4-One everywhere that I just didn’t notice.
This one is…another great dance track, believe it or not!
Track 30: DJ Miko – What’s Up
Irritating dance remix of 4 Non Blondes’ What’s Up (see Now! #25 for my review of the original version). This is a song that very definitely did not need to be turned into a generic dance track. Not keen on this treatment.
Track 31: Clubhouse and Carl – Light My Fire
Danceable beat, jauntily camp vocals, atmospheric synth lines – this one’s a lot of fun.
Track 32: Tony Di Bart – The Real Thing
Two tracks with the same name on the same Now! compilation! I feel like we’re back in the title-inspiration-starved late ’80s again.
This one’s not as good as the identically-named 2 Unlimited song, but it’s still a good dance track, and I’m still on that dancefloor in the imaginary nightclub. I’m not sure whether that Bee Gees lyric (‘if I can’t have you/I don’t want nobody, baby‘) is homage or theft, though! (Wikipedia calls it ‘sampling’, but the tune is totally different.)
Track 33: CJ Lewis – Sweets For My Sweet
Annoying chorus alert! Good dance beat though.
Track 34: Bitty McLean – Dedicated To The One I Love
Feelgood reggae-tinged cover of the ’50s classic. Nice track.
Track 35: Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue – Whatta Man
Absolutely classic collaboration, great track with a fabulous singalong chorus.
Track 36: R Kelly – Your Body’s Callin’
Found R Kelly and his penchant for underage girls creepy then, still find him creepy now. Some things don’t change!
The song’s boring, anyway.
Track 37: The Brand New Heavies – Dream On Dreamer
Oh, it’s this one! Nice upbeat track, great tune. Like this song.
Track 38: Juliet Roberts – Caught In The Middle
This one was ALSO already on Now! #25! I hope they were offering partial refunds to people who’d bought both compilations!
See link for review, yadda yadda.
Track 39: Glo-Worm – Carry Me Home
Irritating lyrics, but the tune and atmosphere are quite nice.
Track 40: Pet Shop Boys – Absolutely Fabulous
More great synthpop from Pet Shop Boys, released to tie in with the TV show. We always watched the show in our house, so I’ve appreciated this one ever since.
Day 23’s Now! compilation takes us to 16th November 1992.
This was how the world looked in November 1992. I was bang on trend in my pink and purple pastels, and the wee bro was apparently into the Red Arrows (or, more likely, we knew someone who was and they had gifted him the sweatshirt). Our house was not bang on trend, still rocking its ’70s brown furnishings. Also, my fringe still does that when I can’t be bothered styling it, which is 99% of the time.
These tracks were also bang on trend, I guess.
Track 1: Tasmin Archer – Sleeping Satellite
Oh, it’s this one! Very pretty tune, like it.
Track 2: Jon Secada – Just Another Day
Another lovely tune, really nice atmosphere.
Track 3: Charles & Eddie – Would I Lie To You?
It’s an okay song (with yet another nice tune) but I’m not loving this one.
Track 4: Was (Not Was) – Shake Your Head
Good beat, but the song’s not got enough melody for me. Interesting chorus though.
Track 5: Bob Marley & The Wailers – Iron Lion Zion
A ’70s track back in the charts – great reggae classic.
Track 6: Go West – Faithful
Go West did this one when I saw them in November, and it seemed to go down well with the audience. I prefer their ’80s stuff (as you might expect), but this is still a great solid pop song.
Track 7: George Michael – Too Funky
Good head-nodder, nice instrumentals. Quite like this one.
Track 8: Arrested Development – People Everyday
Really like the beat on this one, though it’s a bit repetitive otherwise.
Track 9: Simply Red – For Your Babies
Slow, dull ballad, and you know how I feel about those.
Track 10: Erma Franklin – (Take A Little) Piece Of My Heart
Another oldie back in the charts, from the ’60s this time! This one’s a classic – great track.
Simple Minds’ 1985 classic back in the charts – this Now! compilation is certainly showing some love to the older tracks.
Wait a minute.
We already had this track on Now! #6! I can’t tell you how annoyed I am that we’re only 23 albums in and the Now! compilers have started repeating tracks already. Sort it out!
Classic ’60s blues track, back in the charts for some reason. Summer 1992 was clearly a highly nostalgic time.
Track 14: Billy Ray Cyrus – Achy Breaky Heart
Awful line dance ‘classic’. Country music is not my thing at all, I’m afraid!
Track 15: Little Angels – Too Much Too Young
Nice rock instrumentals, but the vocals are a bit cheesy for me.
Track 16: Richard Marx – Take This Heart
Richard Marx can be a bit hit-and-miss for me, and this one’s a miss. Too saccharine by far.
Track 17: Genesis – Jesus He Knows Me
It’s not quite clear from the title whether it’s meant to indicate startled realisation (‘Jesus! He knows me.’) or religious sentiment (‘Jesus: he knows me.’). Punctuation matters, people.
From the lyrics, it seems to be the latter.
It’s a great track otherwise – upbeat, epic atmosphere, awesome tune. Really like this one.
Track 18: INXS – Baby Don’t Cry
Not hugely keen on the melody, and it’s a bit repetitive.
Track 19: Crowded House – It’s Only Natural
Nice tune, good head-nodder.
Track 20: Erasure – Who Needs Love Like That [Hamburg Mix]
Remix of the 1985 classic. I couldn’t find the remix on Spotify, so it’s a good excuse to listen to the original!
Solid synthpop as ever from Erasure – great tune.
Track 21: The Shamen – Ebeneezer Goode
Classic early ’90s anthem complete with sledgehammer-subtle drug reference. Great, danceable song.
Track 22: Rage – Run To You
Slightly odd dance cover of the Bryan Adams song. I shouldn’t like it, but I kind of do.
Track 23: Bizarre Inc and Angie Brown – I’m Gonna Get You
Repetitive, irritating dance track. Not a fan.
Track 24: Heaven 17 – Temptation [Brothers In Rhythm Remix]
For what it’s worth though, it’s a super interesting remix with a great atmosphere.
Track 25: East 17 – House Of Love
Great danceable pop classic. Really like this one!
Also, I never noticed until the Now! compilers’ inspired tracklisting here that both the ’80s and the ’90s had really famous pop bands with names that ended in ’17’.
Track 26: The Farm – Don’t You Want Me
Immediate side-eye at the notion of somebody covering the Human League classic, which in my view can’t be bettered.
Um…it’s fairly awful. Messy track, bad cover. Not a fan of this at all.
Track 27: Undercover – Never Let Her Slip Away
Nice tune, nice spiky synth line, nice sax solo. Cheesy vocals, but you can’t have everything!
Track 28: Doctor Spin – Tetris
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Novelty Eurodance reworking of the classic Tetris music (I guess it would have been ‘new’ rather than ‘classic’ at this point) with bonus sampling of 2 Unlimited’s Get Ready For This. Amusing, but a bit messy – though you can’t help but have an epic atmosphere with this tune.
Track 29: Ambassadors Of Funk and MC Mario – Supermarioland
More comedy stylings from the Now! compilers, with two Game Boy themed tracks one after the other. Now I feel nostalgic for my Game Boy. Of course, being a hoarder, I obviously still have it, though I’m more likely to play those classic games on my 3DS nowadays.
Anyway, the song. It’s a rap about playing Super Mario Land, with the Super Mario Land music interspersed throughout. Kind of all over the place, but I love that the Game Boy apparently inspired so much chart music at the time.
Track 30: Roxette – How Do You Do!
More solid pop-rock from Roxette – this one’s a bit retro-inspired. Interesting vocals too.
Track 31: Abba – Dancing Queen
Classic ’70s anthem, back in the charts for 1992. Can’t complain!
Track 32: Björn Again – A Little Respect
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
I’m not sure who’s trolling us harder here – Björn Again, who are covering Erasure as a response to Erasure covering Abba (my head hurts), or the Now! compilers, who have placed a track by an Abba tribute band directly after a track by actual Abba. Also, I can’t remember what phrase people used instead of ‘trolling’ before the internet became ubiquitous. ‘Taking the piss’, maybe.
As for the track, well, you can’t beat the Erasure original, but the quality of the music is not the point of this one, I don’t think.
Track 33: Vanessa Paradis – Be My Baby
Nice tune, very ’60s-retro-tinged.
Track 34: Betty Boo – Let Me Take You There
Lovely synth instrumentals, though as ever I’m not keen on Betty Boo’s rap style.
Track 35: Sophie B Hawkins – Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover
I’ve always liked this one, largely ’cause we had it on a Top Gear compilation when I was a kid. Nice tune, great lyrics.
Track 36: Peter Gabriel – Digging In The Dirt
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
I tell a lie. This one is on Spotify, but it’s a live version, and I hate live versions, so I’m going to be un-lazy and pause the playlist.
Verse is a bit dull, but it livens up for the bridge. The tune is horribly repetitive though.
Track 37: Enya – Book Of Days
Wonderful heartlifting tune from Enya – absolutely beautiful atmosphere.
Track 38: Roy Orbison and KD Lang – Crying
I find the original Roy Orbison solo version pretty slow and saccharine as it is, and I’m not a fan of KD Lang anyway (I don’t like singer-songwriter slow acoustic-y type stuff), so I’m not keen on this.
Track 39: Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé – Barcelona
I’m extremely cross with the Now! compilers. We already had this track on Now! #10, where it opened my favourite childhood album perfectly. The fact that it was back in the charts to coincide with the Olympics is not an excuse to repeat tracks!
You already know what I think of this one – just follow the link above.
This was the way the world (Germany, to be precise) looked in July 1992. We went touring all around Europe that month so we’ve got oodles of pictures showing how the world looked, but I’ve chosen our car in front of a building, ’cause I like pictures of cars.
Let’s see what might have been on the car stereo while we were exploring!
Track 1: Erasure – Take A Chance On Me
Erasure get to their ‘Abba covers’ phase. I’m generally a fan of synth covers of classic songs, and I do like this one, apart from the random rap towards the end.
Track 2: CeCe Peniston – Finally
I’ve always found the chorus on this one annoying. Sorry!
Track 3: KWS – Please Don’t Go
Nice tune, but it’s a bit repetitive for me.
Track 4: Take That – It Only Takes A Minute
Take That make their first Now! appearance! I adored them so much as a little girl. Robbie was my favourite, and I was so gutted when he left the group. To this day, I don’t consider them proper Take That (‘Fake That’, I used to say derisively when they first reappeared in the ’00s) unless Robbie’s involved.
Ahem. Anyway.
This is a nice solid pop cover of the Tavares classic – good, danceable stuff.
Track 5: Nick Berry – Heartbeat
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Urgh, Nick Berry‘s back. I thought after Every Loser Wins, we had all suffered enough. This one is a pointless ’90s cover of the Buddy Holly classic, presumably to tie in with the TV show Heartbeat.
Track 6: Snap – Rhythm Is A Dancer
Absolute classic, epic dance track – I love this one! One of my favourites.
Track 7: Utah Saints – Something Good
Brilliant track with epic-level sampling of Kate Bush’s Cloudbusting. Now, THIS is how you sample appropriately. Wonderful stuff.
Track 8: The Cure – Friday I’m In Love
One of my favourite tracks from my favourite band – lovely feelgood song with beautiful instrumentals.
Track 9: Marc Almond – The Days Of Pearly Spencer
I’m going to see Marc Almond later this year! I’m very excited.
Sadly, it won’t be at the one-off Soft Cell reunion gig, which is one of my big gig disappointments this year – I really wanted to go, but due to a miscommunication I missed the ten-minute ticket window. However, I will be seeing him solo at the Electric Dreams festival, so that sort-of makes up for it.
This track has a lovely epic atmosphere and beautiful instrumentals – really like this one.
Track 10: The Beautiful South – Bell Bottomed Tear
Pretty tune and nice vocals, but it’s a bit slow for me.
Track 11: Prince – Thunder
I like the epic intro and chorus, and the instrumentals are interesting. Good track.
Track 12: U2 – Even Better Than The Real Thing
Repetitive instrumentals, dull tune. Not keen on this one.
Track 13: The Shamen – LSI (Love Sex Intelligence)
Good upbeat dance track – happily nodding along here.
Track 14: Electronic – Disappointed
Nice bit of synth electro from Electronic. Solid stuff.
Track 15: Shakespear’s Sister – I Don’t Care
Nice upbeat track with a rockier edge. Vocals not as impressive as usual for Shakespear’s Sister, but still solid.
Track 16: Carter USM – Do Re Me, So Far So Good
So, after me going on for weeks about various great Carter USM covers of various tracks, they finally show up on a Now! compilation with one of their original songs!
Great upbeat rock song, typically brilliant Carter lyrics and singalong chorus.
Track 17: Ugly Kid Joe – Everything About You
Could do without the spoken word on the intro, but it’s a classic track and a good head-nodder.
Track 18: SL2 – On A Ragga Tip
The reggae bit’s good, but the track in general is a bit haphazard.
Track 19: The Orb – Blue Room
Nice bit of chillout, though I could do without the siren noises.
Track 20: Richard Marx – Hazard
Epic atmosphere, great solid track.
Track 21: Elton John – The One
Nice tune, but it’s fairly generic for Elton John. Not a favourite.
Track 22: Roy Orbison – I Drove All Night
This one was apparently written for Orbison, but I prefer the Cyndi Lauper version, which came out first (I’m not sure which one counts as the ‘cover’ in this case). Still a great song, though, whoever’s singing it.
Track 23: Jimmy Nail – Ain’t No Doubt
More upbeat than usual for Jimmy Nail – I quite like this one.
Track 24: Joe Cocker – Unchain My Heart
A bit overblown in the vocals at the start, but once the beat gets going it’s quite good – great funk bassline.
Track 25: Curtis Stigers – You’re All That Matters To Me
Another too-slow too-saccharine one from Curtis Stigers, and this time there’s no sax to save it. Not keen.
Track 26: Wilson Phillips – You Won’t See Me Cry
Nice feelgood tune, nice atmosphere, great sax solo. Still a little slow for me though.
Track 27: Crowded House – Four Seasons In One Day
Lovely tune, great lyrics – really like this one.
Track 28: Annie Lennox – Why
Nice introspective track from Annie Lennox – I really like her stuff from this period.
Track 29: George Michael and Elton John – Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Classic duet, epic track – lovely song.
Track 30: Diana Ross – One Shining Moment
Lovely tune, but again it’s a bit of a slow ballad for me.
Track 31: Vanessa Williams – Save The Best For Last
This is another one of those feelgood ballads that I always heard on the radio on ferries during family holidays around this time. It was also used in an advert for Bisto or Oxo (I think? I’m sure it was stock cubes or soup or something ‘comforting’), so I kind of associate it with that vibe.
Track 32: En Vogue – My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)
Great upbeat head-nodder from En Vogue – really like this one, especially the a cappella bit towards the end.
Track 33: Soul II Soul – Joy
This one’s a bit dull in my view – nothing special going on here.
Track 34: Incognito – Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing
Great upbeat track to finish on today – love those instrumentals!
Day 21, and Now! #21 was released on 13th April 1992.
This is the way the world looked in April 1992. If you’re thinking it looks a bit ’80s, that’s because this shiny new-to-us holiday caravan was a few years old when we bought it, and so its original features are actually of a similar era to those of the gorgeous late ’80s house in which Geth and I now live. That TV was definitely not new either (I don’t think they were even still making black and white TVs in 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.
Day 20’s Now! compilation was released on 18th November 1991.
This is the way the world looked in November 1991 (actually October, so we’re in the wrong month with the photos for the fourth day in a row. Maybe my parents were always too distracted by TV adverts for Now! compilation releases to take any photos during those months?) It’s more timeless rocks, just like yesterday, for which I apologise. My dress with the pompoms was super cute though…and I still have that scrunchie.
I doubt any of the following tracks will be as pleasing as my pompom dress, but let’s have a listen anyway.
Track 1: Vic Reeves and The Wonder Stuff – Dizzy
Big Wonder Stuff fan – have seen them fairly often – so I really like this cover of the Tommy Roe classic that they did with Vic Reeves. There’s enough folky instrumentals here to make it quite different from the original – good stuff.
Track 2: Belinda Carlisle – Live Your Life Be Free
Vocals are a bit overblown here for my liking, but I do like the track, especially the rockier edge.
Track 3: U2 – The Fly
Urgh, the ’90s, when U2 got boring. Dull tune, repetitive vocals, no fun anymore.
Track 4: Pet Shop Boys – Where The Streets Have No Name (I Can’t Take My Eyes Off You)
And speaking of U2…being a synthpop nut, I do actually prefer this cover to the original. Sorry, Bono & Co.
Track 5: Erasure – Love To Hate You
Another solid synth track from Erasure – gotta love that I Will Survive sampling. This is a good example of a sample from a classic tune being used in a track that actually suits it.
Track 6: Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – Sailing On The Seven Seas
I’m a huge fan of OMD’s stuff, and this is a good solid track, even though it’s not quite as synthy as their earlier work. Great chant-along vocals.
Track 7: Simply Red – Something Got Me Started
I know I said before that the ’80s are my favourite Simply Red era, but this is definitely my favourite individual song of theirs. Great instrumentals, wonderful atmosphere on the vocals, nice upbeat tempo, and that sax-into-piano solo is mega. Love it.
Track 8: Lisa Stansfield – Change
Dreary vocals, boring backing track. Not a fan of this one.
Track 9: Zoë – Sunshine On A Rainy Day
Something about the vocal annoys me here. I’m not keen on the tune either.
Track 10: Salt-N-Pepa – Let’s Talk About Sex
This was a favourite for kids in my class to sing loudly in my primary school playground in 1991, probably because it was risque and hence kind of rebellious in the thinking of a six-year-old.
I think it was also popularised by the ‘Let’s Talk About Juice’ version in the Fruit-Tella advert (was it Fruit-Tella? Let me google that a minute. Um, googling was inconclusive, but it did tell me that it was definitely Fruit-Tella that did the ‘I’m Too Juicy’ takeoff of Right Said Fred’s I’m Too Sexy, so I’m fairly sure they must have done this one too).
I will probably end up doing a whole post soon about how advertising doesn’t work in this respect. I remember pretty much every TV advert shown during my ’90s childhood, but I can hardly ever remember what the exact product was that they were advertising.
Track 11: Color Me Badd – I Wanna Sex You Up
Bit of a repetitive one, but I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for it due to it being another one that was used in Britain’s Got The Pop Factor.
Track 12: Kenny Thomas – Best Of You
It’s a nice upbeat tempo, but I find the song a bit dull.
Track 13: Prince and The New Power Generation – Gett Off
Prince is another artist who really went downhill in the ’90s as far as I’m concerned. Not enough melody or joy for me here.
Track 14: Rozalla – Faith (In The Power Of Love)
Nice upbeat dance track, and that sax solo is lovely. Some really interesting instrumentals here.
Track 15: 2 Unlimited – Get Ready For This
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Absolute classic dance track from childhood – played at every birthday party in the early ’90s, often during pass-the-parcel in order to ramp the adrenaline up.
Track 16: Moby – Go
Nice epic atmosphere, though the track is a bit repetitive.
Track 17: The Justified Ancients Of Mu Mu – It’s Grim Up North [Part 1]
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
This is another alias of the KLF, incidentally. Good brooding dance track, really like this one. That Jerusalem sampling is inspired.
Track 18: PM Dawn – Set Adrift On Memory Bliss
Okay a cappella intro, but then we’re straight into the misplaced sampling of Spandau Ballet’s True with awful spoken word and cacophonic clashing vocals over the top. Just terrible.
Track 19: Paul Young – Don’t Dream (It’s Over)
Utterly pointless cover of the Crowded House classic from a whole five years earlier. Why did people even buy covers like this? Surely the original was still available to buy on an album in the record shops!
Track 20: Enya – Caribbean Blue
Beautiful chillout track from Enya – lovely stuff.
Track 21: Julian Lennon – Saltwater
Really nice instrumentals, though the vocals are pretty dull.
Track 22: Paula Abdul – Rush Rush
Nice tune, but it’s a bit slow for me. Interesting violin solo, though!
Track 23: Jason Donovan – Any Dream Will Do
This was too cheesy for me even as a six-year-old, though lots of my classmates loved it, which meant we had to sing it in music class a lot. Blurgh.
Track 24: Cathy Dennis – Too Many Walls
Again, solid pop, but I’d prefer it if it were a bit more upbeat.
Track 25: Alison Moyet – This House
Obligatory ‘going to see this artist soon!’ squee. Well, if you can count next February as ‘soon’…
Beautiful slow ballad with an epic, dramatic atmosphere and gorgeous lyrics. Hope she plays this one when I go see her!
Track 26: Marc Cohn – Walking In Memphis
Classic, beautiful song – absolutely love this one.
(I even have a real soft spot for the later Cher cover, though that one really is pointless – it’s just this version with Cher’s vocals on top. Anyway, I won’t get ahead of myself in case it features later.)
Track 27: Glass Tiger – My Town
Cheesy pop-rock, pretty generic. Not a fan.
Track 28: Scorpions – Wind Of Change
Lovely epic atmosphere, great rock ballad.
Track 29: INXS – Shining Star
Nice interesting track from INXS – great vocals, good build to the song, nice sax towards the end.
Track 30: Roxette – Joyride
Another great upbeat bit of pop-rock from Roxette – great stuff.
Track 31: James – Sit Down
A classic bit of ’90s indie. When I saw them at Beautiful Days in 2009 they actually finished with this one, which is apparently not at all usual, because being their biggest hit it’s the one they’re sick of. I do like it, though.
Track 32: Voice Of The Beehive – I Think I Love You
Really like those guitar instrumentals, and the atmosphere is great. This is probably the best version of the Partridge Family track as far as I’m concerned – it’s so different and so interesting.
Track 33: Slade – Radio Wall Of Sound
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 1: lazy tribute version substitute.
Slade’s earlier stuff is amazing to me, but this track is a bit rock-by-numbers, though I do like that singalong chorus.
Track 34: Monty Python – Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life
Not sure why this classic Life of Brian soundtrack song was back in the charts, but here it is. Pleasant diversion, but it’s a bit ‘novelty’ for me.
Track 35: Don McLean – American Pie
Often back in the charts since its original 1971 release, this is a great classic to end on! Beautiful lyrics, lovely tune, absolutely worth its eight-minute-plus running time.
Day 17 and we’ve arrived in the 1990s with our Now! compilation journey! This one was released on 23rd April 1990.
This was the way the world looked in April 1990 (actually March – we apparently didn’t take any photos in April – but I don’t imagine it changed much in the course of a couple of weeks). I was clearly much hardier as a child, because I spent a lot of time on British beaches in months when it’s traditionally too cold to do so (i.e. every month of the year), whereas nowadays I’ll stand and shiver for a couple of minutes before going back into the pub.
Let’s see what the 1990s have in store for us!
Track 1: Erasure – Blue Savannah
More solid synthpop from Erasure. Great tune, great epic atmosphere.
Track 2: The Rebel MC – Better World
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Repetitive beats make for a dull intro, but it’s better once a bit of melody kicks in.
Track 3: Paula Abdul – Opposites Attract
Good beat, but the tune’s a bit dull for my liking.
Track 4: Beats International – Dub Be Good To Me
Classic dance track, really like this tune. Great vocal melody.
Track 5: UB40 – Kingston Town
Bit of a slow one from UB40, with an irritating tune. Not really a fan.
Track 6: Candy Flip – Strawberry Fields Forever
Weird synth cover of the Beatles classic. Pretty much a pointless cover other than the synth, as the vocals definitely don’t do anything new.
Track 7: Tina Turner – I Don’t Wanna Lose You
Fairly standard Tina Turner ballad, a bit dull for me.
Track 8: Phil Collins – I Wish It Would Rain Down
Phil Collins turns his hand to a rock ballad. To be fair, that guitar is just the right level of over-the-top for me, so I quite like this one.
Track 9: Happy Mondays – Step On
Love this one! Classic track – I will always dance to this at weddings, in clubs, and in my chair right now.
Track 10: Primal Scream – Loaded
Another classic dance track – love those trumpet hooks.
Track 11: Depeche Mode – Enjoy The Silence
How were Depeche Mode not on a Now! compilation throughout the entirety of the ’80s? *blink*
Anyway, this classic synthpop track is not a bad way to start. Epic tune, great vocals, has had me on the dancefloor of a thousand goth clubs.
Track 12: Jesus Jones – Real Real Real
Great upbeat rock-tinged track. Happily nodding along here.
Track 13: Inspiral Carpets – This Is How It Feels
Lovely electro instrumentals, beautiful classic song. Really like this one. Another example where Carter USM did a great and not-at-all-pointless cover.
Track 14: The House Of Love – Shine On
Really like this one! Great tune – love those guitar instrumentals.
Track 15: Faith No More – From Out Of Nowhere
Another great guitar riff. Not so keen on the vocals, but it’s a good tune.
Track 16: The Quireboys – Hey You
I quite like the rock turn this Now! compilation has taken! This one’s a great head-nodder.
Track 17: Technotronic and MC Eric – This Beat Is Technotronic
Great dance track, really like the melody on this one. Geth just arrived home and talked all over it, so I wasn’t quite able to hear it properly!
Track 18: Lonnie Gordon – Happenin’ All Over Again
Like the tune, but the vocal line is a bit repetitive for my liking.
Track 19: 49ers – Don’t You Love Me
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Nice upbeat dance track, interesting vocal. Bit dull otherwise.
Track 20: Jimmy Somerville – Read My Lips (Enough Is Enough)
Another solid pop track from Jimmy Somerville. Great atmosphere on this one.
Track 21: Cliff Richard – Stronger Than That
More saccharine vocals from Cliff Richard. His band are doing a good job at the pop-rock though.
Track 22: Jam Tronik – Another Day In Paradise
Interesting electro cover of the Phil Collins track. Really like this one.
Track 23: JT & The Big Family – Moments In Soul
Interesting instrumentals, good atmosphere, but some of the samples are a little irritating.
Track 24: Mantronix and Wondress – Got To Have Your Love
Nice bass intro, nice instrumentals, good solid pop, though the vocals are a bit dull until the chorus kicks in.
Track 25: Bizz Nizz – Don’t Miss The Party Line
Great electro dance tune, though I could do without the live crowd on the track.
Track 26: E-Zee Possee and MC Kinky – Everything Starts With An ‘E’
Another live crowd spoiling the otherwise good guitar intro. Then the weird vocal starts and it all goes south. Also, I’m guessing that title is a drug reference (the ‘ec-ec-ec-ec-ecstasy‘ lyric is also a bit of a clue), which means the 1990s have properly arrived.
Track 27: D-Mob and Nuff Juice – Put Your Hands Together
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Is that a brief sample of the Halloween theme at the start? If so, it makes the track 100% more awesome, even though the rest of it is a bit of a messy sample-fest.
Track 28: Adamski and Seal – Killer
Absolute classic – that chorus is great, and the instrumentals are wonderfully epic.
Track 29: Orbital – Chime
Upbeat dance track with some interesting instrumentals – good head-nodder, though it gets a bit repetitive after a while.
Track 30: Tongue ‘N’ Cheek – Tomorrow
Nice sweeping piano intro, then it goes a bit house, then a bit ’70s retro. Once it gets going, it’s pretty much pop-by-numbers, with a random rap late in the track (yup, the ’90s are definitely here…sigh).
Track 31: Electribe 101 – Talking With Myself
Good instrumentals, dull vocal. Bonus points for the James Bond theme randomly popping up in the middle of the song, though.
Track 32: Sydney Youngblood – I’d Rather Go Blind
Problematic title and theme, for starters. Fairly tuneless intro, repetitive vocals, out-of-kilter instrumentals. Not a fan of this one.
This is the way the world looked in November 1989, when I was small and Christmas trees were…silver. I am 100% positive that nobody usually put up their Christmas trees in November back in the ’80s – that is most definitely a 21st century thing due to ongoing Christmas creep – but I think my great-aunt and great-uncle got the decorations out early that year so that the wee bro and I could ‘help’. Of course, in my world, Christmas decorations still look like that – or even older – ’cause my mum and her mum before her have been keeping them all as heirlooms since the ’40s.
So, we’ve reached the end of the ’80s in our Now! compilation journey. Let’s enjoy those last few glorious tracks!
Track 1: Tears For Fears – Sowing The Seeds Of Love
So I was super gutted when Tears For Fears announced their tour last autumn, ’cause the tickets were pricy, we would have had to travel to Leeds, and I just couldn’t justify the expense at the time. It was one of my big gig regrets for 2018.
In the last week, they’ve announced they’ve had to postpone the tour to 2019 for medical reasons. The tickets all became available again, I found out Alison Moyet was supporting (which I hadn’t known before), and I was feeling a bit more flush than I had in the autumn. I bought tickets for the Leeds gig. Of course I did.
So I’m going to see Tears For Fears (and Alison Moyet) in February 2019, and now I don’t have to feel sad and disappointed every time one of their tracks comes on Vintage TV (which is approximately every five minutes). Winning!
Anyway, this track. It’s a bit ‘pre-1990s’ for my liking, especially ’cause I adore their early-to-mid-1980s stuff so much, but it’s a nice tune and I always find myself singing along when it comes on Vintage TV. Which, as I say, is often.
Track 2: Belinda Carlisle – Leave A Light On
Really like this singalong track. Lovely vocals, lovely tune.
Track 3: Erasure – Drama!
Lovely tinkly slow synth intro before the beat bangs in. Epic atmosphere, great track.
Track 4: Debbie Harry – I Want That Man
Really like the tune on this one. Nice upbeat pop.
I think you can probably guess, however, how I feel about the line ‘here comes the twenty-first century/it’s gonna be much better for a girl like me‘. Yeah. I’m glad someone’s optimistic.
Track 5: Sydney Youngblood – If Only I Could
Gotta love those bouncy instrumentals. Great head-nodder.
Track 6: Curiosity Killed The Cat – Name And Number
I’ve always really liked this one! That chorus is great.
Fun fact: Little Mix avoided a pointless cover of this by doing that strange 2010s thing where you cover the chorus only and then do a completely different verse, meaning you can call the track a different name (in this case How Ya Doin’?).
Nice jaunty instrumentals, and in comes Jacqui Abbott on the vocals – we are definitely post-Housemartins now. Not my favourite Beautiful South track, but it’s a nice tune with typically whimsical lyrics.
Track 8: Wet Wet Wet – Sweet Surrender
A bit slower from Wet Wet Wet, but I really like those instrumentals. Chorus could be more epic, though.
Track 9: Queen – Breakthru
Nice vocal harmony intro to a slightly erratic track. The tune is a bit dull, but it’s still pretty solid from Queen.
Track 10: Tina Turner – The Best
Classic singalong track – one of those ones where I’m up on the dancefloor at the wedding disco. Epic song.
Track 11: Transvision Vamp – Born To Be Sold
Slower and a bit acoustic from Transvision Vamp today. I still really like it, though.
Church bell intro! You don’t hear that on every pop song, but then it is Kate Bush. Love the tune too, nice epic atmosphere.
Track 14: Fine Young Cannibals – I’m Not The Man I Used To Be
For some reason, on Now! #16 there were a few tracks that featured on the CD release only. I don’t know if it’s because CDs had more space, and the Now! compilers were excited about the novelty of that, or what. Anyway, this is the first of them.
Nice instrumentals, but this track is a bit slow and dull for my liking.
Track 15: Then Jerico – Sugar Box
A bit saccharine, but I quite like the tune, especially when it gets a bit rockier as the track goes on.
Track 16: Living In A Box – Room In Your Heart
Wow. We’ve reached 1989 and even Living In A Box were doing dull ballads. Nothing to elevate this one.
Track 17: Richard Marx – Right Here Waiting
I’ve always had a soft spot for this ballad. It’s the kind of thing I should hate, but I don’t.
Track 18: Milli Vanilli – Girl I’m Gonna Miss You
It’s Milli Vanilli and their possibly-fake vocals again! I actually really like this one, it’s a lovely tune and theme.
Track 19: The Rebel MC and Double Trouble – Street Tuff
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Nice upbeat dance track, like the sampling. Good stuff.
Track 20: Bobby Brown – On Our Own
Good instrumentals and sung vocals on this one – the rap’s a bit dull though.
Track 21: Technotronic and Felly – Pump Up The Jam
Classic dance track – another ‘oh, it’s this one!’ moment. Happily chair-dancing right now.
Track 22: Lil’ Louis – French Kiss
Another track that was on the CD release only.
Repetitive intro that goes on too long – get on with it! The shortest version I was able to find is eight minutes long, so it takes forever to get going. Not my kind of thing, especially when it slows down and brings in the orgasm noises. I’m guessing this is not the version that was on the Now! compilation.
Track 23: Adeva – I Thank You
Highly pre-1990s dance track. Vocals a bit over-the-top for me.
Track 24: D-Mob and Cathy Dennis – C’mon And Get My Love
Really like the drum machine on that intro. Solid dance tune.
Track 25: De La Soul – Eye Know
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Too repetitive for me, and I don’t like the backing tune.
Track 26: Inner City – Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin’
Not an Inner City fan anyway, and this one is kind of slow and repetitive. Not for me.
Track 27: Big Fun – Can’t Shake The Feeling
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Something about the tune annoys me. It’s fairly pop-by-numbers otherwise.
Track 28: Cliff Richard – I Just Don’t Have The Heart
Actually quite an upbeat one from Cliff Richard! His vocals are still super cheesy and irritating though.
Track 29: Jimmy Somerville and June Miles Kingston – Comment Te Dire Adieu
Great track! Daft French atmosphere, awesome tune. I’m chair-dancing again here!
Track 30: Brother Beyond – Drive On
Another ‘CD release only’ track..
A bit cheesy, but I really quite like this – it’s just nice, pure, upbeat pop.
Track 31: Shakespear’s Sister – You’re History
Really squawky and squeaky in the vocals, with Siobhan Fahey going a bit overboard, obviously still feeling that post-Bananarama freedom. Quite an interesting tune, though.
Track 32: Oh Well – Oh Well
‘Not on Spotify’ Type 2: YouTube Pause (TM).
Nice funky melody, quite a nice track when they’re not rapping.
Track 33: Neneh Cherry – Kisses On The Wind
Bit of a messy sample mishmash at the start, but it’s okay once it gets going.
Track 34: Redhead Kingpin & The FBI – Do The Right Thing
Headache-inducing intro, repetitive track. Not my cup of tea.
Track 35: Fresh 4 and Lizz E – Wishing On A Star
Not a fan of this drum ‘n’ bass cover, but at least it does something different to the Rose Royce original.
