So we have had Christmas, wrote the New Year entry and now double back to something that made an appearance in the Christmas edition briefly.
We have made reference to the Now Yearbook series here, the concept of a series of releases by NOW that take a year and has a main Yearbook on four cds and a matching three cd extra started in late 2021 and its vinyl counterpart starting with the 1982 volume.
Shortly after the release of the 1985 Yearbook, we were informed because of the unexpected popularity of this series and the interest shown in the vinyl editions a "Final Chapter" was to come out in December that added a number of tracks from 1980 through 1984 which had been missed off.
This the three lp vinyl edition was housed in a cover similar to the 1980 set on gold vinyl.
The track listing and running order is noticeably different from the cd version taking its cue from side length limits to maximize the number of tracks included.
An array of "New Romantic" hits from the likes of Japan, Ultravox, Simple Minds and Culture Club put in appearance while Soul is well represented by the likes of Lionel Richie, Kool & The Gang, the much missed Donna Summer, Jeffery Osbourne with his Stay With Me Tonight and Shalamar's Friends.
Rock is represented by Iron Maiden's Run To The Hills from their Number Of The Beast album, The Jam and U2.
Shortly after this set appeared to pre-order, we were surprised to see another package connected this batch of releases.
The Extra volumes in the cd series had proven popular for expanding upon the main release but one irritant to some was that there was no lp equivalent something this packaged of five lps in a slim box attempts to put right with a single year per coloured vinyl disc per year.
Unlike any vinyl issue in this series, each individual lp has its own sleeve and for the first time the short "background capsule" that was always a feature of the original NOW albums and in the book edition of the cds was reproduced.
Although this set was per disc more expensive than the previous Yearbooks, I got it as while I had the 80's NOW and HITS, the 1982 disc builds on my original Ronco albums while the 1983 set covers tracks that for licensing reasons were not on the first NOW lp and didn't make the first HITS either.
It dovetails into my vinyl edition sets for 1980, 81 and 82 very well so all in spotted at a 20% discount the set made sense to pick up.
1980: The stellar track list kicks off with Blondie’s No. 1 ‘Call Me’, before a line-up including Madness, Kate Bush, Roxy Music, and Siouxsie And The Banshees. Classic Rock from Motörhead and Judas Priest, Soulful Disco from Diana Ross and Donna Summer, and a perennial Christmas favourite from Jona Lewie are all featured.
1981: Side A reflects the explosion of artists enjoying their huge early hits in this incredible year for Pop; Adam & The Ants, Toyah, Kim Wilde, The Human League, and Fun Boy Three are all included – and on the flip side, The Police open an equally dynamic listing featuring Pretenders, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Gary Numan, and closes with the Pop gem ‘Wired For Sound’ from Cliff Richard.
1982: Duran Duran, Haircut 100, Soft Cell, Japan, ABC, The Clash, and The Jam represent some of the greatest artists of all-time, as well as the era – plus pure pop heaven from Bucks Fizz, Tight Fit and Dollar.
1983: Opening with Wham! and featuring a run of huge hits from ‘83’s contemporary chart stars Spandau Ballet, Bananarama, Paul Young, Culture Club, The Cure and Tears For Fears – plus global smashes from long-established chart legends Elton John, Billy Joel, Robert Plant and ‘Say Say Say’, the collaboration between Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson.
1984: An amazing year for pop is reflected here with a line-up that kicks off with Queen’s iconic ‘Radio Ga Ga’ and finishes with the biggest selling single of the decade, ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ from Band Aid. Between these are massive hits from Lionel Richie, Rufus And Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, Alison Moyet, Howard Jones and Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
The unanswered question from this deluxe extra edition is will they be planning vinyl Extra editions for subsequent years and what are they going to do for other Extras issued on cd such as the 1979 and upcoming 1985 ones?
No comments:
Post a Comment