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Adverts DetailsReleased: 10th December 1983 (12th January 2009 on CD)

Origin: United Kingdom

Label: Virgin / EMI

Format: Vinyl / Double Cassette / Video / CD

Duration: 01:49:00 (109 Minutes)

Tracks: 30

Number 1 Singles: 11

Chart Peak: #1 (5 weeks)

Sales: 900,000 (3x Platinum)

Tracklisting1. Phil Collins – You Can't Hurry Love* 2:52 {1}

2. Duran Duran – Is There Something I Should Know?* 4:09 {1}

3. UB40 – Red Red Wine* 3:01 {1}

4. Limahl – Only For Love 3:55 {16}

5. Heaven 17 – Temptation* 3:12 {2}

6. KC & The Sunshine Band – Give It Up* 4:15 {1}

7. Malcolm McClaren – Double Dutch 3:42 {3}

8. Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse Of The Heart* 4:29 {1}

9. Culture Club – Karma Chameleon* 3:56 {1}

10. Men Without Hats – Safety Dance 2:50 {6}

11. Kajagoogoo – Too Shy* 3:45 {1}

12. Mike Oldfield – Moonlight Shadow* 3:38 {4}

13. Men At Work – Down Under* 3:35 {1}

14. Rock Steady Crew – (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew 3:50 {6}

15. Rod Stewart – Baby Jane 4:45 {1}

16. Paul Young – Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)* 4:09 {1}

17. New Edition – Candy Girl* 3:35 {1}

18. Kajagoogoo – Big Apple 4:11 {8}

19. Tina Turner – Let's Stay Together* 3:35 {6}

20. Human League – (Keep Feeling) Fascination* 3:50 {2}

21. Howard Jones – New Song* 4:20 {3}

22. UB40 – Please Don't Make Me Cry 3:25 {10}

23. Peabo Bryson & Roberta Flack – Tonight I Celebrate My Love* 3:30 {2}

24. Tracey Ullman – They Don't Know* 3:00 {2}

25. Will Powers – Kissing With Confidence 4:00 {17}

26. Genesis – That's All 4:25 {16}

27. The Cure – The Lovecats* 3:40 {7}

28. Simple Minds – Waterfront* 4:45 {13}

29. Madness – The Sun And The Rain 3:30 {5}

30. Culture Club – Victims* 4:55 {3}

 

Key

Tracks highlighted red were official UK #1’s.

Tracks with an asterisk (*) next to their title have also been included in special spin-off releases from the series.

The track duration has been highlighted cyan.

Bracketed numbers refer to the UK chart peak reached.

Miscellaneous FactsTrack Most Weeks At #1: Culture Club – Karma Chameleon (6 Weeks)

Lowest Charting Track: Will Powers – Kissing With Confidence {17}

Longest Song: Culture Club – Victims 4:55

Shortest Song: Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance 2:50

Edited Tracks: Unknown

Unedited Tracks: Unknown

Inlay Mistakes: None

Other Facts: N/A

On This Day In History28th November 1983 – There was another Ronnie Lane benefit concert, this time in Dallas, Texas similar to the previous one in London. (Facts c/o Rock and Pop Timeline. Surrey: Merchant Book Company, 2003.)

12th January 2009 – Slumdog Millionaire, the Mumbai-based movie, scoops four Golden Globe awards.

Other ResourcesOfficial Now Music Website

Wikipedia

TV Cream

Everyhit

Edited May 6, 20187 yr by awardinary

Andrew's ReviewWho would have thought that this would be the album to kick-start a compilation series which would later go on to produce the greatest compilations ever!

Like many others on the forum, I was not around to witness the release of the early compilations but at least I still get to listen to them some 30+ years later.

Now That's What I Call Music or Now as it was also known was really a spin-off compilation in itself. This compilation mixed various songs from 1983 and managed to include 11 number ones from that year out of 17! Some artists had the pleasure of having 2 of their songs included such as Culture Club, UB40 & Kajagoogoo which today might be considered a rarity.

It was unknown to the people at EMI how many copies Now That's What I Call Music would sell and how popular it could become, and there wasn't really any other competition in the music market. So this was a risk and there may not have been plans for a sequel, but with its success, EMI has no plans to stop there and some months later released a sequel to be titled Now II.

According to Wikipedia, Now That's What I Call Music became one of the biggest albums of the year and it became one of only a few compilation albums to reach #1 on the UK album chart, staying there for four consecutive weeks and five in all.

As for the music on the compilation, I am impressed with the variety of music to listen to from Duran Duran to Bonnie Tyler, from Phil Collins to Rod Stewart, from New Edition to UB40 – there is something for everyone to enjoy.

1983 produced some fine music which can be summed up with this one compilation, and it is still a popular listen all these years later.

I was thrilled in 2009 to receive my own personal copy of this volume when it was released for the very first time on CD! :)

My personal assessment is that Now That's What I Call Music is a great album, and I have given it the following ratings;

 

Artwork Rating: 6/10 Good

Vibrant, and good use of artist images within the big lettering. Very 80's themed.

 

Side 1 Favourite: Phil Collins – You Can't Hurry Love

Side 2 Favourite: Paul Young – Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)

Side 3 Favourite: Human League – Fascination

Side 4 Favourite: The Cure – Lovecats

 

Overall Rating: 8/10 Extremely Good

A great collection of hits, and a good foundation to build on for the future. Sums up the year for me in total.

 

Andrew's Top 5 (as of August 2016)

1. Phil Collins – You Can't Hurry Love

2. Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse Of The Heart

3. Duran Duran – Is There Something I Should Know

4. UB40 – Red Red Wine

5. Paul Young – Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)

 

Andrew's Bottom 5 (as of August 2016)

1. Will Powers – Kissing With Confidence

2. UB40 – Please Don't Make Me Cry

3. Culture Club – Victims

4. Rod Stewart – Baby Jane

5. Genesis – That's All

 

Well done EMI.

Edited August 10, 20168 yr by awardinary

Just noticed this moved here! Great to see this underway :D

 

Anyway my perceptions of this edition:

 

So this was where it all began! Little did they know at the time just how much of a mammoth this series would turn out to be. Can't imagine under any circumstance they'd think it'd still be as successful as it is now approaching a 100th edition.

 

I not familiar with most of the 80s, my knowledge of music picks up in the mid 90s & then considerably more late 90s/early 00s but there are clearly some classics on this edition - 11 #1s out of 30 tracks speaks for itself.

 

Artwork Rating:

Well these look totally different to the standard themes nowadays but good to see actually pictures of the artists. Good how they superimpose them across the album title. A solid 7/10 for me.

 

Side 1 Favourite:

Phil Collins - You Can't Hurry Love: By MILES - one of my all time faves of the 80s & much prefer it to the original. I loved a lot of his tracks with & without Genesis and this so feelgood & upbeat. Red Red Wine a very close 2nd though!

 

Side 2 Favourite:

Culture Club - Karma Chameleon: Close one to call here as I'm a big fan of half of this side. Fab to see both Men At Work & Men Without Hats on the same tape! Too Shy is a bit of a tune too but Karma Chameleon is one those classic tracks.

 

Side 3 Favourite:

UB40 – Please Don't Make Me Cry: Not actually familiar with most of these songs, but generally speaking I like UB40's discography & this is another good listen whenever I'm plundering through their Greatest Hits.

 

Side 4 Favourite:

Genesis – That's All: Again a good number here I don't recognise but Genesis were definitely one of my fave bands of that decade so gone for them here.

 

Overall Rating:

I'd say overall I'd give this a 7/10. Too many songs I'm not familiar with & although there are some great standouts this edition doesn't represent the best period of the 80s for me.

Edited August 10, 20168 yr by Ðøßßø

That's a great review Dobbo! :D

 

This is where the moderators are permitting these reviews to happen, so let's hope we get some more people on board soon!

 

EDIT: I've just given my review a quick edit to to follow the good standard you set.

Edited August 10, 20168 yr by awardinary

I won't be able to comment properly until later editions but what a fantastic write-up nonetheless!

 

(If your reviews go somewhat unnoticed here you may have better luck in the Retro forum, at least for the older Now albums. We'll see how it goes and let us know what you think :D)

Thanks for your input Riser. :)

 

Hopefully some more response as newer volumes surface.

Hey there awardinary! Sorry I'm a bit late to this but I didn't know it had started so thanks for alerting me in the Now Subforum request thread! :lol:

 

I enjoyed reading your review (and yours too Dobbo!) and I absolutely love all of the information you have put in the OP! Going to be fun to watch all the adverts back and read the stats.

 

Anyway, this first edition of the Now! series actually came out 13 years before I was born! :blush: So I cannot comment on how I enjoyed it at the time or anything. HOWEVER, for my 17th birthday I got a record player and the first 10 Now albums on vinyl so I have listened to this one quite a few times!

 

Artwork rating - 8/10: VERY 80s in design! I really like how they have incorporated the artists' faces into the text. Not a huge fan of the white text with the artists' names which looks a bit cluttered - that docks it a couple of marks.

 

Side 1 favourite - KC & The Sunshine Band - Give It Up: This was one of those songs that I knew but never realised who it was by! A bit of a poor side compared to side 2 but this one stands out to me as being quite a cool and fun singalong song.

 

Side 2 favourite - Mike Oldfield - Moonlight Shadow: This side is very strong ('Karma Chameleon' and 'Safety Dance' are amazing too!) but 'Moonlight Shadow' is my favourite song of the 80s so I had to go with that! Mike Oldfield in general is a genius but this song stands out to me as being hauntingly beautiful. Excellent instrumentation and vocals.

 

Side 3 favourite - New Edition - Candy Girl: I used to find this song SO annoying (probably due to the kid vox) but it wormed its way into my affections I guess. Kinda sweet.

 

Side 4 favourite - Tracy Ullman - They Don't Know: The second strongest side for me after side 2. It was between this and 'Lovecats' but this one pipped it in the end. It's just an extremely cute song! The wedding bell-esque production in particular stands out for me.

 

Overall rating - 8/10: Both the content and cover are an 8/10 to me! 'Moonlight Shadow' alone makes this an edition to go back to, but it's generally a strong way to debut the series with lots of enjoyable big hits. Side 2 is brilliant. Some filler and stuff I'm less keen on (Bonnie Tyler's screeching *shudders*) but overall one I think of fondly.

Great quality review Jade, and some fine song choices. :)

Hey There Awardinary, I Just got alered about this thread really good idea!

 

I enjoyed reading your review and the others. Weird to think this is where it all started :lol: I loved reading the little facts good read

 

Artwork rating: 9/10 Really like it not as much as some but was a good one to start of which I just wish they got rid of that red ribbon type of thing :lol:

Side 1 Favourite: Phil Collins - You Can't Hurry Love. Such a feel good classic, cant help but move your fave :wub:

Side 2 Favourite: Culture Club - Karma Chameleon. This would be like third fave 80's song :heart:

Side 3 Favourite: UB40 - Please Don't Make Me Cry. Don't actually know this song well but UB40 :heart:

Side 4 Favourite: Madness - The Sun And The Rain. Such a huge Madness Fan so made common sense :wub:

Overall Rating: 7/10. Not the best start but we all have to start somewhere.

This is a great idea and I'll be reading these! Maybe we should do some plug.dj listenthroughs of these as well, a lot of these songs I'm not familiar with but some good'uns too.

 

Artwork: 6/10 - not a fan of the artists names and images being on the covers, the new style ones are better. It's done quite well though.

Side 1: KC & The Sunshine Band - Give It Up: Great upbeat song. Bonnie Tyler is great too

Side 2: Mike Oldfield - Moonlight Shadow: Also the best song of the whole volume

Side 3: I don't actually know any of these songs, I'll vote Human League though because I like 'Don't You Want Me'.

Side 4: Genesis - That's All: not brilliant but the best of what I know here.

Overall: 6/10 - quite a bit of filler but some good songs here also.

Brilliant idea Dan! I'd totally be up for doing this.

I'm not too sure what that is danG but if it draws in more members then definitely lets do it.

 

Either show me what to do or I'm happy to let you do this yourself if you know how. :)

 

Thanks for your continued support with this project guys!

I would so be here for accompanying plug sessions for this! Some of the earlier editions I'll be a little rusty with so it would be helpful.

 

(Awardinary, plug.dj is a website where people take a turn in DJing songs (using YouTube/Soundcloud) and we can all comment at the same time as there is a chat feature. If one person controls the room and locks the waitlist then they would be able to play all of the songs back to back that they wanted to - meaning we could watch all the music videos from one of these albums from start to finish together.)

Well that does sound like a fab idea, only possibly issue I could foresee is the fast turnaround of reviews as I aim to cover one Now volume per week in the rundown to Now 100 in 2018.

 

But by all means if yourself or Dan want to give it a go I would offer my full support to it! :)

How about I run a plug.dj session for this tomorrow night and I'll link people to this thread to give comments? (though there is of course the chat feature on the site as well)

Sounds good Dan, I'll certainly give it a go!

Tune in to listen to this volume Now!

 

https://plug.dj/now-thats-what-i-call-music

plug.dj listenthrough:

 

Title / Woots / Mehs / Grabs / Listeners

 

1. Phil Collins – You Can't Hurry Love* 2:52 {1} 6/0/0/6

2. Duran Duran – Is There Something I Should Know?* 4:09 {1} 5/1/0/6

3. UB40 – Red Red Wine* 3:01 {1} 7/0/0/7

4. Limahl – Only For Love 3:55 {16} 7/0/0/7

5. Heaven 17 – Temptation* 3:12 {2} 4/0/0/7

6. KC & The Sunshine Band – Give It Up* 4:15 {1} 7/0/1/7

7. Malcolm McClaren – Double Dutch 3:42 {3} 7/0/0/7

8. Bonnie Tyler – Total Eclipse Of The Heart* 4:29 {1} 8/0/0/8

9. Culture Club – Karma Chameleon* 3:56 {1} 6/0/2/8

10. Men Without Hats – Safety Dance 2:50 {6} 7/0/0/8

11. Kajagoogoo – Too Shy* 3:45 {1} 5/0/0/7

12. Mike Oldfield – Moonlight Shadow* 3:38 {4} 6/0/1/7

13. Men At Work – Down Under* 3:35 {1} 5/0/0/8

14. Rock Steady Crew – (Hey You) The Rock Steady Crew 3:50 {6} 6/0/1/8

15. Rod Stewart – Baby Jane 4:45 {1} 5/0/0/8

16. Paul Young – Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)* 4:09 {1} 6/0/0/9

17. New Edition – Candy Girl* 3:35 {1} 7/1/1/8

18. Kajagoogoo – Big Apple 4:11 {8} 5/0/0/7

19. Tina Turner – Let's Stay Together* 3:35 {6} 6/0/0/7

20. Human League – (Keep Feeling) Fascination* 3:50 {2} 6/0/1/7

21. Howard Jones – New Song* 4:20 {3} 5/0/0/7

22. UB40 – Please Don't Make Me Cry 3:25 {10} 4/0/0/7

23. Peabo Bryson & Roberta Flack – Tonight I Celebrate My Love* 3:30 {2} 3/0/0/7

24. Tracey Ullman – They Don't Know* 3:00 {2} 4/0/0/7

25. Will Powers – Kissing With Confidence 4:00 {17} 0/4/0/7

26. Genesis – That's All 4:25 {16} 6/0/0/6

27. The Cure – The Lovecats* 3:40 {7} 7/0/0/6

28. Simple Minds – Waterfront* 4:45 {13} 5/0/0/6

29. Madness – The Sun And The Rain 3:30 {5} 4/0/0/7

30. Culture Club – Victims* 4:55 {3} 3/1/0/5

Lovecats getting that deserved 117% rating on Plug *.*

 

I think it got more woots than listeners as someone wooted and then left before the song ended.