I reckon the reason why they’re releasing NOW 114 after Easter is because they don’t wanna release it before NOW Yearbook Extra 1986 and releasing it on the usual date would mean for them to release NOW Yearbook Extra 1986 on 24th March which is too soon after the main yearbook to release it. 114 will be the third spring NOW to be released after Easter

Edited March 16, 20232 yr by Hadji

Yeah, on Disc 1 I'd have lead with Raye then PinkPantheress, and pushed Lewis and P!nk down to tracks 6 and 7, then on Disc 2 I'd have just swapped the positions of Sam Smith and venbee x goddard, but I guess they felt they wanted a big name to lead each disc.

 

The sequencing is completely bizarre but they've done a good job getting all of the big hits. Miley is probably too expensive to license atm and Taylor and Rihanna never give Now their songs anymore. It's probably too early for Calvin and Ellie as that will have long chart legs as the weather warms up.

Still confused why Out of Nowhere was omitted.

Still confused why Out of Nowhere was omitted.

Well Bugzy Malone has never featured before, even with his past Top 40 hits, so it was always an outside chance that would change now. But it was his best chance to given it is his best peaking single released to date.

To be honest I think the Radio 2/adult/collectors market would be more excited about Lewis Capaldi and Pink appearing than they would be Raye and SZA, so it's probably quite right these lead the album. Plus Pink has been around for a while from a Number 1 album and a top radio airplay hit.

 

It's obvious they've had problems getting the rights to the likes of Miley Cyrus, Harry Styles, Rihanna. Whether these are financial or just the record labels, who knows.

 

I do also wonder if it's the adult market they are now targeting whether it would be worth the first half of Discs 1&2 (say 10-12 tracks) to be the big hits followed by the Radio 2 throwaway fodder at the end of disc 1 with the more edgy dance/rap/grime at the back of disc 2. I can't see how anyone who wants to get to listen to Simply Red, Noel Gallagher, Shania etc will manage to get through Sub Focus, Skrillex etc... to get to them without shutting it off. Yes, there's the skip option, but surely the want people to get the most out of the album, enjoy it and to keep coming back to listening to it in order for them to keep new editions selling. Just common sense surely?

Well Bugzy Malone has never featured before, even with his past Top 40 hits, so it was always an outside chance that would change now. But it was his best chance to given it is his best peaking single released to date.

Yeah, I knew he hasn't been featured before.

Just checked - P!nk will have appeared 21 times with the release of NOW 114! Considering nothing from her first 3 studio albums never made a numbered NOW, she's certainly catching up.

 

64: Who Knew

65: U + Ur Hand

71: So What

72: Sober

73: Please Don't Leave Me

78: Perfect

83: Blow Me (One Last Kiss)

84: Just Give Me a Reason (feat. Nate Ruess)

84: Try

85: True Love (feat. Lily Allen)

94: Just Like Fire

98: What About Us

99: Beautiful Trauma

102: Walk Me Home

103: Can We Pretend (feat. Cash Cash)

107: One Too Many (Keith Urban & P!nk)

108: Cover Me In Sunshine (feat. Willow Sage Hart)

109: Anywhere Away From Here Rag'n'Bone Man & P!nk)

109: All I Know So Far

113: Irrelevant

114: Never Gonna Not Dance Again

 

Shania Twain hasn't appeared on a NOW since 46 in 2000, and Simply Red haven't been since NOW 33 in 1996.

 

I love that Chvrches, Years & Years, Jessie Ware, Adam Lambert, and Paramore all feature as well! Plus Lady Gaga, Lizzo, Jonas Brothers, and Meghan Trainor are my faves. The only glaring omission is obviously Miley. But she might be on 115 once Flowers drops from the Top Spot. Either that or she's pulling a Harry Styles.

It looks like NOW 16 could be the next re-issue to have no removals as "Mystify" will definitely be removed from the NOW 15 re-issue

It's obvious they've had problems getting the rights to the likes of Miley Cyrus, Harry Styles, Rihanna. Whether these are financial or just the record labels, who knows.

 

I do also wonder if it's the adult market they are now targeting whether it would be worth the first half of Discs 1&2 (say 10-12 tracks) to be the big hits followed by the Radio 2 throwaway fodder at the end of disc 1 with the more edgy dance/rap/grime at the back of disc 2. I can't see how anyone who wants to get to listen to Simply Red, Noel Gallagher, Shania etc will manage to get through Sub Focus, Skrillex etc... to get to them without shutting it off. Yes, there's the skip option, but surely the want people to get the most out of the album, enjoy it and to keep coming back to listening to it in order for them to keep new editions selling. Just common sense surely?

On the first point you made, yeah I think it is definitely not financially viable anymore for them to put their licensing budget behind a global #1 hit be that an Ed Sheeran 10-weeker, a Harry Styles platinum seller or Miley’s current #1 which is still doing well, so why put an end to that by figuratively telling all Now collectors to stop purchasing/streaming her single as it’s on their upcoming compilation. I mean it’s a messy system to work in now, and it truly does shunt the overall value of the featured content and therefore in my own opinion doesn’t warrant labelling every album as "The Best Of The Best" as that simply will never be the case.

 

Don’t forget that the majority of adult/contemporary audiences targeted are fully aware of what songs are doing well in the charts and they will also demand better peaking songs to be on the volumes each time, otherwise the glaring omissions overshadow anything else that is featured each time.

Surprising that this is the first appearance for Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds!

 

And ahh I see it is just 'Did you know that there's a tunnel under Ocean Blvd' included instead, I guess 'A&W' was a little too out there for Now despite being a bigger hit. Still a great song as well anyway. And nice at CHVRCHES and Paramore sneaking onto the end of disc 2 as well.

Omissions;

 

Miley Cyrus – Flowers

Taylor Swift – Anti-Hero

Calvin Harris feat. Ellie Goulding – Miracle

Sigala, Mae Muller, Caity Baser & Stefflon Don – Feels This Good

P!nk – Trustfall

Rihanna – Lift Me Up

Freya Ridings – Weekends

Zara Larsson – Can't Tame Her

Bugzy Malone & TeeDee – Out Of Nowhere

Anne-Marie – SAD B!TCH

Rita Ora – You Only Love Me

Wet Leg – Chaise Longue

The 1975 – About You

Sam Fender – Wild Grey Ocean

Stephen Sanchez – Until I Found You

JVKE – Golden Hour

Avril Lavigne with YUNGBLUD – I'm A Mess

Sigala feat. MNEK – Radio

Nathan Dawe & Talia Mar – Sweet Lies

Luude & Issey Cross feat. Moby – Oh My

Becky Hill – Heaven

Sam Ryder – All The Way Over

George Ezra – Sweetest Human Being Alive

Olly Murs – I Hate You When You're Drunk

Selena Gomez – My Mind & Me

FLO – Losing You

 

I’m expecting some of those to appear on the next one.

Got to expect that there should be room made for Wet Leg after their Brits performance tonight. Also think there’s a case for Lizzo, Shania Twain and maybe, just maybe, a long overdue appearance by Harry Styles.

Nope, I was not right about this. I guess there is no "Brits effect" for these volumes anymore.

 

Also if you only had enough disc space for either Sugababes or S Club 7 which would you pick? :thinking:

Neither is the answer but that didn’t really surprise me, plus neither have pushed new music… yet.

 

Yeah P!nk is a staple of the Now series in recent years and they’ve included many of less much less commercial releases on their discs so they will no doubt include both of these.

 

It will be interesting (for me at least) to see which “Radio 2” artists they will go for this time. I genuinely think Shania Twain will feature, and maybe Freya Ridings, Olly Murs, Sugababes and really hoping for Wet Leg after their Brits performance and awards collected!

Well I got one thing right about Shania Twain, but not for double P!nk, in fact, it appears that for the first time in quite a while actually there are no double appearances at all on this volume.

 

Well maybe they should start releasing the numbered editions on vinyl to help with their declining sales and I hope they don’t knock it down to two a year like they did in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990 and 1991. They could switch to the American format and release four single disc editions a year but that’s the equivalent of two UK releases a year

 

 

When they did knock it down to 2 in 1990 and 1991, the November editions were much stronger.

When they did knock it down to 2 in 1990 and 1991, the November editions were much stronger.

And 1987. NOW 10 had the strongest sales out of 10, 18 and 20 despite 10 also had competition from Hits 7, another compilation

Now, that’s what I call Eurovision song contest, 2023 date to be confirmed

 

https://imgur.com/RLfSuTj

Makes sense to capitalise on the UK hosting, even though it was only a couple of years ago the first volume came back. Hopefully lots of different tracks on here to the last, beyond just the inevitable addition of Space Man.

I hope they include Mae Muller on there for two reasons: one because she’s representing the UK this year and two, it will indicate that the song will appear on NOW 115 in July and if they intend on including Måneskin, they should include Zitti E Buoni instead of I Wanna Be Your Slave

Edited March 20, 20232 yr by Hadji

I can't see them including I Wanna Be Your Slave, unless they do a bonus disc like Eurovision artists with other hits, with Celine Dion, ABBA, Måneskin, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Lulu etc, which wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea, like they had the extra winter hits disc on Now Christmas.

If they intend on including Måneskin, it would make sense for them to include Zitti E Buoni as that is the song they sang when they represented Eurovision. I hope they include Love City Groove, Precious and Nicki French etc and I reckon they’ll release it on either 28th April or 5th May

Edited March 20, 20232 yr by Hadji

I wonder what the additional disc of songs will include. Hope Precious get included. Such a bop!

I wonder what the additional disc of songs will include. Hope Precious get included. Such a bop!

Same. Say It Again hasn’t been on a compilation since NOW 43. I wonder if they’ll include Jemini from 2003