You are literally never happy and it's so bloody tiresome.

 

Have you already worked out the run time of the CDs then? This is a standard number of tracks. 118 had 47 songs and 117 even had 50 but the tracks were very short in run time which allowed for the increased length but even if there was room, you shouldn't just expect extra tracks to be chucked on for the sake of the quality of the CD. Looking at the tracklist, this is a solid set of songs making do with what has been a pretty stagnant time in the charts and they've picked the best of the bunch. I'm not going to investigate the run time of every single track but at face value it doesn't seem like many of them are below 3 minutes anyway.

It seems the spring and summer editions have decent tracklists and the autumn editions have disastrous tracklists. If they wanted to fill it up with r2 artists, then they could’ve at least included Oasis and Bruce Springsteen

Edited October 17, 2024Oct 17 by Hadji

Back in the day when songs were long then yeah but not now when those gaps could easily be filled

At a greater expense though. I imagine songs are a similar cost to license whether they’re 2:30 or 4:00.

Here's a playlist of the songs;

 

 

As for the omissions, here's most of them with chart peaks;

 

Charli xcx feat. Billie Eilish – Guess {1}

Shaboozey – A Bar Song (Tipsy) {3}

Jimin – Who {4}

Gigi Perez – Sailor Song {6}

The Weeknd & Playboi Carti – Timeless {7}

Charli xcx – Apple {8}

Adam Port, Stryv Keinemusik, Orso & Malachiii – Move {11}

Mark Ambor – Belong Together {11}

*NSYNC – Bye Bye Bye {12}

KSI feat. Trippie Redd – Thick Of It {14}

Tate McRae – It's ok I'm ok {14}

Addison Rae – Diet Pepsi {15}

Ice Spice & Central Cee – Did It First {15}

Billie Eilish – WILDFLOWER {20}

Coldplay feat. Little Simz, Burna Boy, Elyanna & TINI – WE PRAY {20}

Charli xcx feat. Troye Sivan – Talk Talk {24}

Post Malone feat. Luke Combs – Guy For That {25}

Stray Kids – Chk Chk Boom {30}

Quavo & Lana Del Rey – Tough {32}

Central Cee – gen z luv {34}

Dominic Fike – misses {34}

Post Malone feat. Blake Shelton – Pour Me A Drink {34}

Alex Warren – Burning Down {35}

Gracie Abrams – Close To You {35}

Majestic, The Jammin Kid & Céline Dion – Set My Heart On Fire {39}

Benson Boone – Pretty Slowly {43}

Disclosure – She's Gone, Dance On {52}

Perrie – You Go Your Way {52}

Myles Smith – Wait For You {53}

Morgan Wallen – Lies Lies Lies {58}

Kylie Minogue, Bebe Rexha & Tove Lo – My Oh My {63}

CYRIL – Stumblin' In {68}

Alex Warren – Before You Leave Me {80}

Kesha – JOYRIDE {88}

 

The following omissions didn't chart;

 

Alok & Jess Glynne – Summer's Back {DNC}

Artemas – dirty little secret {DNC}

Beabadoobee – Beaches {DNC}

Becky Hill – Multiply {DNC}

Calum Scott – Roots {DNC}

Dasha – Didn't I {DNC}

Halsey – Lucky {DNC}

James Bay with The Limineers & Noah Kahan – Up All Night {DNC}

Jazzy – Make Up {DNC}

Jessie Ware x Romy – Lift You Up {DNC}

Mabel – Female Intuition {DNC}

Nathan Dawe feat. MNEK – Ten (Get Back Up) {DNC}

Rag'n'Bone Man – What Do You Believe In? {DNC}

Rita Ora – Ask & You Shall Receive {DNC}

Rizzle Kicks – Javelin {DNC}

Rudimental feat. Mystic Marley &. Flowdan – Ram Pam {DNC}

Sigala feat. Trevor Daniel & 24kGoldn – It's A Feeling {DNC}

Swedish House Mafia feat. Alicia Keys – Finally {DNC}

Tom Walker – Holy Ghost {DNC}

 

Bold songs could be included on the next volume if they are still in the charts after the Christmas clearout.

I just hope that the big hits that missed out all appear on Now 120 but they’ll be old by the time it’s released which will most likely be 25th April as they seem to now be releasing them after Easter and as for spring Nows, they should have a fixed release date of either last Friday in March or first Friday in April

Ok and now some initial thoughts on the latest release...

 

The artwork with a theme of crystals is quite striking due to the font colours used, it works very well and one of the better ones in recent times.

 

It was highly expected they would lead with Sabrina for the second volume in a row after her very successful 2024. Both her recent #1s being included was very likely to happen, and it did.

 

I always thought we were unlikely to get a double appearance from Chappell Roan due to Red Wine Supernova failing to make as much impact as her other tracks have, and I never thought that anything other than HOT TO GO! would get added.

 

One key detail to share is that now, as of this volume, Kylie Minogue is tied with Robbie Williams for the most appearances in the entire series, each appearing on 37 occasions as solo artists with credited singles and features. :o

 

The addition of Linkin Park for the very first time, and without their late singer Chester Bennington, was actually not as much a surprise as I tipped recently that it might be their first album to appear and it was. It also marks the first volume to feature music by JADE (as a solo artist), BL3SS, CamrinWatsin, Alex Warren, Andy C, Hanumankind and Jordan Adetunji.

 

The return of Chase & Status after previous omissions in 2023 for Baddadan, Liquor And Cigarettes and Selecta was not one I expected to see, but I guess the chart peak helped. I am also glad they were able to get songs from Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, The Blessed Madonna and The Killers too.

 

The last time Manic Street Preachers appeared in the series was on Now 67, from 2007, with Your Love Alone Is Not Enough, and this is only their second appearance.

 

From the omissions, we all agree Charli xcx was the biggest one, after her brat summer helped to revolutionise the music industry in 2024. The only song from the whole era of hits that made a Now album was 360 on Now 118, but so much more should have been included, at the least Apple. It was hopeful that Shaboozey & Mark Ambor (who were overlooked for Now 118) would get added this time, and stars like Addison Rae, Tate McRae and Benson Boone, but they were all overlooked. I would suspect one or two of the existing hits already mentioned at the most would get added to the next volume due in Spring 2025, but no more than that.

 

Overall, I think it is ok, the sequencing could have been a little tidier, but I will take that and move onto the next release.

Now 119 may be flooded with r2 artists but I hope Now 120 ends up flooded with the hits that missed Now 119

Now 119 may be flooded with r2 artists but I hope Now 120 ends up flooded with the hits that missed Now 119

Which hits do you think realistically would be considered for the next volume at this stage, based on how the charts are looking this week?

I’ve got a list of songs that have just entered the charts and missed Now 119 and could possibly appear on Now 120

 

Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club

Chappell Roan - Red Wine Supernova

Coldplay featuring Little Simz, Burna Boy, Elyanna & Tini - We Pray

Tate McRae - It’s OK I’m OK

Billie Eilish - Wildflower

Sabrina Carpenter - Bed Chem

KSI featuring Trippie Redd - Thick Of It

Charli XCX featuring Billie Eilish - Guess

Gigi Perez - Sailor Song

Addison Rae - Diet Pepsi

 

Mind you, some of these songs will be old by the time Now 120 is released if they do decide to release it on 25th April which in my opinion is too late for a spring Now

Edited October 17, 2024Oct 17 by Hadji

I'd suggest a lot of those will be long forgotten by then, and Red Wine Supernova has been kicking around in the charts for months now so it won't be considered unless it's actually pushed as a single and achieves a new peak, so we can assume Pink Pony Club will be the next pick.

 

Two more to add to the selection that are likely from today's new releases;

 

JADE – Fantasy

David Guetta, Alphaville and Ava Max – Forever Young

I'd suggest a lot of those will be long forgotten by then, and Red Wine Supernova has been kicking around in the charts for months now so it won't be considered unless it's actually pushed as a single and achieves a new peak, so we can assume Pink Pony Club will be the next pick.

 

Two more to add to the selection that are likely from today's new releases;

 

JADE – Fantasy

David Guetta, Alphaville and Ava Max – Forever Young

They won’t be forgotten if they’re still hanging around in the charts, especially at the start of the year once the Christmas rush clears out if they go to ACR during the Christmas rush and they could possibly gain new peaks in the new year. Another problem is the autumn Nows being released a bit early and the spring Nows being released too late

Edited October 18, 2024Oct 18 by Hadji

Some thoughts for me:

 

-This is my favourite artwork for the "new" font. The colour choices are striking, festive, and so colourful! Plus they managed to sneak the NOW Pig in there.

-Double Kylie! Amazed her label gave out "Lights Camera Action" instead of "My Oh My", but not complaining. I love that she's such a big staple of the NOWs in recent years.

-The lack of Charli was a surprise, but perhaps Atlantic/Charli's team held off for this one to focus on "Brat" finally going No. 1 in the album charts and focus on the Remix album. I'm sure at least one of her songs will be on 120.

-JADE!! My favourite song of 2024 is here!

-No Joyride, but I get it. Minor hit, independent artist, radio edit isn't the best.

-I knew Katy would be a filler track (I mean that in a nice way).

-Linkin' Park finally makes a NOW! Impressive.

-This is such a solid selection of tracks and I don't have many complaints in my opinion.

I’m surprised Lana Del Rey didn’t get included considering she’s a Now favourite and she was in the top 40 a few months ago and I hope Charli is on Now 120. She’s a Now regular which is why I’m surprised she ain’t on Now 119 and if they need fillers, they should focus on the 41-100 end of the singles chart and Oasis and Bruce Springsteen should’ve appeared and closed disc 1 and 2, respectively

Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Natasha Bedingfield aside, I don't think we will expect to see on Now volumes older tracks going viral again unless it's to reach a new peak or a new audience. That's probably why *NSYNC weren't included on this volume, along with Oasis and Bruce Springsteen as you said. I'd also not have expected Crowded House or Milli Vanilli to appear for the same reason.

 

Before, it was a less frequent occurrence (like Phil Collins who appeared on Now 68 with his 80s hit In The Air Tonight) but nowadays, in a streaming era heavily driven by viral TV shows, it's far more common to see a song get a reset when it starts to become popular again. That alone is no longer a valid reason for the Now team to feel "forced" to include such songs on their compilations. I agree with the logic too, I would rather newer and current hits than recycling older ones for disc space.

I’m not bothered about Milli Vanilli and Crowded House missing out as they’ve appeared before but as for Oasis and Bruce, they could’ve done with including the latter as DITD hasn’t appeared before and I’d have preferred if they included Oasis as long as it was a song of theirs that hasn’t been used yet such as Supersonic and so glad that the re-issues have stopped even though they should’ve stopped at 9, 10 or 16

Edited October 18, 2024Oct 18 by Hadji

Just a thought on some of the "Radio 2 artists" on Now 119...

 

Pet Shop Boys have appeared on all three volumes in 2024 which seems a little excessive when they have little to no chart impact. Once or twice I would understand but three occasions does seem excessive, and I wonder if it's part of a licensing agreement to allow for their older hits to be used for the Yearbook series perhaps.

 

Duran Duran with their second appearance in 12 months after appearing a year ago with BLACK MOONLIGHT with yet another song about the Moon. :lol:

 

Sting appeared on Now 110 with If It's Love but not since.

 

Michael Bublé seems to be a regular feature on Now volumes whenever he puts out new non-Christmas music, including last month with Jason Derulo.

 

Three interpolations were on this volume and two featured originally in the series;

 

Cutting Crew – I Just Died In Your Arms {Now 8, 1986}

Planet Funk – Chase The Sun {Now 48, 2001}

 

However, we did not get the original hit from Felix – Don't You Want Me in 1992.

They are the popular Radio 2 artists though. Everything has been on the A List in some capacity and the singles chart have nothing to do with their inclusion as has been mentioned many times before, they're album artists and also the artists that people grew up with when they were originally buying this compilation series. It's just about bringing current tracks from nostalgic artists into the fold.

I do think that if they need any fillers, they should focus more on the 41-100 region of the singles chart instead of using random r2 artists and it would be much better if they also focus on the r1xtra artists as there’s only 3 songs on the album which would normally get played on r1xtra and it seems that they’re deliberately overseeing the r1xtra artists on their albums

Edited October 19, 2024Oct 19 by Hadji

I’d rather have the random radio 2 artists. I love how many legacy acts have been included on this volume and, if anything, I’d prefer more of that.

 

Also it’s a hope of mine that Dido can snag a second appearance whenever she decides to put out a new album.

It's the same conversations every single time an album is announced about the chosen artists and songs 😮‍💨

Edited October 19, 2024Oct 19 by lewistgreen

The idea that Now! will flog more CDs to Tesco shoppers if they included the latest Skepta #74 hit instead of Buble or Snow Patrol