something of an unexpected purchase, to be sure. yes, indeed, look you see, this is all showing off something what i bought, then. but you never know, it might be interesting to someone out there.
whilst i was aware of the fact that the popular compilation album series Now That's What I Call Music was heading to a landmark release of 100 volumes proper (there have been many non-numbered Now releases, meaning that the actual 100 mark was passed some time ago), i was not at all sure what they would be doing to celebrate this release. as it turned out, re-releasing the first volume on CD was what they elected to do.
since the price of this was most splendid, and volume 100 in itself looked like a poor purchase, yes i bought it, because why not.
blimey, 35 years old, now. and no, not the first time on CD for this set. i am led to believe this first ever Now compilation has been on CD before, at least twice, for certain anniversary years. but i have not seen it on sale. certainly not for £8.
indeed, it is not my favourite set of the Now series. my memories seem to sugget volume 4 was my all time favourite, followed by 6. and maybe 8. also, 3, just to break up the even side. but, with none of them currently being out on CD, i could only purchase this one, for it was all that was to be had, except the terrible looking 100. perhaps if we are fortunate they shall release the other earlier volumes on CD. and if they do that at the £8 price i paid for this one, well then so much the better.
an interesting aspect of this is the English / wider UK fascination celebrating all things decimal or centurion. whereas we are the last bastions for proper imperial measurements, every now and then we do rather like to make a nod to our Roman infused past by celebrating a 10 or 100. i suppose if you can pick and choose parts of heritage to celebrate, why would you not.
no, i wasn't tempted by the vinyl re-issue of Now That's What I Call Music, simply as i have it. my Dad bought it when it came out back in, what, 1983 (35 years, blimey), and it's safely sat here.
also, no, i am not going to do the tosser, precious thing of bad mouthing the later releases of Now, in particular 100. but it does reflect the sorry mess of the "singles" chart that volume 100 can take up just one CD, with the 2nd disc being an alleged "best of" volumes 1 - 99. we live in a time when a song can be number one as a "single" for several weeks/months without so much as one copy of the song being paid for, since it is all calculated on "streaming" and what have you. back then, people had to actually go and buy the record for it to chart.
the quality of music today, in terms of volume 100, compared to the first volume, is all for the ears of the beholder. whereas i doubt the names on disc one of 100 will remain household names 35 years from now, though, most on the first volume are. but, the honest answer is that the best ever music in the world is always going to be the music you grew up listening to. and that is how it should be.
something of a nice touch is that the booklet with the CD more or less replicates what was on the vinyl, so far as i can remember. i would have to dig it out to check, i suppose.
percentages? sure. not all labels rushed to allow their artists and songs to feature on this first compilation, for they did not see the knock on sales effect. so, you get some artists appearing more than once. if i have done my maths correctly, 1 track on this Now That's What I Call Music set equates to 3.33% of the album. with this as a frame of reference, highlights include (either alone or part of a band) -
Limahl - 9.99%
Phil Collins - 6.66%
Tina Turner - 3.33%
Australians - 3.33%
Culture Club - 6.66%
Bands Named After Characters in Barbarella - 3.33%
Non-Tubular Bells Mike Oldfield - 3.33%
and so on.
my biggest gripe with this release is pictured above. look, if you will, at track 14 on CD Two above. standards have slipped. for some reason the 2nd appearance of Culture Club is missing the all capital letters of the band name which the other 29 have. not sure how that can slip and slide past the design proof checks, but apparently it did.
everything about the tracklisting for the "best of" disc on Now That's What I Call Music 100 says less "best of 35 years", more "the cheapest songs from that time to licence". for some reason the 80s are represented by all of three songs, and even then ones by UB40, Bon Jovi and Phil Collins. i am unsure if those three are the wisest or best choices to represent an era, but as i said they were undoubtedly the cheapest to licence.
actually the percentage of Australians might be higher. i could only spot Men At Work on the tracklisting, but for all i know 1983 Simple Minds might have had an Australian in the band. also, if Limahl applied for Australian citizenship then they would probably give it to him, because of his hair.
right, well, let me go and have a listen to this, then, again, probably for the first time in 30 or so years.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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