every now and then - not often, look you see - a memory comes back which feels like a completed circle. something takes you back to such vivid recollection that you can say yes, it is accomplished, it is done, should it all end now, then with this i go if not freely or without resistance then very much at peace.
it may seem ridiculous to speak so in respect of "just" a compilation of songs, in particular one which (as we shall see as we go, if you read on) was not particularly loved or cared for, but each and every one of us sees things in variations of ways. for me, music has always been it.
yes, then, this is my post on the first proper release of Now That's What I Call Music 4 on CD. indeed, fact fans, pedantic types and those with an eye for details, indeed a version of it was released on CD at the time, albeit a much shorter version than what you got on lp or tape. and so badly did it do that CD issues of the series stopped again for a little while.
this set got hammered, caned, spannered, battered, or however you want to say it. well, tape one did, in my walkman. for me it was an absolutely perfect pick of songs, despite absolutely none of my "major" favourites at the age of 11 and 12 featured. not sure why tape two (which is now CD 2) didn't get much play. actually, i can't ever remember seeing it, perhaps it just went missing or something.
let it not be said that it wasn't just any of "my" major favourites absent from Now That's What I Call Music 4. to show how insanely good a year for music 1984 was, well, this set showcases some incredible songs, yet excludes arguably the three biggest bands of the year - Frankie Goes To Hollywood, whom spent 30% of 1984 at number one in the chart, Duran Duran and Wham.
popping in CD 1 and pressing play was to indulge in sheer bliss. if you are of a similar age to me, give it north or south a couple of years, then you may well have similar memories. or perhaps i am truly all alone here. the track listing is below, and way down below in non-Commodore 64 mode.
what exactly makes this all so good? i am unsure that i can give a qualified answer, for clearly my nostalgia is in overdrive. basically - and this is all just CD 1, which was once tape one - it's fifteen excellent songs, all put together with a wonderful flow, plus the comical folly that is The War Song by Culture Club. that, one can only assume, was included either for a laugh or contractual obligation reasons.
much delight is to be had in the fact that Now That's What I Call Music 4 as a 2019 CD set is exactly how Now That's What I Call Music 4 sounded as a tape or lp in 1984. up to now the welcome release of these sets on CD have been dogged with needless controversies - missing tracks and the wrong mixes or versions being used have marred the experience. forth time lucky, then.
but of course, them what do the Now series would get it spot on correct with the one volume (at least in respect of the 80s) that was the least popular. so ludicrously rich with music was 1984 that this set does not feature many - if any - number ones on it at all. sure, quite a few of the songs on this set have come to be regarded as the classics they are, but at the time what you find on this set are the "nearly big hits" of the year.
many thanks indeed to them what take the time and trouble to do all that Wikipedia stuff. the below is off their web thing, and gives a nice for those who like such things look at just how poorly Now 4 sold in comparison to the other 9 volumes of the first 10 of the series.
at the risk of sounding like an apologist, there are of course reasons for the fall off of sales, with few of them being related to the compilation in itself. for a start, there was a finite budget for music at the time, and Frankie Goes To Hollywood had only just released Welcome To The Pleasuredome. it sold big, that. people forget, but at the time it was estimated that one in four households had purchased the record. also, a certain thing called Do They Know It's Christmas? was released as a 7". for the first time ever, people felt they could genuinely change the world (for the better) via music, and so multiple purchases were made. yes, also a set called The Hits Album came out at the same time. mostly it was crap in comparison, but it did have Jump by (proper) Van Halen on it.
listening to the discs, and looking at the tracklisting, i suppose if nothing else Now That's What I Call Music 4 for the general listener showcases something of an extraordinary phenomenon that feels (possibly incorrectly) decidedly 80s. That is big name (or reasonably close) artists doing one off songs for films that are not a Bond theme. five of them exist on this set.
for those that want them highlighting, you've got a what i believe is unique to this set version of the ace No More Lonely Nights by (now Sir) Paul McCartney from the hideously bad film Give My Regards To Broad Street. straight after that you get what must be the totes biggest case ever of a song outliving the film in the form of Together In Electric Dreams. although i liked the film. then you get Limahl doing Never Ending Story (guess the film) too. over on disc (tape) two you get Ray Parker jnr doing Ghostbusters, as well as the magnificent Sexcrime from 1984 by the Eurthymics. in respect of the latter, i really, really wanted the 12" single, but that featured the name of the song in massive letters. too late now, i suppose, but 11 year old me felt kind of awkward about taking that up to the counter at HMV.
buried away on tape two is a song called Pride by someone called U2. walking back in my mind to 1984, this was probably the first time i was aware of hearing the band. being 11, in England, under a Thatcher government and a dominant right wing press, all i was reasonably aware of about Ireland was that they were quite cross with England and some gang called the IRA kept bombing people. i was oblivious to any reason at all as to why they would do this. with this in mind, it was just the case that when Pride came on i heard a very angry Irish bloke shouting about love and shooting someone, so tuned out. the very next year i was baffled as to why that band were on the Live Aid stage, but then two years later they released an album which made everything make sense, and indeed made them the biggest band in the world.
any other highlights? just about everything except the rancid Culture Club song. my all time favourite tunes by Thompson Twins and OMD are right there, a classic Style Council tune, a throwaway catchy number by (now Sir) Elton John, the melancholy guilty pleasure of Missing You, the banging Repsect Yourself off of Kane Gang, a fun Feargal Sharkey number, some toe tapping happiness off of Status Quo, class tune from Rockwell and a bearable song by UB40. and all of that without mentioning an all time great just happening to be there, Lionel Richie's Hello.
indeed, yes, i have purchased all of the reissued Now That's What I Call Music sets in CD format. to be perfectly honest, 1, 2 and 3 were bought mostly in the hope that it would encourage them to continue, so that i may have been able to hear 4 again. but, if they release the rest, i shall buy. from what i remember 6 was a very close second favourite of mine. also, 5 has things like View To A Kill on it, which you can never have too many copies of
well, what more can i say. buy this set, i suppose, if you were there in 84 or were not. doesn't matter, it is timeless quality music (mostly). although one has to live in the here and the now - it's not where you're from it's where you're at - having the mind take a wander, or a stroll, to a particularly happy time and place in the heart is no bad thing. which is precisely what this CD set did for me.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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