so, it has happened again. another re-release of an 80s Now That's What I Call Music has happened. in this instance it is a very nearly complete re-issue of volume 12 (twelve), look you see, with just the one song absent from the original release. and, it should be pointed out, this was released on compact disc, in full, at the time. so f*** knows what has happened to "licensing" and all that to corrupt this.
ostensibly this volume covers the "first half" of 1988. it was an era of conflicting emotions for me, with some strange days and decisions made which perhaps should not have been. but never mind that, that's my concern. for the casual pop fan, inexplicably coming here for information, a distinct overlap of events. i don't rightly now if this happened before or happens again, but as far as i can see the time periods of the previous volume, imaginatively titled 11, and this cross streams. well, i think so. eleven (11) covered a lot of the end of 87 and the first steps (couple of months) into 88, and yet here on 12 (twelve) we have a song or two from very early 88, certainly I Think We're Alone Now off of Tiffany. does it matter? perhaps not.
whatever memories or association i have with this time, and let's just say "the first six months of 88", i am not entirely convinced i recall these songs in context of those dates, and certainly i don't remember it all being so, well, bereft of outstanding stuff as this set suggests.
make no mistake, and be under no illusion. it is simply not so that Now 12 is a complete write off. i am not convinced, to play on words, that there are as many as 12 great songs on it, but when it's good on here it is really, really excellent.
for the particularly outstanding here, and in no order beyond how they come up on the tapes (discs), there's Everyday Is Like Sunday off of Morrissey, the brilliant Mary's Prayer off of Danny Wilson, I Want You Back off of Bananarama and Theme From S'Express by S'Express. beyond being a completist and a compulsive shopper, the latter was probably what secured purchase here, for i wasn't sure if i even had the single version of that tune on tape (disc) in the collection. somewhere i have a CD single but unsure if the "original" was contained. got it now, so matters not. oh, also Love Changes (Everything) off of Climie Fisher, which was, and is, a well decent pop song, nice one lads.
cover versions seem to be a trifle dominant on this set. the whole thing kicks off with Wet Wet Wet, or as some would say (not me) them twats Wet Wet Wet, with their charity single chart topping cover of With A Little Help From My Friends. strangely does not hold up as well as i remember from the time. oh, sure, yes, possibly better vocals than The Beatles original, but for me and the many i suspect the definitive take is the Joe Cocker one. elsewhere there's an, if we are honest, inspired take on Pink Cadillac by Natalie Cole, and Maxi Priest's go at Wild World is lovely.
not so much joy with the rest, really. a lot of it is "oh, they had more than one or two hits?" material, with largely forgotten (by the masses, not hardcore fans) tunes off of them twats (that is me saying it) Johnny Hates Jazz, T'Pau and that twat (very much me saying it) Jermaine Stewart. for the latter, i believe or think this is the third time (by this stage) he had appeared on a Now set, and i can really, really only ever remember having to endure that f***** awful song about "cherry wine" or whatever off of him. not heard the one on here before and i promise i shall not hear it again.
that makes for an open confession, of sorts. i have played this set once, and i am not at all sure it shall ever get played again. but this is true for nearly all of them so far, with the exception of Now That's What I Call Music 4. it, that one (here) very much remains an all time favourite, and regularly gets played. all other volumes, well, not so much if at all after purchase.
going back to (that twat) Jermaine Stewart, ill advised are those who use these Now sets to evaluate or determine what was "class" in the 80s. i appreciate it is all down to licensing, availability of the songs, etc, but still. he features, yet (say) no Depeche Mode, and nowhere near as much Frankie or Duran as had charted by the point of 12 being released.
several (perhaps many) others will have spoken of the "wrong" versions of songs featuring here, for on these compact disc issues (for the first time) and re-issues (like this) they go for a different edit than what appeared on the original records and tapes. the only time i have full tilt noticed this was, i think on 3, where they used the standard 7" off Two Tribes rather than the picture disc. in terms of the "we have come to expect this" omission here, just the one - a "special 1988 remix" that i do not remember at all of In The Air Tonight off Phil Collins. don't have a clue why not included here, or what the remix was for. doubt it was Miami Vice related, as the song featured in the first series, a few years earlier. being an undisputed, no questions asked classic, a bit of a shame.
by contrast, a surprise inclusion here is Doctorin' The Tardis (yes, no g, Steve Wright fans) off of a lot of what went on to be KLF, and i think Yazz is on there (or was that Doctorin' The House). not so long ago - oddly i think again 3 - they dropped a Gary Glitter song (and i don't remember him having any hits at all in the 80s) for "sensitive" reasons. yet it is OK to have his heavily sampled song here, and sure enough there is his writing credit (and presumably royalties) in the linear notes. dear me, double standards, who would have thought such would ever exist.
quite a cosmopolitan mix, looking at the tracklist. near enough to every genre on the go gets something of a look in, and how lovely to see Iron Maiden on. their inclusion here (Can I Play With Madness) is a good song, and i am informed their most successful ever single, but i suspect all would cite their earlier stuff as their best. not that there is "bad" Maiden, before i get my head kicked in.
yes, oddly and strangely this was just £7.99 down HMV. suspiciously with the cellophane missing from the disc, but no matter. i am used to them charging an extra £1 or so for discs, a premium added no doubt for the prestige of being allowed to use them. just for the sake of having it yes i might have paid whatever price they had on it, but i shall tell them not of this and i encourage you to do the same.
apt, perhaps, that i am as conflicted in mind by the tracklist here as i am with thoughts of the time it covers. mostly, i think, i get really, really distracted by the unmitigated, relentless drivel and sh!t included here. no, not just Jermaine Stewart, who i think i have called a twat enough for now. the Elton John one, for instance, is so bad - especially just a few years after Nikita - that it was a wonder his career did't get buried by it. have no member of Derek B or Bad Young Brother at all, and it's really a truly f****** awful number, hideous and criminal sample of Prince on it. wonder if this is what that former Mr Zoe Ball sampled for one tune, Rockafellar whatever? sorry, but also do not recall anyone at all ever actually liking Scritti Politti (or whatever) and here they are again showing why that is so.
enough, now, i do believe (or think). any or all songs not mentioned or called out, well, assume as them being "yeah" or "meh" or forgettable. but then, you know, dig what you dig. will they push on with these re-issues? if so. shall it be just 80s, or will they step into 90s reissues? should time remaining give me the option of learning, i will learn.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment