Now 12 inch 80's Pt.III

We're going back to the summer, July actually of 2024 and last entry when Now decided to make this series into a game of two halves per year so our format changed and we move from 1983 to 1984, the year George Orwell had a lot to say about.

As with all the others in series the presentation, just folded card with tracklistings could of been better but this new volume is jam packed with so many great hits in their longer mixes.

This collection showcases the diversity of the era, with genres including synth-pop, alt-pop, disco, hi-nrg, electro, and hip-hop, featuring the essential 12" mixes, that ruled the charts and the dance-floor. 

It was an era where I'd grovel through the boxes of just dropping out the chart 12 singles and come home with a handfull often for half price or even less and drop the stylus down on them.

Disc One opens with Queen’s timeless ‘I Want To Break Free’, in its’ extended mix and beginning a run of 1984 Pop gold such as Alison Moyet’s Top 10 debut ‘Love Resurrection (Love Injected Mix)’, and Duran Duran’s ‘New Moon On Monday’ the poster for was one my bedroom wall back then are followed by Culture Club, who scored a huge worldwide hit on 12” single with ‘It’s A Miracle / Miss Me Blind’ and Bananarama, who delivered a Top 3 smash with ‘Robert De Niro’s Waiting’. 

More gems feature from Matthew Wilder with ‘Break My Stride’ that I'd first heard in late 1983 as an american hit, Ray Parker Jr.’s blockbuster soundtrack theme ‘Ghostbusters (Extended Mix)’, and Nik Kershaw’s ‘The Riddle’, with Howard Jones with a thoughtful new synth sound and Ultravox bringing the first disc to a close. 

Disc Two is a celebration of electro-dance, hi-nrg and 80’s disco, kicking off with Freddie Mercury’s synth classic ‘Love Kills’ and Shannon’s electro classic ‘Let The Music Play’, apersonal favourite that still sounds as fresh today as it did in ‘84. 

Sister Sledge feature with the 1984 Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers Remix of their peerless ‘Lost In Music’, a hit originally from 1979, while The Pointer Sisters' ‘Jump (For My Love)’ and Dead Or Alive’s cover of ‘That’s The Way (I Like It)’ were guaranteed floor-fillers. 

Hi-NRG made a huge chart impact in 1984 – and the 12” single was made for the genre with its longer playing time – Bronski Beat and Laura Branigan feature alongside early chart smashes for production team Stock, Aitken & Waterman from Divine with ‘You Think You’re A Man’ and Hazell Dean with ‘Whatever I Do’. 

The genre defining anthem ‘High Energy’ from Evelyn Thomas ruled the clubs dance-floors, and the disc still has room for party favourite ‘It’s Raining Men’ from The Weather Girls and Kim Wilde’s synth-pop hidden gem ‘The Touch’. 

Disc Three opens on the dancefloor with soulful vocals and electro beats from Chaka Khan’s ‘I Feel For You’, followed by Womack & Womack’s ‘Love Wars’ and the sublime full-length version of Jocelyn Brown’s ‘Somebody Else’s Guy’ that I loved. 

The often-sampled old-school hip-hop of The World’s Famous Supreme Team and Grandmaster Melle Mel’s ‘White Lines (Don’t Do It)’ are up next ahead of Nick Heyward’s pop-dance essential ‘Warning Sign’ with its two raps, and synth gold from Tears For Fears and Scritti Politti. 

The remainder of the disc celebrates some of the years’ greatest alt-pop 12”’s, featuring Propaganda’s incredible ‘Das Testament Des Dr Mabuse’, Cocteau Twins with the sublime ‘Pearly Dewdrops’ Drops’ and Echo and the Bunnymen’s stunning ‘The Killing Moon’. 

Finally onto Disc Four and it delivers a charged mix of iconic chart gold:- Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s 9 week #1 ‘Two Tribes (Annihilation)’ opens a stellar run featuring Duran Duran’s epic 12” of ‘The Wild Boys’ (and who doesn't forget its memorable video) and Spandau Ballet’s ‘Only When You Leave’. 

Paul Young’s  powerful ‘I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down’ is next, and leads into Adam Ant’s superb ‘Apollo 9 (Francois K Splashdown Mix)’ where he attempted a comeback. ‘Up On The Catwalk’ from Simple Minds originally on the Sparkle In The Rain album has a great extended version and synth-pop essentials from Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark with ‘Tesla Girls’, Blancmange with ‘Don’t Tell Me’ Alphaville’s ‘Big In Japan’, and Howard Jones second appearance on this collection with the ‘International Mix’ of ‘Like To Get To Know You Well’ leads this set to its’ conclusion – not only 1984’s biggest selling single, but at the time the U.K.’s biggest ever seller – ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ from Band Aid in its full 12” mix.

Come April the second volume appeared with an additional 46 tracks.

The same presentation lacking any background was used which remains a pity with the whole series.

Disc One opens with the long mix of Wham!’s ‘Freedom’ opening a stellar run of huge chart hits. Culture Club’s ‘The War Song’, is followed by Nena’s worldwide #1, ‘99 Red Balloons’, followed by Eurythmics, New Order and Scritti Politti. Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder’s classic ‘Together In Electric Dreams’ in it’s extended mix, along with the 12” version of ‘Dancing With Tears In My Eyes’ from Ultravox are enduring synth-pop classics – and rounding off the disc ’84 Pop gold from Spandau Ballet, Alison Moyet, Bananarama and Elton John.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘5-weeks at #1’ smash ‘Relax’ needs little introduction, and opens Disc Two with its ‘New York Mix’. Bronski Beat’s powerful and poignant ‘Smalltown Boy’ is up next along with celebratory Hi-NRG and electro from Hazell Dean, Deniece Williams’ ‘Let’s Hear It For The Boy’, and the 12” remix of The Pointer Sisters’ ‘Automatic’. A run of synth-driven gems from Peter Schilling, The Art Of Noise, ABC, Re-Flex, Talk Talk and Fiction Factory conclude the disc in style.

Disc Three is packed with pure pop brilliance, opening with Duran Duran’s worldwide #1 hit ‘The Reflex’ in its iconic Dance Mix. Nik Kershaw scored a huge hit with ‘I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me’, Kim Wilde’s hits continued with ‘The Second Time’ and Limahl’s ‘Never Ending Story’ was one of the most memorable film themes of the decade, here in its 12” Dance Mix. Simple Minds and Soft Cell lead into classic alt-pop tracks from The Stranglers (‘Skin Deep’), Echo & The Bunnymen (‘Silver’), The Icicle Works with the long version of ‘Love Is A Wonderful Colour’, and Swans Way with the 12” mix of the stunning ‘Soul Train’.

Ending the set, Disc Four opens with legends, Paul McCartney with the extended version of ‘No More Lonely Nights’, and Tina Turner with ‘Better Be Good To Me’. Some of ‘84’s biggest floor-fillers including ‘Just Be Good To Me’ from The S.O.S Band, and ‘Running With The Night’ from Lionel Richie are featured along with jazz, latin and electro infused dance pop from Shakatak, Miami Sound Machine and Ollie & Jerry respectively. Rockwell’s timeless ‘Somebody’s Watching Me’ leads into two synth ballads to close the collection in their extended versions: ‘Talking Loud And Clear’ from Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, and the beautiful ‘Hide And Seek’ from Howard Jones.

Our last entry: Now 12" 1983

Now 12 " 80's - 1983

 We're off this weekend so after some political posts, we'll go with something more fun.

The World of NOW, just gets bigger taking in numbered volumes of Now That's What I Call Music,, Now Yearbook, themed Now That's What I Call ..... and was joined by the cd only Now 12" 80's series which looks at 12" singles from a specific year rather than the three compilations of 80's 12 inch singles.

The first bunch 1980 to 1982 are on an earlier posts with our last post being in April.

Now12-inch-80s 1982

My original intentions were to group post all the series together but the 1982 edition gained two volumes which doubles the post and you will note they've done the same with this edition so it seems that the remainder will follow the two part format.

That makes it more sensible to break them into chunks and update each as needed.

As ever this is a bare bones card wrap around cover set which is a pity as a book form with some notes as with the Deluxe Now Yearbooks would of been better as this is aimed more at music fans and collectors but we just have to accept it as is.

1983 was the year I left school, like most teens was obsessed by music and accompanying fashions like cutting up white and grey t shirts in an attempt to make my own monochromatic looks and thought Nick Beggs of Kajagoogoo was wonderful.

Disc 1 opens with two of 1983’s biggest artists with Wham!’s "Bad Boys”, followed by Eurythmics’ (over 12 minutes remix of) "Right By Your Side”before being joined by Duran Duran with "Union Of The Snake (The Monkey Mix)", and the extended “Communication” by Spandau Ballet. The Human League keeps the momentum with their massive hit "(Keep Feeling) Fascination" which I bought straight on 12 single back then, while Howard Jones and Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark keeps up the Synth-Pop  with "New Song" and "Genetic Engineering" from the Dazzleships album respectively. Extended versions from Blancmange, Ultravox, and Tears For Fears  "The Way You Are" are also feature on the first disc.

Disc 2 celebrates Pop Gold with Adam Ant’s "Puss 'N Boots"one I remember from early Signal Radio here, Bananarama’s "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye", plus The Belle Stars, and Bucks Fizz. Pop and New Wave fused on fabulous tracks from Haysi Fantayzee, and Altered Images with the unforgettable "Don't Talk To Me About Love", and hits from a huge chart year for Kajagoogoo and Paul Young. The disc closes with more Synth-Pop from Heaven 17, Soft Cell and a huge U.S. hit for Taco with an unexpected cover choice in “Puttin’ On The Ritz”.

Disc 3 starts from the dancefloor with the iconic "Flashdance…What A Feeling", from Irene Cara, and the stunning Electropop work-out in extended form on Freeez’s "I.O.U. (Megamix)" a personal favourite. The legendary Arthur Baker produced “Confusion” for New Order, and “The Harder They Come” for Rockers Revenge, and Forrest enjoyed a smash covering “Rock The Boat” while Modern Romance and Level 42 bought Pop and Funk crossover to the charts. This disc works towards its finale with four UK acts who all enjoyed great success in ’83 with these 12” versions enhancing already great tracks – Madness, Fun Boy Three, The Style Council, and Nick Heyward who’s “Whistle Down The Wind” from the North Of A Miracle album was his first solo hit.

Disc 4 offers a star-studded line-up opening with 12” and remixed versions of Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson’s "Say Say Say" that took much effort to steem a sudden drop in the charts and Billy Joel’s "Tell Her About It" before The Fixx appear with their huge US hit “One Thing Leads To Another” from the album Reach The Beach, followed by Debbie Harry, and Laura Branigan who achieved a global success with “Gloria” from her first album. Hi-Energy floor-fillers from Miquel Brown and Divine, are next alongside Ryan Paris’ pan-European smash “Dolce Vita”. The collection concludes with classic dance hits from Lydia Murdock and Phil Fearon & Galaxy and a great collaboration between the legendary Donna Summer and Musical Youth.

For gathering so many interesting and important 12 inch singles of the year, a good number I personally bought at the time, this set is well worth it filling next to Now Yearbook 1983 (and Extra+Vault).

Part two with another four discs worth came out.

A great selection mainly of hits and the odd bubbling under selection this wraps up 1983!