Yearbook Extra 93

NOW Music proudly presents 57 more essential singles from the iconic year of Pop that was 1993.
CD1 sets the stage with a blend of classic hits across multiple genres. Pet Shop Boys kick off with "I Wouldn't Normally Do This Kind Of Thing," followed by New Order with "Ruined In A Day" and Duran Duran’s "Too Much Information." Next come the powerful vocals of Annie Lennox with "Little Bird" followed by classics from defining albums: Sting with "If I Ever Lose My Faith In You” from ‘Ten Summoner’s Tales’ and R.E.M.'s "Nightswimming" from ‘Automatic For The People’. Up next are a stellar run of beautiful songs from Saint Etienne, Sade, Go West and Sananda Maitreya. SNAP! and M People scored huge Pop-Dance hits, and Heaven 17 and Visage saw remixed versions of their classics become hits once again. The first disc draws to a close with a great collaboration between David Sylvian and Robert Fripp plus Suzanne Vega, Chris Rea, and finishing with Elton John’s “Simple Life”.

The Now That’s What I Call Music team are effectively issuing a companion 3CD set to Now Yearbook 1980-1984: The Final Chapter, itself a companion to the ten previous Yearbook releases covering those five years.The ‘Extra’ version of Yearbook 1980-1984 is, as usual, a 3CD set in a card sleeve and this one features 63 “essential hits” from the period. Remarkably, the early 1980s can handle what is in effect a ‘fourth level’ of examination (Yearbook > Yearbook Extra > Final Chapter > Final Chapter Extra) and this is far from ‘the dregs’ of the era with loads of classic pop hits from Queen, Eurythmics, Pretenders, Elvis Costello, The Smiths, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Japan, Heaven 17, Level 42, Nik Kershaw, XTC, Elton John and more.

Following the recent release of ‘NOW – Yearbook 1982’, we are continuing the celebration of that phenomenal year of pop with ‘Now – Yearbook Extra 1982’; a limited edition 3CD.
62 essential tracks that we couldn’t fit on ‘Yearbook 1982’ include smash hits from The Jam, Soft Cell, Madness, Monsoon, Trio, Simple Minds, Japan, The Stranglers and Dexys Midnight Runners.
1982 saw a huge influx of new synth and pop bands in the charts – with many finding worldwide success complimented by the rise of MTV. Duran Duran cemented their success with the release of their ‘Rio’ album, and its title track is the perfect first track here. ABC, Adam Ant, Spandau Ballet and Culture Club with their Top 3 ‘Time (Clock Of The Heart)’ all follow, as do ABBA with ‘Head Over Heels’, the second single released from ‘The Visitors’ – the last studio album from the band for nearly 40 years. Disc 1 signs off with Captain Sensible’s No. 1 cover of ‘Happy Talk’, and Chas & Dave’s biggest ‘Ain’t No Pleasing You’.

NOW is proud to present 60 more essential gems from the stellar Pop year of 1986 – NOW – Yearbook Extra 1986.
CD1 kicks off with a huge Queen classic ‘A Kind Of Magic’, Eurythmics’ ‘When Tomorrow Comes’, the lead single from their ‘Revenge’ album, and smash hits from The Bangles and a-ha. Sophisticated Pop from Sade, Bryan Ferry, and Sting follows and some of the greatest vocalists of the era are up next including Patti Labelle, Tina Turner, and Anita Baker with the timeless ‘Sweet Love’. Hits from Five Star, Paul Young, and Stan Ridgway are joined by movie tracks from The Style Council, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and ‘Left Of Center’ - the collaboration between Suzanne Vega and Joe Jackson, plus the title track ‘Graceland’ from Paul Simon’s 1986 best-seller.

NOW Music is proud to present 60 more essential gems from the incredible year in Pop that was 1992 with NOW – Yearbook Extra 1992. The first disc opens with giants of their genres - Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé and their incredible collaboration ‘Barcelona’ - which reached its peak No. 2 position in 1992. Alt Rock from R.E.M. and Crowded House follow, together with the Gary Barlow-written ‘A Million Love Songs’ from Take That and Kylie Minogue’s ‘Finer Feelings’ remixed for single release by Brothers In Rhythm. ‘Connected’ gave Stereo MC’s their first top 20 hit, while The Temptations’ ‘My Girl’ enjoyed a resurgence upon its re-release.

The year that NOW’s story began, and where we started our ‘Yearbook’ series back in 2021. An incredible year in Pop music, and between that first ‘Yearbook’, it’s ‘Extra’, and more of the year’s hits featuring on the ‘80-84 Final’ and it’s ‘Extra’ we have featured over 150 tracks on CD so far in our appreciation of 1983. Those tracks were generally the bigger hits of the year with their Chart achievement a factor in their inclusion - however – that’s not the whole story, and our celebration of 1983 wouldn’t be complete without shining a light on some of the year’s singles that have been compiled much less frequently over the past 40 years… Welcome to the THE VAULT for 1983…Some of the tracks were Top 40 hits, some missed the Chart completely, and some were huge in the U.S. and not in the U.K. – but all are part of the wonderful Pop story of 1983.