Various Artists - NOW – Yearbook 1985-1989: The Final Chapter Various Artists

4CD Standard

In 2025 NOW was proud to complete the Yearbooks for the individual years from the 1980’s… however, we haven’t finished quite yet with the superb pop years 1985-1989.

As we did with the decades’ first half, we want to present some of the brilliant songs that we didn’t get to feature… yet…

We proudly present ‘NOW - Yearbook 1985-1989: The Final Chapter’ – a 79-track 4CD set celebrating more pop magic from an exceptional time in the UK charts.

Opening with Queen’s beautiful ‘Who Wants To Live Forever’ ahead of Pet Shop Boys’ debut hit, the #1 ‘West End Girls’ – and Eurythmics with elegant synth-pop on ‘It’s Alright (Baby’s Coming Back)’. A run of gems come next including from a-ha, Go West and Bananarama. Taylor Dayne and Gloria Estefan provide huge pop-dance anthems while remixes of ‘70s classics proved very popular for Chaka Khan, Bill Withers and Michael Jackson & Jackson 5. Hits from Bobby Brown, De La Soul, Five Star and Sananda Maitreya lead toward the first disc’s closing trio of sophisticated pop from Level 42, Bryan Ferry and Sade with 1985’s stunning ‘Is It A Crime’.

The second disc opens with Freddie Mercury’s incredible cover of ‘The Great Pretender’, and is followed by one of the greatest power-ballads ever from Heart with ‘Alone’. More ballads from Chicago, T’Pau and Tina Turner’s cover of ‘I Can’t Stand The Rain’ lead to the 1989 debut hit from Texas ‘I Don’t Want A Lover’, along with more hits from The Stranglers, Deacon Blue, Big Country and Simple Minds. A run of some of the era’s best alternative pop is next including outstanding tracks from R.E.M., The Cure, New Order and The Sisters Of Mercy. Dead Or Alive, China Crisis, and King enjoyed continued hits in the mid-80s and Fuzzbox celebrated their Top 20 debut in 1989 – as Amazulu had done in 1985… The disc closes with a pair of pop-reggae smash hits from Aswad and UB40 who hit the Top 3 with ‘Don’t Break My Heart’.

Bruce Springsteen made one of the era’s defining albums with ‘Born In The USA’, and its’ lead single ‘Dancing In The Dark’ opens Disc 3, ahead of rock from Bon Jovi and the collaboration ‘Out In The Fields’ from Gary Moore & Phil Lynott. Paul McCartney’s film theme ‘Spies Like Us’ is next along with Mike + The Mechanics, Belinda Carlisle and The Bangles. Huge hits from The Proclaimers, Status Quo and The Art Of Noise & Tom Jones’ version of ‘Kiss’ come ahead of massive dance-floor tracks from D-Mob, Bomb The Bass, Cameo, Midnight Star, Jaki Graham, plus soulful vocals from The Christians, Alexander O’Neal and Natalie Cole – with a powerful performance from Whitney Houston on the disc closer ‘Didn’t We Almost Have It All’.

The final disc kicks off with a second appearance on this collection and with another #1 – Pet Shop Boys with the peerless ‘It’s A Sin’… Next up The Communards ‘So Cold The Night’ and Bronski Beat with ‘Hit That Perfect Beat’ leading into another synth driven club smash from Trans X. A huge run of pure-pop follows, opening with Stock-Aitken-Waterman produced hits for The Reynolds Girls, Samantha Fox, Sinitta and Sonia ahead of gems from Eighth Wonder, Wet Wet Wet and Johnny Hates Jazz… Swing Out Sister continued their hits in 1987 with ‘Twilight World’, whilst 1986 saw the debut for Hollywood Beyond, and Living In A Box enjoyed their second Top 10 success in 1989 – plus more pop hits from Bros and Tiffany… ‘Foolish Beat’ in 1988 made Debbie Gibson the youngest female artist to write, produce and perform a U.S. #1…whilst the final three tracks on the collection are all covers: Jimmy Nail took ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’ to #3 in 1985, and at Christmas 1987 Rick Astley competed with the re-released original and made #2 with ‘When I Fall In Love’…but the final word goes to Cliff Richard, who with Hank Marvin and stars of the TV show ‘The Young Ones’ hit #1 in 1986 for Comic Relief with ‘Living Doll’ – twenty-seven years after it topped the chart in its’ original version.

NOW – Yearbook 1985-1989: The Final Chapter – A continued celebration of the diversity and wonderful creativity of this magical era in pop.

LP DESCRIPTION

In 2025 NOW was proud to complete the Yearbooks for the individual years from the 1980’s… however, we haven’t finished quite yet with the superb pop years 1985-1989.

As we did with the decades’ first half, we want to present some of the brilliant songs that we didn’t get to feature… yet …

We proudly present ‘NOW - Yearbook 1985-1989: The Final Chapter’ – 42 tracks on a 3-LP set pressed on shimmering silver vinyl - celebrating more pop magic from an exceptional time in the UK charts.

Opening with Queen’s beautiful ‘Who Wants To Live Forever’ ahead of Pet Shop Boys’ debut hit, the #1 ‘West End Girls’ – and Eurythmics with elegant synth-pop on ‘It’s Alright (Baby’s Coming Back)’… UB40 hit the Top 3 in 1985 with ‘Don’t Break My Heart’, and Go West followed their debut with ‘Call Me’. Top 10 hits from Living In A Box and Level 42 close the first side, whilst over on the other side a-ha open with ‘Train Of Thought’, and the line-up includes China Crisis and Simple Minds alongside some of the era’s best alt-pop from New Order, The Cure, R.E.M. and The Stranglers.

LP2 opens with Freddie Mercury’s incredible cover of ‘The Great Pretender’ and is followed by one of the greatest power-ballads ever from Heart with ‘Alone’. The 1989 debut hit from Texas ‘I Don’t Want A Lover’ is up next along with Mike + The Mechanics, Bryan Ferry with ‘The Right Stuff’ and Paul McCartney’s theme from the film ‘Spies Like Us’. Flip the LP over for pop gems from Wet Wet Wet and Johnny Hates Jazz – plus, ‘Foolish Beat’ in 1988 made Debbie Gibson the youngest female artist to write, produce and perform a U.S. #1, with the rest of the side celebrating huge pop-dance hits from Gloria Estefan, Five Star and Bobby Brown and the rap-dance smash ‘Me Myself And I’ from De La Soul closing the LP.

LP3 kicks off with a second appearance on this collection and with another #1 – Pet Shop Boys with the peerless ‘It’s A Sin’… Next up The Communards ‘So Cold The Night’ and Bronski Beat with ‘Hit That Perfect Beat’, leading in to the pure pop of ‘I Can’t Help It’ from Bananarama and ‘Cross My Heart’ from Eighth Wonder before Dead Or Alive with ‘In Too Deep’ – their third of four hits in 1985, and ‘Dominion’ from The Sisters Of Mercy closing the side in truly epic style…and over on the final side… Bruce Springsteen made one of the era’s defining albums with ‘Born In The USA’, and its’ lead single ‘Dancing In The Dark’ opens Disc 3, ahead of rock from Bon Jovi and the collaboration ‘Out In The Fields’ from Gary Moore & Phil Lynott. The collection closes with a run of soulful vocals from Tina Turner, Alexander O’Neal, Natalie Cole, and with a powerful performance from Whitney Houston on the sign-off ‘Didn’t We Almost Have It All’.

NOW – Yearbook 1985-1989: The Final Chapter – A continued celebration of the diversity and wonderful creativity of this magical era in pop.

CD DLX DESCRIPTION

In 2025 NOW was proud to complete the Yearbooks for the individual years from the 1980’s… however, we haven’t finished quite yet with the superb pop years 1985-1989.

As we did with the decades’ first half, we want to present some of the brilliant songs that we didn’t get to feature… yet…

We proudly present ‘NOW - Yearbook 1985-1989: The Final Chapter’ – a 79-track 4CD set celebrating more pop magic from an exceptional time in the UK charts. This special edition 4-CD is set in ‘hardback book’ packaging, including a 28-page booklet packed with notes about all the featured tracks.

Opening with Queen’s beautiful ‘Who Wants To Live Forever’ ahead of Pet Shop Boys’ debut hit, the #1 ‘West End Girls’ – and Eurythmics with elegant synth-pop on ‘It’s Alright (Baby’s Coming Back)’. A run of gems come next including from a-ha, Go West and Bananarama. Taylor Dayne and Gloria Estefan provide huge pop-dance anthems while remixes of ‘70s classics proved very popular for Chaka Khan, Bill Withers and Michael Jackson & Jackson 5. Hits from Bobby Brown, De La Soul, Five Star and Sananda Maitreya lead toward the first disc’s closing trio of sophisticated pop from Level 42, Bryan Ferry and Sade with 1985’s stunning ‘Is It A Crime’.

The second disc opens with Freddie Mercury’s incredible cover of ‘The Great Pretender’, and is followed by one of the greatest power-ballads ever from Heart with ‘Alone’. More ballads from Chicago, T’Pau and Tina Turner’s cover of ‘I Can’t Stand The Rain’ lead to the 1989 debut hit from Texas ‘I Don’t Want A Lover’, along with more hits from The Stranglers, Deacon Blue, Big Country and Simple Minds. A run of some of the era’s best alternative pop is next including outstanding tracks from R.E.M., The Cure, New Order and The Sisters Of Mercy. Dead Or Alive, China Crisis, and King enjoyed continued hits in the mid-80s and Fuzzbox celebrated their Top 20 debut in 1989 – as Amazulu had done in 1985… The disc closes with a pair of pop-reggae smash hits from Aswad and UB40 who hit the Top 3 with ‘Don’t Break My Heart’.

Bruce Springsteen made one of the era’s defining albums with ‘Born In The USA’, and its’ lead single ‘Dancing In The Dark’ opens Disc 3, ahead of rock from Bon Jovi and the collaboration ‘Out In The Fields’ from Gary Moore & Phil Lynott. Paul McCartney’s film theme ‘Spies Like Us’ is next along with Mike + The Mechanics, Belinda Carlisle and The Bangles. Huge hits from The Proclaimers, Status Quo and The Art Of Noise & Tom Jones’ version of ‘Kiss’ come ahead of massive dance-floor tracks from D-Mob, Bomb The Bass, Cameo, Midnight Star, Jaki Graham, plus soulful vocals from The Christians, Alexander O’Neal and Natalie Cole – with a powerful performance from Whitney Houston on the disc closer ‘Didn’t We Almost Have It All’.

The final disc kicks off with a second appearance on this collection and with another #1 – Pet Shop Boys with the peerless ‘It’s A Sin’… Next up The Communards ‘So Cold The Night’ and Bronski Beat with ‘Hit That Perfect Beat’ leading into another synth driven club smash from Trans X. A huge run of pure-pop follows, opening with Stock-Aitken-Waterman produced hits for The Reynolds Girls, Samantha Fox, Sinitta and Sonia ahead of gems from Eighth Wonder, Wet Wet Wet and Johnny Hates Jazz… Swing Out Sister continued their hits in 1987 with ‘Twilight World’, whilst 1986 saw the debut for Hollywood Beyond, and Living In A Box enjoyed their second Top 10 success in 1989 – plus more pop hits from Bros and Tiffany… ‘Foolish Beat’ in 1988 made Debbie Gibson the youngest female artist to write, produce and perform a U.S. #1…whilst the final three tracks on the collection are all covers: Jimmy Nail took ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’ to #3 in 1985, and at Christmas 1987 Rick Astley competed with the re-released original and made #2 with ‘When I Fall In Love’…but the final word goes to Cliff Richard, who with Hank Marvin and stars of the TV show ‘The Young Ones’ hit #1 in 1986 for Comic Relief with ‘Living Doll’ – twenty-seven years after it topped the chart in its’ original version.

NOW – Yearbook 1985-1989: The Final Chapter – A continued celebration of the diversity and wonderful creativity of this magical era in pop.