NOW That’s What I Call The 80s (5CD)

It’s time to celebrate an amazing decade for pop music – as popular today as it was back then...and with so many fantastic hits to choose from we had to make this a 100 track selection across 5 CDS – including over 50 #1 singles… Time to immerse yourself in the decade that never stops… legwarmers on – it’s : ‘NOW That’s What I Call The 80s’ …

Opening with one of Queen’s signature anthems ‘I Want To Break Free’, and followed by the incredible ‘Every Breath You Take’ from The Police and Eurythmics with ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)’ you know from the start that this is a massive collection…

Berlin’s ‘Take My Breath Away’ leads into a run of synth-pop smashes from Ultravox with ‘Vienna’, A-ha and ‘Take On Me’, ‘Temptation’ from Heaven 17, and #1s from The Human League with ‘Don’t You Want Me’ and Soft Cell with ‘Tainted Love’… Huge new pop bands emerged in the early ‘80s including, and featured here, Culture Club, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet… Next up a run of hits from the movies including ‘Fame’, ‘Ghostbusters’, ‘Never Ending Story’ and Billy Ocean’s ‘When The Going Get’s Tough…’ from the film ‘The Jewel Of The Nile’.

The first disc closes with more synth-driven pop from Nik Kershaw, Tears For Fears, and two #1’s – Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin’s take on ‘It’s My Party’ – and Nena with the global smash ’99 Red Balloons’.

Legends including Elton John, Billy Joel, and Paul Simon feature on Disc 2, alongside pop-party classics including ‘Footloose’ and ‘Come On Eileen’. Adam & The Ants, ABC, Bananarama and Haircut 100 had all scored their Top 5 debuts by 1982 –  and are joined by more artists making their chart debuts:- Matthew Wilder, Katrina & The Waves and King, plus original #1s from The Specials and Madness, #1 covers from Shakin’ Stevens and The Spinners – and a retro style chart topper from Sister Sledge.

CD3 is all about dance-floor gold… Kicking off with Irene Cara and ‘Flashdance…What A Feeling’ along with #1s from Whitney Houston and Chaka Khan, and one the most popular hip-hop tracks of all time ‘White Lines (Don’t Do It)’ from Grandmaster Flash & Grandmaster Melle-Mel. Donna Summer and Shalamar present disco – 80’s style, and from the end of the decade massive tracks from Yazz & The Plastic Population, and Soul II Soul & Caron Wheeler which both scored #1s. The writing and production team of Stock, Aitken and Waterman are featured many times across this collection and on this disc with a pair of chart toppers for Jason Donovan and Sonia… Sinitta had a massive hit with ‘So Macho’, and all-time favourite artists Dolly Parton and Cliff Richard both produced classics in the ‘80s… with time left for pure pop from Kelly Marie and Bucks Fizz, and a re-release for Michael Jackson that went all the way to the top of the charts.

‘Blue Monday’ from New Order starts our fourth disc, and opens a run of iconic electronic hits, including #1s ‘Heart’ from Pet Shop Boys and ‘19’ from Paul Hardcastle, with hi-nrg floor-fillers from The Communards with Sarah Jane Morris and Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Dead Or Alive, and Hazell Dean. One of the decades most enduring new stars Kylie Minogue is up next with her debut  #1 ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ alongside fellow new chart star Rick Astley with his global smash debut ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’… At the start of the decade pop gems emerged from new-wave stars including here, Toyah and Altered Images, whilst established hitmakers enjoyed continued success including The Jam and The Clash and ‘Brass In Pocket’ became the first new #1 of the decade for the Pretenders. Simple Minds and Robert Palmer enjoyed world-wide hits and winding down to finish disc 4 are two of the decades’ most popular power ballads from Toto with ‘Africa’ and ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ from Foreigner.

The final disc features a stellar run of timeless tracks from legendary artists: ‘Dancing In The Dark’ from Bruce Springsteen opens, ahead of Bon Jovi with ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’, Philip Bailey & Phil Collins’ collaboration on ‘Easy Lover’ and Cher with her defining ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’… Rock classics from Survivor and ZZ Top feature along with explosive ballads from Bonnie Tyler and T’Pau… Power pop from Belinda Carlisle, The Bangles and Men At Work lead into reggae flavoured #1s for Blondie, UB40 and Musical Youth. Some of the ‘80s most beautiful tracks take us to the end from Smokey Robinson, Lionel Richie and Paul McCartney… Paul Young enjoyed a massive song over the Christmas season in 1983 with his version of ‘Love Of The Common People’, but the last word is given to the biggest selling single of the 1980s and a truly inspirational Christmas classic; 1984’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ from Band Aid….

100 Essential ‘80s Classics – on one Essential album: NOW That’s What I Call The 80s.