NOW - Yearbook 1990

The second NOW instalment to celebrate the ‘90s, 'NOW – Yearbook 1990' presents us with a wealth of top tracks from a fantastic year in Pop.

4CD Editions (79 tracks)

Kicking us off with the rewind back to 1990 are iconic legends George Michael with ‘Praying For Time’, and Elton John with his #1 single ‘Sacrifice’, followed by Roxette’s ‘It Must Have Been Love’ from the soundtrack to ‘Pretty Woman’.  Disc One includes #1s from New Order, New Kids On The Block, Steve Miller Band, and The Beautiful South, as well as Pop smashes from The KLF, The B-52’s, Kylie Minogue, Whitney Houston Kim Appleby, and concluding with the theme from Twin Peaks, Julee Cruise’s ‘Falling’, Chris Isaak with ‘Wicked Game’ and Pet Shop Boys defining ‘Being Boring’.
 
Dance floor-fillers kick off Disc 2 from Deee-Lite with ‘Groove Is In The Heart’, #1s from SNAP!, and from Adamski & Seal plus club classics from Bass-O-Matic and Adventures Of Stevie V with ‘Dirty Cash (Money Talks)’, plus the unexpected collaboration between DNA & Suzanne Vega. British R&B legends Innocence and Soul II Soul appear ahead of a run of Indie-Alt legends including Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, The Charlatans, Primal Scream and The Cure – before finishing on Candy Flip’s cover of ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’, and ‘All Together Now’ from The Farm.
 
Disc 3 opens with the still-breathtaking interpretation of Prince’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ from Sinéad O'Connor. Up next are film related hits; Maria McKee’s ‘Show Me Heaven’, from the ‘Days Of Thunder’ soundtrack, and the ‘Young Guns II’ track ‘Blaze Of Glory’ from Jon Bon Jovi. Faith No More had their UK Top 40 Chart debut with ‘Epic’, and the Grammy Award-winning US #1 for Alannah Myles ‘Black Velvet’ appears, alongside huge US artists Cher, Heart, and 1990’s biggest US hit from Wilson Phillips… and there’s still room for Pop-Reggae from UB40 and Maxi Priest, and the huge Rap debut from M.C. Hammer and a further two #1 singles – both debuts - from Partners In Kryme with ‘Turtle Power’ and Vanilla Ice with ‘Ice Ice Baby’.
 
The tenth consecutive Top 10 hit for Pet Shop Boys ‘So Hard’ opens the final disc, followed by the superb cover of the Disco classic ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)’ from Jimmy Somerville, before a second appearance from Kylie Minogue with her Disco anthem ‘Step Back In Time’ and one of Stock, Aitken & Waterman’s greatest dancefloor tracks ‘Happenin’ All Over Again’ from Lonnie Gordon. Pop/Dance gold from 49ers, Blue Pearl, and Bananarama lead into timeless Pure-Pop from Dusty Springfield, Halo James, Jason Donovan, Adam Ant, and another track from the ‘Pretty Woman’ soundtrack – this time from Go West before the collection winds down with two classic covers from Deacon Blue and a-ha, closing with two ‘60s hits that became hits once again, Bobby Vinton’s ‘Blue Velvet’ following its use in film, and tv commercials, and The Righteous Brothers with their rendition of ‘Unchained Melody’ – featured in 1990’s biggest film ‘Ghost’ which helped catapult the song to #1, 25 years since its initial release, when it reached #14.


3LP Edition (44 tracks)

Kicking us off with the rewind back to 1990 are iconic legends George Michael with ‘Praying For Time’, and Elton John with his #1 single ‘Sacrifice’, followed by top 10 smashes from The B-52’s with ‘Love Shack’ and Kylie Minogue’s ‘Better The Devil You Know’, plus timeless Pop from Belinda Carlisle, Kim Appleby and Roxette’s ‘It Must Have Been Love’ from the soundtrack to ‘Pretty Woman’. Flip the first LP over for a stellar line-up featuring The KLF, New Order, Duran Duran, the theme from ‘Twin Peaks’, Julee Cruise’s ‘Falling’, Chris Isaak with ‘Wicked Game’ and Pet Shop Boys defining ‘Being Boring’.
 
Dance floor-fillers kick off LP2 from Deee-Lite with ‘Groove Is In The Heart’, and the #1 debut from SNAP! with ‘The Power’. Legendary names fill this side including Whitney Houston, Dusty Springfield, Paul Simon and the remixed version of ‘Englishman In New York’ from Sting… whilst the other side features club classics from Adamski & Seal and Bass-O-Matic, followed by a run of Indie-Alt legends including Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses, The Charlatans, and Candy Flip’s cover of ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’, before finishing with ‘Birdhouse In Your Soul’ from They Might Be Giants, and the #1 ‘A Little Time’ from The Beautiful South.
 
The tenth consecutive Top 10 hit for Pet Shop Boys ‘So Hard’ opens the final LP, followed by the superb cover of the Disco classic ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)’ from Jimmy Somerville, before a second appearance from Kylie Minogue with her Disco anthem ‘Step Back In Time’ and one of Stock, Aitken & Waterman’s greatest dancefloor tracks ‘Happenin’ All Over Again’ from Lonnie Gordon. More dancefloor smashes follow from Adventures Of Stevie V, Blue Pearl, and the unexpected collaboration between DNA & Suzanne Vega, before closing with one of the biggest debut #1s of the year, ‘Ice Ice Baby’ from Vanilla Ice.
 
The collection’s final side opens with the still-breathtaking interpretation of Prince’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ from Sinéad O'Connor. Also included are film related hits; Maria McKee’s ‘Show Me Heaven’, from the ‘Days Of Thunder’ soundtrack, and the ‘Young Guns II’ track ‘Blaze Of Glory’ from Jon Bon Jovi. The Grammy Award-winning US #1 for Alannah Myles ‘Black Velvet’ appears alongside the smash ‘Just Like Jesse James’ from Cher… and closing this collection is a fantastic interpretation of the classic ‘I’ll Never Fall In Love Again’ which gave Deacon Blue their highest singles chart position in a year filled with Pop highlights.