Now That's What I Call Music! 45 + 84

It's been three months since our Now 44 + 83 post, which can only mean one thing - we're lazy back again with the latest releases from both sides of the pond.  Here in the States, the latest salvo fired from the Now That's What I Call Music! battleship is Now 45,  released on February 5, 2013. The collection debuted at #3 on the Billboard Album Chart behind the latest releases from Josh Groban and Tim McGraw.

The fastest selling digital single in history, this former Number One should have been on Now 44 - it was on Now 83 which was released concurrently.  Ms. Swift did a Mad Hatter-style production of "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" to open the 2013 Grammy Awards.  The video above is noteworthy for being the first filmed in ultra high definition 4K.

Ne-Yo's fourth chart-topper on the UK Singles Chart back in September, "Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself)" failed to crack the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.  Wanna know what Ne-Yo's given name is?  Shaffer Chimere Smith.  Still better than Christopher Maurice Brown.

The song that knocked Ne-Yo from the top of the UK Singles Chart is this duet featuring The Script and will.i.am.  Unlike other will.i.am jams and joints, this one was was nearly fully formed before he invited himself to spit a few lines. On the Deluxe Edition of the parent album #3 , the original version sans him appears.  (For the record, all three of the above tracks appeared on Now 83.)

Imagine Dragons is an anagram of words known only to the band members but HERC thinks it's one of the coolest band names ever.  HERC digs the band's music, too, and as an added bonus, their song "It's Time" was featured in the trailer (below) for HERC's Favorite Film of 2012.

Probably the best original American Idol song ever (which is not saying a much - how many other ones do you remember?), Phillip Phillips did not write nor even like "Home" when he first performed and recorded it.  The song gained a worldwide audience through its use during the telecast of the 2012 Olympics in London and has appeared in several commercials, television shows and motion pictures.  Originally released in May 2012, it peaked just this week - nearly nine months later - on The Hot 100 at #6.

Originally released way, way back in 2010, "Anna Sun" was named Esquire's Song Of The Summer for 2011.  The band signed with RCA and saw their self-titled major-label debut in June 2012.  The track is  included on Now 45 as part of the NOW What's Next bonus tracks "previewing hot new artists with tomorrow's biggest hits."  At this glacial rate of appreciation and accolades, Walk The Plank Moon should win Best New Artist at the Grammys in 2014 or 2015.

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Back in the USSR UK, the double-disc 44 track Now 84 will emerge from the fog on March 25.  The track listing is filled with more current hits and there is only one track that appears on both Now 45 and Now 84: Ke$ha's "Die Young" which was co-written with those fun. guys. It peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 and #7 on the UK Singles Chart.

"Scream & Shout" is the UK Singles Chart-topping third single from will.i.am's fourth album (#willpower) which should be released before Now 84.  It features former X-Factor judge Britney Spears, who is reportedly working on her eighth album.

HERC's text tone is a few seconds from the song above that spent six weeks atop the Hot 100 near the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013.  The exuberant "Locked Out Of Heaven" by Bruno Mars topped out in the runner-up position in the UK.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz's "Thrift Shop" knocked Bruno Mars from the top spot and as of this writing, the song still sits upon that lofty perch.  The delightfully loopy track is the fifth(!) single from The Heist.   It is only the second independent song in Billboard history to make it to #1.  The first?

HERC thinks Adele's Bond James Bond theme "Skyfall" is the greatest 007 theme song of all time.  Since 1973's "Live And Let Die", at least.  The music, lyrics and voice combine to form a lethal cocktail leaving HERC shaken AND stirred.

Several of last year's hookiest songs were co-written by Sia Fuller.  Her voice can also be heard on both Flo Rida's "Wild Ones" and David Guetta's "Titanium" and she continued her songwriting winning streak with the previously mentioned Ne-Yo's "Let Me Love You" and Rihanna's "Diamonds".  Jessie Ware, one of HERC's new faves, performs a great cover of that last one, too.