NOW 96 [UK]

As the inevitable march towards the 100th volume of Now That's What I Call Music in the Spring of 2018 continues, the venerable series takes another measured step with the release of Now That's What I Call Music 96 on April 7, 2017. The double-disc, 43 track album features a single former Number One song in George Michael's "Fastlove", which topped the UK Singles chart for three weeks more than 20 years ago and appeared on NOW 36. There's a simple explanation for the paucity of chart-toppers on NOW 96: since NOW 95 was released in November 2016, there have been only two Number One Songs and neither one was licensed for NOW 96. Here are the music videos for those two songs, which currently have 20 weeks at the top of the UK Singles chart between them:

Sheeran recently dominated the Official Singles chart in unprecedented fashion when all sixteen tracks from the Deluxe version of his latest album were in the Top 20.

If it is of any consolation, eighteen tracks on NOW 96 are or were Top 10 tracks on the UK charts and slightly over half the tracks were new to our ears. There may be a lot of great songs on this album but the pickings are slim for us. Our favorite song is Rag'N'Bone Man's "Human" while my Mom's favorite track is Train's "Heart And Soul" "Play That Song":

And here's that tasty George Michael groove :

Because we care, we've also compiled an exclusive bonus half-hour playlist of acoustic versions of nine songs found on NOW 96. Give a listen:

Just last week, the NOW Nerds released the latest in their running/workout/fitness series with the Now Running XX Tracks, a triple-disc set loaded with 60+ tracks - some straight off the radio and others remixed for the club gym - to pump you up and running. Or working out. Or sweating to the oldies - there are two James Brown classics and two Run-DMC tracks depending on which old school you pledge allegiance to! For our needs, there's a solid single CD's worth of worthy upbeat tunes, most especially Rozalla's triumphant anthem about feeling good, Chumbawamba's song of stubborn perseverance, Gram'ma Funk sitting in with Groove Armada on the Fatboy Slim mix urging everyone to get up off the wall and this tasty bit of Cookin' On 3 Burners remixed by Kungs. Your mileage may literally vary.

Below is a cover art gallery of the previous entries in the NOW running/workout/fitness series, some of which were digital downloads only. We've included the few Official Now That's What I Call Music Spotify playlists of the series available West of the Atlantic Ocean.

Lastly, here's the official Now That's What I Call Music US Now! Workout playlist, most recently updated in December 2016, if you still crave more music for your running/workout/fitness routine: