WHAT? It's 2023? It's been 133 days since the last Hideaway post but let's not dwell on days gone by and instead focus on the music gone by like we always do here.
released: 05.20.22
85 songs on 4CDs
46 songs on 3LP red vinyl
Collectors gonna collect and this collection did not disappoint this collector. My 1981 was a year of change as we moved from the midwest to the southwest just before my sophomore year began in August. The move also marked my transition from a Top 40 radio listener to a rock radio listener who still listened to American Top 40 and watched America's Top 10 each week. Just scanning the tracklist got me excited to listen - 3 tracks by Adam & the Ants - and other tunes that screamed 1981! Some of the tracks didn't click until I heard them coming out of the speakers. After 40+ years, turns out I was familiar with all but about six of the songs as I listened over a solid week of commuting during the Summer of 2022. | dsc- trk | title | artist | time | UK | US |
| 1-1 | Under Pressure | Queen & David Bowie | 4:04 | 1 | 29 |
| 1-2 | Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic | The Police | 4:22 | 1 | 3 |
| 1-3 | Ghost Town | The Specials | 3:40 | 1 | |
| 1-4 | Vienna | Ultravox | 4:39 | 2 | |
| 1-5 | Fade To Grey | Visage | 3:48 | 8 | |
| 1-6 | Don't You Want Me | The Human League | 3:57 | 1 | 1 |
| 1-7 | Planet Earth | Duran Duran | 3:55 | 12 | |
| 1-8 | Tainted Love | Soft Cell | 2:37 | 1 | 8 |
| 1-9 | Quiet Life | Japan | 3:34 | 19 | |
| 1-10 | Kids In America | Kim Wilde | 3:25 | 2 | 25 |
| 1-11 | It's A Mystery | Toyah | 4:01 | 4 | |
| 1-12 | Prince Charming | Adam & The Ants | 3:17 | 1 | |
| 1-13 | Rapture | Blondie | 4:58 | 5 | 1 |
| 1-14 | Lay All Your Love On Me | ABBA | 4:35 | 7 | |
| 1-15 | Physical | Olivia Newton-John | 3:42 | 7 | 1 |
| 1-16 | Stars On 45 | Stars On 45 | 4:47 | 2 | 1 |
| 1-17 | Green Door | Shakin' Stevens | 3:09 | 1 | |
| 1-18 | It Must Be Love | Madness | 3:20 | 4 | 33 |
| 1-19 | Being With You | Smokey Robinson | 4:07 | 1 | 2 |
| 1-20 | One Day In Your Life | Michael Jackson | 4:13 | 1 | 55 |
| 2-1 | Imagine | John Lennon | 3:02 | 1 | |
| 2-2 | Jealous Guy | Roxy Music | 4:51 | 1 | |
| 2-3 | I Go To Sleep | Pretenders | 2:56 | 7 | |
| 2-4 | Bette Davis Eyes | Kim Carnes | 3:39 | 10 | 1 |
| 2-5 | Keep On Loving You | REO Speedwagon | 3:21 | 7 | 1 |
| 2-6 | Hold On Tight | Electric Light Orchestra | 3:07 | 4 | 10 |
| 2-7 | You Better You Bet | The Who | 3:58 | 9 | 18 |
| 2-8 | I Surrender | Rainbow | 3:26 | 3 | |
| 2-9 | Something 'Bout You Baby I Like | Status Quo | 2:48 | 9 | |
| 2-10 | Please Don't Touch | Headgirl | 2:48 | 5 | |
| 2-11 | Will You? | Hazel O'Connor | 4:48 | 8 | |
| 2-12 | Wordy Rappinghood | Tom Tom Club | 3:43 | 7 | |
| 2-13 | Don't Stop The Music | Yarbrough & Peoples | 4:09 | 7 | 19 |
| 2-14 | Body Talk | Imagination | 3:33 | 4 | |
| 2-15 | You'll Never Know | Hi-Gloss | 4:44 | 12 | |
| 2-16 | Southern Freeez | Freeez | 4:00 | 8 | |
| 2-17 | Going Back To My Roots | Odyssey | 3:24 | 4 | |
| 2-18 | Let's Groove | Earth, Wind & Fire | 3:31 | 3 | 3 |
| 2-19 | It's A Love Thing | The Whispers | 3:47 | 9 | 28 |
| 2-20 | When She Was My Girl | Four Tops | 3:18 | 3 | 11 |
| 2-21 | How 'Bout Us | Champaign | 3:19 | 5 | 12 |
| 3-1 | Woman | John Lennon | 3:32 | 1 | 2 |
| 3-2 | One Of Us | ABBA | 3:56 | 3 | |
| 3-3 | Endless Love | Diana Ross and Lionel Richie | 4:25 | 7 | 1 |
| 3-4 | Rainy Night In Georgia | Randy Crawford | 4:19 | 18 | |
| 3-5 | For Your Eyes Only | Sheena Easton | 2:59 | 8 | 4 |
| 3-6 | Stand And Deliver | Adam & The Ants | 3:07 | 1 | |
| 3-7 | Under Your Thumb | Godley & Creme | 3:46 | 3 | |
| 3-8 | Star | Kiki Dee | 3:15 | 13 | |
| 3-9 | Wired For Sound | Cliff Richard | 3:39 | 4 | 71 |
| 3-10 | Hand Held In Black And White | Dollar | 3:20 | 19 | |
| 3-11 | Japanese Boy | Aneka | 3:56 | 1 | |
| 3-12 | Making Your Mind Up | Bucks Fizz | 2:38 | 1 | |
| 3-13 | This Ole House | Shakin' Stevens | 3:03 | 1 | |
| 3-14 | (Do) The Hucklebuck | Coast To Coast | 2:32 | 5 | |
| 3-15 | Rock This Town | Stray Cats | 2:39 | 9 | 9 |
| 3-16 | Can Can | Bad Manners | 2:51 | 3 | |
| 3-17 | Everybody Salsa | Modern Romance | 3:20 | 12 | |
| 3-18 | I Am The Beat | The Look | 3:04 | 6 | |
| 3-19 | Attention To Me | The Nolans | 3:07 | 9 | |
| 3-20 | Begin The Beguine (Volver A Empezar) | Julio Iglesias | 4:41 | 1 | |
| 3-21 | More Than In Love | Kate Robbins & Beyond | 3:29 | 2 | |
| 3-22 | Memory | Elaine Paige | 4:16 | 6 | |
| 4-1 | Antmusic | Adam & The Ants | 3:37 | 2 | |
| 4-2 | Happy Birthday | Altered Images | 2:58 | 2 | |
| 4-3 | Girls On Film | Duran Duran | 3:29 | 5 | |
| 4-4 | Love Action (I Believe In Love) | The Human League | 3:44 | 3 | |
| 4-5 | Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On) | Spandau Ballet | 4:07 | 3 | |
| 4-6 | Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl) | Haircut 100 | 3:04 | 4 | |
| 4-7 | Tears Are Not Enough | ABC | 3:35 | 19 | |
| 4-8 | Einstein A Go-Go | Landscape | 3:00 | 5 | |
| 4-9 | Yellow Pearl | Phil Lynott | 2:57 | 14 | |
| 4-10 | She's Got Claws | Gary Numan | 4:55 | 6 | |
| 4-11 | Souvenir | Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark | 3:36 | 3 | |
| 4-12 | I'm In Love With A German Film Star | The Passions | 3:59 | 25 | |
| 4-13 | That's Entertainment | The Jam | 3:33 | 21 | |
| 4-14 | Fire | U2 | 3:51 | 35 | |
| 4-15 | Spellbound | Siouxsie And The Banshees | 3:17 | 22 | |
| 4-16 | Reward | The Teardrop Explodes | 2:42 | 6 | |
| 4-17 | Swords Of A Thousand Men | Tenpole Tudor | 2:55 | 6 | |
| 4-18 | Is Vic There? | Department S | 3:04 | 22 | |
| 4-19 | One In Ten | UB40 | 4:32 | 7 | |
| 4-20 | The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum) | Fun Boy Three | 3:13 | 20 | |
| 4-21 | Labeled With Love | Squeeze | 4:30 | 4 | |
| 4-22 | Good Year For The Roses | Elvis Costello & The Attractions | 3:06 | 6 |
My overall take is that NOW Yearbook '81 is not as powerful for me as the volumes from 1982 and 1983. And like those two years, I really want to find the time to compile my own personal U.S.-centric compilation of songs from 1981 that will transport me back in time like a bullet train.
released: 07.01.22
66 tracks on 3CDs
I had barely finished my initial listen to NOW Yearbook '81 when NOW announced the surprise to no one that was NOW '81 Yearbook EXTRA with 2 more Adam & the Ants tunes. The previous collection of chart hits from 1981 had all but two of 1981's nineteen British Number Ones but expectations were dashed when chart-topping tracks by Joe Dolce ("Shaddap Your Face") and Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin ("It's My Party") failed to find a place on NOW Yearbook '81 EXTRA. Interestingly, the two songs ranked 9th and 10th respectively in the year-end countdown of the 541 charted UK singles from 1981.Because I did not instantly replay any tracks while listening to this one, it took only 3 days to listen to this set, from John Lennon to UB40. Of the several repeat-worthy songs, track 5 on disc 1 was the toughest to resist listening to on a loop for the rest of a day. There is a super-solid single disc 1981 compilation lurking within NOW Yearbook '81 EXTRA for me. It is probably the weakest volume for me thus far. The EXTRA discs are fun and except for a handful (or couple handfuls) of tracks that I would have rather been on the original Yearbook from '81, maybe not a must-buy for everyone. As has been my happy habit after the '83, '84, and '82 Yearbooks and Extras, I continued to enjoy the songs of '81 with the addition of Paul English's EXTRA PLUS Spotify playlist and the additional 41 tracks he rounded up. That's 192 songs from 1981 including Joe Dolce along with the usual unlicensable acts (Stones, Springsteen, Phil Collins) and tracks as well as the ones that the NOW compilers simply missed.
Where would the Yearbook series go next? Would they jump ahead to 1985 or beyond as some fans had been calling for? Would they continue the established course and go back to 1980 next time out as logic dictated? And of interest to the vinyl collectors, what pretty color would the next release feature? If you know you know but if you're curious, keep checking The Hideaway. Click on the links below to catch up.
NOW Yearbook Series
07 NOW Yearbook '81 [2022]
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