NOW Yearbook EXTRA '85 [2023]

Thanks to The Hideaway viewers who were kind enough to offer constructive criticism on the last NOW Yearbook album we posted. We had a quality control issue that hopefully has been straightened out. Specifically, we referred to NOW Yearbook '80-'84: The Final Chapter EXTRA as the sixteenth volume in the NOW Yearbook series when it is actually the seventeenth volume as we skipped past NOW Yearbook EXTRA '85. Also, the laptop we're using in place of our dead PC apparently has an issue with the coloring of Google Spreadsheets where black is white and white is black. So everything looks great in Preview mode but once Published it reverts to opposite colors. Sometimes. We've yet to remedy that issue.

The sixteenth volume in the NOW Yearbook series is NOW Yearbook EXTRA '85. Announced in early December 2022, the three-disc collection of 60 more essential hits from 1985 was released in the first week of January 2023. The album pairs well with NOW Yearbook '85 providing a great overview of the 1985 UK pop scene with 138 tracks. We wrote that we enjoy the EXTRA companion discs because they come in one format and are value-priced. We failed to mention that they are printed in lesser quantities than their big brothers, the regular NOW Yearbooks for their respective years so they can sell out if demand is high.

Wham's "I'm Your Man" nabs the pole position at track one on disc one and is followed by a few songs (including the rare-ish on CD single edit of Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell") that managed to crossover to the US airwaves but then it's a UK-exclusive run of songs until the final six tracks where four of the songs also were hits in America. (I admit I had difficulty listening to this album with my usual open mind when it arrived. Don't recall if there was a particular reason why I may have been in a foul mood. Gonna set aside my original listening notes from two years ago and work through the next two discs "live" to see if my perception and enjoyment deviate.)

Disc Two begins with a dollop of UK indie pop from the four pillars of that hallowed pantheon: Smiths, Echo, Cure, and Siouxsie. The mood brightens up thanks to ditties by Lloyd Cole, Kirsty MacColl, and Nick Heyward before a rush of nine tracks of recognizable squiggly electronic-flavored American airwave favorites from Godley & Creme to ZZ Top that may or may not have been featured on Miami Vice. The final track on the second disc may be one of the most despised cover versions ever put to tape so of course we enjoy it here at The Hideaway despite nothing but love for the timeless original.

It is a rap track followed by R&B tracks that begin the third disc of NOW Yearbook EXTRA '85 from the likes of Lisa Lisa, Cameo, Five Star, and Chaka Khan. Future Enigma vocalist Sandra appears with a big slice of Europop and disco diva Amii Stewart re-emerges with a pointless remix of "Knock On Wood", yet another cover version. The covers continue with the band Matt Bianco updating Geroge Fame's 1965 Number One hit "Yeh Yeh" before a few more heavy hitters show up to sing slightly smaller hits. The set ends fully chilled with "Moments In Love".

It's hard to go wrong with anything from 1985 – so many memories and sheer nostalgia are hard-wired into many of the songs from the year. It was the end of an era but it went out gracefully with full pop dignity intact. I count sixteen tracks from the album's sixty that are in rotation on our daily soundtrack here.

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As usual, Paul English has a wonderful Spotify playlist that features 40 more songs not included on NOW Yearbook '85 or NOW Yearbook '85 EXTRA.

	NOW Yearbook Series (as covered here on The Hideaway)
01	NOW Yearbook '83	2021
02	NOW Yearbook '84	2021
03	NOW Yearbook '83 EXTRA	2021
04	NOW Yearbook '84 EXTRA	2022
05	NOW Yearbook '82	2022
06	NOW Yearbook '82 EXTRA	2022
07	NOW Yearbook '81	2022
08	NOW Yearbook '81 EXTRA	2022
09	NOW Yearbook '80	2022
10	NOW Yearbook '80 EXTRA	2022
11	NOW Yearbook '79	2022
12	NOW Yearbook '79 EXTRA	2022
13	NOW Yearbook '85	2022
14	NOW Yearbook '80-'84: The Final Chapter	2022
15	NOW Yearbook '80-'84 EXTRA: Collectors Edition*	2022
16	NOW Yearbook '85 EXTRA	2023
17	NOW Yearbook '80-'84: The Final Chapter EXTRA	2023
18
19
20
	* did not buy - vinyl only set