NOW Yearbook '88 and EXTRA '88 [2023-2024]

Three weeks after NOW Yearbook EXTRA '73 was released, NOW Yearbook '88 was released on November 3, 2023. It comes in the usual 4 CD and 3LP vinyl configurations and marked a return to the Eighties for NOW Yearbook after dalliances with the Seventies and Nineties. The color of the vinyl is listed as translucent blue, but I call it teal or turquoise, and it contains 45 of the 82 tracks found on the CD. The year 1988 is not among my favorites and is probably my least favorite of the decade. I pre-ordered the collection anyway with moderated hopes, the less expensive stripped-down Digipac version, as always, because we're all about the music here at The Hideaway.

Right from the jump, I'm a little disoriented as the first two songs remind me of 1987 though it doesn't really matter because I don't care for either one of them. A few more tracks from throughout the album will also conjure up 1987, a very important and highly memorable year in my life. There are a few UK tracks I am unfamiliar with on CD ONE, but mostly, there are tracks I have heard and need never hear again. I count three songs pictured to the right that I would definitely enjoy hearing again almost immediately: "The Race" by Yello, "Somewhere In My Heart" by Aztec Camera, and Fairground Attraction's "Perfect". Those last two are highly recommended.

While we have Kylie Minogue's "Can't Get You Out Of My Head" from 2001 on the official soundtrack of The Hideaway, I can't say I'm too familiar with any of her other stuff. The first track on CD TWO changes that when "I Should Be So Lucky" catches me off-guard with its sticky-sweet groove courtesy of Stock Aitken Waterman. Not a fan of their assembly-line pop, though some tracks do stand out. My wife is a Whovian from way back, so I'll allow "Doctorin' The Tardis". Pretty sure she bought the twelve-inch single back in 1989 when it showed up in the U.S. We like the way the two Go-Go's members' tracks are placed back to back, then lead into the Bangles.

As I've been making my way through Springsteen's trove of "lost albums", I would love to hear "Tougher Than The Rest" recorded with the band he used on the Somewhere North Of Nashville sessions, with that pedal steel front and center. I'm glad the song is here, kicking off CD THREE. It's only now that I know he's capable of the sound I imagined in my head, I'd like to hear it in real life. I've always liked the late career single "All Fired Up" from Benatar and Geraldo, but had no idea it had some traction on the UK charts.  Can't explain why I love some Cher songs, like others, and can't stand the rest. "I Found Someone" falls into the love-it category.

Kylie shows up again on CD FOUR with "The Loco-motion", the hit that launched her career, but I didn't really perk up on this disc until track 15, "Push It". The following three tracks, all by female R&B singers from the U.S., continued to grab my attention: "Girlfriend" by Pebbles, "Pink Cadillac" by Natalie Cole, and "Tell It To My Heart" by Taylor Dayne. My 1988 was a little more rock than pop-leaning, with a little rap thrown in. More than 90% of my home music listening was through headphones in 1988. The closing number, a UK Christmas Number One, only confirms that, as always, the UK had a different 1988 than we did in America.

NOW Yearbook '88 was not a bad or disappointing listen; the passable tracks far outnumber the one-and-dones. It may be my least favorite of the Eighties decade thus far, but that's the worst thing I can say about it. The album features seven of the thirty-two U.S. Number Ones and fifteen of the seventeen U.K. Number Ones from 1988. Only four of the eighty-two tracks missed the U.K. Top 20. It's worth noting that fifty-one of the tracks have been licensed for the very first time on a NOW collection.

Released on January 24, 2024, NOW Yearbook Extra '88 features sixty tracks across three discs. There are four U.S. Number One songs and one U.K. chart-topper, though it's a ringer: The Hollies' "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" originally peaked at number 3 when it was first released in 1969. After being featured in a beer commercial in 1988, the single recharted and climbed all the way to the top. Nearly half of this album's songs, a total of twenty-six tracks, were licensed for their very first NOW compilation with NOW Yearbook Extra '88.

Two of the first five tracks on CD ONE are favorites of ours: New Order's acid-house groove "Fine Time" and the Bangles' groovy "In Your Room". There are two more senseless '88 remixes or remakes of older songs: Petula Clark's classic "Downtown" and Chris Rea's "On The Beach". Given the others that appeared on NOW Yearbook '88, only one comes to mind that hasn't come up yet: Ben Liebrand's remix of "In The Air Tonight".

I like that NOW put the Matt Bianco track next to the Sade track. They don't sound alike, but I enjoy hearing them together. Man, I love Tanta Tikaram's "Twist In My Sobriety" on so many levels. Gonna be groovin' to  Ancient Heart very soon.

CD TWO starts off with back-to-back-to-back likes from The Primitives, the Transvision Vamp, and The Voice Of The Beehive. And then there's Echo & the Bunnymen's gloomy cover of "People Are Strange" from The Lost Boys soundtrack. So good. Good songs from Deacon Blue, Aztec Camera, and Climie Fisher follow. Then we skipped a handful of tracks before stopping on another soundtrack cut, Narada's "Divine Emotion" from Bright Lights, Big City. It still sounds like he's channeling Kid Creole to me, but I love it so. Teddy Riley's new jack swing is in full effect with Keith Sweat's "I Want Her", a slammin' jam that's going to have me dragging out New Jack Swing - Gold tonight.

The first nine songs on CD THREE camethisclose to being skipped, but I resisted the temptation. I was rewarded with "Another Weekend", a decent Five Star track (RIP, Stedman) followed by the stilted conversation that prefaces Milli Vanilli's "Girl You Know It's True" which takes me to 1988 every. single. time. Then Elton John sees Bruce Hornsby and raises the tempo for "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That", another fine volley in the piano versus drum machine wars. Immediately following Milli and Elli is Fairground Attraction featuring Eddi Reader (again!) with "Find My Love". (Thanks to Wm. for reminding me of the band back in 2023.)

While I did skip a handful of tracks on CD TWO and that infernal "She's Like The Wind" on CD THREE, I found NOW Yearbook Extra '88 an enjoyable listen. Little pockets of intentional or serendipitous sequencing definitely helped. While hearing "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" was anachronistic, the preceding songs all placed this listener happily back in 1988 or at least 1987. Wonder where the folks in NOW Towers will take us next.

		NOW Yearbook Series (as covered on The Hideaway)
	01	NOW Yearbook '83	6/21	19	NOW Yearbook EXTRA '86	4/23
	02	NOW Yearbook '84	10/21	20	NOW Yearbook '78	4/23
	03	NOW Yearbook EXTRA '83	12/21	21	NOW Yearbook EXTRA '78	6/23
	04	NOW Yearbook EXTRA '84	1/22	22	NOW Yearbook '92*	7/23
	05	NOW Yearbook '82	2/22	23	NOW Yearbook EXTRA '92*	8/23
	06	NOW Yearbook EXTRA '82	3/22	24	NOW Yearbook '73	9/23
	07	NOW Yearbook '81	5/22	25	NOW Yearbook EXTRA '73	10/22
	08	NOW Yearbook EXTRA '81	7/22	26	NOW Yearbook '88	11/23
	09	NOW Yearbook '80	7/22	27	NOW Yearbook EXTRA '88	1/24
	10	NOW Yearbook EXTRA '80	8/22	28
	11	NOW Yearbook '79	9/22	29
	12	NOW Yearbook EXTRA '79	10/22	30
	13	NOW Yearbook '85	11/22	31
	14	NOW Yearbook '80-'84: The Final Chapter	12/22	32
	15	NOW Yearbook EXTRA '80-'84: Collectors Edition*	12/22	33
	16	NOW Yearbook EXTRA '85	1/23	34
	17	NOW Yearbook EXTRA '80-'84: The Final Chapter	2/23	35
	18	NOW Yearbook '86	2/23	36
		*did not buy or write up