Intense Records

NOW That's What I Call an Era: The Albums 1980 - 1984 **4XCD**

NOW
CDNNNOW158
Pop, Rock
CD

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£12.49 (£14.99 incl. VAT)

NOW Music is very proud to present the second of our Now Thats What I Call An Era releases. The Albums 1980 > 1984 celebrates 72 iconic albums that were released between 1980 and 1984, featuring a magnificent track from each - and none of them UK hit singles!Most of the albums being highlighted produced huge hit singles that have become both synonymous with the decade and enduringly popular but these albums are of such a high quality forever part of the artists legacy - that other tracks could have equally become hits and some have become as well-loved by fans as the singles, and have for many artists always been an established part of their live shows.NOW Thats What I Call An Era: The Albums 1980 > 1984Essential Tracks From Iconic AlbumsThis 4CD set opens with a trio of tracks from stunning debuts: A Ray Of Sunshine from Fantastic, the 1983 debut album from Wham, Lemon Firebrigade from Haircut 100s Pelican West, and the sumptuous Show Me, the opening track from The Lexicon Of Love from ABC. Huge 1983 albums are up next from Culture Club, with Black Money from Colour By Numbers, and This City Never Sleeps the closing track on Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) from Eurythmics. Another epic closer from Alison Moyet with Where Hides Sleep from her solo debut Alf is followed by Frankies First Affair from another 1984 debut, Diamond Life from Sade.Roxy Musics 1982 Avalon included The Space Between, whilst Japan with Talking Drum from Tin Drum leads a stellar run of iconic albums from Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Heaven 17, Ultravox and The Human League with The Things That Dreams Are Made Of from 1981s hit-packed Dare. The first disc closes with Donna Summer from her Quincy Jones produced 1982 eponymous album, Tina Turner with the opening track from her landmark 1984 release Private Dancer and Bruce Springsteen from his 1980 double classic The River, while the final track Mystery Achievement was the final track on the Pretenders debut Pretenders released just two weeks into 1980 and sounding as fresh today as it did over 45 years ago.Wham! are back opening CD2 with Heartbeat from 1984s Make It Big an album that housed multiple #1 singles. Soft Cell are featured next with Secret Life from their remarkable debut Non- Stop Erotic Cabaret, and a track that would be a #1 10 years later as a cover version, Young At Heart, is featured from Bananaramas 1983 debut Deep Sea Skiving. A run of superb synth pop including Nik Kershaw, Howard Jones and Bronski Beat follows, before a couple of r&b influenced tracks from Shalamar, from their hit-filled Friends album and Imagination from In The Heat Of The Night. New-wave pop from Toyah, Kim Wilde and Culture Club come ahead of a couple of great covers: - Are You There With Another Girl? from Mari Wilson, and Carmels take on Tracks of My Tears from 1984s The Drum Is Everything. Next up a masterful jazz-influenced collaboration between The Style Council & Tracey Thorn, ahead of the title track from Paul Simons Hearts And Bones, and a beautiful ballad Turn Out The Light from Joan Armatradings 1980 Me Myself I all leading to the closing song, the title track from Paul Youngs 1983 #1 No Parlez.CD3 opens with a stellar line up of the eras most sophisticated pop. Leading off with the timeless The Chauffeur from Duran Durans enormous second album Rio, before Taking Islands In Africa a stand-out from Japans Gentlemen Take Polaroids. Tears For Fears made their album debut in 1983 and the title track from The Hurting is featured along with a great pop moment, Black Night White Light from Frankie Goes To Hollywoods 1984 debut Welcome To The Pleasuredome. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark are up next alongside Laurie Anderson from Big Science, The Cure from Seventeen Seconds and Joy Division from Closer. U.S. Alt-pop tracks from R.E.M. and The Psychedelic Furs come ahead of synth led gems from Blancmange, China Crisis and The Associates. 1981s biggest selling album in the UK was Kings Of The Wild Frontier from Adam & The Ants and Ants Invasion taken from it is featured next along with The Teardrop Explodes from Kilimanjaro, Echo & The Bunnymen with Crystal Days from Ocean Rain, The Jam from Sound Affects, and Aztec Camera with We Could Send Letters from their 1983 debut album High Land, Hard Rain, whilst the discs sign-off is from Nick Heyward with the gorgeous The Day It Rained Forever from his fantastic solo debut North Of A Miracle.The final disc kicks off with a run of classic synth led epics: New Order open with Age Of Consent from their second album Power, Corruption And Lies, and Hard Times, from the 1982 remix album from The Human League using the name The League Unlimited Orchestra. Visage released their second album The Anvil in 1982 and the title track is up next along with three more title tracks: Simple Minds with New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84) from their brilliant 1982 release, Talk Talk with The Partys Over from the same year, and The Fixx with Reach The Beach from their 1983 second release which gave them a Top 10 U.S. album. In 1984, David Sylvian released his first solo album Brilliant Trees, and from it the outstanding and atmospheric Nostalgia shares a jazz-infused sophistication with Almost Blue, up next from Elvis Costello & The Attractions. The Cure released their fifth album The Top in 1984, and its opening track Shake Dog Shake features ahead of Angels On The Balcony from Blondie, featuring their signature sound and taken from 1980s Autoamerican and from the same year Dexys Midnight Runners from Searching For The Young Soul Rebels. In 1982 The Clash released Combat Rock, and Overpowered By Funk is included. Next up are The Police with their fusion of post punk and reggae rock, from their 1980 #1 album Zenyatta Mondatta with When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of Whats Still Around, followed by Grace Jones breathtaking version of Nightclubbing. The opening track Tyler from UB40s acclaimed 1980 debut Signing Off comes ahead of the closing tracks, both of which featured on albums released on the influential 2-Tone label; The Selecter with the title track from 1980s Too Much Pressure, and The Specials with their cover of Enjoy Yourself (Its Later Than You Think), the opening track on their 1980 album More Specials.72 fantastic tracks A sampler of the iconic albums that represent an incredible period of creativity and originality:NOW Thats What I Call An Era : The Albums 1980 > 1984.Tracklisting:CD 11. Wham! - A Ray Of Sunshine2. Haircut 100 - Lemon Firebrigade3. ABC - Show Me4. Culture Club - Black Money5. Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart - This City Never Sleeps6. Alison Moyet - Where Hides Sleep7. Sade - Frankie's First Affair8. Roxy Music - The Space Between9. Japan - Talking Drum10. Duran Duran Anyone Out There11. The Human League - The Things That Dreams Are Made Of12. Spandau Ballet Reformation13. Heaven 17 - We Live So Fast14. Ultravox New Europeans15. Donna Summer - Protection16. Tina Turner I Might Have Been Queen17. Bruce Springsteen - The Ties That Bind18. Pretenders Mystery AchievementCD 21. Wham! - Heartbeat2. Soft Cell - Secret Life3. Bananarama - Young At Heart4. Nik Kershaw - Bogart5. Thompson Twins - The Gap6. Howard Jones Equality7. Bronski Beat - Junk8. Shalamar - Dont Try To Change Me9. Imagination- All Night Loving10. Toyah Jungles Of Jupiter11. Kim Wilde Our Town12. Culture Club - Boy Boy (I'm The Boy)13. Mari Wilson Are You There With Another Girl?14. Carmel- Tracks Of My Tears15. The Style Council & Tracey Thorn - The Paris Match16. Paul Simon - Hearts And Bones17. Joan Armatrading - Turn Out The Light18. Paul Young - No ParlezCD 31. Duran Duran The Chauffeur2. Japan - Taking Islands In Africa3. Tears For Fears - The Hurting4. Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Black Night White Light5. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - She's Leaving6. Laurie Anderson From The Air7. The Cure - Play For Today8. Joy Division Isolation9. R.E.M. - Harborcoat10. The Psychedelic Furs - President Gas11. Blancmange - Game Above My Head12. China Crisis - Red Sails13. The Associates - Gloomy Sunday14. Adam & The Ants - Ants Invasion15. The Teardrop Explodes - Second Head16. Echo And The Bunnymen Crystal Days17. The Jam - Man In The Corner Shop18. Aztec Camera We Could Send Letters19. Nick Heyward - The Day It Rained ForeverCD 41. New Order Age Of Consent2. The League Unlimited Orchestra - Hard Times3. Visage - Anvil Night Club School4. Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81/82/83/84)5. Talk Talk The Partys Over6. The Fixx - Reach The Beach7. David Sylvian - Nostalgia8. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Almost Blue9. The Cure - Shake Dog Shake10. Blondie - Angels On The Balcony11. Dexys Midnight Runners Tell Me When My Light Turns Green12. The Clash - Overpowered By Funk13. The Police - When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around14. Grace Jones - Nightclubbing15. UB40 - Tyler16. The Selecter Too Much Pressure17. The Specials Enjoy Yourself (Its Later Than You Think)