A sort of Top of the Pops you could skin up on, the Now That’s What I Call Music! compilation series has been defining generations for 40 years – ever since its first instalment lobbed Bonnie Tyler, Kajagoogoo, UB40 and the Rock Steady Crew onto the same crowded 12-inches of vinyl and told them to make like a sonic chef’s kiss together.
Labels such as K-tel and Ronco had been releasing hits compilations for some years, but the emergence of Now! immediately felt like a bright new era for the pop comp. When two major labels, EMI and Virgin Records, sealed the deal for a joint series on Richard Branson’s boat in Little Venice in 1983 – naming the franchise after the caption on a 1920s ad poster in which the compilation’s mascot pig celebrated a singing chicken – it opened up access to far more hits than a rival series could ever muster. And with Universal coming on board in 1986, expanding the chart-topping caches even further, each new Now! release quickly began encapsulating the mainstream tastes of its time.
