Music

How old does this make you feel? The 'NOW' compilation is in its 43rd volume

by Aaron Zorgel

The end of the Olympics provided a pretty slow sales week for the music industry, which allowed the 43rd edition of the Now That’s What I Call Music! compilation series to peak at #1 on the Billboard 200, selling 111,000 copies.

Now, either I’m aging at an alarming rate, or they’re cranking out these Now! compilations faster than a Jamaican sprinter. Upon closer inspection, it looks like they’ve been releasing four Now! compilations per year since the year 2010. Okay, good. Maybe I’m not that ancient.

Now! 43 features Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” and Katy Perry’s “Part of Me,” two chart toppers from this year. The last time a Now! compilation topped the Billboard charts was in February of 2011, on the heels of LMFAO, Katy Perry, and Adele’s massive successes in 2011.

The Now! Compilation originated in the UK in 1983, and they’re as far as Now! 82 now. The compilation expanded with an American and a Canadian series in 1998, and has since expanded to more than 22 regions.

If you compare the current compilation’s tracklist with the first, you can see that popular music is much less diverse than it was in 1998. There was still plenty of boybands, girl groups, and R&B, but the first editions of the Canadian and American compilations feature their fair share of rock and alternative bands, including Radiohead, Everclear, Marcy Playground, Harvey Danger, and Weezer. The closest that Now! 43 comes to rock is probably M83.

Check out the tracklists for Now! 43 (USA), Now! 1 (USA), and Now! 1 (Canada) below, and have your minds blown. Does it make you nostalgic for 1998?

Now That’s What I Call Music! Vol. 43 (USA) (2012)

1. “Call Me Maybe” – Carly Rae Jepsen
2. “Part of Me”- Katy Perry
3. “Payphone” – Maroon 5
4. “Titanium” – David Guetta featuring Sia
5. “Lights” – Ellie Goulding
6. “Boyfriend” – Justin Bieber
7. “Scream” – Usher
8. “Let’s Go” – Calvin Harris featuring Ne-Yo
9. “Back in Time” – Pitbull
10. “Want U Back” – Cher Lloyd
11. “One Thing” – One Direction
12. “Give Your Heart a Break” – Demi Lovato
13. “Too Close” – Alex Clare
14. “Midnight City” – M83
15. “Everybody Talks” – Neon Trees
16. “Drunk on You” – Luke Bryan
17. “Here’s to Us” – Halestorm
18. “My Oh My” – Tristan Prettyman
19. “Love Actually” – Cady Groves
20. “I Don’t Like You” – Eva Simons

Now That’s What I Call Music! Vol. 1 (USA) (1998)

1. “Together Again” – Janet Jackson
2. “As Long as You Love Me” – Backstreet Boys
3. “The Way” – Fastball
4. “Flagpole Sitta” – Harvey Danger
5. “Say You’ll Be There” – Spice Girls
6. “All My Life” – K-Ci & JoJo
7. “Never Ever” (Single Edit) – All Saints
8. “If You Could Only See” – Tonic
9. “Mmmbop” – Hanson
10. “Zoot Suit Riot” – Cherry Poppin’ Daddies
11. “Shorty (You Keep Playin’ with My Mind)” – Imajin
12. “Anytime” – Brian McKnight
13. “Barbie Girl” – Aqua
14. “Karma Police” – Radiohead
15. “I Will Buy You a New Life” – Everclear
16. “Fly Away” – Lenny Kravitz
17. “Sex & Candy” – Marcy Playground

Now That’s What I Call Music! Vol. 1 (Canada) (1998)

1. Everything but the Girl – “Missing”
2. Edwyn Collins – “A Girl Like You”
3. Shaggy – “Boombastic”
4. Coolio – “Gangsta’s Paradise”
5. Janet Jackson – “Again”
6. Blessid Union of Souls – “I Believe”
7. Seal – “Kiss From a Rose”
8. Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories – “Do You Sleep?”
9. Goo Goo Dolls – “Name”
10. Radiohead – “High and Dry”
11. Weezer – “Buddy Holly”
12. Babylon Zoo – “Spaceman”
13. Barenaked Ladies – “Alternative Girlfriend”
14. Erasure – “Always”
15. Brandy- “Baby”
16. Paula Abdul featuring Ofra Haza – “My Love Is for Real”
17. Selena – “I Could Fall in Love”

[via Idolator]