Now 80s Alternative 4CD

Now 80s Alternative

NOW Music proudly presents NOW – 80s Alternative: 80 tracks across 4 CDs encapsulating the era and celebrating an incredibly diverse decade for ‘Alternative’ music.

CD1 showcases genre-defining bands and kicks off with New Order’s sublime ‘Thieves Like Us’, Eurythmics stunning ‘Beethoven (I Love To Listen To)’ and Joy Division’s era defining ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’. Post-Punk New Wave exploded on to the charts, and The Associates, The Jam, Echo And The Bunnymen, Pretenders, and Siouxsie’s side project The Creatures are all included. The U.S. Alt scene provided R.E.M., Pixies, The Psychedelic Furs, and the David Bowie co-write ‘Shades’ from Iggy Pop. Plus, some of the best written Pop songs ever, represented here by David Sylvian, Marc Almond, Aztec Camera, Pete Wylie & The Mighty WAH!, The Adventures, Tom Robinson, and the Elvis Costello co-write ‘Shipbuilding’, beautifully realised by Robert Wyatt.

The (still) incredible ‘O Superman’ from Laurie Anderson opens the second disc, along with other synth-based classics from Yello, Propaganda, Midge Ure & Mick Karn, Japan, Electronic and a brilliant single from Japanese band Sandii & The Sunsetz. DEVO produced the defining U.S. New Wave smash with ‘Whip It’, and fantastic unique hits from Scarlet Fantastic, Split Enz, Our Daughter’s Wedding, Anne Pigalle and ‘Flowers’ by Zaine Griff (featuring Kate Bush on backing vocals) are all included.

The epic ‘This Corrosion’ from Sisters Of Mercy starts CD3 in grandiose style – and is followed with atmospheric masterpieces from Siouxsie And The Banshees, Bauhaus, The Cure and a second appearance from Joy Division – before some late-80s Alternative essentials, including Bjork’s band The Sugarcubes, Act, The Mission, All About Eve, The Cult’s ‘Edie (Ciao Baby)’, ‘This Is England’ from The Clash, and The Fall’s version of ‘There’s A Ghost In My House’, before closing with two more great examples of U.S. Alt Pop from The Go-Go’s, and The Waitresses.  

Opening with the song that launched one of the defining bands of the era, The Smiths, with ‘Hand In Glove’ the final CD features a stellar line up of 80s Alternative Chart hits – The Icicle Works, It’s Immaterial, B-Movie, Kissing The Pink and Gang Of Four are all featured with timeless singles… Altered Images, Toyah and Adam & The Ants would go on to find huge mainstream success in the early ‘80s – and we celebrate these artists with their earlier singles. Big Audio Dynamite, Julian Cope and XTC are also included before the collection draws to a close with Latin Quarter’s ‘Radio Africa’ – and Scritti Politti’s 1981 single ‘The “Sweetest Girl”’.

NOW – 80s Alternative – A celebration of a different view of the decade’s charts - the lesser-compiled 1980’s singles.

Tracklist:
1-1 Thieves Like Us 3:56
1-2 Beethoven (I Love To Listen To) 4:48
1-3 Love Will Tear Us Apart 3:26
1-4 Red Guitar (7" Version) 4:23
1-5 Party Fears Two (Single Edit) 4:08
1-6 Stories Of Johnny 3:45
1-7 Oblivious 3:11
1-8 Come Back 4:22
1-9 Broken Land (7" Version) 4:09
1-10 Shades 5:58
1-11 Talk Of The Town 3:13
1-12 So. Central Rain 3:15
1-13 Monkey Gone To Heaven 2:56
1-14 President Gas 5:16
1-15 Planet Claire 4:36
1-16 Mad Eyed Screamer 1:53
1-17 The Cutter 3:52
1-18 That's Entertainment 3:37
1-19 Atmospherics: Listen To The Radio 3:44
1-20 Shipbuilding 3:04
2-1 O Superman 8:24
2-2 I'm In Love With A German Film Star 3:58
2-3 European Female 4:01
2-4 Getting Away With It (7" Edit) 4:15
2-5 Dr. Mabuse 4:18
2-6 Vicious Games 4:20
2-7 No Memory 3:48
2-8 Suddenly Last Summer 3:41
2-9 Always Something There To Remind Me 3:38
2-10 I Got You 3:26
2-11 Lawnchairs 3:27
2-12 Whip It 2:39
2-13 After A Fashion (7" Version) 3:58
2-14 Gentlemen Take Polaroids (Edit) 3:30
2-15 Dreams Of Immigrants 4:34
2-16 African And White 3:46
2-17 The First Picture Of You 3:39
2-18 Flowers 4:07
2-19 He! Stranger 4:20
3-1 This Corrosion 4:29
3-2 Peek-A-Boo 3:10
3-3 Kick In The Eye (Remix Single Version) 3:36
3-4 A Forest (Shortened Edit) 4:43
3-5 Atmosphere 4:09
3-6 Birthday 3:58
3-7 Pop Song 4:30
3-8 Snobbery & Decay 4:10
3-9 The American 3:34
3-10 Down In The Subway (Extended Single Version) 3:27
3-11 There's A Ghost In My House 2:35
3-12 Grimly Fiendish (Album Edit Version) 3:49
3-13 Liberator 3:40
3-14 Do You Believe In The Westworld? (7" Version) 3:47
3-15 This Is England 3:51
3-16 Edie (Ciao Baby) (Edit) 4:01
3-17 Tower Of Strength (Radio Edit) 4:27
3-18 Martha's Harbour 3:04
3-19 Hit The Ground 2:20
3-20 Head Over Heels (Album Version) 3:37
3-21 I Know What Boys Like 3:13
4-1 Hand In Glove (Single Version) 3:16
4-2 Love Is A Wonderful Colour 4:11
4-3 Driving Away From Home (Jim's Tune) (Single Version) 3:51
4-4 The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades 3:23
4-5 Mexican Radio 4:09
4-6 Senses Working Overtime 4:34
4-7 Remembrance Day 4:03
4-8 The Last Film 3:25
4-9 I Love A Man In A Uniform 4:07
4-10 Der Kommissar (7" Version) 4:08
4-11 Dead Pop Stars 3:15
4-12 Ieya (Single Version) 5:12
4-13 Car Trouble 3:25
4-14 World Shut Your Mouth 3:32
4-15 Crash 2:33
4-16 Sonic Boom Boy 2:55
4-17 Def Con One 4:00
4-18 Medicine Show 6:32
4-19 Radio Africa 3:50
4-20 The "Sweetest Girl" 5:07

Label: Sony Music
Released: 2024