VA - NOW Yearbook '85 Extra (2023)

NOW is proud to present ‘Yearbook Extra 1985’ – 3 CDs featuring 60 more stellar pop moments from 1985.

Kicking off with Wham! and their I’m Your Man’, disc one continues with the collaboration between Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin, and huge hits from Go West, Tears For Fears, Pat Benatar, and Billy Idol. Synth-

Pop from Thompson Twins, Dead Or Alive, Stephen Duffy, Howard Jones is here– and another collaboration between Gary Numan and Shakatak’s Bill Sharpe on ‘Change Your Mind’ – before Elton John, Paul Young, and King, wrapping up with three exquisite soulful ballads from Billy Ocean, Jermaine Jackson, and Commodores.

Disc two opens with an awesome run of 1985’s Indie/Alt Pop from The Smiths, Echo And The Bunnymen, The Cure, Siouxsie And The Banshees, The Damned, and Killing Joke alongside Synth-driven hits from Godley & Creme, New Order, Propaganda, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark and Jan Hammer’s theme from ‘Miami Vice’ before some classic radio Power Pop from ZZ Top, The Power Station, REO Speedwagon, and ending with Far Corporation’s cover of ‘Stairway To Heaven’.

The final disc is a treasure trove of mid-80s Dance, Electro and Hip-Hop crossover Pop. Grandmaster Melle Mel and The Furious Five, along with Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam with Full Force, and Cameo open, followed by Five Star, Chaka Khan, The Pointer Sisters and two rarely compiled gems from Sandra, and Sheila E with the brilliant ‘A Love Bizarre (Pt. 1)’. Latin flavoured Dance-Pop from Animal Nightlife, Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine, and Matt Bianco is up next – before legends Bryan Ferry, Sting, and Simple Minds begin a run of beautiful tracks that close with Level 42’s ‘Leaving Me Now’, Tears For Fears’ ‘I Believe’, and ‘Moments In Love’ from The Art Of Noise.