NOW Yearbook – THE VAULT: 1983 (3LP) Various Artists

The year that NOW’s story began, and where we started our ‘Yearbook’ series back in 2021. An incredible year in Pop music, and a fabulous selection of the years’ hits have featured on that first ‘Yearbook’, and on the ‘80-84 Final’ as part of our appreciation of 1983. Those tracks were generally the bigger hits of the year, with their Chart achievement a factor in their inclusion. However, that’s not the whole story, and our celebration of 1983 wouldn’t be complete without shining a light on some of the year’s singles that have been compiled much less frequently over the past 40 years.

Welcome to the THE VAULT for 1983…Some of the tracks were Top 40 hits, some missed the Chart completely, and some were huge in the U.S. and not in the U.K. – but all are part of the wonderful Pop story of 1983. 45 tracks across 3-LPs, pressed on stunning translucent red vinyl – ‘NOW Yearbook – The Vault: 1983’

LP1 includes Synth and Pop gems from established artists Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Blancmange, and Talk Talk, China Crisis, and Adam Ant, plus Electronic club tracks from Yello and Divine, with the first side closing with a live instrumental of ‘Canton’ from Japan. Flip the LP over for Fun Boy Three, XTC, The Teardrop Explodes, The Stranglers, the Retro-Pop of Tracie and the return of The Kinks, and Mari Wilson’s gorgeous cover of ‘Cry Me A River’ closes the first LP.

The second LP opens with a stunning trio of Indie-Pop singles from Bauhaus, Marc And The Mambas, and The Glove – featuring members of both The Cure and Siouxsie And The Banshees. The debut from Freur gives way to US Indie-Pop from The B-52’s and Wall Of Voodoo, before a track from Joe Jackson’s hit ‘Night And Day’ album – ‘Breaking Us In Two’ finishes the side. Kicking off the other side of LP2 is ‘Get Down Saturday Night’ from Oliver Cheatham, which would be sampled on the 2003 #1 single ‘Make Luv’ by Room 5 featuring Oliver Cheatham, and followed by Electro-Dance floor-fillers from Rockers Revenge and Freeez. Level 42 and The Belle Stars are joined by Culture Club with ‘I’ll Tumble 4 Ya’ – a U.S. single that wasn’t released in the UK, and the LP winds down with a classic and beautiful ballad from Daryl Hall & John Oates.

The final LP focuses on singles that found Chart success in the U.S, opening with the collaboration between Sparks and the Go-Go’s Jane Wiedlin, and including The Romantics, The Fixx, The Motels, Modern English, Missing Persons and Naked Eyes, before closing with Taco’s Synth cover of ‘Puttin’ On The Ritz’. Turning the LP over, the final side opens with Electric Light Orchestra and Men At Work, before Rock and FM radio hits from Pat Benatar, Styx, and Journey, and to close this amazing collection, singles taken from the soundtracks of two huge films – Giorgio Moroder and Joe Esposito with ‘Lady Lady’ from ‘Flashdance’ and ‘It Might Be You’, the theme from ‘Tootsie’ by Stephen Bishop.

NOW Yearbook – The Vault: 1983 – A continued celebration of the magical year in Pop!