The third installment of the increasingly popular Now That's What I Call Music series was released on July 23rd, 1984, just in time to gobble up children's hard earned summer holiday money. For the first time, we saw the legendary three circle logo that would be used for the next six years. We were also introduced to a sunglasses wearing pig on the front cover and he would remain until Now 6 when sanity prevailed. The pig was a throwback to the origins of the Now series when Richard Branson had given his cousin a poster advertising Danish bacon that featured a hog saying, "Now that's what I call music!" A thumbnail of the poster had been included on the sleeve of Now 1 and that would have hopefully been the last of it until the pig resurfaced in all its horror here on Now 3.
The album contains 30 tracks spread over two discs in a familiar 8-7-8-7 configuration. Side 1 starts off with a bang, Duran Duran's storming The Reflex which had hit the top of the charts in Spring. It's followed by Nik Kershaw and I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me. It's no Wouldn't It Be Good but it's passable and was a big #2 hit in June so merits its place.
Things then go a bit strange with Sister Sledge and Thinking of You. It's a fine song from their We Are Family album... which was released way back in 1979. I can't figure out why it was reissued, other than to revive the group's flagging fortunes, and the sleeve notes don't provide any clues either.
Things pick back up with the (barely) new wave gem that is Locomotion by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. It's more pop oriented than most of their previous material but still retains that post-punk cutting edge. Ultravox had never hit the dizzy heights of 1981's Vienna since it was held off the top of the charts by the appalling Joe Dolce's Shaddup You Face. One of the biggest travesties in UK chart history. Here, Midge and the boys come close with the cracking Dancing With Tears in My Eyes which made #3 in May 1984.
The new wave vibes continue with Howard Jones' underrated Pearl in the Shell. Oddly, it never seems to appear on any 80's compilations but it's every bit as good as New Song and What is Love that preceded it. Blancmange are up next with Don't Tell Me, a #8 hit from April '84. It's good but sounds too suspiciously similar to Living on the Ceiling to make for entirely comfortable listening.
Love him or hate him, Phil Collins was ubiquitous in the mid-80's and he closes out side 1 with the stone cold classic Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now). Taken from the better-than-you-remember Jeff Bridges movie of the same name, the song is a mainstay on almost every 80's compilation you can think of. Overplayed? Maybe, but it's still a beautifully haunting ballad and arguably Collins' best work.
Time for side 2 and the massive Two Tribes from Frankie Goes to Hollywood. This was just a big as Relax and was top of the charts when Now 3 was released. Essential listening. Another new release at the time of Now 3's release was Grandmaster and Melle Mel's hip hop classic, White Lines (Don't Don't Do It). Pretty sure most rock stars paid little attention to the sentiment. It would go on to reach #7.
Special A.K.A. are next with protest song Nelson Mandela (though the song is officially called Free Nelson Mandela). I never really got the whole 80's ska vibe but understand the song's message. It did make the top 10 so was an understandable inclusion.
Things take an unfortunate turn with Love Wars from Womack & Womack. It's another protest song - I think, judging from the lyrics - but it's totally forgettable. Nice beat and bass but, God, is it boring. The Style Council save the day with the wonderful You're the Best Thing, surely their signature song and a big #5 hit at the end of May 1984.
One Love/People Get Ready features next from Bob Marley & The Wailers, Island Records cashing in on the release of the Legend album three years after Marley's death. It's a classic, of course, and made #5 in 1984 so hard to argue with its inclusion.
The first disc's grand finale - and what a finale - comes courtesy of the amazing Bronski Beat and Smalltown Boy (erroneously titled Small Town Boy here). I'd argue it's Jimmy Somerville's finest vocal performance and somehow he still belts this out - sounding almost exactly the same - more than 35 years later. It's a simply glorious slice of synthpop heaven.
Queen - apparently guaranteed a plum spot on every Now album - kick off side 3 with campy classic I Want to Break Free. The video alone is worth the price of admission, Freddie Mercury having the time of his life decked out in women's clothing in full housewife mode. Good thing MTV actually showed music videos back then otherwise we might have missed it.
Side 3 continues with Cyndi Lauper and the amazing Time After Time. One of my favorite 80's tracks, everything about it is a treat. The chords, the bass, the melody, Cyndi's raspy voice... I genuinely regard it as one of the best songs of all time. It made #3 in June 1984.
Speaking of raspy vocals, Alison Moyet is up next with the pounding Love Resurrection. With Yazoo now done and dusted, Moyet would embark on a highly successful solo career and this was a solid start. It reached #10 shortly before Now 3's release but bigger success would come for Moyet in the following few years.
The Bluebells' Young at Heart follows, a song I never quite got. Even when it was reissued and hit #1 in 1993 following its use in a Volkswagen commercial, it never sat well with me. Probably one of those songs that was overplayed on the radio. We'll meet up with it again on Now 24 so thankfully not for a while.
Bananarama and the delightful Robert De Niro's Waiting swoop in to perk things up and what a song this is. It would be - alongside Comic Relief charity single Help! in 1989 - their biggest UK hit, reaching #3 in the charts. It's a superb pop song, one of the best on the whole album.
There's a rare misstep next with Doctor Mabuse by Propaganda. It's new wave taken to an extreme I don't like. Far too pretentious for its own good and no wonder it only got to #27. Fortunately, Tina Turner redeems the situation with the sizzling What's Love Got to Do With It. She was in full blown comeback mode by this point, her solo career just taking off, and this has become one of her signature songs. Along with We Don't Need Another Hero (Thunderdome), this would be her biggest hit in the UK.
Rounding off side 3 is the Flying Pickets and their acapella cover of the Marvelettes When You're Young and in Love. I had the 7" single as a kid and, while my brain tells me this isn't a patch on Only You, my nostalgic heart thinks it's even better. Curse you, sentiment.
Side 4 starts off with an absolute bang. It's Wham! and Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, an all time 80s classic. Always one of the first songs at any disco (is that what they still call them?), it's guaranteed to get people up and dancing. It had topped the charts for two weeks in May.
Next is the Thompson Twins and a personal favorite of mine, You Take Me Up. Sure, it's no Doctor! Doctor! or Hold Me Now but the chorus is great. One hit wonders the Weather Girls keep the party going with the so-bizarre-it's-brilliant It's Raining Men. It would be their only UK hit, reaching #2 in early '84.
Things then take a dark - some would say almost sinister - turn with the horrific Dance Me Up from Gary Glitter. This was a far cry from Glitter's mid-70's heyday and would, mercifully, be his penultimate UK hit before Glitter became better known in the 90's for more nefarious reasons.
Perhaps the strangest song on Now 3 is Susanna by The Art Company... yet it's almost brilliant. The passages of spoken word, the crowd noises, and underpinning it all is actually a half decent melody. Perhaps the inspiration for Opus' Live is Life a year later?
Madness were in a bit of a chart freefall by 1984 but One Better Day is a bit of a sleeper. It's a curious bit of social commentary with clever lyrics and a cracking sax solo. David Sylvian broke ranks with Japan and embarked on a solo career, with Red Guitar being the first release from his Brilliant Trees album. And God, is it awful. It's the musical equivalent of being dragged slowly through a muddy ditch. It's ponderous, has virtually no melody to speak of, and... wait, weren't most of Japan's songs like that? I'm sensing a trend here. A really disappointing way to close out what is, for the most part, one of the better Now albums.
The Hip
Duran Duran - The Reflex
Phil Collins - Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)
Cyndi Lauper - Time After Time
Bananarama - Robert De Niro's Waiting
Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go Go
The Tragic
Womack & Womack - Love Wars
The Special A.K.A. - Nelson Mandela
Propaganda - Doctor Mabuse
Gary Glitter - Dance Me Up
David Sylvian - Red Guitar
The Missing
Black Lace - Agadoo
The bane of many a school disco but it was a huge #2 hit in June.
Hazell Dean - Searchin' (I Gotta Find a Man)
Essential high-NRG that reached #6 in April.
Elton John - Sad Songs (Say So Much)
Given how ubiquitous Elton John would become on Now albums, it's a bit of a surprise that this #7 hit from May wasn't included.
Lionel Richie - Hello
Yes, it would appear on Now 4 but, given that it was released in March, it should have had plenty of time to make the cut for Now 3.
Scritti Politti - Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin)
Made #10 earlier in the year and was even published by Virgin, so really no excuse for not including this minor classic.
Review Breakdown
Music - 9/10 Probably the best yet. Enjoy it while it lasts because things are going to nosedive with Now 4. Some real 80's classics here from Duran Duran, Wham!, Cyndi Lauper, Queen, Tina Turner and Phil Collins.
Cover Art - 6/10 A big improvement with the artwork. We finally get the much loved tri-color N-O-W circles and overall the cover is much more pleasing to look at than the first two Now albums. We do, unfortunately, also get the first full inclusion of the pig on the front cover. I know some people like it but, for me, it's just 80's cheesiness.
Sequencing - 8/10 The sequencing continues to improve with each side being front loaded with a massive hit, as should be the case, and songs being clustered together by genre. Can't find many faults here.
Overall Score - 8.5/10