Celebrating the first year of ‘NOW That’s What I Call Music’ – 1983. ‘Now Yearbook’ presents a stellar selection of 1983’s biggest and best hits… 80 huge chart hits from the year, alongside enduring and well-loved classics on 4 CDs. 1983 saw British artists achieving unprecedented success across the world with ‘Every Breath You Take’ from The Police being the year’s biggest seller in the U.S., and ‘Karma Chameleon’ from Culture Club being the top seller in the U.K. Breakthrough acts, achieving their first big hits – all here – include a staggering line-up of future superstars: U2, Eurythmics, Wham!, Paul Young, The Style Council, Marillion and Thompson Twins, to name a few.. A large number of established artists also scored their biggest ever hits in 1983: Bonnie Tyler produced a global smash with ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’, Billy Joel’s ‘Uptown Girl’ introduced his biggest selling album in the U.K., Lionel Richie’s ‘All Night Long’ was the year’s feel-good track, Elton John’s ‘I’m Still Standing’ was an instant classic on release, and Tina Turner hit big with ‘Let’s Stay Together’, which would lead to the huge success of the ‘Private Dancer’ album the following year….and not forgetting Genesis, Donna Summer, Mike Oldfield, Joan Armatrading, Robert Plant, and three superstar duets – all of which achieved massive sales : Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes’ theme from ‘An Officer And A Gentleman’ , ‘Up Where We Belong’, the stunning collaboration between Robert Flack & Peabo Bryson on ‘Tonight I Celebrate My Love’… and the Bee Gees penned ‘Islands In The Stream’ from Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers… 1983 also saw a number of artists who had seen previous releases on the fringes of the chart achieve mainstream success including The Cure and Echo And The Bunnymen, and former punk and new-wave chart regulars saw renewed success including Siouxsie And The Banshees, The Stranglers, Public Image Limited, and Elvis Costello… Synth Pop continued to dominate and Howard Jones, Tears For Fears, The Human League, Heaven 17 and Simple Minds all enjoyed a hit packed year…alongside electro-dance smashes from Freeez, Malcolm McLaren, Rock Steady Crew and Laura Branigan… whilst New Order delivered a genre defining classic and a truly iconic 12” single. …and not forgetting the artists that had been the break-out stars of 80-82: Madness, Adam Ant, Altered Images, Bananarama, and Nick Heyward… alongside some of the most enduring tracks ever including Toto’s ‘Africa’, UB40’s ‘Red Red Wine’ and Luther Vandross’ ‘Never Too Much’… Bringing the year to a close, we feature the Christmas #1 from The Flying Pickets with their cover of ‘Only You’ – and ‘2000 Miles’ from Pretenders, which nearly 40 years later has long established itself as one of the all-time classic Christmas songs…. ‘NOW Yearbook 1983’: 80 songs that reflect the charts in the year that ‘NOW’ began… and celebrates the diversity of those charts – from the huge hits that are still played on the radio today alongside lesser compiled but equally cherished tracks.
