THE NEW MUSICAL BOX

FROM NOW TO THEN....AND BACK AGAIN

Big celebrations this week from the folks behind the long-running "Now That's What I Call Music" series of hits compilations as it reaches its 30th birthday. The brash and unruly child has now entered adulthood for real and despite all the changes since 1983, it still manages to sell more than 100,000 copies of each release. In these days of rapidly changing positions in the singles charts and a number 1 release rarely sitting on top of the heap for more than a week or two, it's good to see some degree of continuity at play.

The First Edition of Now That's What I Call Music

When that first edition hit the record stores it started a bit of a revolution. Unlike previous "hits" packages, this one was unique - it was backed by both EMI and Virgin and thus meant that a far wider choice of chart hits could be licensed for inclusion. More than that, most of the songs chosen had been big hits - and recent hits too, thus providing a cost-effective way for charts fans to acquire all their favourite songs. It did make for some odd bedfellows as bands such as The Smiths jostled for space alongside Genesis, Tina Turner and Kajagoogoo, but it did seem to be a pretty fair reflection of the charts. Now That's What I Call Music #1 had 11 number 1 hits across its four sides of vinyl - and as the months went by, future editions saw that proportion increase even more. Sales increased rapidly and  the series soon became a vital part of the UK music industry.  

As the format was such a winner, it gradually spread to other parts of the EMI/Virgin empire. Parallel series have now run successfully in many countries and, oddly enough for a British concept, performed very well indeed in the USA. The main series kicked off there in 1998 and this months' release (#48) features all the likely suspects such as Lady Gaga, Daft Punk, Lana Del Rey and Miley Cyrus.  

But whilst the Now series may be a key aspect of the music business, the idea of hit compilations is far from new. Indeed, compilations, be they hits or themes or "best ofs" have been a staple of the charts for many a year. To give a comprehensive view of the compilation story would take up more time and space than I have right now, but some key themes are worthy of a little exploration.

Top Of The Pops Volume #15 (1971) 

The UK precursor to Now was the Top Of The Pops series of LPs which first appeared on the Hallmark label in 1968. They were usually a single LP of hit songs, but it wasn't until buyers had got their record home that it became obvious that they were anonymous cover versions of their favourite hits. The LP cover highlighted just the names of the songs, usually assisted by a scantily clad model, and made no mention of the artists who knocked out the songs themselves. A house-band of sessions musicians provided most of the musical accompaniment with (then) young and unknown singers providing the vocals. Tina Charles, Trevor Horn and a certain Elton John were key contributors - and for some years, the format proved to be successful - especially as the LPs were sold at budget prices in chain stores such as Woolworths. The series finally came to an end in 1985, but many a dusty copy can still be found lurking in charity shops up and down the land. 

Island Sampler 1968
"You Can All Join In"

The late 60s also saw the flowering of a number of new, growing, independent record labels such as Island, Transatlantic and Vertigo. They hit on the idea of promoting their roster of bands through the release of compilation "samplers", single or double albums full of representative songs and sold at a discount price. Two of the most distinctive came from Island Records - 1968's "You Can All Join In" (which sold for the equivalent of 72p and featured tracks from Jethro Tull, Free, Traffic and Fairport Convention amongst others) and then in 1971, a fascinating double-album with the amusing title of "El Pea" and a cover which featured, obviously, a huge garden pea. This sold for £1.99 at a time when a typical double LP would have been £3.00 or more.

Island Records Sampler 1971
"El Pea"

These "samplers" served to promote the bands on a record label, the labels expecting to recoup the possible loss on income with increased sales of the albums "proper". Some years into a band's career, the label would seek to promote the band some more with a Greatest Hits release, even if the band was largely an albums act and the word "hit" might have passed them by. Sometimes, the issue of a Greatest Hits compilation was the sign that a band had jumped ship and joined a new label. The label wanted one more bite of the cherry before the hit-making money machine was out of their hands. Such is the case with The Rolling Stones when they left Decca Records in 1969 to start their own label with distribution backing from EMI. Numerous "Hits Packages" and compilations followed from Decca for most of the 1970s and until recent years, fans looking to buy a comprehensive Stones "Best Of" release would have found it nigh on impossible. It was only with the release of "Forty Licks" in 2002 that their whole career was brought together, such an achievement brought about by Decca and EMI/Virgin now being distributed by the Universal Group. 

The Rolling Stones - Forty Licks
The first comprehensive whole-career compilation of Rolling Stones hits

We've seen hit packages, samplers and band compilations so far -  and next on our list is another interesting phenomenon. This is the licensed compilation as released by music magazines and, occasionally, record store themselves. Some might see them as yet another way to squeeze cash from the consumer, but often, with intelligent curators at work, the releases added variety and interest to the market. Long-lost tracks and bands were rediscovered, new music was more widely promoted - and (it has to be said) the record stores and magazines saw their sales hold-up too. HMV, for example, produced a long-running series of CDs promoting new music and bands called "Playlist". They sold for £2.99 - free if a CD featuring one of the tracks was also bought -  and for a while

HMV's Playlist

managed to achieve their aim of bringing regular punters into HMV shops. Their frequency of issue started to decline though as downloading became more popular and the series was quietly dropped. The music press - as I've noted in previous blogs - has taken to producing cover-mounted CDs, some based on a thematic idea ("The Blues Routes of Led Zeppelin") whilst others have taken a similar approach as HMV's Playlist by promoting new music. I'm not sure how long these will survive in the download and You Tube era: the licensed tracks all seem to be the same as those that appear on that self-same You Tube or are offered at a discount (or indeed, for free) via Amazon or iTunes.  

The NME charity release
"Sgt Pepper Kmew My Father"

Finally for now, we shouldn't forget another related strand of musical compilation - the tribute album. This is worthy of a blog in its own right, but for now, we'll take a brief overview of some key aspects of them. Possibly the first widely known release was one produced by The New Musical Express back in 1988 in support of the Child Line charity. Released on vinyl it was a complete reworking of the Beatles' Sgt Pepper album called "Sgt Pepper Knew My Father". Bands such as Wet, Wet, Wet, The Christians, Sonic Youth and The Fall all added their take on those iconic songs and it sold very well indeed. More recently, artists have done their own tribute albums to bands that were part of their musical education, interesting examples including Canadian prog-rockers Rush with "Feedback" (covering amongst others, The Who, Cream, Love and The Yardbirds) and in the past 8 years, Matthew Sweet and

Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs
"Under The Covers Vol. 3 (2013)

one-time Bangles lead singer Susanna Hoffs have released three volumes of Under The Covers. It's a chance, I guess, for artists to name-check their influences, but it's a fine line to tread between the virtuous approach of tribute and the more cynical route of copyist. Indeed, some argue that artists resort to these tributes and covers compilations because they've run out of their own ideas and energy and it's an "easy" way to keep the income rolling. Perhaps there is something in that - and we'll certainly be turning to the whole idea of covers and tributes in a future blog.

In the meantime though, it's a Happy Birthday to the Now series and although it's often de rigeur to wish the recipient a further 30 years of success, I'm not so sure that this will necessarily be the case. Music purchase and distribution will continue to splinter and change and the whole idea of hundreds of thousands of people buying a fixed-format set of "hit" songs every four or five months does seem to me to be just a little passé.

But, I'll help in blowing the candles out - just as long as I can have my cake and eat it.

Alan Dorey

30th November 2013