If 1984 was the best year in pop, then this compilation reminds us that 1985 was almost as good, with post-Live Aid Queen opening in strident fashion with ‘One Vision’, newcomers a-ha almost reaching number one in the UK with ‘Take On Me’, and Tears For Fears deciding to ditch the bedsitter synth-pop, get the guitars out and go ‘global’ with ‘Shout’ and Everybody Wants To Rule The World’. Now Yearbook ’85 – Extra will be released early next year and the various artists compilation offers 60 more hits from from 1985.

There’s also three potential chart toppers from Breach ( Jack), Sebastian Ingrosso ( Relaod) and Pink FT Lily Rose Cooper ( True Love) too! As usual the formats are: 4CD in posh hardcover book (limited), 3LP coloured vinyl (in this case, green vinyl and like the deluxe 4CD set, it’s limited) and standard 4CD edition (in the cheap card sleeve).s‘I’m Your Man’, ‘Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves’, Eurythmics collaboration with Aretha Franklin, Tears For Fears’ Head Over Heels, Howard Jones’‘Look Mama’, Go West’s Don’t Look Down (The Sequel), Thompson Twins’‘Don’t Mess With Doctor Dream’ and many more. There’s a ludicrous number of MASSIVE songs here including Eurythmics‘ only UK chart-topper ‘There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)’, Phil Collins and Phil Bailey’s ‘Easy Lover’, The Power Station’s‘Some Like It Hot’ (along with Arcadia’s‘Election Day’! That’s another major omission but presumably the NOW team requested it and said ‘Please’, only to be refused. Sting’s excellent ‘If You Love Somebody Set Them Free’ is on here, although that wasn’t the big hit you might remember, while Midge Ure’s‘If I Was’ did, of course, get to number one in Britain. The final disc starts off exploring mid-80s Dance, Electro and Hip-Hop crossover before moving on to some ‘grown up’ pop from the likes of Sting, Bryan Ferry, more Tears For Fears and Marillion.

There will surely be a full public enquiry into how Kate Bush’s‘Running Up That Hill’ DOESN’T end up on a compilation celebrating 1985 (especially one that that is released in 2022).The previous release in the series, Now 84, is currently the biggest selling album of 2013 so far, with sales of more than 658,000 copies! sympathises with Colonel Abrahams’ predicament in the legendary ‘Trapped’, and says “I’m not sure” to The Smiths‘ questioning ‘How Soon Is Now’. Frankie label-mates Art of Noise pop-up on CD 4 with ‘Close (to the Edit)’ and the same disc offers a hero’s welcome to Paul Hardcastle’s’19’, sticks bananas up the tailpipe of Harold Faltermeyer’s classic ‘Axel F. There’s more from the ZTT ‘songbook’ courtesy of Propaganda’s‘Duel’ on CD 3 along with songs from Howard Jones (‘Things Can Only Get Better’), Stephen Duffy’s hit (‘Kiss Me’), Nik Kershaw’s‘Wide Boy’, Fine Young Cannibals’‘Johnny Come Home’ and King’s‘Love and Pride’.

Foreigner’s‘I Want To Know What Love Is’, Go West’s‘We Close Our Eyes’ and the title track from Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s debut (the only single not to get to number one in the UK from that album). There’s everything from massive from Daft Punk ( Get Lucky) to Robin Thicke ( Blurred Lines), and Ant and Dec (AKA PJ and Duncan) with Let’s Get Ready To Rhumble.