Is That What I Call Music‪?‬ Davids

Jumping forward a decade from Now 7, in this episode we listen to the first half of Now That's What I Call Music 34, released in 1996 (and, as two guys in their late 30s, we are thus squarely in our peak nostalgia zone). There are definitely some momentous tracks on here, from Spice Girls' "Wannabe" to "California Love" by 2 Pac, via Underworld's magnum opus "Born Slippy" on the way. And then there's the Mission Impossible theme tune as reimagined by the two guys from U2 who didn't pick funny names for themselves. But it wouldn't be a Now album without a bit of that.

For series two, we're taking one Now album from each decade and seeing how things change over the years. To start with, we're listening to Now That's What I Call Music 7 from 1986. This episode focuses on the second LP, featuring the likes of Wham!, Billy Ocean, the Roxanne War and the guy who (partly) invented the word "hip-hop". That and a whole bunch of cover versions. This is a Now album, after all.

For series two, we're taking one Now album from each decade and seeing how things change over the years. To start with, we're listening to Now That's What I Call Music 7 from 1986. This episode focuses on the first LP, featuring the likes of Pet Shop Boys, Chris de Burgh and... Max Headroom? Can it possibly get more 1980s?

For the last of our "profile" podcasts for a while, we look at Sheffield's hyper-local supergroup (?), The All Seeing I. We already spoke about their version of "The Beat Goes On" (Now 39), but here we look at the follow-up singles "Walk Like a Panther" (featuring Tony Christie) and "1st Man in Space" (featuring Phil Oakey), plus the album Pickled Eggs and Sherbet (and maybe a little bit of I Monster as a bonus). How did an experimental electronica band from a former industrial town break into the pop charts? Nobody knows, but we can all be glad they did.

When we discussed "Amnesia" (Now 39), we touched upon the idea that Chumbawamba have a unique story. Here, we look more closely at said musical tale, from anarcho-punk origins to the later folk years. Mostly, though, we focus on Chumbawamba's unlikely pop career, including the smash hit "Tubthumping", "Top of the World (Olé, Olé, Olé)", "Timebomb", "She's Got All the Friends" and the sublime "(Someone's Always Telling You How to) Behave". Are we stretching the premise of this format by arguing that any of those songs were likely to appear on a Now That's What I Call Music! album? Sure. But then Chumbawamba are one of the least likely bands you're ever likely to discover in the first place, so why not?

We spoke about Prince's randy extravaganza "Gett Off" before (as featured on Now 20), and here we look at the tiny purple genius in a bit more detail. Sadly, Prince only featured on one other Now That's What I Call Music album, with "Thunder" on Now 22, but here we fantasise about which other tracks we wish had appeared. And just generally gush about how much we love Prince. Prince is good.