Now That's What I Call Music! 1981 – The Millennium Series

Now That's What I Call Music! 1981 - The Millennium Series is a compilation album in the Now That's What I Call Music!

Now That's What I Call Music!

Now That's What I Call Music! is a series of various artists compilation albums released in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Polygram /EMI/Sony Music/Virgin Records ; spinoff series were later introduced in South Africa and many other countries worldwide, including the United States...

series.

Containing songs from 1981, the Now series didn't actually begin in 1983, but several of the songs on the album appeared in the main Now series. This is due to re-issues (such as "Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

"'s re-release in 1993 and "In the Air Tonight

In the Air Tonight

"In the Air Tonight" is a song by Phil Collins that first appeared on his 1981 album Face Value. It was recorded in 1979 and was the first single of Collins' solo career, and remains one of his best-known hits. The music video, directed by Stuart Orme, was released in 1981.-The song/recording:The...

"'s re-release in 2007) harking the songs back into the charts, thus being compiled into Now albums.

Disc One

Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

& David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

: "Under Pressure
Under Pressure
"Under Pressure" is a 1981 song recorded by Queen and David Bowie. It marked Bowie's first released collaboration with another recording artist as a performer, and is featured on Queen's 1982 album Hot Space. The song reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart. It was also number 31 on VH1's 100 Greatest...

" 4:04
Ultravox
Ultravox
Ultravox is a British New Wave rock band. They were one of the primary exponents of the British electronic pop music movement of the late 1970s/early 1980s. The band was particularly associated with the New Romantic and New Wave movements....

: "Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

" 4:37
The Specials
The Specials
The Specials are an English 2 Tone ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry, England. Their music combines a "danceable ska and rocksteady beat with punk's energy and attitude", and had a "more focused and informed political and social stance" than other ska groups...

(Ska band) : "Ghost Town
Ghost Town
"Ghost Town" is the title of a 1981 song by the British ska band, The Specials. The song spent three weeks at number one and ten weeks in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart. Addressing themes of urban decay, deindustrialisation, unemployment and violence in inner cities, the song is remembered for...

" 3:39
UB40
UB40
UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. One of the world's best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records.Their hit singles...

: "One in Ten
One in Ten
"One in Ten" is a single by UB40 released in 1981 on their second album Present Arms. It reached No. 7 on the UK singles charts.One in Ten is mistakenly cited as referring to the number of unemployed in the UK at that time. It is in fact a song about government statistics in general, and how...

" 4:31
Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...

: "The Tide Is High
The Tide Is High
"The Tide Is High" is a 1967 song written by John Holt and originally performed by The Paragons with John Holt as lead singer. The song went mainly unnoticed in the rest of the world until it was rediscovered in 1980 when it became a US/UK number 1 hit for the band Blondie...

" 3:50
Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...

: "Girls on Film
Girls on Film
"Girls on Film" is the third single by Duran Duran, released on 13 July 1981.The single became Duran Duran's Top 10 breakthrough in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at Number 5 in August 1981...

" 3:29
Soft Cell
Soft Cell
Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They consist of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The duo is most widely known for their 1981 worldwide hit version of "Tainted Love" and platinum debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret...

: "Tainted Love
Tainted Love
"Tainted Love" is a song composed by Ed Cobb, formerly of The Four Preps, which was originally recorded by Gloria Jones in 1965. It attained worldwide fame after being covered by Soft Cell in 1981, reaching number one in the UK Singles Chart, and has since been covered by numerous groups and...

" 2:38
The Human League
The Human League
The Human League are an English electronic New Wave band formed in Sheffield in 1977. They achieved popularity after a key change in line-up in the early 1980s and have continued recording and performing with moderate commercial success throughout the 1980s up to the present day.The only constant...

: "Love Action (I Believe in Love)
Love Action (I Believe in Love)
"Love Action " is a song by the British synthpop group The Human League, released as a single in the UK in July 1981. It peaked at number three in the UK Singles Chart, the band's first Top 10 success....

" 3:51
Stars on 45
Stars on 45
Stars on 45 was a Dutch novelty pop act that was briefly very popular in the United Kingdom, throughout Europe, the United States and Australia in the early 1980s. The group later shortened its name to Stars On in the U.S., while in the U.K. and Ireland it was known as Starsound...

: "ABBA Medley" 4:33
Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet are a British band formed in London in the late 1970s. Initially inspired by, and an integral part of, the New Romantic fashion, their music has featured a mixture of funk, jazz, soul and synthpop. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s, achieving ten Top Ten singles...

: "Chant No.1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)" 4:02
Phil Lynott
Phil Lynott
Philip Parris "Phil" Lynott was an Irish musician who first came to prominence as a founding member, principal songwriter, and frontman of the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy....

: "Yellow Pearl (Top of the Pops Theme)" 2:57
David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...

: "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Scary Monsters is an album by David Bowie, released in September 1980 by RCA Records. It was Bowie's final studio album for the label and his first following the so-called Berlin Trilogy of Low, "Heroes" and Lodger . Though considered significant in artistic terms, the trilogy had proved less...

" 5:09
Godley & Creme
Godley & Creme
Godley & Creme were an English pop music duo composed of Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. The pair began releasing albums as a duo after splitting from the pop band 10cc. In 1979 they directed their first music video for their own single "An Englishman in New York"...

: "Under Your Thumb" 3:40
Visage
Visage
Visage are a British New Wave rock band. Formed in 1978, the band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their 1980 hit "Fade to Grey".-New Wave years :...

: "Fade to Grey" 3:50
ABC
ABC (band)
ABC are an English band, that charted ten UK and five US Top 40 singles between 1981 and 1990. The band continues to tour and released a new album, Traffic, in 2008.-Formation:...

: "Tears Are Not Enough
Tears Are Not Enough
"Tears Are Not Enough" is a 1985 charity single recorded by a supergroup of Canadian artists, under the name Northern Lights, to raise funds for relief of the 1984–1985 famine in Ethiopia...

" 3:30
Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin
Barbara Gaskin
Barbara Gaskin is a British singer who, with her musical partner, the keyboardist Dave Stewart, formed a duo in 1981. In September of that year they had a number one single in the UK with a cover version of the song "It's My Party"...

: "It's My Party
It's My Party (song)
"It's My Party" is a song most famously sung by American singer Lesley Gore in 1963. This song hit #1 on the pop and rhythm and blues charts in the United States. "It's My Party", peaked at #9 in the United Kingdom, becoming Gore's only major hit there...

" 3:47
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are a synthpop group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England...

: "Souvenir
Souvenir (song)
"Souvenir" is a song written by Paul Humphreys and Martin Cooper of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and released as the first single from their 1981 album Architecture & Morality...

" 3:36
Vangelis
Vangelis
Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou is a Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock and orchestral music, under the artist name Vangelis...

: "Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....

" 3:32

Disc Two

Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....

: "In the Air Tonight
In the Air Tonight
"In the Air Tonight" is a song by Phil Collins that first appeared on his 1981 album Face Value. It was recorded in 1979 and was the first single of Collins' solo career, and remains one of his best-known hits. The music video, directed by Stuart Orme, was released in 1981.-The song/recording:The...

" 5:30
Roxy Music
Roxy Music
Roxy Music was a British art rock band formed in 1971 by Bryan Ferry, who became the group's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson. The other members are Phil Manzanera , Andy Mackay and Paul Thompson . Former members include Brian Eno , and Eddie Jobson...

: "Jealous Guy
Jealous Guy
"Jealous Guy" is a song written and performed by John Lennon which first appeared on his 1971 album Imagine. It is one of the most commonly covered Lennon songs, with at least ninety-two recorded cover versions, the most notable being Roxy Music's version, which reached number one in several...

" 4:52
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...

: "A Good Year for the Roses" 3:07
Squeeze : "Labelled With Love
Labelled With Love
"Labelled With Love" was the third single released from Squeeze's fourth album, East Side Story. It was the last Squeeze single to reach the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #4 in 1981...

" 4:34
The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...

: "That's Entertainment
That's Entertainment (song)
"That's Entertainment" is a 1980 song by British punk/Mod Revivalist group The Jam off their fifth album, Sound Affects.-Song profile:...

" 3:32
Madness
Madness (band)
In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince". The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts...

: "The Return of the Los Palmas 7
The Return of the Los Palmas 7
"The Return of the Los Palmas 7" is a song by British ska/pop band Madness, written by Mike Barson, Mark Bedford and Daniel Woodgate. The song was Woodgate's first credit as a songwriter, and was released as the band's 7th single on . The single reached number 7 in the UK, and remained in the...

" 2:03
Kim Wilde
Kim Wilde
Kim Wilde is an English pop singer, author and television presenter who burst onto the music scene in 1981 with the number 2 UK Singles Chart new wave classic "Kids in America". In 1987 she had a major hit in the United States when her version of The Supremes' classic "You Keep Me Hangin' On"...

: "Kids in America
Kids in America (song)
"Kids in America" is a New Wave song by British singer Kim Wilde, released in the United Kingdom as her debut single in January 1981, and in the US in 1982. It has famously been covered by many artists from different genres.-Background:...

" 3:24
The Teardrop Explodes
The Teardrop Explodes
The Teardrop Explodes were an English post-punk/neo-psychedelic band formed in Liverpool in 1978. Best known for their Top Ten UK single "Reward" the group originated as a key band in the emerging Liverpool post-punk scene of the late 1970s, the group also launched the career of group frontman...

: "Reward" 2:42
U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

: "Gloria
Gloria (U2 song)
"Gloria" is a song by U2. It is the opening track and second single from the band's 1981 album, October.It features a chorus in Latin, from the liturgical "Gloria in Excelsis Deo." It was one of their lowest-charting singles, peaking at #55 on the UK singles chart.-Composition:"Gloria" highlights...

" 4:09
XTC
XTC
XTC were a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime" , but are perhaps even better known for their long-standing critical success.- Early years:...

: "SGT. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)" 3:36
Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...

: "While You See a Chance
While You See a Chance
"While You See a Chance" is a song performed by Steve Winwood in 1980, who also wrote it alongside Will Jennings. It was released on his album Arc of a Diver and peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 1981, and also reached #68 on the Billboard Top 100 for the year 1981, however it only...

" 5:08
Four Tops
Four Tops
The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet, whose repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, hard rock, and showtunes...

: "When She Was My Girl
When She Was My Girl
"When She Was My Girl" is a 1981 single released by American vocal group the Four Tops. The song, their first release off Casablanca Records, helped to return the former signature Motown act to the American pop Top 40 charts, peaking at number eleven on the pop charts and reaching number one on the...

" 3:21
Kool & The Gang
Kool & the Gang
Kool & the Gang are an American jazz, R&B, soul, and funk group, originally formed as the Jazziacs in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1964.They went through several musical phases during the course of their recording career, starting out with a purist jazz sound, then becoming practitioners of R&B and...

: "Get Down on It
Get Down on It
"Get Down on It" is a song originally recorded by the funk/R&B/pop band Kool & The Gang on their album Something Special in 1981. The song reached number 10 on the Billboard charts in early 1982, displaying some of the characteristics of a blend of pop and funk, with the title of the song repeating...

" 4:50
Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...

: "Razzamatazz
Razzamatazz
Razzamatazz was a music based children's television programme which ran on ITV between 2 June 1981 and 2 January 1987.Singer Lisa Stansfield found fame as a presenter on Razzamatazz at the age of 16...

" 4:14
Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...

: "Being With You" 3:57
Imagination
Imagination (band)
Imagination were a three piece British soul and funk band, who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They had chart hits in 28 countries, earning four platinum discs, nine gold discs and more than a dozen silver discs around the world between 1981 and 1983....

: "Body Talk" 3:39
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...

: "One Day in Your Life
One Day in Your Life (Michael Jackson song)
"One Day in Your Life" is a song recorded by Michael Jackson for his 1975 album, Forever, Michael. and 1981 album, One Day in Your Life. Later released as a single in 1981 due to the strong buzz that generated from the sales of Jackson's hit 1979 album Off the Wall, even though Jackson released...

" 4:13
Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...

& Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...

: "Endless Love
Endless Love (song)
"Endless Love" is a song written by Lionel Richie and originally recorded as a duet between Richie and fellow soul singer Diana Ross. In this ballad, the singers declare their "endless love" for one another. It was covered by soul singer Luther Vandross with R&B singer Mariah Carey and also by...

" 4:26

External links

Official Website www.nowmusic.com
www.amazon.co.uk/Thats-What-Call-Music-1981 www.amazon.co.uk/Thats-What-Call-Music-1981
http://musicbrainz.org/release/efdc3baf-acad-4716-9d96-d669f5d9636c.html musicbrainz.org

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