Now This Is Music 11 (EVA, 1989)

Review
As the decade faded away, EVA’s mission to compile the biggest hits on the Dutch pop charts also came to an end. As the Berlin wall crumbles, Now This Is Music 11 is released LP and CD. Just like Hits Album 10, the CD had 18 tracks vs the LP’s 16. Extras are Wendy and Lisa – Lolly Lolly plus Ziggy Marley and The Melody Makers’ Look Who’s Dancing.

10 of the album’s 18 tracks would also feature on contemporary UK compilations such as Now That’s What I Call Music 15 [Soul II Soul, Paul McCartney, Stevie Nicks], Now That’s What I Call Music 16 [Tina Turner, Redhead Kingpin and The FBI, Sydney Youngblood, Queen, Neneh Cherry, Living In A Box] and Smash Hits Party ’89 [Big Fun]. Annoyingly, album versions are used for the Tina Turner, Simple Minds and Neneh Cherry songs.

Milli Vanilli: best fake group. The regret on Blame It On The Rain is genuine; wringing emotions from the programmed beats. But Billy Ocean’s Licence To Chill is a misfire; a 007 turkey. Also forgotten are the Copeland sisters, Kiss AMC, with their U2-sampling A Bit Of… Meanwhile The Revolution is brought by Wendy and Lisa with their superfunk Lolly Lolly as mixed by The Artist. Buster Pointdexter’s Hot Hot Hot reeks of bad manners and rammed discos while Ziggy Marley cuts nice reggae lite on Look Who’s Dancing. Jason Donovan takes us back to the late 60s for a pleasant Sealed With A Kiss but the rails come off for Simple Minds on the earnest but overlong This Is Your Land. Street fighting men.

And that’s all from me for 2015. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Favourite tracks
Stevie Nicks – Rooms On Fire

Milli Vanilli – Blame It On The Rain

Lest we forget
Wendy and Lisa – Lolly Lolly (According To Prince)