About

This page was last updated on 21 April 2024.

Please note
The final weekly review was published on 31 July 2021. The Mixes & Words sections are periodically updated with new content which is publicised on Twitter.

Copyright
© A Pop Fan’s Dream, 2014-2024
Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Disclaimers
This blog is not affiliated with any record labels that have been involved with releasing Now That’s What I Call Music and / or any other compilation albums.

Any opinions, unless otherwise attributed, are mine alone.

Links to websites such as YouTube are posted for information purposes only. I can take no responsibility for any content that may be amended or deleted after I post the links.

Aims
The purpose of A Pop Fan’s Dream was to provide a central resource for pop and dance compilations of the 1980s and 1990s. This was primarily done via weekly reviews which were published from 31 May 2014 to 31 July 2021. In addition to this, there are the following sections which are still updated with new content:
Mixes: This contains tracklists, notes and Mixcloud or Spotify links to my own themed compilations.
Setlists: for any DJing I do.
Words: This is an occasional series for one-off articles or projects including my Now Yearbook Extra Plus series. Spotify links are also included. This section also contains my Now CD errors page.

The starting point for the reviews was 1983 with the first instalment in the long-running Now That’s What I Call Music series. While the Nows form a core part of these pages, I also analysed their rivals and the burgeoning dance compilations that emerged from 1987 onwards. In addition to UK releases I also focused on European compilations (particularly those late 1980s series from West Germany and The Netherlands as they were great for featuring single edits).

In July 2016, I made a decision to go right back to 1980 and examine a selection of K-Tel and Ronco compilations – plus a few from other labels. These were my earliest exposures to pop music and really re-kindle long buried memories.

The sign of a good compilation is effective sequencing and use of the correct hit versions. Over the years I have purchased thousands of 7″ and 12″ singles. As standalone items they sound wonderful. However when a number of them were squeezed onto one side of an LP (lasting 30 – 35 minutes) the sound quality inevitably suffered. CD compilations were a god-send for me and, aside from releases dating from the early years (say 1980 – 1985), this blog primarily focuses on the shiny discs.

Posting format
May 2014 – January 2016
Reviews were posted every two days and followed this alternating pattern:
Type #1: The main UK pop compilation series in chronological order i.e. Now That’s What I Call Music, Now Dance, Now spin-offs, Hits, Telstar Greatest Hits Of, Smash Hits, Brit Awards, Best Of Dance etc.
Type #2: All other pop and dance compilations (both UK and European). If there was more than one in a series then I tried to review these in order of release date.

July 2016 – May 2017
Reviews were posted every Saturday and followed a (mostly) chronological pattern of UK compilations from 1980 to 1984. At the end I featured a couple of foreign variants.

May 2017 – May 2018
Reviews continued on a weekly basis. I went back to finish off the canon compilations of the 1990s.

May 2018 – December 2018
For this period, I looked at a selection of UK dance compilations – starting in 1988 and finishing up in 1997.

January 2019 – July 2021
I trawled through the years for compilations that didn’t necessarily make the headlines or make a lasting mark. Ambient moods, soul, soft rock, indie all featured.

Each post included commentary under the following headings:
Review. Should be self-explanatory.
Favourite tracks. My personal picks (usually two, three or four songs) with accompanying YouTube clips.
Lest we forget. A YouTube clip of one key track that’s great / underrated / may have slipped through the cracks etc.
Missing tracks and other thoughts. What might have been. What else could have featured. This is really only relevant for Now and Hits albums.
Advertising. If there’s a television advert or promo spot I’ll feature it. If you find one that I’ve missed then please inform me of its existence by commenting on the respective post.

Note on YouTube clips: Please note that I will try to post a link to the version of the track that appears on the compilation (which may not necessarily be the official music video).

Categories and tags
Categories. Albums are categorised under whichever series they belong to. Standalone compilations are filed under one of the following: Dance non-UK, Dance UK, Pop non-UK and Pop UK. If you can’t find what you’re looking for under these general categories, then I never got around to reviewing it.
Tags. I have disabled these as they were impacting on search engine optimisation results.

Sharing
Please do not ask me to share copyrighted material via MP3 or other uploads. All the compilations reviewed on this blog are available on the second hand market.

Comments policy
Comments and feedback are welcome here and on any of the posts.
You are also encouraged to follow via email or through my Twitter feed. In addition, you can subscribe to my Mixcloud and Spotify channels.
Spamming and personal abuse will not be tolerated.

Top 10s post-2021
The widget on the main page shows a carousel for the top 10 of 2021 – the last year when new reviews were published. Here are the charts since then. The previous year’s position is in brackets while DC means didn’t chart i.e. failed to make the top 100.

2022
01 (03) Modern Dance
02 (02) Chart Hits ’82
03 (01) Chart Hits ’81
04 (DC) New Hits ’99
05 (14) Pure Moods
06 (07) Now That’s What I Call Music 1999: The Millennium Series
07 (59) Sounds Of The New West
08 (04) Chart Hits ’83
09 (08) The A To Z Of Irish Rock
10 (06) Now That’s What I Call Music 17

2023
01 (03) Chart Hits ’81
02 (02) Chart Hits ’82
03 (05) Pure Moods
04 (07) Sounds Of The New West
05 (06) Now That’s What I Call Music 1999: The Millennium Series
06 (24) Now Dance – The 12″ Mixes
07 (01) Modern Dance
08 (10) Now That’s What I Call Music 17
09 (21) The Greatest Hits Of 1998
10 (12) Now That’s What I Call Music 1987

Other stuff I’ve written about compilations
When I first starting listening to and buying music in the 1980s, I often dreamed of writing for Smash Hits (1978-2006). It never happened.
Classic Pop magazine has been described as “Smash Hits for adults.” In its December 2017 issue, I wrote a six page feature on pop compilations. You can now read it on their website:
Now & Then: Now That’s What I Call Music (Re-published September 2021 with some slight edits by the magazine)
Top 15 Pop Compilations 1980-1999
Both features were reprinted in Classic Pop’s 1983 Special magazine which was published November 2022.

Like to read more about me?
In November 2022, I was interviewed for the excellent Amazingly Few Discotheques Provide Jukeboxes site. You can read my thoughts on the ’80s, reissues, deluxe editions and Now That’s What I Call Music here (Part 1) and there (Part 2).

In March 2024, I featured on the Vinyl Packman site where I discussed my record collecting journey. See here.

If you have any queries please email analoguebubblebath@hotmail.com