NOW is proud to present the next instalment in our ongoing ‘Yearbook’ series – and take a trip back 50 years in Pop history – with 82 tracks on 4 CDs, to celebrate a stellar year of Pop singles… NOW – Yearbook 1974. This format is Special Edition 4CD set housed in ‘hard-back-book’ packaging, including a 28-page booklet featuring a summary of the year, a track-by-track guide, a quiz. Opening with ‘Killer Queen’ the first Top 5 single for Queen, and followed by the classic ‘Jet’ by Paul McCartney & Wings, and the still breathtakingly original, and hugely influential ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For Both Of Us’ from Sparks - this epic beginning to the 1974 Yearbook continues with a run of ‘glamtastic’ Pop from Sweet and Slade, and including #1s from Suzi Quatro, Alvin Stardust and the years’ biggest seller ‘Tiger Feet’ from Mud. The #1’s keep coming with Pop gold from David Essex, The Rubettes and Paper Lace, plus a huge hit from Pilot and the first Top 3 singles for the Bay City Rollers with ‘Shang-A-Lang’, and Leo Sayer with ‘The Show Must Go On’. 1974’s biggest selling singles act was The Wombles, and their debut ‘The Wombling Song’ is up next along with the global smash ‘Kung Fu Fighting’ from Carl Douglas.

2014 Original Albums Series release. Includes the albums: Joy of a Toy, Shooting at the Moon, Whatevershebringswesing, Bananamour & the Confessions of Dr. Dream and Other Stories. Kevin Ayers was one of rock's oddest and more likable enigmas, even if he often seemed not to operate at his highest potential. Perhaps that's because he never seemed to have taken his music too seriously – one of his essential charms and most aggravating limitations. After the late '60s, he released many albums with a distinctly British sensibility, making ordinary lyrical subjects seem extraordinary with his rich low vocals, inventive wordplay, and bemused, relaxed attitude.

Tauchen Sie ein in Album, das Meisterwerk. Diese Mischung aus Gatungen verspricht ein unvergessliches Hörerlebnis. Genießen Sie kristallklaren Sound mit unseren MP3- und Streaming-Optionen, perfekt für unterwegs. Unsere Audio-CD- und Vinylformate bieten eine greifbare Verbindung zur Musik, mit beeindruckendem Album-Artwork und exklusiven Begleitheften. Streamen Sie das Album überall, laden Sie die MP3s für die Offline-Nutzung herunter oder genießen Sie die warmen Töne von Vinyl und die Bequemlichkeit von CDs.

Fit to Be Tied was intended to be the definitive Joan Jett hits package, and it nearly succeeds. Since Jett's Blackheart label only secured the rights to her first four solo albums (her most consistent work), the singles from the uneven Up Your Alley – "I Hate Myself for Loving You" (one of Jett's best originals and biggest hits) and "Little Liar" – had to be presented here in alternate versions. While the re-recording of "Hate Myself" and the live version of "Little Liar" are executed faithfully, they may bother fans who want the original recordings.

The iconic, game changing Modern Sounds in Country And Western albums, combined into a single release for CD in the 2000s, will be restored and released individually, as originally intended. The significance of these records cannot be overlooked. They are proof that great country music is malleable, and open to interpretation. Volume 1 quickly became one of the best-selling albums recorded by a Black musician of the time, as well as one of the best-selling country albums. It topped the Billboard Pop Album Chart of a month, and spawned four hit singles, including “I Can’t Stop Loving” which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, R&B, and the Adult Contemporary Charts, was nominated for Record Of The Year, and won the GRAMMY for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording at the 5th Annual Grammy Awards in 1963. “You Don’t Know Me” met with similar success. Ray Charles remains the first and only Black performer to earn a GRAMMY Award and a #1 Billboard Pop Chart Hit with a country and western song as he did with “l Can’t Stop Loving You.” Volume 2 followed its predecessor by just six months, and is widely regarded as just as strong, if not stronger than the first - the second made with the confidence that this formula or country & soul works. With three hit singles on both the R&B and Pop charts, including the #1 hit You Are My Sunshine, both volumes changed the course of popular music and remain a testament to the genius of Ray Charles.

This release from NOVUM is a CD of motets by François Couperin (1668-1733), the greatest figure in the French musical scene of the early 18th century. Everybody knows his fabulous harpsichord pieces, few his equally fabulous motets. Why? Many of them were effectively lost for over 200 years, and some have survived only in incomplete form. As a result, the motets are a sorely neglected part of his output. This New College release puts that right. Something like half the CD is of music never before recorded. The incomplete sources - violin parts lost soon after composition - have been reconstituted here by Edward Higginbottom, musicologist as well as Director of New College Choir.

Pioneering post-punk band, the Gang of Four were formed in the bricolage punk rock fallout culture of late seventies Leeds - a place where art was a mirror and guitars were machine guns. Gang of Four tore up the template and made sense of the question marks thrown up by year zero. They redesigned rock in the punk aftermath, taking the incendiary energy of the form and crisscrossing it with funk, stripping away the baggage of rock excess and creating a new stripped-down music that was full of agit energy, heavy grooves, shrapnel guitars and politically charged lyrics matching the fervour of the times.

Verdi’s Requiem is a work of white-hot dramatic intensity, infused with his lifetime of composing opera. His approach to religion is explosive, emotional, and full of temperament and fear, the latter being wonderfully conveyed by López-Cobos in this concert performance.

BPM, the exciting new Contemporary Jazz Supergroup is: Brian Bromberg: "… his chops are burnin'… Bromberg's technical and creative virtuosity as one of the premier jazz bassists of his generation. " -ALLMUSIC Paul Brown: "… a top-to-bottom smooth jazz stunner brimming with bright melodies and enough hits to fill a Christmas stocking. " - All About Jazz Michael Paulo: "Paulo's warm and welcoming alto sax ushers the listener along an ebullient path fragrant with verdant melody. " -The Urban Music Scene Together, these 3 greats combine to create inspiring BPM Contemporary Jazz Magic!!! Jazz Review. Com calls Paul Brown "The greatest producer in the history of Smooth Jazz. " Michael Paulo is world renowned for his brilliant work with such megastars as Miles Davis, Al Jarreau and Peter White. And Brian Bromberg's in- credible career encompasses performance with such giants as Bill Evans, Sting, and many more. Together, these 3 greats combine to create inspiring Contemporary Jazz Magic!!!

Having struck pay dirt with another of its exhumations, Georg Schumann—see review of his piano trios in 35: 5—CPO, label of the Long Lost Composers Society—here resurrects Schumann’s Symphony in B Minor and his Serenade, op. 34. Georg Alfred Schumann (1866–1952) is yet another composer that can be added to the list of blue-ribbon winners produced under Carl Reinecke’s tutelage at the Leipzig Conservatory, and the term “blue-ribbon” is not used metaphorically. In 1886, still a student at the conservatory, Schumann composed this B-Minor Symphony, and when he entered it in an orchestral composition competition two years later it took first prize out of 57 entries.

This release combines Lalomie’s first solo album “My Music Is Hot” (1977) with all of her singles and b-sides from the ‘70s Parachute recording era. Includes the singles ‘My Love Is Hot (Caliente Un Amour), ‘Man Power (Can You Do It)’, ‘Double Funkin’ and ‘Two Sides’, plus all b-sides and alternative mixes from each of her early releases on Parachute.

"Surprise," released in 1991, is the debut studio album by Crystal Waters, known for her distinctive voice and innovative blend of house music and pop. The album features her breakout hit "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)," which became a massive success and is often credited with helping to popularize house music. The album showcases a mix of upbeat dance tracks and catchy melodies, characterized by Waters' engaging lyrics and infectious rhythms. Other notable tracks include "Makin' Happy" and "Voodoo," which highlight her ability to create memorable hooks and danceable beats.

"Release Some Tension," released in 1997, is the third studio album by the R&B group SWV (Sisters With Voices). The album features a mix of their signature smooth harmonies and contemporary R&B sound, showcasing themes of love, empowerment, and self-expression. Key tracks include "You're the One," "Can We," and "Rain," all of which highlight the group's vocal prowess and catchy melodies. The album received positive reviews and performed well on the charts, further solidifying SWV's status in the '90s R&B scene.

Five-time Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan is releasing a brand-new album, Mind of a Country Boy, featuring 14 tracks including his latest single, "Love you, Miss you, Mean It." "This song was special from the first time I heard it," said Luke. "I knew it would resonate. It's about young love and that whole process of trying to make relationships work through the on-again and off-again cycles. My wife and I went through that journey during college, and I know a lot of people out there have too." During his career Luke has performed for more than 14 million fans inclusive of his numerous headline tours, "Crash My Playa," "Luke Bryan: VEGAS" and "Farm Tour."

Southern Rock underdogs Black Oak Arkansas return with their first full-length album of all new recordings in more than 30 years! Founding members Jim "Dandy" Mangrum (vocals) and Rickie Lee Reynolds (guitar) have been keeping the spirit of BOA alive and their songwriting partnership makes this album an essential release in the band's much heralded catalog! Includes a very special recording of virtuoso guitarist Shawn Lane, regarded by many as one of the fastest guitar players to ever live, and a member of the BOA clan since 1978! Mangrum and Reynolds continue to tour around the US to enthusiastic audiences and will be hitting the road in support of this album!