Now Yearbook- Vault ‘85

The Now Music series continues with the release of this four track CD which concentrates on songs from artists who might not be as famous as some of their other tracks.

1985 was a good year for music, though many of these tracks, now over forty years old, will have been forgotten by the record-buying public, unless you happen to be a fan of any of the artists which grace this eclectic compilation.

Mention the name Go West and their big hit We Close Our Eyes might spring to mind. Eye To Eye another track from their debut album, was not as successful commercially, though that is not to say that artistically the song is not as special.

The same could be said for any of the other tracks here: Sheffield act ABC failed to reach the dizzy heights of their initial success, although the ballad Be Near Me is lush in production and still sounds contemporary more than forty years on.

Another Sheffield artist, Phil Oakey from the Human League teamed up with Italian producer Giorgio Moroder for Together In Electric Dreams, though who recalls the equally good Good-Bye Bad Times?

The rock contingent is represented by the likes of The Clash with This Is England, Bradford band New Model Army with No Rest and Leeds goth merchants Sisters of Mercy with No Time To Cry.

Dance music was starting to find its feet with Hazell Dean with They Say It’s Gonna Rain, Steve Arrington with Dancing In The Key Of Life and Cameo with She’s Strange.

What the compilation demonstrates is the diversity of genres that were prominent in the charts in 1985, something that is sadly not as prevalent in 2026.