NOW 2 - Spring ’84: Simon Philo

In 1984, it wasn't George Orwell's Big Brother that was beaming out of our TVs, it was (to quote Rick Astley), the Ruddy Big Pig.As the year began, the first NOW LP was dominating the charts, but its successor was not far behind. As sequels go Now, That's What I Call Music 2 was pretty spectacular, bagging the top spot in the LP charts for five weeks and proving that the most successful compilation series in history was well and truly here to stay.To explore the album, I'm joined by Simon Philo, lecturer in Popular Music in Society and American Studies at the University of Derby.  In a 25-year career in higher education, he has made it his mission to introduce as many students as possible to the joy of popular music.Simon is also the author of British Invasion: The Crosscurrents of Musical Influence (2015) and Glam Rock: Music in Sound and Vision (2018) and presents shows on Radio Free Matlock and Stranger Radio.As well as revisiting the LP - the big tracks, the forgotten tracks and those great one-hit wonders, Simon and I also explore the pop culture that shaped his musical journey towards the Spring of 1984 and beyond.Expect supporting roles for Kate Bush, The Dooleys, Dollar, Cyndi Lauper, The Smiths and Thomas Dolby. Discover why Matthew Wilder and Re-Flex probably won't be returning our calls, the  record Simon threw out of his pram and what the difference really is between a banger and a clanger.And as it is 1984, a healthy dose of Global Nuclear Annihilation thrown in too.

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