When ‘Now That’s What I Call Music! ’ Ruled the World
On the anniversary of its #1 debut, the CD-compilation series leaves a legacy that’s heard in the way we listen to music today.
The ’90s and early 2000s were a golden age for pop music and the Top 40, in part because all bets were off as to what would be successful. Ska? Swing bands? Indie-rock? World music? Electronic? Power-pop? Hip-hop? Soul? Slipknot? No matter how irreverent — or mainstream — these genres found audiences and, subsequently, airtime.
Beginning in 1998, the Now That’s What I Call Music! series started providing a time capsule of the era’s giddy randomness. These U.S. compilations, which were modeled after the U.K.-based series of the same name, featured a slew of Top 40-leaning pop, dance, rock, and R&B hits.
While Now! is currently 58 volumes deep and still very successful, it has never quite re-experienced the lightning-in-a-bottle success that it did on July 31, 2001. That was the day that Now That’s What I Call Music! 7 arrived in stores and our speakers. The compilation sold 621,000 copies in its first week on sale, landing at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart.
But what made Now! 7 so popular?
For starters, the hits. Janet Jackson spent seven weeks in 2001 at the top of the charts with the playful, flirtatious “All For You.” An instructive song about seducing a hot dude at a party, the track employs earworm-esque retro musical flourishes (that upbeat disco-R&B guitar riff!) and classic Ms. Jackson touches (her breathy, coquettish vocals, the wait-that’s-kinda-dirty lyric “Gotta nice package alright/Guess I’m gonna have to ride tonight”).
Eve’s “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” is a strutting underdog anthem, on which the rapper puts those who underestimate her (haters, wannabes, those who are jealous, her competition, etc.) on blast, and gleefully warns people about her plans for world domination: “All I do is contemplate ways to make your fans mine.” Gwen Stefani piling on more attitude with her chorus hook is just icing.
Destiny’s Child’s “Survivor” and Nelly’s “Ride Wit Me” were already booty-quaking classics from earlier that year. The former was tailor-made for anyone needing a bump of confidence, while the latter’s cry of “Hey, must be the money!” was just ridiculously fun to yell, a classic Nelly quip.
City High’s “What Would You Do?” — a serious song illuminating the struggles people face to get by when they’re dealing with abusive (or deadbeat) dads and difficulty finding a job — added some welcome depth to the album.
Jennifer Lopez’s electro swerve “Play,” meanwhile, boasted some seriously futuristic programming — like it was the soundtrack to a rager on Mars. Bottom line: You could throw on Now! 7 at a summer party and be done with it.
But the album represented a turning point for the series: The same week Now! 7 debuted at No. 1 on the overall Billboard album charts, it became the first Now! album to chart on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, at No. 3. This was certainly thanks to the track selection, which de-emphasized rock — in fact, Now! 7 featured only three rock-leaning songs, compared to the seven on both Now! 6 and Now! 8.
The album both reflected, and helped usher in, a Top 40 era in which a variety of other genres — earnest pop-rock, solo female pop stars, and R&B and hip-hop — grabbed the baton from teen pop, a movement with waning influence by mid-2001. ‘N Sync’s Celebrity arrived in July and produced three hits, but the group would be on hiatus by spring 2002. Backstreet Boys had two minor top 40 hits in 2001, but they would have a significantly decreased chart presence until 2005.
Accordingly, Now! 7 also featured fewer tracks from teen pop titans. The album included a syrupy ’N Sync ballad (“This I Promise You”) that was popular in fall 2000 and into early 2001, and a deep Britney Spears cut (“Don’t Let Me Be The Last To Know”) rather than a mega-hit.
Plus, other random but worthy songs — the harder-edged Neptunes remix of Backstreet Boys’ smash “The Call” had a decidedly grown-up feel. Plus Mandy Moore’s “In My Pocket,” which actually didn’t chart despite its techno-meets-Bollywood backdrop.
Now! 7 possessed a more “throw-it-at-a-wall-and-see-what-sticks” philosophy than previous releases, with a nod to the uncertainty of where music was going next. The ballroom spin “Baby, Come Over (This Is Our Night)” from the Irish pop star Samantha Mumba was a club-must.
The power-pop surge “From My Head to My Heart” from twin rock act Evan and Jaron presaged the rise of sensitive rock bands such as Lifehouse and the Calling, while “Never Had A Dream Come True” from British pop luminaries S Club 7 is a schmaltzy slow dance with a ’90s ballad hangover.
Despite being trapped in a format confined by a jewel case, the Now! series was truly ahead of its time. It’s the very same guiding principal behind Apple Music, Spotify and Tidal or even Netflix and Facebook. These entire services are built around curating the best content in the most accessible ways available. That’s what made Now!—and specifically Now! 7— so successful and so popular. And that’s why people still buy it. 2014’s Now! 50 sold a staggering 153,000 copies while the most recent volume, Now! 58, debuted on the Billboard top 10. It proves that while Now! was then, it’s still very much now.
