‘NOW That’s What I Call Mum’ exists

It was a simpler time, back when you definitely owned a copy of Now That's What I Call Music!. A time when music was less disposable, when you had better enjoy those songs you taped off the radio because you went over your sister’s copy of Paranoid Android and she’s pissed (not least because it was wiped in favour of ‘Flat Eric’).

Now That's What I Call Music! is the compilation series that emphatically says: ‘Here are some songs you might like to listen to occasionally’ and godspeed it for persisting in an era when everyone’s accessing their curated music through Spotify playlists and algorithm-based recommendation features.

Currently on Now! 95 (don’t worry, the cover artwork still involves N64 era graphics) the series has been going for 34 years now and, wise to the aforementioned revolution in musical consumption, publisher EMI has started targeting the aux-less listener who still feels around the footwell of their hatchback for something, anything to stick in the CD deck to block out the numbing silence of the A1: the mum.

NOW That’s What I Call Mum (no exclamation mark - passive aggressive?) is laden with mum-friendly bangers, ranging from driving-to-the-gym pump-up tracks (Destiny’s Child - ‘Survivor’, Clean Bandit - ‘Rather Be’, Jessie J - ‘Price Tag’) to X Factor judges’ house’s round staples (Westlife - ‘You Raise Me Up’, Whitney Houston - ‘Greatest Love of All’). Don’t think your mum doesn’t like to “become lit” though, as she paraphrases, with NTWICM also featuring unequivocally fine, nostalgia-mining songs ‘7 Days’ by Craig David, ‘Complicated’ by Avril Lavigne and ‘Oops!…I Did It Again’ by Britney Spears.

“There’s no better way to show your appreciation this Mother’s Day,” a blurb for the compilation reads, and if you do want to turn Mother’s Day into some awkward, ‘Emma Thompson’s Love Actually moment’ saga, it’ll be released on 13 March 2017. Tracklist below.

CD1

01. Robbie Williams - Angels

02. Bruno Mars - Just The Way You Are

03. Lukas Graham - 7 Years

04. Spice Girls - Mama

05. Calum Scott - Dancing On My Own

06. Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One

07. John Legend - All Of Me

08. George Michael - Faith

09. Coldplay - Paradise

10. P!nk feat. Nate Ruess - Just Give Me A Reason

11. James Arthur - Say You Won't Let Go

12. Christina Aguilera - Beautiful

13. Westlife – You Raise Me Up

14. Take That - Rule The World

15. Jess Glynne - Take Me Home

16. Vaults - One Day I’ll Fly Away (from the John Lewis TV ad)

17. Whitney Houston - Greatest Love Of All

18. Leona Lewis - Run

19. Céline Dion - Because You Loved Me

20. Ellie Goulding - How Long Will I Love You

CD 2

01. Olly Murs - Dance With Me Tonight

02. Pharrell Williams - Happy (from ‘Despicable Me 2’)

03. Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass

04. Clean Bandit feat. Jess Glynne - Rather Be

05. One Direction - Story Of My Life

06. Justin Bieber - Love Yourself

07. JP Cooper - September Song

08. Maroon 5 - Sugar

09. Little Mix - Love Me Like You

10. Paloma Faith - Only Love Can Hurt Like This

11. Alicia Keys - No One

12. Craig David - 7 Days

13. TLC - Waterfalls

14. Destiny's Child - Survivor

15. Emeli Sandé - Next To Me

16. Lady Gaga - Bad Romance

17. Ella Henderson - Ghost

18. Jessie J - Price Tag

19. RITA ORA - I Will Never Let You Down

20. Avril Lavigne - Complicated

21. Britney Spears - Oops!...I Did It Again