Not that it’s terribly relevant to the masses, but I like to run.

I think I do, anyway. That relationship is evolving.

I’m getting slow(er). Not that I’ve ever been a world class athlete – I chase PRs (personal records) more than medals every time I race, and I can live with that. PRs may not nourish the ego, but they keep it alive.

It’s been a while since I’ve even come close to a PR.

I would like to blame my decline on a bout with COVID a year ago. But it might be all the years I’m lugging around every time I lace up. Even if age is just a number, I can’t ignore that number every time my right knee decides to ache at random. Or when my left piriformis muscle takes my lower limbs hostage, threatening the sciatic nerve with flaming pitchforks unless I stretch perfectly and perform rituals, incantations, and sacrifices to sate the whims of that small but assertive bundle of fibers.

All that preamble to say, I need ways other than speed to make meaning when I run. Fortunately, I found some inspiration as I walked long stretches of a training “run” the other day.

This little gem called to me from the roadside grass.

I mean, if a broken “Now That’s What I Call Music!” CD doesn’t inspire, what does?

Before I knew what I was doing, the broken disc was in my hand. If I can’t run fast, at least I can pick up trash and write an eco-friendly/running/commercial-music-cash-grab piece, right?

So here goes.

Now! History

The Now! Collection (as those who are in the know call it) is a long running series of compilations that have sold about a bazillion copies. These CDs bridge the gap between the old world of mixtapes and streaming’s limitless availability. Back in the day, they were a pretty efficient way of getting your hands on a bunch of number ones without breaking the bank. Surprisingly, this is not just a “back in the day” phenomenon. The most recent edition of the US collection is Now! 86, released on May 5, 2023. That’s right, compilation CDs are still being released, sold, and (presumably) purchased in the year of our Lord, 2023. This amazes me.

Check out this track listing. 

1. Crank That – Soulja Boy
2. The Way I Are – Timbaland
3. LoveStoned – Justin Timberlake
4. Shut Up and Drive – Rihanna
5. Wall to Wall – Chris Brown
6. Can’t Tell Me Nothing – Kany West
7. Make Me Better – Fabolous/Ne-Yo
8. Beautiful Girls – Sean Kingston
9. Bed – J. Holiday
10. Cyclone – Baby Bash/T-Pain
11. Big Girls Don’t Cry (Personal) – Fergie
12. Who Knew – Pink
13. When You’re Gone – Avril Lavigne
14. Pictures of You – The Last Goodnight
15. Hey There Delilah – Plain White T’s
16. Over You – Daughtry
17. Rockstar – Nickelback
18. Never Too Late – Three Days Grace
19. First Time – Lifehouse
20. I Don’t Wanna Be in Love (Dance Floor Anthem) – Good Charlotte

If you want to mix up your music collection, this is a great place to start. (Fun fact, both Pink and Chris Brown also have tracks on the latest Now! release.)

Who is this compilation for?

• People who still listen to CDs.
• People who think they should be able to listen to Soulja Boy, Avril Lavigne, Fergie, and Nickelback without changing a disc.
• People who miss Pink’s pseudo-perm.
• People who want to recapture the way they felt when the iPhone was first released.
• People who want to recapture the way they felt when the subprime mortgage crisis began.

Was This a Good CD?

I don’t want to editorialize here, so I’ll keep it simple. The only way I can see myself coming into possession of Now! 26 is to pick up a mowed-over copy along the road, but I’m sure it was money well spent for a lot of people. Also, this CD contains one of the very few songs out there that makes me (irrationally and inexplicably) angry every time I hear it. I won’t stoop so low as to tell you which song bothers me so much, but don’t worry, I’m OK. Big boys don’t cry.

Where Can I Get a Copy?

Aside from finding one lying along the road like I did, you can get it here on Amazon. (By the way, this isn’t an affiliate link, it’s purely a favor to you and to Jeff Bezos.) 

Also, if you’re a human living in 2023, you can just listen to almost the whole thing here on YouTube.

Before I send this iteration of Now! 26 to the landfill in the sky, a few words.

NOW! 26, you were presumably the loving work of someone who wanted to make a bunch of money compiling a bunch of songs that people might enjoy. Should you find yourself spinning in a celestial, eternal CD player, enjoy the knowledge that you played your economic part in keeping at least sixty more compilations like yourself flooding the market, even in the age of YouTube. You were a good piece of high-fidelity plastic. May you rest in a state of eternal skip protection.