18 Massive Hits: Celebrating the cultural artifact known as Now!

In 1997, New Zealand was introduced to the Now That’s What I Call Music! series. But sadly, since 2020 it has disappeared—Now!, we miss you and are very worried. 

Growing up, my mum would take me and my brother to Queen Street on the weekends. That meant one of two things: playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 on the TV at Smith & Caughey’s, or spending hours looking through their CD section. Stands were filled, Now That’s What I Call Music! had just come out, and fuck me, was it hot! The only problem was that my mum hated pop music, and so she refused to buy them. 

“We only listen to real music in this household”.  

Naturally, with that kind of strictness I was brought up listening to Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and somehow Michael Bublé. “Haven’t Met You Yet” is still a hit,  and I refuse to believe otherwise.

All the coolest kids at school brought their Now! CDs to show off. I desperately wanted to fit in, so I begged my mum to buy me Now! 16, but there was still no budging from her. This was a primary school hierarchal issue that not even my hand-me-down AF1s, shell necklace, or Blue-Eyes White Dragon could help.

“Mum, can we please get the album with ‘18 MASSIVE HITS’?”

After a hellish first year of primary not knowing the songs that played on ZM in my friend’s mum’s car, Now! 19 came out—another set of Top 40 bangers, another season of having no clue who Akon was and why these peas had black eyes. 

Then, things changed. Our family hired a car to do a road trip from Christchurch to Nelson, but there was one problem—the radio wasn’t working. We pulled into the BP to fuel up, and little did I know that a life changing moment was going to smack me in the face: my mum bought Now! 19, in all its sandy glory.

Hearing Rihanna’s “Pon De Replay” may as well have been my apple from the Garden of Eden. Next song, “Don’t Cha” by the Pussycat Dolls, and boom—sexual awakening. I swear I can relay to you the order of every song, to this day. I finally understood what it was like to be one of those kids who were in the know, and it felt great.

Not only was Now! 19 my introduction to pop music, it was also the first time I heard NZ music, and it shook me to the core. Savage, Elemeno P, and Pluto, all very different but equally mesmerising. I thought NZ music was solely “Bliss” by Th’ Dudes, and the Country Calendar theme. 

Now! CDs gave kids like me, whose parents’ music tastes were stuck in the past decade, the possibility to discover all sorts of genres and artists that were previously locked away. Every kid born at the end of the CD era has their own story and memories attached to their favourite Now! compilation. It introduced us to music we didn’t expect to enjoy, as well as Aotearoa’s finest musicians.  

This isn’t just me—chances are, you also have a Now! memory, as it was huge. In Ōtautahi, their student radio station is hosting a series called “NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL RDU”, which is highlighting the history of their local music scene. In Otago, this year their Music Month Issue was titled “Now That’s What I Call Critic”. The influence that these compilation CDs have had on our generation is enormous.

I would like to formally thank those who worked on NTWICMNZ  for being GCs.