Compilation Album Review: "Do It Now!"

Compilation: Do It Now!
Released: 1991 – Warner
Number of tracks: 18
Number one singles: 2 – "Don't Go Now" by Ratcat, "Falling" by Julee Cruise
Top ten singles: 2
Best track: "How To Dance" by Bingoboys feat. Princessa
Hidden gem: "If A Vow" by The Hummingbirds

Here we have Do It Now!, a 1991 'pop'ular music compilation which by my reckoning was the last one released before the 100% Hits series commenced. I was going to review this later, but I may as well...say it with me...do it now!

It starts with its best track, which is typically how things go with these comps. "How To Dance" is seen as being a novelty pop-rap song without much substance (it may also be the first ever song to rhyme 'party' with 'Bacardi' [groan]), but hey, this was 1991. What were you expecting in pop music? Thought-provoking insights about the human condition? Well if you were, too bad. Instead you get a song that likens dancing to sex. Well I never.

Despite all this, actually, because of all this, I really liked "How To Dance" and still do. I was very close to buying the Bingoboys album, but you see, I had limited pocket money for buying cassettes in 1991. I had this rule that I would only buy an album if it had three songs on it that I liked. The 3-song rule served me well during my early teenage years!

After this comes "Ring My Bell" by Monie Love vs. Adeva. I'm not sure about the whole "versus" thing. They don't seem to be competing with each other for lyrical prowess. They let each other take turns on the vocals like any other civilized human beings. I used to make compilation tapes with songs off the radio (Take 40 again) and at first I used to write out only the song titles on the card, not the artist names. My friend Steve saw one of these tapes on a school camp and saw "Ring my bell" there, and wondered why I had a Collette song on my tape. I quickly reassured him it wasn't the Collette song, it just had the same name. Later that day, I got beat up in the dorm. (Not really. But I would have if it had have been Collette.)

Another standout track is "Mea Culpa Part 2" by Enigma. You know, I heard this song played in 1991 on Take 40 (as a one-off since it didn't chart) and liked it; it's still pretty good, but nowhere near as good as "Sadness Part 1", despite its similar structure and instrumentation.

This compilation isn't so hot with high-charting hits. It has the two abovementioned number 1 singles "Don't Go Now" and "Falling", which both only topped the charts for one week. "Don't Go Now" is still a joyous blast of guitars, whereas "Falling" is still an irritable dirge from a sucky TV show. I definitely wasn't watching Twin Peaks when I was 13. I'd rather watch the back of the fridge.

"Soul Eater" by Clouds is on here, and although it was their highest-charting song (the Loot EP, number 22), it hasn't aged too well. Unlike the mighty "Anthem" which was to come later, which is still their finest moment. And speaking of follow-up singles, we also have "Love School" by Divinyls on here, which was the follow-up to the biggest Australian single of 1991, "I Touch Myself". "Love School" only got to number 43, and listening to it now, it's hard to tell why it was picked for the tough job of following-up their previous number 1.

It's basically a tuneless dirge with none of the playfulness (and play with yourself-ness, snigger snigger) of their previous hit. What's funny is that on Do It Now! it's followed by "Blue Hotel" by Chris Isaak which is actually what "Love School" could have sounded like if it had been rocked up a bit and given a shot in the arm to jolt it out of its coma. "Blue Hotel" got to number 23, so draw your own conclusions.

Rating: 5/10