VA - NOW Thats What I Call An Era - The Sound Of The Suburbs 1977-1980 (2025)

Next month, Now That’s What I Call Music will release a genre-spanning ‘Era’ release called The Sound of the Suburbs 1977-1980. In 4CD form, this set offers 80 tracks encompassing punk, new wave, reggae, ska, mod, post-punk and electronic. They were all initially released between 1977 and the end of 1980, and artists include The Undertones, The Clash, Elvis Costello, The Boomtown Rats, The Jam, The Cure, The Police, The Specials, The Beat, Japan, Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers, PIL, Devo, Skids, The Vibrators, XTC, John Foxx, The B-52s and many more. Full tracklistings for the formats are listed below. Whether this ‘Era’ release is the start of a new series or a one-off remains to be seen.

Track List:

CD1
01. The Clash - London Calling 3:21
02. Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop 2:15
03. Iggy Pop - Lust For Life 3:07
04. The Jam - Going Underground 2:55
05. The Boomtown Rats - Rat Trap 5:11
06. The Undertones - Teenage Kicks 2:26
07. Siouxsie And The Banshees - Hong Kong Garden 2:56
08. The Rezillos - Top Of The Pops 2:56
09. Plastic Bertrand - Ca Plane Pour Moi 3:03
10. Squeeze - Cool For Cats 3:40
11. The Cure - Boys Don't Cry 2:44
12. Joy Division - Love Will Tear Us Apart 3:27
13. Dexys Midnight Runners - Geno 3:28
14. The Police - Roxanne 3:09
15. Pretenders - Brass In Pocket 3:05
16. Blondie - Atomic 3:51
17. Martha And The Muffins - Echo Beach 3:39
18. Joe Jackson - It's Different For Girls 3:43
19. Roxy Music - Over You 3:28
20. Adam & The Ants - Antmusic 3:38

CD2
21. The Members - The Sound Of The Suburbs 3:54
22. The Stranglers - No More Heroes 3:30
23. The Ruts - Babylon's Burning 2:36
24. Ramones - Sheena Is A Punk Rocker 2:50
25. The Runaways - Cherry Bomb 2:26
26. Generation X - King Rocker 2:18
27. Patti Smith Group - Because The Night 3:23
28. Joe Jackson - Is She Really Going Out With Him 3:36
29. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea 3:11
30. Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner (Once) 4:45
31. The Tom Robinson Band - 2-4-6-8 Motorway 3:19
32. Dr. Feelgood - Milk And Alcohol 2:49
33. Yellow Dog - Just One More Night 3:32
34. Eddie & The Hot Rods - Do Anything You Wanna Do 4:03
35. The Only Ones - Another Girl Another Planet 3:01
36. Skids - Into The Valley 3:26
37. Magazine - Shot By Both Sides 4:05
38. The Vibrators - Automatic Lover 3:03
39. Sham 69 - If The Kids Are United 3:45
40. The Dickies - Banana Splits 1:57

CD3
41. The Specials - Gangsters 2:51
42. Madness - The Prince 2:30
43. The Selecter - On My Radio 3:06
44. The Beat - Mirror In The Bathroom 3:09
45. Bad Manners - Special Brew 3:36
46. Ub40 - Food For Thought 4:12
47. The Clash - (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais 4:01
48. The Boomtown Rats - Like Clockwork 3:44
49. Public Image Limited - Death Disco 4:15
50. Grace Jones - Love Is The Drug 3:51
51. Devo - (I Can't Get Me No) Satisfaction 2:41
52. The Slits - Typical Girls 3:57
53. The Regents - 7 Teen 3:26
54. Xtc - Making Plans For Nigel 4:14
55. Squeeze - Take Me I'm Yours 2:50
56. Blondie - Hanging On The Telephone 2:23
57. Pretenders - Stop Your Sobbing 2:39
58. The Motors - Airport 4:39
59. Secret Affair - Time For Action 2:43
60. The Jags - Back Of My Hand 3:16
61. The Jam - All Around The World 2:23

CD4
62. The B - 52's - Rock Lobster 4:49
63. Bow Wow Wow - C30 C60 C90 Go 4:04
64. Adam & The Ants - Dog Eat Dog 3:11
65. Toyah - Leya 5:26
66. Siouxsie And The Banshees - Happy House 3:52
67. Hazel O'connor - Eighth Day 3:12
68. Devo - Whip It 2:39
69. The Flying Lizards - Money 2:34
70. The Human League - Nightclubbing 2:59
71. Psychedelic Furs - Sister Europe 4:20
72. Joy Division - Atmosphere 4:11
73. John Foxx - Underpass 3:57
74. Gary Numan - Are 'friends' Electric 5:26
75. Japan - Life In Tokyo 3:32
76. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Messages 4:13
77. Sparks - The Number One Song In Heaven 3:51
78. Ultravox - Sleepwalk 3:13
79. Spandau Ballet - To Cut A Long Story Short 3:22
80. The Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star 4:14