Ongoing History of New MusicRadio

The first Ongoing History of New Music CD came out 25 years ago today.

Remember CDs? They were plastic things that stored digital music and needed to played in a special machine. In 1996, they were all the rage. Record companies loved them because the profit margins were so high. They were also willing to splash out a few bucks to help out with certain projects by radio stations and MuchMusic.

On this day in 1996, the first-ever Ongoing History of New Music CD was released. I helped with the tracklisting and wrote the liner notes. I’d completely forgotten about this until Scot Turner (who tracks such things) reminded me.

Here’s what was on the CD:

  1. China Crisis, Working with Fire and Steel
  2. Heaven 17, Let Me Go!
  3. Flying Lizards, Money
  4. Stephen “Tin Tin” Duffy, Kiss Me
  5. Voice of America, Story of Love
  6. World Party, Ship of Fools
  7. XTC, Senses Working Overtime
  8. OMD, So in Love
  9. Japan, Gentlemen Take Polaroids
  10. Flying Picks, Only You
  11. Simple Minds, Love Song
  12. Talk Talk, It’s My Life
  13. Waterboys, The Whole of the Moon
  14. Kate Bush, Wuthering Heights
  15. Duran Duran, Girls on Film

A collector’s item, right? Well, maybe. You can find a copy on Discogs.com for around $15.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 37973 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

2 thoughts on “The first Ongoing History of New Music CD came out 25 years ago today.

  • I still have my copy. Still one of my favourite collections from that time. In fact, just re-ripped it so I can listen to it in lossless audio quality.

    Reply
  • Kinda sad that those 15 songs (and many more of their ilk) no longer get any airplay on Edge 102.

    Reply

Let us know what you think!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.