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Welcome to summer 2006! 

And things were, indeed, Crazy. 

That top selling nine-week run at No1 was significant for not just featuring (the not crime fighting rodent) Dangermouse but for being the first UK chart topper to make it there purely on downloads (remember them?) alone. But of course, you knew that chart fact already, didn’t you, pop pickers?

But there is so much more to rediscover on NOW 64, as we dive back amongst those shiny cover surf boards to ride the crest of this noughties pop wave. Classic Pop writer, journalist and all-round (indie) pop kid John Earls guides us through the hits and otherwise across these two CDs. Where to begin? There’s the solid gold pop classics thanks to Nelly Furtardo, Lily Allen, Sugababes and Rihanna; those young cavalier guitar heroes (can we say indie?) The Kooks, Razorlight and The Zutons, and a plethora (the correct collective noun) of outrageous dance covers that certainly signalled that the eighties were back! What was going on? Ask James Morrison – whilst stuck at the end of CD2, he was quietly inventing the next decade!

As Top of The Pops turned off the lights for the final time, the singles charts were undergoing some strange times for sure. Could those CD singles (and B-sides!) really be on their way out too?

And don’t forget the all-conquering celebrity Big Brother winner Preston and the Ordinary Boys (and Lady Sovereign!) Could there BE a more 2006 sentence?

Also starring P!nk, Keane, (Sir) Tom Jones, the ‘efficient’ Will.I.Am, Izzy from Neighbours (thanks to Elvis Costello!) and (very briefly, thankfully) Matt Willis and Fall Out Boy. We even find time to chat Blossoms/Rick Astley! How on earth did we get there, I hear you (possibly) ask? Tune in to find out!

And finally, discover why Shapeshifters (but not Nile Rodgers) won’t be returning our Christmas cards.

Phew! 

Trust us, there is a lot more to summer 2006 and NOW 64 than you may think. Dive back in!

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