NOW – Yearbook Extra 1976

NOW Music proudly presents 63 more essential singles from the amazing year of pop that was 1976. NOW – Yearbook Extra 1976 – 3CD released 10 October 2025.

Opening with the elegant pop trio of Queen’s ‘You’re My Best Friend’, ‘Bennie And The Jets’, one of Elton John’s best loved hits of the ‘70s and Paul McCartney & Wings with their #2 smash ‘Let ‘Em In’. Electric Light Orchestra hit the Top 10 in both the UK and the US with ‘Evil Woman’ – a track that became one of the band’s signature songs – and 10cc continued their run of hits with ‘Art For Art’s Sake’. Up next Bryan Ferry and Andy Fairweather Low ahead of ‘Loving And Free’ from Kiki Dee which followed her #1 with Elton John earlier in ’76. Neil Diamond released ‘If You Know What I Mean’ as the lead single from his ‘Beautiful Noise’ LP, plus Johnny Nash scored a hit with a classic cover.

Disco was growing in popularity and the year’s disco hits included floor fillers from KC & The Sunshine Band, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons and The Trammps – alongside sublime vocals from Barry White and The Stylistics on soulful cuts aimed at the discos – and to complete the first disc, a trio of beautiful ballads from Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes ft. Teddy Pendergrass, The Manhattans and Gladys Knight & The Pips.

CD2 kicks off with a stellar run of disco classics led by Donna Summer and her version of ‘Could It Be Magic’ ahead of Tavares, Tina Charles and The Real Thing with ‘Can’t Get By Without You’. Gloria Gaynor and Diana Ross feature with Top 40 hits, while Johnnie Taylor’s ‘Disco Lady’ hit the US #1 spot. Billy Ocean, The Drifters, Bay City Rollers, Marmalade, and Hot Chocolate are up next with some pop nuggets and are followed by some ‘easy listening’ pop from Dana, Barry Manilow and Demis Roussos who reached #2 with ‘When Forever Has Gone’ the follow up to his #1 ‘Forever And Ever’ from earlier in 1976. ‘Hurt’ gave Elvis Presley another Top 40 hit, and composer Simon May had a Top 10 hit with ‘The Summer Of My Life’ – a song that had originally appeared in the long-running TV series ‘Crossroads’. The Wurzels followed up their earlier chart topper with ‘I Am A Cider Drinker (Paloma Blanca)’ and the Christmas season saw Paul Nicholas in the Top 10 with ‘Grandma’s Party’, and Mike Oldfield start the year by reaching #4 with ‘In Dulce Jubilo’.

The final disc opens with Elton John’s version of ‘Pinball Wizard’ (which he performed in the film ‘Tommy’) ahead of Roxy Music’s ‘Both Ends Burning’. Rock hits from Status Quo, Thin Lizzy, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band and Sweet come next ahead of the third Top 20 hit for Smokie, ‘Something’s Been Making Me Blue’. Be Bop Deluxe hit the Top 30 with ‘Ships In The Night’, and US hits from Boz Scaggs and Daryl Hall & John Oates follow, alongside slower paced hits from Gallagher And Lyle and Frankie Valli. The collection finishes in funky style with a stellar run of soul and funk: David Ruffin and The Stylistics both enjoyed Top 10 hits with ‘Walk Away From Love’ and ‘Funky Weekend’. The Spinners and a second appearance from Barry White are up next – and to close, a trio of feel-good funk classics; Brass Construction with ‘Movin’’, Ohio Players with their U.S. chart topper ‘Love Rollercoaster’, and the Top 20 ‘Sunshine Day’ from Osibisa.

NOW – Yearbook Extra 1976 – a further celebration of the diversity and magic of the year in pop.