There is no information on Now Records as such. However, I've done some detective work. National Television Programmes Pty Ltd, of 293 Pacific Highway, Crows Nest, NSW 2065, produced the album. NLT Productions was a company started in 1961 by entertainer Bobby Limb and his partners Jack Neary and Les Tinker. Hence, NLT. They produced Bobby Limb's Sound of Music, Australia's Celebrity Game (Hosted by Bert Newton), and Divorce Court (a court drama based on real divorce cases, that ran for 200 episodes).

When Bobby Limbs Sound of Music was dropped by the Nine network in 1971, NLT Productions was dissolved. From the ashes rose Cash-Harmon Television, who also had their offices at this address. Their claim to fame was Number 96 the infamous supposedly sex filled soup opera that saved Channel 10 from bankruptcy. (In fact it was so silly and only had a minimum of nudity, except for the 1st episode, which was only shown in Sydney. A cut version was shown in Melbourne a week later, before the censor could do anything.) Cash-Harmon were Americans who came to work for NLT, but stayed. Cash died in 1973, but the company continued.

When Number 96 was cancelled, they went on to make a couple of films and the wholly unspectacular Unisexers for channel 9 (the show lasted 3 episodes before being cancelled). The company was then supposedly wound up.

I have since found a reference to Cash-Harmon Productions at the Crows Nest address in a 1998 industry pay award agreed with Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance. This was dated 1998.

The NOW album was released around March 1970. Interestingly, Bobby Limbs Sound of Music had a tie in album on the Select label supposedly released in late 1972 or early 1973. NU-VAC had a different address, so it's likely the two are not actually directly connected.

So it is likely that they had the same idea as Select Records - a television production company trying to make a buck through a cross marketing deal with one of their programmes, or to make cash to save the company, or make a record that sent the company broke.

NOW is a pretty uninspiring collection of songs from as far back as 1967, but the presence of Australian TV personalities (yes they all had to sing back then), Don Lane, Mike Preston, and Kamahl makes this a bit of a necessity for collectors of Australian music.

It's pressed by CBS who also did the Majestic / K-tel pressings at the time- note the same label design, common for independent releases. The sound quality is good, and some tracks are in real stereo. Very easy to find at the 2-5 dollar price point.