When you reach a certain age in life, it could be twenty five, it could be forty, it could be sixty. When you think you have found all the music you like, and when your metaphorical shelves are heaving with your personal tastes greatest hits, you are often tempted to wander. I know I am. You get bored with the stuff you’ve got (the stuff you thought pretty much defined you) and you start seeking out the stuff you once thought of as naff, stuff you didn’t think you’d like, stuff that always felt a bit old, pedestrian, ordinary, odd or embarrassing. Hell, for your sins you might even start liking Adele or Ed Sheeran!
The first time I heard about the Guilty Pleasures concept came back in 2004 when DJ Sean Rowley took his inspired decision to reclaim the songs considered ‘shameful to love’ on his BBC Radio London show. Based firmly in the seventies, The Alessi Brothers 1977 hit ‘Oh Lori’ was the first song to be broadcast as a Guilty Pleasure. To me it was manna from heaven, giving me the perfect excuse to drag out all those tunes that had got me into music in the first place. And I’ve been knocking out my own Secret Pleasure version ever since and having a lot of fun along the way.
The songs featured here represent my favourite Secret Pleasures from the thousands I’ve heard over the years, making for a brilliant pop odyssey guaranteed to bring endless joy. Here’s hoping you can appreciate them as much as I do, guilt free and on their own merits!
