Strange how the world turns because now these pleasures are big business, an overground cult where the uncool is cool and it’s ok for all our sins to be forgiven. Strange how the time has finally come for all those geeks who were never part of anything, who never saw music as anything other than a nice tune. So here I go back to the age of innocence, the age of leaning against a tree in a sweater, shorts and long grey socks, almost ending with the dawn of the eighties and my twentieth birthday.
I guess my very first listening experiences came from my father’s love for showbiz types, Tom Jones, Roger Whittaker, even Bobbie Gentry. I’m surprised there’s no Val Doonican or James Last on here somewhere. We had to make do with those Music For Pleasure Chart Hit collections, 10p from your local newsagent and packed with hastily recorded cover versions. That’s the way I heard a lot of the songs here, certainly up to 1972. Now over 30 years later the originals don’t seem quite as good. But of course they still carry enough magic to zap me straight back to those past people and places, filmic scenarios running through the Sky Q box in my mind.
With a shady punk past, at one time I would have been laughed out of town for admitting any acknowledgement of the Doobie Brothers, Mr Big (a completely forgotten classic by the way), Andrew Gold and particularly the hippy Supertramp. Late seventies era Rod Stewart was an even more serious offence, as he churned out high quality dross without the merest hint of credibility. But, ‘I Was Only Joking’ is a jewel, neatly summing up some of my youthful antics most accurately.
So what’s the difference between all these and my regular listening habits? I think it’s obvious. These Secret Pleasures are pure nostalgia, music from and stuck forever in the rose tinted past. None of these songs made or make me believe music could matter so much, that music can transform the world, even if only through altering just one person’s perceptions or enlarging their sense of possibility. For that reason these are my Secret Pleasures and remember; Never mind the bollocks, here’s some more!
01. TOM JONES ‘Green Green Grass Of Home’ (November 1966)
02. ENGLEBERT HUMPERDINCK ‘The Last Waltz’ (August 1967)
03. JACKIE ‘White Horses’ (April 1968)
04. MARY HOPKINS ‘Those Were The Days’ (September 1968)
05. BOBBIE GENTRY ‘I’ll Never Fall In Love Again’ (August 1969)
06. ROGER WHITTAKER ‘Durham Town’ (November 1969)
07. B.J. THOMAS ‘Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head’ (December 1969)
08. RAY STEVENS ‘Everything Is Beautiful’ (March 1970)
09. LOBO ‘Me And You And A Dog Named Boo’ (June 1971)
10. C.C.S. ‘Tap Turns on the Water‘ (August 1971)
11. CHER ‘Gypsies, Tramps And Thieves’ (August 1971)
12. BREAD ‘Baby I’m A Want You’ (November 1971)
13. CAT STEVENS ‘Morning Has Broken’ (December 1971)
14. YVONNE ELLIMAN ‘I Don’t Know How To Love Him’ (January 1972)
15. COLIN BLUNSTONE ‘I Don’t Believe In Miracles’ (October 1972)
16. ROGER DALTREY ‘Giving It All Away’ (March 1973)
17. THE HOLLIES ‘The Air That I Breathe’ (January 1974)
18. CHARLIE RICH ‘The Most Beautiful Girl In The World’ (February 1974)
19. HOT CHOCOLATE ‘Emma’ (February 1974)
20. TERRY JACKS ‘Seasons In The Sun’ (March 1974)
21. ACE ‘How Long’ (September 1974)
22. RALPH MCTELL ‘Streets Of London’ (December 1974)
23. BARRY MANILOW ‘Mandy’ (February 1975)
24. LEO SAYER ‘Moonlighting’ (August 1975)
25. MURRAY HEAD ‘Say It Ain’t So’ (October 1975)
26. SAILOR ‘A Glass Of Champagne’ (December 1975)
27. DOOBIE BROTHERS ‘Takin’ It To The Streets’ (April 1976)
28. PETER FRAMPTON ‘Baby I Love Your Way’ (September 1976)
29. BOZ SCAGGS ‘Lowdown’ (October 1976)
30. MR BIG ‘Romeo’ (February 1977)
31. RACING CARS ‘They Shoot Horses Don’t They’ (February 1977)
32. FLEETWOOD MAC ‘Don’t Stop’ (March 1977)
33. ANDREW GOLD ‘Lonely Boy’ (April 1977)
34. ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA ‘Telephone Line’ (May 1977)
35. ROD STEWART ‘I Was Only Joking’ (April 1978)
36. SAD CAFÉ ‘Everything Hurts’ (September 1979)
37. SUPERTRAMP ‘Goodbye Stranger’ (September 1979)
38. THE KORGIS ‘Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime’ (May 1980)
39. REO SPEEDWAGON ‘Keep On Loving You’ (April 1981)
40. DONNA SUMMER ‘State Of Independence’ (October 1982)