I’ve always been a big pop fan. As soon as I hit the pop road to Damascus I’d fall asleep under the covers with a tiny transistor stuck to my ear blasting out the latest smashes on Radio Luxembourg. So I find it kind of ironic that most of those very same songs have now been exorcised from pop history and are now considered nothing more than mere Secret Pleasures. They have become the songs we hate to love, or at least the songs we hate to admit we love.
Despite putting together playlists like this for years, the whole concept of Secret Pleasures still strikes me as somewhat strange. The Oxford dictionary definition is straightforward enough: ‘Something one enjoys despite feeling that it is not generally held in high regard’ but that much has always been obvious hasn’t it? What’s far more interesting is the realisation that actually, all Secret Pleasures are dictated by personal taste and the self-perceived notion of what is or isn’t cool. And that’s where it can get a little tricky. No doubt everyone would agree that David Cassidy and The New Seekers are Secret Pleasures? But what about Simon & Garfunkel, Cat Stevens or Nilsson? D’you see what I mean?
One thing I do know is that the seventies was the greatest Secret Pleasures era of them all. These days it’s viewed not just as a different country but as another planet ruled by aliens in beards and flares. The only positive thing I ever hear about it is the nostalgia fuelled celebration of its kitsch cool; from Curly Wurlys to chopper bikes, space hoppers to hot pants. And Secret Pleasures were most definitely a part of that!
The seventies were an absolute goldmine of the Goddamn things largely because pop music itself was cast adrift, quietly forgotten as the LP and a far heavier, more serious musical age was ushered in. Suddenly pop was heard as outdated, manufactured lightweight fluff and to a certain extent it was, yet I can’t help feeling that was the moment its naïveté and beautiful innocence were lost forever. Not that I cared. Mid decade, deep within the realms of punk, I pissed on all of these songs. Little did I realise that almost forty years later I would be returning as a retro treasure seeker with a far more open mind, determined to hunt them down.
One
01 SHOCKING BLUE / Venus / January 1970
02 EDISON LIGHTHOUSE / Love Grows / January 1970
03 SIMON & GARFUNKEL / Cecila / April 1970
04 MELANIE / Ruby Tuesday / September 1970
05 MCGUINESS FLINT / Malt And Barley Blues / May 1971
06 HURRICANE SMITH / Don’t Let It Die / June 1971
07 GILBERT O’SULLIVAN / We Will / July 1971
08 MIDDLE OF THE ROAD / Soley Soley / November 1971
09 LABI SIFFRE / It Must Be Love / November 1971
10 BREAD / Everything I Own / January 1972
11 DAVID CASSIDY / Could It Be Forever / February 1972
12 DON MCLEAN / Vincent / May 1972
13 LOOKING GLASS / Brandy / May 1972
14 NILSSON / Coconut / June 1972
15 CAT STEVENS / Can’t Keep It In / November 1972
16 THE STRAWBS / Part Of The Union / January 1973
17 NEW SEEKERS / Pinball Wizard-See Me Feel Me / February 1973
18 BLUE MINK / By The Devil I Was Tempted / March 1973
19 DAVE EDMUNDS / Born To Be With You / June 1973
20 ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA / Showdown / October 1973
21 HUDSON FORD / Burn Baby Burn / February 1974
22 JIM STAFFORD / Spiders And Snakes / April 1974
23 LEO SAYER / Long Tall Glasses / September 1974
24 GARY SHEARSTON / I Get A Kick Out Of You / October 1974
Two
01 FOX / Imagine Me, Imagine You / May 1975
02 PILOT / Just A Smile / September 1975
03 JOHN MILES / Highfly / October 1975
04 GARY WRIGHT / Dream Weaver / October 1975
05 JIM CAPALDI / Love Hurts / October 1975
06 10CC / I’m Mandy Fly Me / March 1976
07 SAILOR / Girls, Girls, Girls / March 1976
08 ERIC CARMEN / All By Myself / April 1976
09 BELLAMY BROTHERS / Let Your Love Flow / April 1976
10 BOZ SCAGGS / What Can I Say / January 1977
11 GALLAGHER & LYLE / The Runaway / January 1977
12 CARLY SIMON / Nobody Does It Better / August 1977
13 ANDREW GOLD / Thank You For Being A Friend / January 1978
14 ELKIE BROOKS / Lilac Wine / February 1978
15 ROBERT PALMER / Every Kinda People / May 1978
16 GERRY RAFFERTY / Right Down The Line / May 1978
17 LINDISFARNE / Run For Home / June 1978
18 MARSHALL HAIN / Dancing In The City / June 1978
19 DOOBIE BROTHERS / What A Fool Believes / February 1979
20 SUPERTRAMP / Take The Long Way Home / October 1979
