London's Brilliant is a great little tune. I'm told the Costello demos were pretty damn good too.

Are they available or, um, accessible anywhere?

Like you I heard this on the Q CD from years ago and have loved in ever since. I've sung it once or twice in public and may even have implied it was 'one of mine,' trusting in its obscurity to cover the lie.

I have an album by Sensation - Burger Habit - featuring the ever so talented Johnny Male, who played guitar for Republica and Saint Etienne.

Sensation had been Soul Family Sensation, early 90s one hit wonders, using that soul II soul beat. But Sensation were more indie guitar pop, with electronics. Some great tunes like Beautiful Morning and the very Microdisney "Tell Your Parents That I Hate Their Guts".

It's on Spotify and iTunes, although on both track two has been wrongly labelled with the Tell Your Parents title, when it should be High On The Grass.

I love this record as much as any of the big names in my collection.

The other would be The Direct Hits 'Blow Up' also on Spotify and iTunes. Classic 80s mod band, in a 60s pop/psychedelic style. Fans of XTC and Squeeze and The Jam circa All Mod Cons will find something to like here...

Sorry Retro, but I just don't get this idea of 'guilty pleasures' Why be ashamed of liking something that's well written, well played and well recorded?

I was never much of an ELO fan at the time but I could see the merits in the music. Why are they regarded as naff and a 'guilty pleasure' (whatever that might be)

Totally agree "Now Ain't the Time for Your Tears" is a pretty decent record. Not the best singer in the world but perfectly acceptable. I think Retro's point was that it is not a "guilty pleasure", rather a good album unfairly criticised because of the general attitude to the singer.

In a similar vein, I've always considered "Mmm Bop" by Hanson to be a genuine pop classic, right up there with the very best of them. No one else seems to think so though...

This came up last year, sort of. I'm reposting what I wrote then here, in case those who like the album want to follow what she's done more recently. I too heard Basement Kiss on the Q CD, and liked it.

"I yield to no one in my contempt for Transvision Vamp, who are right in there with Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Hollywood Beyond and Primal Scream as dread exemplars of the style over substance inversion. However, Wendy James seems, eventually, to have dusted herself off and tried to, you know, make some actual music. Under the name Racine (which can be seen as pluckily refusing to trade on whatever fame or noteriety remained attached to her name), she made an album on which she did considerably more than pout and simper. I haven't heard it, and it may be awful, but I did hear the first single, Grease Monkey, and it was Not Bad At All."

As for the whole guilty pleasures thing, gawd, that's un peu tedious, isn't it? I see it as nothing more than an attempt by sniggering would-be arbiters of taste wanting to have their cake and eat it, by putting ironic inverted commas around anything they like which they fear may not be cool. I blame Sean Rowley and Robert Elms. Fair play to you, Retro, for sticking to your convictions so unapologetically; I have to say, though, that your contention that, with certain music, "it is known and accepted to be piss-poor", is preposterous. It's possible to overuse the phrase "it's only a matter of opinion" - but here might be a good point to restate it.

As mentioned in the original post.

Ah, Dollar. The Trevor Horn singles. I love these as much as it is possible to love music. More. The only reason I can give is that I loved them when I was 12 and they remind me of all sorts of things to do with when I was 12 and me and my best mate would tape the top 40. But they're big and widescreen and silly and glossy and sound like pop music should sound.

People point and laugh and say: "But David Van Day..twat!" And I say "Yes? So he might be an idiot. Since when has that stopped people making good music? If that was an impediment in making a good single then so many musicians and pop stars may never have come within a 100 yards of a recording studio!"

If anybody is interested I have some very good reasons why "Hand Held In Black And White" is quite possibly the most perfect pop record ever. It'll cost you a pint. At least. And you have to listen to the song itself. Ok.

I was only raising the "guilty pleasure" cliche to prevent the posting becoming the tired arguments as to what constitutes such a concept etc etc. I think it was understood I was posting about Ms James' solo LP on the basis of it being slated at the time or subsequently, yet actually quite good and warranting a 2nd opinion, not being something secretly indulged in. Unwisely, perhaps, my instinct to prize style over substance crept in, having come up with the ELO-deemably play on irredeemably, I felt it necessary to be archly provocative to fans of ELO. (See under Supertramp and Gilbert O'Sullivan.) Of course I love ELO, doesn't everyone? I have at least one of their songs.
(D'oh, there I go again)

As good, maybe even better, than their critically loved first album. For some reason I just don't understand it was treated like it was a total turd. Most of those songs are great.

How can you resist a lyric like, "We didn't come here to walk around/We came here to take you out", sung in a sexy female voice backed with a pop melody that can be described as being full of frivolous disco trinkets?

If you dislike this album, please explain as I can see nothing wrong with it (although the album title and cover artwork are pretty bad).

where do the Cool Police stand on this? Is he old school radio 2 fodder or an Irish Scott Walker? In point of fact I dont care, I love all the Jimmy Webb stuff and Camelot. He is a classic example of a nonsinging singer with a voice.