I gave Sean Rowley a call after writing up an article on “Unguilty Pleasures” (see Chill Gonzales episode 64). It became clear that the story of Guilty Pleasures was very much a perfect case study for the Art of Longevity. In Rowley’s own words “nostalgia is a fucking wonderful thing”. Well, he did make a career out of it, so he would know.

One of Richard Branson’s business tips is to not underestimate the power of your own ideas. It’s one that Guilty Pleasures founder Sean Rowley may have picked up on. In a career of nearly four decades, Rowley’s had a few genuinely brilliant ideas. Even when some of those got hoodwinked by circumstances, he always had something else up his sleeve. 

“I am a massive fan of the badly wrapped gift, when it lands and you go ‘oh shit I’ve got to deal with this’, but then you spend time with it…and you allow it to become what it is. Then everything falls into place”. 

When Rowley’s first big idea, All Back To Mine* never made it beyond two series (it was commissioned for TV by Channel 4 in 1999), he quickly moved on to his next one... except this one ran and ran, for 22 years and still going strong. In the early 2000s, Rowley launched Guilty Pleasures in London as a response to overly serious club culture. The concept embraced pop hits, disco classics, soul, plus one-hit wonders and novelty records that people secretly loved but rarely heard in clubs. If a single tune embodies the idea it might be “Oh Lori”, The Alessi Brothers, 1977 top 10  hit.

Guilty Pleasures became that wonderful thing - a content brand (before we called them that) that grew octopus arms. The club nights quickly grew by word-of-mouth, expanding to multiple venues, festivals, and international events, and becoming a fixture of the UK nightlife scene. Then came a series of successful compilation CDs, at a time when compilations still did big business in music. It went on to radio, live tours, and special events (including opening for George Michael at the new Wembley Stadium), helping to popularise nostalgia-driven and feel-good music culture. 

Getting serious for a minute though. For an idea to build the way it has, and to last so long, it needed to be something deeper. With Guilty Pleasures, Rowley challenged prevailing ideas of musical “taste” and helped normalise the celebration of mainstream pop in alternative spaces. He gave music snobbery a good clobbering and in doing so, established a legacy on DJ culture and the wider acceptance of joyful, communal music experiences. 

The evidence is everywhere: the enormously popular Despacio Disco launched by James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem) and the Dewaele brothers (of Soulwax and 2ManyDJs). And then James Gunn of course, with the Guardians of The Galaxy soundtrack, which mined similar territory. The pandemic brought us Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s Kitchen Disco. Since the pandemic, Tik Tok has of course done wonders for the “genre”- famous for making Matthew Wilder’s “Break My Stride” a sensation, now with 500m streams on Spotify. 

And on it goes, the sprawling influence of a simple idea that is underpinned by the even simpler concept of the joy of music. 

* And what a great show it was. A ‘Desert Island Discs’ style conversation – in the guest’s homes, dipping into their record collections to reveal the soundtrack to their lives. The show’s first guest was Noel Gallagher, and then Rowley went on to interview Norman “Fatboy Slim” Cook, Skin (Skunk Anansie), Alan McGee, Grant Mitchell from Massive Attack and Suede frontman Brett Anderson, among others. 

Guilty Pleasures is about to have its 22nd Birthday Party at London’s Koko.