www.secretaffair.info
The Official Secret Affair Website
There was a time where every magazine you picked up had something to say about the Mod Revival and Secret Affair led the way.From Smash Hits to Sounds and NME to The Telegraph supplement there was a picture of Pagey and DC staring out at you.This unusual photograph featured the band in The Telegraph supplement in an article about British Music in 1980.The element of humour in this photo is in strict contrast to the serious nature of other photos used in the press.
The following is a synopisis of music paper write ups, gig reviews and journalistic entries on the band we love so well. As you will see Pagey''s opinions were loved and loathed but as the song goes the press had to "Take it or Leave it!"
Secret Affair often featured on Teen programs from Swap Shop to Top of the Pops and even made it on to The Old Grey Whistle Test!
"Appearing on Top of The Pops
was one thing but in terms of credibility as an 'album
band' and not just a pop group,
an appearance on BBC 2's 'The Old Grey Whistle Test' was essential and
Secret Affair duly appeared on the show during the promotion of the album
'Glory Boys'."
DID YOU KNOW? Secret Affair appeared in Sounds two weeks in a row and are probably the only band to achieve a front cover in NME and Sounds in the same week.
RECORD MIRROR (June 9, 1979): live
at The Marquee (May 20) by James Parade (aka Tot Taylor)
‘Secret Affair do not need to ride on the rejuvenation of a craze from
the last decade… Ian Page’s vocals and trumpet and Cairns perfect
’67 r’n’b guitar were almost faultless.”
‘If you like mods, go and see Secret Affair. And if you don’t like
mods,go and see Secret Affair. Let there be no more crazes.’
MELODY MAKER (Aug. 25 1979): interview
by Chris Bohn
Live in Torquay (Aug. 15) on the March Of The Mods tour: >They are very
good indeed… the key is a carefully calculated dance msuic which enslaves
the feet, leaving the mind at the mercy of a succession of well-written youth
anthems.
RECORD MIRROR (Nov. 24, 1979): ‘Glory Boys’
album review by Mike Nicholls ••••
‘Do yourself a favour. No matter how trivial this year’s revival
might seem, don’t let it cloud your judgement of a fine modern pop album…’
NME (???, 1979): live at Rainbow (Dec.8) by Paul Morley
‘The thin mod thread that has woven its way through this year’s
complex rock development won’t stretch much farther. As a craze, it was
never going to mean that much, despite those who tried to wrap it up as something
more. Secret Affair have effectively used it to step through into something
else. Thanks mainly to Ian Page’s persistent call for attention, the
group have risen as leaders of New Mod’s fickle obsession with discarded
values and styles.’
SMASH HITS (March 20, 1980): ‘My
World’ review by Kelly Pike
‘OK, so Ian Page’s head has lost all sense of proportion and their
last release was a flop – but ‘My World’ deserves better…
Far ahead of all other mod bands they remain, but forget the dressing up and
listen to these powerful songs – you’ll be pleasantly shocked!’
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 |
RECORD MIRROR (Sept. 13, 1980): ‘Behind Closed
Doors’ album review by Simon Ludgate •••••
‘The album title itself indicates the current state of mind in the Affair’s
camp: a paranoid desire to offer their goods to the world from behind a protective
barrier. The irony is that the buffet is totally unnecessary because these
songs are perhaps the strongest collection they have had on offer to date.
MELODY MAKER (March 13, 1982): ‘Business
As Usual’ album review by Carol Clerk
‘The last album, brimming as it was with exquisitely tuneful songs, fell
by the wayside, a victim of criminal neglect… and I fear the same’ll
happen to this. But you saw the title; it’s business as usual.’
Its hard to believe it was nearly a year ago that we saw the band on stage again with the original line up.The following are some of the reviews that were captured at the time.
June 17th 2002
'Secret step back in time'
by
MARK TAYLOR
Reviews
Edition: Bristol Evening Post
Secret Affair: Bristol Academy
Until they stepped on to the Academy stage last night,
it was 20 years since
the original line-up of mod revivalists Secret Affair had played together
in
public.
This was the opening night of a three-date reunion tour and the choice of
venue was appropriate as they last played the Locarno (which was on the same
site) in April, 1980.
Back then, Secret Affair were a regular fixture in the charts and were on
the road with the likes of The Jam and The Stranglers.
Two decades on and it may have seemed over-ambitious to pick Bristol's
largest stand-up venue to stage a comeback, but the faithful turned out in
force and the band were greeted as ifthey had never been away.
Tattooed skinheads and sharp-suited mods mingled on the dance floor, almost
transforming the room into a scene from the 1979 film Quadrophenia.
Singer Ian Page looked genuinely bewildered by the response to old
favourites like One Day In Your Life, Soho Strut and Shake And Shout.
Guitarist Dave Cairns ran around the stage like a man half his age, and the
other band members - Dennis Smith, Paul Bultitude and Dave Winthrop were
solid at the back.
Page, who punctuated many songs with some fine trumpet solos, strutted
around the stage as if reliving the time he was appearing on magazine front
covers and Top Of The Pops.
The inclusion of soul covers like Get Ready and Going To A Go-Go were
well-received, but the absence of singles Do You Know and Sound Of Confusion
was as surprising as it was disappointing.
Secret Affair kept the fans waiting for the classics, but mod anthems Dance
Master, Time For Action, Let Your Heart Dance and My World generated a
lively reaction.
This was a passionate comeback from one of the best bands of the mod revival
scene and they proved that their back catalogue still stands the test of
time.
Mark Taylor
Pictured above the Secret Affair billboard highlights the band's arrival at the Shepherds Bush Empire June 21st 2002
Secret Affair
The Secret is out!
Birmingham Academy June 2002
trACEy Wilmot
It was with some trepidation I entered the venue in Birmingham amongst a throng of other mods both old and new. I had long since remembered my favourite mod band of my youth as being slick sharp and cool and I feared that I may have remembered them as performing better then they really did as the memory is apt to do.Questions such as "Will I be disapointed? Were they really as cool as I remembered?" flashed through my head, indeed many of my mates did not go to the first gig for the very same reasons preferring to remember Secret Affair as they were in 1980. A decision they swiftly regretted.
The crowd was building and each new arrival that entered the venue was eyed with curiosity .Who were these people that had travelled miles-some from abroad-to witness the spectacle of the leaders of the mod revival onstage? A few drinks and some bolder chaps started to dance-Guy Malkerson long term fan-gave us all something to watch with his athletic style of moddy boy dancing accompanied by DJ Kev Lock who played a mixture of Tamla, Northern Soul and Mod Revival hits. Something for every punter.
After a while a few braver moddy boys ventured to come and talk to me and we shared our stories of where we first saw the band and how excited we were to be here. Excited was not a big enough word for me. My heart was pounding and when I spied in the corner of my eye the band surreptitiously arrive backstage and run to their dressing room I had a hit of adrenaline like the rush of my first speed pill!
Yes-it was really gonna happen!
Then suddenly the lights dimmed, the ambiance from the Glory boys track a mixture of pinball machines music and street sounds filled the air...enter the GLORY BOYS!
The crowd surged to the front and there was a sense of awe as Ian and Dave entered the stage arena to face their public.
All the tracks were there from Soho Strut, Dance Master, One Day in Your Life, Going to a Go Go and the mod anthems My World and Time for Action.With each track each of us shouted the lyrics and sang back the tune to Pagey and the band who received the adulation with obvious delight. I amazed myself with my memory of every single lyric (and this was commented by Pagey himself much to my embarrassment!) But I just couldn't help myself, I was 16 again and I didn't want the night to end. Familiar tracks were played that sounded as fresh as they did the first time such as the classic When the Show is Over and before too long it was over-way way way too soon. But there was still time for an encore culminating in BIG BEAT that ended in a roar from the audience!
The audience stood dumbstruck as though in a trance and unable to leave-it had not been the disappointment we had dreaded. Hell No it was BETTER than we remembered and we wanted to relive every chord and note again whilst it still echoed in our hearts and minds.
For me the night was not over-I met the band for the first time at their hotel and it didn't feel odd at all. In fact it was like meeting old friends again-we talked (and drank) til 3am still high on adrenaline. The band anxious to know what the crowd thought and myself eager to hear their stories and anecdotes as gleefully as they wanted to share them.
I could no longer wait for the next gig at Shepherds Bush -and yes-it really felt as though now was THE TIME FOR ACTION!
Shake and Shout boys-the mods are back!
trACEy Wilmot
June 2002