Secret Affair are a

mod revival The mod revival was a subculture that started in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and later spread to other countries (to a lesser degree). The mod revival's mainstream popularity was relatively short, although its influence lasted for dec ...

band, formed in 1978 and disbanded in 1982 during which period their work is predominantly best-known. They reformed in 2002 and have since then produced an album in 2012.

Career

Formed after the demise of the CBS Records signed

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, an ...

band New Hearts, singer Ian Page and guitarist David Cairns spent the second half of 1978 writing songs that would form the basis of the first two Secret Affair albums. After spending January 1979 demoing songs, Page and Cairns enlisted the services of bassist Dennis Smith from the power pop band Advertising and Young Bucks drummer

Seb Shelton Seb Shelton is a British musician, who was the drummer for bands such as the Young Bucks (1978–1979), Secret Affair (1979–1980), and Dexys Midnight Runners (1980–1983).Larkin, Colin (1997) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music'', Virg ...

. Saxophone player Dave Winthrop, originally playing with the group in his capacity as a session musician, would join as a full-time member of the band later in the year. After the demise of the group in 1982, Cairns went on to form a band called Flag, with Archie Brown from The Bureau and signed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

in the US. He subsequently teamed up with Scottish singer Alan King in Walk on Fire, writing the majority of the band's material and playing keyboards on tours. Signing to

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gen ...

in the US, the band released the album ''Blind Faith'' in 1990 and toured supporting Foreigner,

Nils Lofgren Nils Hilmer Lofgren (born June 21, 1951) is an American rock musician, recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Along with his work as a solo artist, he has been a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1984, a memb ...

and

Dan Reed Network Dan Reed Network is an American funk rock band formed in 1984 by Dan Reed in Portland, Oregon. They released several albums during the mid-to late 1980s and scored a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1988. History Formation Dan Re ...

, before Cairns joined

Gibson Guitars Gibson may refer to: People * Gibson (surname) Businesses * Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment * Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based * G ...

USA as Special Projects and Events manager. Page released two solo singles before leaving the music industry. Having departed the band in late 1980, drummer Seb Shelton most notably joined up with

Kevin Rowland Kevin Rowland (born 17 August 1953) is a British singer and musician best known as the frontman for the pop band Dexys Midnight Runners (currently called ''Dexys''). The band had several hits in the early 1980s, the most notable being " Geno" ...

Dexys Midnight Runners Dexys Midnight Runners (currently officially Dexys, their former nickname, styled without an apostrophe) are an English pop rock band from Birmingham, with soul influences, who achieved major commercial success in the early to mid-1980s. They a ...

and enjoyed success with them between 1980 and 1982.

Reunion

In June 2002, Page, Cairns, Smith, Bultitude and Winthrop reformed for three gigs, including a performance at London's

Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...

. They returned in June the following year, playing at The Scala in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ...

to promote the release of ''Time For Action: The Anthology'' (

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

), a major CD retrospective of hits, rarities and previously unreleased tracks. The concert was filmed and released on DVD. In 2006, Page and Cairns attempted to mend their sometimes fractious relationship and started work on a fourth Secret Affair album, recording five new songs for

Peer Music Peermusic is a United States-based independent music publisher. History Ralph Peer, a field recording engineer and A&R representative for Victor Records, went on a scouting trip to Bristol, Tennessee. For two weeks, he recorded artists such as ...

. The album remains unfinished, but in 2010 Captain Mod Records released ''Secret Affair, The Singles Collection'' which featured two of the Peer Music tracks, "Soho Dreams" and "Land of Hope". Page and Cairns reformed Secret Affair as a touring band with a new line-up. In 2009 they have played regularly around the UK and further afield, having played their first ever concerts in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

. In July 2011, Secret Affair re-recorded "Time For Action" for

Save The Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

. The latter spearheaded their campaign for health workers in poor countries, and over 42,000 people signed the petition in the UK which was taken to

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

in September 2011, resulting in funds for the cause endorsed and approved by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

. On 5 December 2011, Dave Cairns appeared as a guest on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

programme, '' Never Mind The Buzzcocks''. Secret Affair released their fourth studio album, ''Soho Dreams'' after an absence of 30 years on their label, I-SPY Records, on 10 September 2012, distributed by Code7/Plastic Head and supported by a 13-date UK tour ending at The 229 Club, London, on 24 November. The band continue to tour throughout 2013 and perform their end of year show at the Islington Assembly Hall, 7 December. On 5 September 2014, Secret Affair begin their '35th Anniversary Tour' of the UK in Gloucester at the Guildhall, followed by Stockton on Tees and ending in Manchester at the Band on the Wall venue, on 13 December 2014, celebrating the 1979 release of their debut album, '' Glory Boys''. In November that year, Sony/BMG/Captain Mod Records released ''Est 1979''; The Secret Affair 35th Anniversary Box Set featuring all four albums from 1979 to the present day. In August 2016, I-SPY Records released Secret Affair's cover of the Northern soul classic "

Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" is a song and single by American soul singer Frank Wilson first pressed in 1965 on the Motown subsidiary label Soul. It is Wilson's only Motown single and is a prized item among collectors. Record history Approxima ...

" on 7-inch vinyl only. In September that year the band appeared on Vintage TV, episode 28, performing live in concert three tracks, "Do I Love You' (Indeed I Do)", "I Don't Need No Doctor" and "My World". Secret Affair celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2019, with a 14 date April and May tour of the UK.

Band members

;Current members * Ian Page - vocals (1979-1982, 2002–present) * David Cairns - guitars (1979-1982, 2002–present) ;Former members * Dave Winthrop - saxophone (1979-1982, 2002-2008) * Dennis Smith - bass (1979-1982, 2002-2003) * Chris Bennett - drums (1979) *

- drums (1979–1980) *

Paul Bultitude Paul Bultitude is an English musician and record producer. He was the drummer in power pop band Advertising, working with his cousin Dennis Smith, Tot Taylor and Simon Boswell, before replacing Seb Shelton as the drummer in Secret Affair. He was ...

- drums (1980-1982, 2002-2003) *

Simon Hanson Simon Hanson is an English drummer, songwriter and producer. He was the former drummer of Death in Vegas and is the current drummer of British band Squeeze. Early life Hanson's father and sister both died in a plane crash in 1983. Career ...

- drums (2012, 5 tracks on the 'Soho Dreams' album.) ;Current touring musicians *Steve Rinaldi - trombone (2006–present) * Russ Baxter - drums (2008–present) * Ed Pearson - bass (2011–present) * Stevie Watts - hammond organ (2016–present) * John O'Neill - saxophone (2015–present) * Tim Pannell - trumpet (2012–present) ;Former touring musicians * Andy Brush - saxophone (2008–2012) * Martyn Blagden - trumpet (2008–2012) * Sean Kelly - bass (2008–2011) * Bryn Barkham - hammond organ (2009–2011) * Stephen Wilcock - saxophone (2012–2015) * Andy Fairclough - hammond organ (2011–2016)

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

*'' Glory Boys'' (1979) – UK #41 *'' Behind Closed Doors'' (1980) – UK #48 *'' Business as Usual'' (1982) – UK #84 *''Soho Dreams'' (2012)

Live albums

* ''Live at the Bridge'' (1999) * ''Time for Action'' (2012) * ''Time for Action - Live red vinyl '' (2022)

Compilation albums

* ''Time for Action – The Very Best Of'' (1997) * ''Time for Action – The Anthology'' (2003) * ''Mod Singles Collection'' (2010) * ''35th Anniversary Box Set'' (2014)

Singles

References

Other sources

* Sleevenotes to the CD reissues of ''Glory Boys'', ''Behind Closed Door'' and ''Business As Usual'', by

Chris Hunt Chris Hunt is a British journalist, magazine editor, and author.Chris Hunt intervi ...

External links

Secret Affair Official band site
The story of the Mod Revival, by

Chris Hunt Chris Hunt is a British journalist, magazine editor, and author.Chris Hunt intervi ...

, published in the ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' Mod special edition, April 2005 * Secret Affair biographyat

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1979 English rock music groups English new wave musical groups British mod revival groups