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Love Affair were a London-based pop and progressive rock group formed in 1966. The group had several UK Singles Chart top 10 hits, including the number one success "Everlasting Love".
Love Affair | |
|---|---|
 Love Affair in 1968 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Pop, soft rock, progressive rock[1] |
| Years active | 1966–1971 |
| Labels | Decca, CBS |
| Past members | Rex Brayley Maurice Bacon Mick Jackson Steve Ellis Lynton Guest Morgan Fisher John Watchman |
History
editLove Affair's first single, "She Smiled Sweetly", written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and released on Decca Records, flopped, but the band reached the top of the UK Singles Chart in January 1968 with "Everlasting Love".[2] By this time the group had relocated to CBS Records.[2] The song was first recorded by Robert Knight,[2] whose version had reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the autumn of 1967, and it was previously offered to Marmalade, who turned it down. On the B-side was a cover version of "Gone Are the Songs of Yesterday", which was written by Phillip Goodhand-Tait. After its success, Goodhand-Tait saw an opportunity and signed a contract with Love Affair's managers John Cokell and Sid Bacon. Goodhand-Tait went on to write more songs for Love Affair.[3]
Lead vocalist Steve Ellis had a similar vocal style to Steve Marriott of the Small Faces, and the production was similar to a Motown soul record. Controversy ensued when the group admitted they had not played on the record, but that all the work was done by session musicians, although such a practice had long since been common.[4] Their first recording of the song, produced by Muff Winwood, had featured them playing all the instruments.[5] But the record label rejected this version in favour of one produced by Mike Smith, recorded with a recording studio rhythm section, strings, brass, flutes and backing vocalists, arranged by Keith Mansfield[5] – and Ellis as the only member of the group to be heard.[6] The backing vocals were provided by four female singers who became well known in their own right: Kiki Dee, Madeline Bell, Lesley Duncan and Kay Garner (as one of the Ladybirds). The bass part was played by Russ Stableford and Clem Cattini played drums.
Four further top 20 hits followed, "Rainbow Valley", "A Day Without Love" (both 1968), "One Road" and "Bringing on Back the Good Times" (both 1969).[4] At the end of that year, they released the album The Everlasting Love Affair.[2]
The group became frustrated at being treated like teen idols, unable to hear themselves on stage because of the constant screaming and at being pigeonholed as a "pop group". All the A-sides featured heavy orchestral and brass arrangements behind Ellis's vocals, with minimal participation from the others, although they wrote and played on the heavier B-sides themselves.[5]
As Ellis wrote in the booklet notes to a later compilation CD, Singles A's and B's, "In an attempt to break the mould we recorded a song far removed from the anthemic-like previous hits." The song was called "Baby I Know". Released at the end of 1969, competing with releases from other big names for a place in the charts over Christmas, it failed completely. Ellis felt the band had run its course and he left in December 1969 for a solo career: "We never really made it big anywhere but Britain and I think that if we had started to happen in America, I wouldn't have left".[7] In fact, the group had issued top ten singles in several European countries, as well as New Zealand, but indeed never made the charts at all in the US or Canada.
After Ellis' departure, the rest of the band soldiered on without any further success in Britain, continuing briefly with new vocalist, August Eadon (a.k.a. Gus Yeadon). Further releases never charted in Britain, although they did land a #14 hit in New Zealand with "Lincoln County". Love Affair recorded a progressive rock album in 1971.
In 1971, they recorded the song "Wake Me I Am Dreaming", an English cover of "Mi ritorni in mente" (music by Lucio Battisti and Italian lyrics by Mogol). By the end of 1974, Love Affair was over.
The group has since been revived, though sometimes without any original members, for cabaret dates;[2] and Ellis has also performed live with a reconstituted Steve Ellis's Love Affair.
Love Affair's first hit song, "Everlasting Love", was used in the film Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. However, the CD of the soundtrack contained Jamie Cullum's cover version, instead of the Love Affair version used in the film. Cullum's version is played over the end credits.
In 2021, "Everlasting Love" was featured in the Kenneth Branagh film Belfast. It was also sung in the film by Jamie Dornan.
Personnel
edit- Rex Brayley (born Rex Charles Brayley, 3 January 1948, London) – guitar (1967–1971)
- Maurice Bacon (born 26 January 1952, Southgate, London)[6] – drums (1967–1971)
- Mick Jackson (born Michael Jackson, 27 January 1950, Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire) – bass (1967–1971)
- Steve Ellis (born Stephen John Ellis, 7 April 1950, Edgware, London)[6] – vocals (1967–1970)
- Lynton Guest (born 28 November 1951, Leicester, Leicestershire) – keyboards (1967–1968)
- Morgan Fisher (born Stephen Morgan Fisher, 1 January 1950, Mayfair, London)[6] – keyboards (1968–1971)
Discography
editSingles
edit| Year | Single | Details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [8] |
AUS | AUT [9] |
GER [10] |
IRE | NL [11] |
NOR [12] |
NZ [13] |
SA [14] |
SWI [15] | |||
| 1967 | "She Smiled Sweetly"
b/w "Satisfaction Guaranteed" |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| "Everlasting Love"
b/w "Gone Are the Songs of Yesterday" |
|
1 | 36 | 12 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 6 | |
| 1968 | "Rainbow Valley"
b/w "Someone Like Me" |
|
5 | — | — | 37 | 6 | — | — | 7 | — | — |
| "A Day Without Love"
b/w "I'm Happy" |
|
6 | 57 | 17 | — | 9 | — | — | 4 | 15 | — | |
| 1969 | "One Road"
b/w "Let Me Know" |
|
16 | — | — | — | — | 16 | — | — | — | — |
| "Bringing on Back the Good Times"
b/w "Another Day" |
|
9 | — | — | — | 12 | — | — | 10 | — | — | |
| "Baby I Know"
b/w "Accept Me for What I Am" |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1970 | "Lincoln County"
b/w "Sea of Tranquility" |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | 14 | — | — |
| "Speak of Peace, Sing of Joy"
b/w "Brings My Whole World Tumbling Down" |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1971 | "Wake Me I Am Dreaming" (with Gus Eadon)
b/w "That's My Home" |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| "Help (Get Me Some Help" (featuring Gus Eadon)
b/w "Long Way Home" |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1973 | "Let Me Dance"
b/w "Love's Looking Out at You" |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1977 | "Private Lives"
b/w "Let a Little Love Come In" |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1987 | "Witch Queen of New Orleans"
b/w "Witch Queen of New Orleans" (The Get Down and Stay Down Mix) |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1988 | "Witch Queen of New Orleans"
b/w "Stumbled on Love" |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released | ||||||||||||
Albums
edit- CBS 63416 (December 1968) The Everlasting Love Affair
- CBS 64109 (1970) New Day – credited to "LA"[16]
Compilation CDs
edit- Columbia 469202 2 (1991) Everlasting Hits – 16 tracks recorded by the band in 1968/1969. Released under Sony's "Memory Pop Shop" label.
- Columbia 504419 2 (2001) The Best of the Good Times – includes three new previously unreleased tracks by Ellis
- ACA 8031 (2002) Singles A's and B's – includes six tracks recorded by Ellis as a solo artist (1970–71)[16]
References
edit- ^ Love Affair All music. Retrieved 16 August 2022
- ^ a b c d e Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 285. ISBN 0-7535-0149-X.
- ^ "Phillip Goodhand-Tait singer/songwriter". Pg-t.com. 25 March 1979. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
- ^ a b Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 113. ISBN 0-85112-250-7.
- ^ a b c "index.no.net". Home.no.net. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ a b c d "The Love Affair". 45-rpm.org.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 208. CN 5585.
- ^ "LOVE AFFAIR | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ "Das österreichische Hitparaden- und Musik-Portal". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ "Suche - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". Offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ "Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ "norwegiancharts.com - Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ "flavour of new zealand - search listener". Flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ "South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1965 - 1989 Acts (L)". Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade - hitparade.ch". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
- ^ a b "Love Affair – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. 1 January 1950. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
External links
edit