Secret Affair

Location:
UK
Type:
Artist / Band / Musician
Genre:
Powerpop / Indie / Rock
Site(s):
Label:
sanctuary
Type:
Indie
Secret Affair 2008 are:-



Ian Page – Lead Vocals, Trumpet, Piano

Dave Cairns – Guitar, Backing Vocals

Sean Kelly – Bass, Backing Vocals

Russ Baxter – Drums

Andy Brush – Lead Saxophone

Steve Rinaldi – Trombone

Martin Blagden – Trumpet

Bryn Barklam-Hammond



Additional information check out www.secretaffair.info or www.myspace.com/secretaffairofficial

Email: secretaffairinfo@yahoo.co.uk



UK SINGLES CHART



"Time For Action" - 1979 - Number 13

"Let Your Heart Dance" - 1979 - Number 32

"My World" - 1980 - Number 16

"Sound Of Confusion" - 1980 - Number 45

"Do You Know" - 1981 - Number 57



UK ALBUM CHARTS



Glory Boys - 1979 - Number 41

Behind Closed Doors - 1980 - Number 48

Business As Usual - 1982 - Number 84



REFERENCES



Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-190-X

Guinness Book of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7

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

Wikepedia-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Affair

NME special http://www.chrishunt.biz/features08.html



BIOGRAPHY



In a period of a little over two years, they posted five releases in the UK Singles Chart, and released three albums. The debut single "Time For Action" sold 198,000 copies and reached number 13 in the UK chart, putting them at the forefront of the mod revival movement. More chart success followed with "Let Your Heart Dance", "My World" and "Sound Of Confusion".



Formed after the demise of the CBS-signed power pop band New Hearts, singer Ian Page and guitarist Dave Cairns spent the second half of 1978 writing songs that would form the basis of the first two Secret Affair albums. They also drew up plans for a smart-dressing youth movement - the Glory Boys – based around the idea of Sixties gangster chic, influenced by the movie Performance.



After spending January 1979 demoing songs, Page and Cairns enlisted the services of bassist Dennis Smith from power pop band Advertising and Young Bucks drummer Seb Shelton. Sax player Dave Winthrop would join later in the year.



From their very first gig, opening for The Jam at Reading University in February 1979, the band were adopted by a group of East End mods, who readily embraced Ian Page’s Glory Boy concept. This group of fans began referring to themselves as Glory Boys, often tattooing the name on their arms or inner lips as a badge of allegiance. Secret Affair had become so closely linked to the emerging mod revival that in March 1979 Dave Cairns wrote what would become the youth movement's main anthem, "Time For Action".



Just a few months later, Secret Affair had signed to Arista Records and "Time For Action" was in the pop charts. It was soon followed into the charts by "Let Your Heart Dance", "My World" and "Sound Of Confusion". Their first two albums, Glory Boys (December 1979) and Behind Closed Doors (September 1980), with its more complex orchestrated arrangements, proved successful and in their first year Secret Affair regularly appeared on UK television show Top Of The Pops and were cover stars of many UK magazines, including New Musical Express, Sounds and Smash Hits. Likened to Jimmy Pursey, Ian Page was asked to appear on UK television programmes and was viewed as an articulate spokesman for his generation, although his opinionated views alienated as many potential fans as they won over.



The mod movement that had swept Secret Affair into the pop charts had all but evaporated by mid 1980, losing out to the rival Two Tone fashion movement, and after the release of the band's second album drummer Seb Shelton quit to join the "Come On Eileen"-era Dexys Midnight Runners. Secret Affair regrouped, recruiting ex-Advertising drummer Paul Bultitude and embarking on a lengthy tour of America, before returning in late 1981 with their final chart hit, "Do You Know".



One more single followed, "Lost In The Night", before the release of Business As Usual, an album that saw the band return to the rock-soul fusion of their earlier work. Although a spirited album, it was a commercial failure and Secret Affair split-up midway through 1982.



In June 2002, Page, Cairns, Smith, Bultitude and Winthrop reformed for three gigs, including a performance at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire. They returned in June the following year, playing at The Scala in Islington (2003) to promote the release of Time For Action: The Anthology (Sanctuary), a major CD retrospective of hits, rarities and previously unreleased tracks. The concert was filmed and released on DVD.



Page and Cairns have recorded several new tracks for a major UK music publisher which remain unreleased at this time



January 2008



MY WORLD



TV DOCUMENTARY



TIME FOR ACTION



LET YOUR HEART DANCE
0.02 follow us on Twitter      Contact      Privacy Policy      Terms of Service
Copyright © BANDMINE // All Right Reserved
Return to top