The Love Affair originally formed in 1966, and this London-based quintet comprised Steve Ellis on vocals, Morgan Fisher on keyboards, Rex Brayley on guitar, Mick Jackson on bass, and Maurice Bacon on drums. Although Ellis was barely 16 years old, the band performed frequently in clubs on a semi-professional basis, and in 1967 they signed to Decca Records, but although their first single, 'She Smiled Sweetly', was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it flopped. After Fisher was briefly replaced by Lynton Guest so that he could complete his schooling, Ellis recorded a sparkling cover version of Robert Knight's 'Everlasting Love' for CBS Records using session musicians, and in January 1968 the single unexpectedly hit number 1 in the UK. Love Affair became instant pop stars, with Ellis' cherubic looks gracing teen magazines throughout the nation. An album was rushed out, with 'The Everlasting Love Affair' being recorded in one day in November 1968 and released in December, but controversy erupted when the group admitted they had not played on their recordings, but that all the work was done by session musicians, although such a practice had long since been common. Their first recording of 'Everlasting Love', produced by Muff Winwood, had featured them playing all the instruments, but the record label rejected this version in favour of one produced by Mike Smith, recorded using a recording studio rhythm section, strings, brass, flutes and backing vocalists, arranged by Keith Mansfield, and with Ellis as the only member of the group to be heard. The backing vocals were provided by four female singers who would later become well known in their own right: Kiki Dee, Madeline Bell, Lesley Duncan and Kay Garner, as one of The Ladybirds.
Although four more Top 20 hits followed, in 1969 Ellis felt that the group had run its course, after their Christmas single, 'Baby I Know', failed completely, and so he left the group to start a solo career, with the remaining members recruiting a new vocalist in Gus Eadon. This new line-up began to move in a more progressive direction, and the second Love Affair album, 'New Day', was released in 1970 under the name of LA, in an attempt to attract a more mature audience. The record was a commercial failure and six months later the band was dropped by CBS. They signed to Parlophone Records as Love Affair but were unable to revive their fortunes, and so Bacon and Fisher left to form Morgan, recording 1973's 'Nova Solis' for RCA Records, and Fisher later reappeared in Mott The Hoople and The Third Ear Band. Although the band's reputation will forever be tainted with the controversy over their first single, they did produce some fine music, and they could easily have released a second album in 1969, which might have proved their musical abilities, and so as they didn't do it themselves, then here it what it could have sounded like.
Track listing
01 Gone Are The Songs Of Yesterday
02 I'm Happy
03 She Smiled Sweetly
04 Let Me Know
05 Sweetness And Tenderness
06 Another Day
07 Bringing Back The Good Times
08 Baby I Know
09 Do You Dream
10 Accept Me For What I Am
11 Someone Like Me
12 Satisfaction Guaranteed
13 One Road
