The Affair feature on the cover of the current ‘Record Collector’. It prompts one to ask the question ‘Is it time for a reappraisal?’ Or, indeed, ‘Is it time for action’? Is it their world we’re living in every day, and would you have it any other way?
Is it, in short, time for a revival of the Mod Revival?
Ian Page and the boys rocking Lincoln recently…
I used to really like them, but there was something a bit unconvincing about the records, which had a sort of muddy, cluttered sound. The songs were top notch though, and he was a good singer at the time. I’m not sure the world needs them now, based on that clip.
I never got the ‘mod revival’ tag that they had. Seemed to be power pop to me.
Something unconvincing about the whole Mod Revival thing, as far as I was concerned.
Having been around in the mid-sixties and briefly worn a parka and some Ben Shermans, it didn’t rekindle any memories or do anything much for me at all.
Ian Page set the band up as The Glory Boys stating they were not a Mod Revival band. Umm … they were.
Saw them live a couple of years ago, great show, plenty of energy,but Ian looked p*used off all the way through.
Still, some great songs and (almost) great albums … maybe a little bit of filler there.
One of their best that failed to chart – Lost In The Night
They never really made it at the time. Couple of minor hits IIRC. Seem to remember Ian Page was quite the self publicist, often courting controversy
Ian used to have some very singular moves, which he doesn’t seem to do these days.
‘Looking good’s the answer…’
The Mod revival seems to have created a small group of men that insist on still wearing the same clothes that they did in their late teens. This is never a good idea. A further revival would probably make it worse. So its a no from me.
I also never got the infatuation from such a small group of bands, most of whom were pretty boring. Secret Affair were a million miles away from being as good as Ian Page thought (said) they were. The Jam were very good though…
The mod craze was in 1979 and I was at the perfect age (13). I was more inclined towards punk and arty types. The Jam certainly dressed as mods but their music/attitude elevated them way beyond their fashion genre. It was always perfectly OK to be into The Jam, no matter what kind of pop kid you were. Bowie got a free pass too.
Exactly. The Jam and Bowie transcended musical tribes. Stevie Wonder, too, I think. “The one ring to unite them all”. I think we once decided here that “Ghost Town” by The Specials” was the unifying single, whether you are a The Fall bus-shelter shouter, or a grammar school boy nerd rueing the splitting of Hatfield and the North.
The Jam also had their musical tribe though. In my school it was the harder lads who, judging by their facebook posts of the last 10 or so years, really missed the political points The Jam were making. I think they liked the male bonding and the clothes mainly.
Yep, not The Jam’s fault but my impression of their fanbase (certainly subsequently) is they’re probably racist, probably sexist and probably homophobic!
Remember I was going to a lot of football in the dire and met pretty much all the ‘tribes’ of the time whether I wanted to (I didn’t… ever) or not.
And now in the mid-2020s, the oldest football hooligan in any report on a skirmish always seems to be about 70. Five years ago, it was 65. Ten years ago, it was 60.
They’re the same people. I don’t like them and I never have.
David Cameron says he was a fan of The Jam. Say no more, squire, say no more…
I recall George Osbourne claiming he went to see NWA in Brixton in the late 80s. I can just imagine that entitled public school shitbag thinking he was down with the kids, having discovered weed in the last month, his new baseball cap on backwards. I saw a similar phenomena at the beginning of the 80s with the dreaded public school white rastas when in that manor myself. Normally I think “cultural appropriation” is a lame concept, but for this I make a strong exception.
I’m sensing a general consensus that a revival of the Mod revival isn’t a priority for AWers…
To paraphrase Garry Bushell, it wasn’t a “revival” but a “renewal”. But then gain, Bushell rarely made sense.
Garry, it was a revival. You were the only journo that thought otherwise. And 6 months later you were busy hailing Oi as the mist important street level working class movement.
That “mist” has me reading the last part of Rigid’s comment with a cut glass upper class accent in my head.
I can imagine him standing at the fireplace waving a cigarette around. “Oi? It really was the mist frightful, vulgar racket…”
The quote is lifted from when Terry-Thomas was guest singles reviewer in NME.
He described Sham 69 as an absolute shower
I enjoyed the gig when I saw them play, but it was roughly 45 years ago… ‘Rock Goes To College’ at Bristol Uni if I recall correctly; not sure if I can conjure up quite the same level of enthusiastic dancing these days.
You’re right, but… Secret Affair themselves are welcome. They have some great (power pop) songs that deserve a listen. My World is my favourite of theirs and it belongs on any playlist from that era. 79-83 was a great time to be alive and buying singles like that one.
I saw them back on the day and they were a fine live band. On album even with the track Glory Boys, it was never as arresting a proposition. At the time I wished that Secret Affair (!and others) had the same drive and originality as Echo, Teardrop and Wah
Behind Closed Doors is a terrific album, the first side in particular.
We might as well have a look at their ‘Rock Goes to college’ show…
Strewth, that’s a find! Somewhere in that sweaty pool of darkness is a much younger version of myself, hoping that it isn’t freezing outside when I emerge from the Uni building into a foul February night.
Better than I remembered it… they were pretty tight.
I saw them in 1979, and as has been pointed out above, recall a handful of really decent tunes, and a tight live show. But I found them unlovable. This was partly due to Ian Page’s surly approach to interviews in the then important music papers, but also because he never cracked a smile when they were performing. Paul Weller and The Jam were similarly po-faced, but lawd they had a vast tranche of cracking songs. Contrast that with the 2Tone bands, where joy was in abundance, even in Terry Hall’s performances. Rock Goes To College, same year as SA:
They really were special weren’t they? We used to put the first album on loud almost every evening before we all piled down the road to the Cadbury for beer and fags. Ace memories.
‘Secret Affair – the band the Specials could have been…’
Didn’t we go through the mod revival revival with menswe@r ?
Just one thing to point out…Ian Page apparently left Secret Affair recently but, as is the way with these things, they seem to be carrying on.
They turned another Page…
Good work!
Ian and Secret Affair announced his departure on their respective Facebook pages in early September 2025. Thanks Nick, above, for pointing this out.
Ian has been open about having some health problems, but it sounds like he and fellow co-founder of Secret Affair Dave Cairns (guitar) had disagreements on musical matters. The split happened with four gigs to go in 2025 (all cancelled).
Fans appear divided on whether it’s really ‘Secret Affair’ without Ian, but they’ll be carrying on with ‘guest singers’. The first show of 2026 is at Minehead on January 10. The guest singer(s) for that one have yet to be announced.
I think all SA fans are united in wishing Ian well in recovering from his health problems – rightly so.
Here’s his statement on the split:
It is with very great regret that I have to tell you all that I am no longer a part of Secret Affair. Creative differences have become too extreme, and I can’t go on with it, much as I wanted to.
Some awful things will probably now be said, and I ask that you ignore them.
As the heart and soul of Secret Affair, its vision and image, I have been somehow cast aside in favour of people who somehow see themselves as superior to me, my ideas and my music. I feel desperately betrayed.
I maybe able to put something together in the future, but Dave Cairns and his team have a vision for Secret Affair, I don’t share. Maybe they can get a singer and do some kind of ‘From Secret Affair’ thing, I don’t know, if they do I wish them luck.
I wish to apologise, first to the Secret Affair band members, who I have cared for very deeply, but maybe didn’t show enough, and to you our fans who showed up to so many concerts over so many years. We had some good nights, didn’t we?
I have always tried my best as the heart and soul of the band, but have been undone by those without a heart or a soul.
Blimey, that last paragraph has a bit of weight… oof!