the Love Affair biography

PART TWO: Having scored a UK #1 hit with their first single for CBS in February 1968, the Love Affair were attacked by critics (and banned by some TV stations) for admitting to not play on the record, although they did play on the B-side. Their next singles followed a similar pattern, and they all reached the top 20 charts. With Amen Corner, Marmelade and the Tremoloes, they were undoubtedly the giants of the 1968-1969 pop scene. Part Two of the biography covers the period from 1970 to 1976. Quick links:

from left: Mick Jackson - bass August Eadon - vocals, flute Morgan Fisher - keyboards Rex Brayley - guitar Maurice Bacon - drums

Their new vocalist was August Eadon. August (aka Gus Yeadon) started playing at the age of 12 and went on to form the Silverstone Set, enjoying early success as Opportunity Knocks winners for seven consecutive weeks. He played semi-professional with the Shakedown Sound (with Jess Roden & Kevin Gammond) and went on to form the Elastic Band (featuring Andy Scott pre-Sweet). The Love Affair were now managed solely by Sidney Bacon; John Cokell had left to look after Steve Ellis' affairs. The new look Love Affair made their debut with a single in February 1970. "Lincoln County" was the final Goodhand-Tait composition to be recorded by the band, and the last to feature Keith Mansfield's polished orchestrations. It was another flop, and the band realised that to continue along the same well worn path traversed for the past couple of years was the exit to musical stagnation. A new direction had to be found, and the band looked to Jethro Tull for inspiration, having already experimented with progressive music on "Sea of Tranquility", the B-side of "Lincoln County". It was written by Fisher/Eadon and was perhaps the most accomplished group composition to date.

August Eadon: "We couldn't become underground overnight - it had to be a gradual change. We began changing the image when I joined the group earlier this year. And now we have reached the point when we don't feature any of our old hits on stage". In keeping with the new policy, the Love Affair shortened their name to the more psychedelic sounding L.A.

L.A. appeared on Top Of The Pops in support of their May 1970 single, "Speak Of Peace, Sing Of Joy" - but this single was actually credited to the Love Affair! Album sessions commenced during the summer. The L.A. album was called "New Day", and band did a few UK dates and toured the Continent in order to promote it when it was released in September - they also performed "Bad Girl" and "Gypsy" on BBC 'Disco 2' TV show on 7 October 1970. Despite all this, both the album and the single bombed; it was apparent that the pop fans didn't like their new, progressive sound and the rock fans wouldn't even give them a chance. Consisting solely of group compositions, the album was produced by Mike Smith and the Zombies drummer Hugh Grundy. This is definitely an album worth seeking out - and a CD re-issue is long overdue.

When the "New Day" album flopped, the band reverted back to the Love Affair moniker, and signed with EMI. A single, "Wake Me I Am Dreaming", was released on Parlophone in February 1971, credited to "the Love Affair featuring August Eadon". It was produced by Ken Street, ex guitarist with Emile Ford & the Checkmates, who by then was acting as co-manager of the band as well. The song was a Lucio Battisti cover (Mick Ronson would later cover his song "Music Is Lethal").

"Wake Me I Am Dreaming" was Rex Brayley and Mick Jackson's final recording with the band; they both formed bands of their own. Rex's band was called Muscles and included guitarist Huw Lloyd Langton (Rex played drums in the new band). Mick formed a band called Calvary who recorded some tracks for EMI that was never released.

• Today, Mick Jackson is the Chairman of a Marketing Consultancy which is also amongst many other things involved in audio/video production.
  
  
• Rex Brayley distanced himself from the music scene after Muscles broke up around 1973, but he resurfaced in 1998 as the writer of Steve Ellis' solo single "Step Inside My Love". He also played some live dates with Steve Ellis' Love Affair in the early 90s. In 2002, Rex made a few of his own compostions available on the internet. More info!

the Love Affair Mk.7 (December 1970 - Summer 1971)

Maurice Bacon - drums
August Eadon - vocals
Bob Sapsed - bass
Morgan Fisher - keyboards
Eunan Brady - guitar
- who was later replaced by Bernie Holland
- and then by John Watchman

Bob Sapsed came from Springfield Park, another band managed by Sid Bacon, who'd released a single for CBS in 1968.

Rex Brayley was replaced first by Eunan Brady, who was sacked after a few weeks, then by Bernie Holland. In April 1971 John Watchman joined the Love Affair on guitar - he played his first gig with the band at Stoke university. With him on-board, the Love Affair recorded a second and final Parlophone single, called "Help Get Me Some Help". It was produced by Norman Smith, who did some engineering work on the early Pink Floyd albums. Mike Batt was brought in to do arrangements - he had worked with the band on earlier records as well, not always credited! Interestingly It was Chris Spedding who played guitar on this single - he was a friend of Mike Batt. According to Spedding, the Love Affair guitar player was the only band member present when he was in the studio, but he is not sure who it was. John Watchman explains: "Yes Chris Spedding did play guitar on the single infact the only band member on the song was Gus, we did do some hand claps and harmony vocals, but the song featured all session men as did most of Love Affair singles." The "Help" single, released in September 1971 got to number 5 in the Swedish charts but did nothing in England.

• Prior to joining the Love Affair, Eunan Brady was the guitarist in a band called Mighty Mouse. The other members of this the short-lived band (January 1970 to June 1970) was vocalist Nicky Moore (future Hackensack, Tiger, Samson), John Restall (bass) and Alan Arkiss (drums). After the Love Affair, Eunan Brady went on to become the guitarist with the renowned Hollywood Brats, now considered the godfathers of glam/punk rock and icons for many in this genre. The Hollywood Brats made one album in 1974 which was re-released on Cherry Red in 1994. Prior to this Brady was also a short-time member of Bulldozer, a hard-rock band managed by Ric Lee of Ten Years After. He also played with Wreckless Eric.
  
  
• Bernie Holland briefly joined Stealers Wheel before embarking on a fairly successful career as a session musician. In the 90's, he's been with Van Morrison among others.
  
  
• Morgan Fisher, Maurice Bacon and Bob Sapsed formed the band Morgan in the summer of 1971, recruiting vocalist Tim Staffel from the pre-Queen combo Smile. The band released two albums before disbanding. Morgan subsequently joined Mott The Hoople. He currently resides in Japan. Maurice took over his father's management company in 1974, and still runs it. He has also been involved with many independent record companies, most notably Empire Records, Strike Back, Ultimate Records and Planet Dog Records. Sadly Bob Sapsed died in a motorcycle accident in London in 1985/6.
  
  
• Bob Sapsed was in a band called Red Rinse with Phil Little in 1978. Said Phil: "1978 was the year of Rock Against Racism and me new band out of the Melody Maker, Red Rinse, were into all that. We played RAR gigs at colleges in places like Stoke and Sheffield as well London pubs, colleges and warehouses. Jim Woodward on vocals, Stuart guitar and my good friend no longer with us Bob Sapsed on bass. We were also joined by my insane Scots friend Danny Rochead as manager. He had energy though and soon we had badges and T shirts. He got some strange gigs too. One time within 24 hours he had us playing at a pub in Kensington, a Handicapped day in Hyde Park and a Greek wedding in the afternoon where we got paid off. No surprise as they played mostly self penned numbers with titles like "Masturbation" and "Sisterhood" - (reprinted from http://www.littlephil.free-online.co.uk/phillittle1.htm with permission).
  

the Love Affair Mk.8 (Summer 1971 - September 1972)

Gus Eadon (vocals - pictured left back) Sean Jenkins (drums - pictured right back) John Watchman (guitar - pictured left front) Paul Martinez (bass - pictured right front) - who was later replaced by Robin Lodge - and then by Ray Auld   Click here for more Mk.8 photos!

The Mk.7 line-up came to a halt when Morgan Fisher decided to form a band of his own with Maurice Bacon and Bob Sapsed, and recruited Tim Staffell on vocals.

After several months Gus Eadon and John Watchman also decided to put a band together, and got Sean Jenkins (who played with Gus in the Elastic Band) on drums and Paul Martinez on bass. The band would be named COLT. However when the record company heard the new material recorded by Morgan (the band), they were deemed to be unsuitable to be called LOVE AFFAIR so for contract reasons COLT went out as LOVE AFFAIR. Adds John Watchman: "Paul was soon replaced on bass by Robin Lodge and in turn he was replaced by Ray Auld and we toured Sweden, Ireland and various other places until we decided to call it a day in September 1972." The "Help" single, released in September 1971 got to number 5 in the Swedish charts but did nothing in England.

Explains John Watchman: "I was offered a chance of a job with Roxy Music in Feb 72 after working in a previous band with Paul Thompson but decided to go to Sweden with Love Affair. After being refused work permits to go back to Sweden in the summer of 72 things got financialy strained, and after disbanding in October 72 the Love Affair gigs were fullfilled by another Barry Collins band called Pebbles going out under the Love Affair name. I started working in Sunderland Locarno in the house band from spring 73 to late 75 when the band transfered to Tiffany's Wimbledon then on again to Tiffanys Newcastle until sept 77. I then recorded two albums with Tommy Morrison on Real Records, the first being co-produced by Paul Rodgers. The second (never released at the time) was produced by Ed Stasium . I then recorded with Paul Rodgers but the material was all demo."

When the band split, August Eadon cut one solo single for Dawn in 1973 (credited to the Gus Eadon Band) before he joined Zzebra for their selftitled Polydor album in 1974. He has kept a low profile since - he now lives in a little village near Wrexham, and is playing the cabaret circuit with his wife (their duo is called Knight & Day). More info!

The Love Affair line-up change was discussed in British music magazines at the time. New Musical Express reported that Gus Eadon was being replaced by Tim Staffell in their 12 June 1971 issue. This was quickly denied however: Eadon quitting Love Affair? The NME understands that Auguste "Gus" Eadon has either left, or is on the point of leaving. Affair is believed to be busy rehearsing in the country at the moment with new lead singer Tim Staffell. No information could be gained regarding Eadon's future plans, and indeed Love affair's co-manager Ken street refused to confirm that Gus was leaving the group, saying that he had "no comment". Staffell is understood to have answered an anonymous advertisement for a lead singer which had been inserted in a trade paper. (NME 12 June 1971) Love Affair split denial! A denial that Love Affair lead singer Auguste Eadon is leaving the group was issued this week by the group's manager Sid Bacon. He told NME: "This has been a misunderstanding. We have auditioned singer Tim Staffell, but not to replace Auguste. We are working on a new band." (NME 19 June 1971) New Love! After the departure of Steve Ellis from Love Affair, Gus Eadon joined. The group tried out new ideas, but all seemed to fail. Now Rex, Mo and Mick have gone their separate ways. But there's a new Love Affair, an new line-up of members, a new sound, which in all make a new and even better group. So forget the past and give Gus, Sean, Robin and John a chance to prove to you all what a great group they are. (Letter to Disc 09 October 1971) - clippings provided by Christophe Simplex -

UPDATE September 2007 (John Watchman via e-mail): "I spoke with Gus last week, he is working on new songs in his studio. I have not spoken with him in years so you can imagine how surprised he was to hear from me. We had a good talk about old times and I may try to get to see him sometime. Paul Martinez a great musician who I lost contact with played with Led Zeppelin in the american gig of LIVE AID. I never heard of Robin after he left the band. Sean joined a band called City Lights but sadly died this year and Ray Auld went to Canada in 75. I am in regular e-mail contact with him, he lives in Niagara Falls. Myself, I still play in a local band Tommy and the Oddballs, you may get further info here.

John Watchman welcomes contact with fans and old friends and he can be contacted at johnwatchman@sky.com

the Love Affair Mk.9 (October 1972 - 1973)

front left Dave Potts (drums) back left Dick Scarfe (guitar) front centre Bob England (vocals) back centre Bill Gibbard (bass) right John Cook (keyboards) - Love Affair Mk.9 promo photo  - Love Affair Mk.9 concert advert  - Love Affair Mk.9 signed postcard

The Mk.9 line-up went on to record a single in 1973 called "Let Me Dance" which was penned by Goodhand-Tait. Dave Potts (drummer with Praying Mantis since 1980) was a member of Mk.8 line-up. Said Dave: "I was in Love Affair but that was the reformation. Although I knew Steve Ellis and all the original guys and the drummer Maurice Bacon. They were managed by his dad Sid Bacon. But then they formed like a moody version of the band with no original members. We were doing Cabaret and things like that."

Update 13 May 2003 (Dave Potts by e-mail): Dave thinks he probably joined in July 73. He had just got married and had been working in a Boutique in London for about 6 weeks. He hated it so he looked in Melody Maker for bands wanting a drummer and Love Affair were the first one he saw. He went to an audition and made a connection with Bob England straight off. They did the Cabaret circuit for a year and Dave didn't really like it. They had 10 dates in Ireland to do and he had got his driving test through for the same time. The band told him to cancel it and get another one but he decided he had had enough and left. He didn't fancy Ireland with all the bombs at the time either. Dave reckons John was a later keyboard player and thinks he had played with Mungo Jerry and was likely to be in the Business after the band (this is probably John Cook). The "original" Mk.9 keyboard player was a guy named Alan. Update 13 November 2003: Bob England died in January 2003 following a brave battle against cancer. Bob had a lifetime in the entertainment industry, at different times being responsible for guiding the careers of artists as diverse as Average White Band, Nils Lofgren and Darts, also recording Shirley Bassey, Cilla Black, Sacha Distel and Justin Hayward amongst others in the 1980's. He successfully managed Chas and Dave from 1978, sharing his life long love of Tottenham Hotspur with them. By the time of his death, Bob was Managing Director of Surefire Entertainments, a successful business concentrating on producing and touring live theatre and concerts (client list includes Joe Brown, Marty Wilde, Bobby Davro, Jimmy Jones and of course Chas 'n' Dave). Bob England links: Bob England biography | Surefire Entertainments Update 13 July 2004: a signed postcard from December 1972, obtained at California Ballroom in Dunstable confirms that John Cook was indeed a member of the Mk.9 line-up (along with Bob England and Dave Potts). Be sure to check out the California Ballroom website which details all the bands who ever played at the venue! Update 13 March 2006 (John Cook by email): I did play with Bob England in the band you are referring to the Mk9 line up of Love Affair. I am in touch with two other members of that line up. They are Bill Gibbard and Dick Scarfe. Having spoken with Bill we think he joined August / September 1972 and I joined approximately 2 months later Oct / Nov 1972. I believe Dave Potts was already in the band at that time, as the other four members of that line-up remained the same while I was in the band. I was offered a job with Mungo Jerry in the Spring 1973, Bill and I left coincidentally on the same day around that time. The picture under the link - Love Affair Mk.9 promo photo - the personnel are as follows from left to right, myself John Cook, Bill Gibbard, Dave Potts, Dick Scarfe, Bob England. The postcard with my name on it (California Ballroom) shows the line up just prior to me joining the band with the previous keyboard player. Bill tells me his name was also Bob but was apparently know as Alan in the band.

the Love Affair Mk.10 (1974 - 1975)

pictured left: Mick Wheeler - vocals George Williams - guitar Bill Ball - bass Barry Barney - keyboards Phil Chesterton - drums

Love Affair Mk.9 split in late 1973. In 1974, Sid Bacon passed away, and Maurice Bacon took over his management. By now he was fed up being on the road, so he approched promoter Barry Collings for a ready made band to do the outstanding Love Affair gigs. They went to see a British band called Jo Jo Gunne. The line up was Mick Wheeler (vocals), George Williams (guitar - later replace by Dave Wendells ex Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers), Billy Ball (bass), Phil Chesterton (drums) and Barry Barney (keyboards). They were given a new Transit and £40.00 a week each. This line up lasted 15 months as a Love Affair, with Mo Bacon as manager, doing tours of England with the Swinging Blue Jeans, plus dates in Sweden, Hungary, Holland, The Channel Islands and France. The end of this band came when they were contracted to support the Bay City Rollers in Ireland! They all went their different ways, Billy Ball bought a Country Inn in Mid Devon England, and is still there today with his wife Ria and three grown up children.

Jo Jo Gunne (not to be confused with the better-known American seventies band of this name) released two singles for Decca, reportedly very much in the mould of Amen Corner:

- Every Story Has An End b/w Should Live Like That (UK, Decca F 12807) - 1968
- Beggin' You Baby b/w Bad Penny (UK, Decca F 12906) - 1969