Time For Action: The Very Best of Secret Affair [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Album Description
2003 compilation for the mod revivalists includes all their hits ('Time For Action', 'My World'), previously unheard compositions, rare mixes, live material, & two tracks, 'Love's Unkind' & 'Soho Dreams' recorded for this release. 41 tracks. Slipcase. Castle.

Tracks:

Time For Action
Glory Boys
My World
Sound Of Confusion
Dance Master
Soho Strut
The Big Beat
Hide And Seek
So Cool
Do You Know
One Way World
Let Your Heart Dance
Streetlife Parade
Looking Through My Eyes
Days Of Change
Going A Go-Go
Lost In The Night (Mack The Knife)
Shake And Shout
New Dance
I'm Not Free (But I'm Cheap)

Customer Reviews:

SELECTIVE LISTENING.......2006-05-11

Whilst I understand that this CD is not everyone's cup of tea, it is an absolute blast from the past for me. I haven't heard any Secret Affair since I was 15 and a modette!

All my favourites are on the album (thank you very much to the review that suggested purchasing the Best Of instead of the individual CD's) and listening to Time For Action, Dancemaster, Lost in the Night, Hide and Seek sent shivers down my spine.

So to all those "used to be" mods and modette's out there, get listening, you won't regret it!

Good Band.......2006-02-02

I am really surprised how much I enjoyed this when I first heard it. I thought Secret Affair were pretty weak compared with the other mod bands that I liked, notably The Jam, The Chords and The Purple Hearts, but they have some real gems in here. 'Glory Boys' being my favourite-an absolute classic. I also like 'New Dance' 'Do You Know' and 'Hide and Seek', these being the hardest lot of the bunch which tells you where I'm at. The biggest let down for me, which explains why I loved the other bands more, is the use of horns-never a big thing with me in rock music, but it's not that bad really and they fully expressed their love for tamla motown. My wife really liked this and thought it was a new band and I told her, "sorry darling, these are from '79-'81". Buy this disc over the other SA albums as it has almost all of the 'Glory Boys' album on here and that was the best one.

overrated.......2001-05-06

Ian Page was way too into himself and overrated. Secret Affair was just a plain ol' mediocre band that jumped on the mod revival bandwagon like all the other bands of the time. Time For Action was really the only palatable tune they had. If you're into the mod scene, try to find this used. Spend your money on something more worthwile like anything by the Jam, the Chords, early Purple Hearts, Squire and anything Stax.

Along with the Jam-Best Mod group ever!.......2001-02-02

This definitive 20 track retrospective serves as an essential buy. Secret Affair always stood head and shoulders above the rest of the Mod bunch, who all too often pounded out cheap Small Faces rip-offs. Their sound was a mixture of new wave and soul with the urgency of punk. They sometimes falter at their white neo-soul(Going to a Go-Go) but are best when they go straight new wavey pop(Do You Know,StreetLife Parade, and my personal favourite New Dance).Along with All Mod Cons, they captured that "teenage drama" feeling perfectly. A fan of more punky mod stuff (like the Chords-who I recommend also) may be turned off but good muisc is good music.

Time For Action: The Very Best of Secret Affair

Average customer rating:

WNYU college dj remembers the best of the Mod bands
An Excellent Tribute - Don't Judge This By Its Cover

Time For Action: The Very Best of Secret Affair
Secret Affair
Manufacturer: Castle Music UK
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

New Wave | New Wave & Post-Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Power Pop | Rock | Styles | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00008YGVL
Release Date: 2003-06-23

Tracks:

Just Another Teenage Anthem - New Hearts
Plain Jane - New Hearts
Blood on the Knife - New Hearts
Love's Just a Word [#][Demo Version] - New Hearts
Only a Fool [#][Demo Version] - New Hearts
Seen That Movie Too [#][Demo Version]
Don't Look Down [
Only Madmen Laugh [#][Demo Version] - New Hearts
Sunday Girls [#][Demo Version]
Glory Boys [#][Demo Version]
New Dance [Live][#]
I'm Not Free (But I'm Cheap) [BBC Session][#]
Going to a Go-Go [BBC Session][#]
Time for Action [US Remix]
Soho Strut
Get Ready [BBC Session][#]
Let Your Heart Dance [US Remix]
Sorry Wrong Number
One Way World [US Remix]
Trendsetters Ball [#][Demo Version]
Five by Five [#][Demo Version]
Through My Eyes [#][Demo Version]

Tracks:

My World [US Remix]
So Cool
Sound of Confusion
Take It or Leave It
What Did You Expect
When the Show Is Over
Streetlife Parade
Do You Know?
Follow the Leader [#][Demo Version]
Lost in the Night
Hide and Seek [#][Demo Version]
Three Wise Monkeys [#][Demo Version]
One Day in Your Life
Dancemaster [#][Demo Version]
Big Beat [#][Demo Version]
I Could Be You [BBC Session][#]
Somewhere in the City [#][Demo Version]
Land of Hope
Soul Foundation

Album Description

2003 compilation for the mod revivalists includes all their hits ('Time For Action', 'My World'), previously unheard compositions, rare mixes, live material, & two tracks, 'Love's Unkind' & 'Soho Dreams' recorded for this release. 41 tracks. Slipcase. Castle.

Album Details

Features all their Hits, Previously Unheard Compositions and Rare Us Remixes. Includes "Time for Action" and "my Word".

Customer Reviews:

WNYU college dj remembers the best of the Mod bands.......2004-05-16

This is pretty much a "ditto" of the above review.

Notably missing from the set is "Shake & Shout". This kicks off their 1st album and basically describes what they are all about. I am baffled as to why it was omitted.

Also missing a few other cuts here and there, but all in all, extremely enjoyable.

As a dj on widely listened to WNYU in the early 80s, Secret Affair was one of my favorites. I STILL regret not going to see them when they were in town!

I bought this cd in June of 2003. Prior to that I Hadn't bought a cd of anyone's msuic in 5 years! (And haven't since) It was worth the leap of faith.

An Excellent Tribute - Don't Judge This By Its Cover.......2003-07-18

Collections like this that scoop up demos, remixes and unreleased material and blend them with the popular released recordings are usually fraught with peril. (Witness The Chords' 2CD anthology which - to this writer - is hampered by the demo recordings.) This well thought-out collection is a glorious exception.

For the uninitiated, Secret Affair was - along with The Chords, Purple Hearts and Merton Parkes - one of the vanguards of the 1979 Mod Revival. The band had a unique sound that drew from the Beatles, carabet, punk and East London gangster chic. Their sound was something fresh and modern at a time when many of their contemporaries were trodding the paths paved by The Who and The Jam. As Secret Affair's career progressed, their productions became more melodramatic and overwrought.

Thankfully, the demos and other alternate recordings temper this trait, allowing the songs' power and craftsmanship to shine through.

The set is not without flaws: some of the demos are not great quality, the live recording of "New Dance" from the Mods Mayday '79 show is an important document but a difficult listen, the two recent recordings that close disc two don't do the band justice and would have been better left off the collection, and there are some overall production problems (some audio foibles, booklet annotations out of sequence).

But there are far more high points, including the rare New Hearts recordings (the band that evolved into Secret Affair); the demos are band recordings, not songwriters', and are remarkably well realized, particluarly Only Madmen Laugh, Sunday Girls (the blueprint for One Way World), and Hide And Seek; the US remix of My World which - to my ears - has always been superior to its UK mix; and the personal recollections of band leaders and principle composers Ian Page and Dave Cairns in the track-by-track annotations.

This set is not perfect, but it's about as close as one can get for this band. A worthwhile investment for the longtime fan, especially those who were never fully satisfied by the original albums.

Music:

Music

music

Music

Have I The Right: The Very Best Of [Import]

Mompou: Cançons i Danses; Suburbis; Cants Mágics

Lullaby: Tribute to Lady Day [Import]

Shadowland

Nature One: Open [Import]

Los Principes de la Salsa

O Melhor Do Forro Universitario V.2 [Import]

Nuevo Boogaloo

Master Blaster [CD-single] [Import]

Mozart: Don Giovanni, Noces De Figaro [Import]

Many Sides of Max [Import]

Message [Import]

Mas Locos Que Nunca

The Final Stand

The Essential Jerry Lee Lewis: The Legendary Sun Recordings