New Hearts - A Secret Affair - The CBS Sessions 1977-1978
Title
New Hearts - A Secret Affair - The CBS Sessions 1977-1978
Record Label & Reference Number
Cherry Red Records/CDMRED423
Sent by
Buster
It’s taken 31 years for someone to finally get their finger out put together a CD of the New Hearts, and Cherry Red Records haven’t just knocked this together. The packaging alone includes a 16 page walk through the career of the New Hearts and their leading lights. Yes, none other than a youthful Ian Page and Dave Cairns who went on to form Secret Affair out of the ashes of the New Hearts.
The album features the two singles released by CBS are featured on the album, along with the B-sides, but of the 23 tracks only 7 have previously been released. With Cairns and/or Page having a hand in the writing of every song recorded this release is a ‘must have’ for every Secret Affair fan. It’s almost like listening to our heroes serving their apprenticeship and there are some strong signals of what was to come, including the original ‘Only Madmen Laugh’ which is a favourite on Secret Affair’s ‘Behind Closed Doors’ album.
The album kicks off with ‘Love’s Just A Word’ in glorious Affair style. ‘Here Come The Ordinaries’ is the first of the previously unissued tracks and the only thing I can say is why? It stands up against anything of its time. In fact pre-dating the CBS recordings is ‘Eat Your Heart Out’. The guitar riff had me thinking of Back In The USSR by the Beatles, and I wonder how these lads were writing such tunes at such a young age. ‘City Lights’ is straight out of the R’n’B locker and again pre-CBS days, as is ‘I Could Be You’. The next sound to come blaring out of the speakers is ‘My Young Teacher’, the B-side of their last CBS single. Amazingly this was only the B-side but Ian Page’s vocals soar with a maturity you wouldn’t expected from a teenager. We get another B-side next with ‘Blood On The Knife’ then ‘Men Only’ & ‘Angry Young Man’. The previously unreleased ‘Modern Day Lover’ at 100mph is next up followed by Power Pop at it’s best with ‘F For Fake’ which was an instant hit with my family when it first pumped through the cars CD player. They didn’t think it was F for Fake mind, that getting lost in translation to Geordie. ‘I’m Not Free’, with some Who-esque harmonies, is followed by the anthemic ‘Revolution (What Revolution?). An unrealeased track, ‘Is There Anybody Out There?’, is a tremendous tune that leaves me wondering how it’s stayed in storage for so long. There’s a run of three issued tracks with the single ‘Just Another Teenage Anthem’, Only Madmen Laugh’ and ‘Only A Fool’, with it’s innovative rhythm. The musicianship here is far beyond what your average band let alone teenage band could come up with. Fortunately a piece of this was to see the light of day, along with Danny Angel (which comes along after ‘Paradise On Summer Nights’ on this album) to create the bridge in Secret Affair’s ‘Shake & Shout’. The lads final single on CBS ‘Plain Jane’ strides in next with all the flair you’d expect from Cairns & Page. The final tracks, both unreleased, ‘Young Boys’ and ‘True Love’ finish off the album leaving more than a suggestion of what would follow from Messer’s Page & Cairns.
A long overdue album and a must for anyone with the slightest interest in Secret Affair.
New Hearts - A Secret Affair - The CBS Sessions 1977-1978 
