Steve Ellis – vocals, Rex Brayley – guitar, Morgan Fisher – keyboards, Mick Jackson – bass, Maurice Bacon – drums

Love Affair was formed in 1966 and started playing the London clubs including a residency at the Marquee. Originally known as The Soul Survivors, they attracted the Mod audience. The group signed to Decca Records and released the Rolling Stones’ She Smiled Sweetly as the first single. After the record failed to have any chart success, Morgan Fisher left to be replaced by Lynton Guest.

After gaining a new deal with the US CBS label, Love Affair was offered Robert Knight’s Everlasting Love. This went to number one in February 1968. However, this was controversial as it soon emerged that Steve Ellis was the only member of the group present on the record. The session band included Mike Rossi, Mike Smith, Clem Cattini, Russ Stableford and Keith Mansfield. However, the band did feature on the live dates. A number of similar singles followed including Rainbow Valley, which had also been written by Robert Knight, and A Day Without Love. Both of these took the band back into the top ten.

Although the band continued to be successful in the single charts, the reliance on session players to make the records remained a problem although the debut album The Everlasting Love Affair was completely played by session musicians. This contained known tracks such as First Cut is the Deepest, Hush, Handbags and Gladrags as well as a David Bowie track Cobbled Streets and Baggy Trousers.

Morgan Fisher returned to the group in the summer of 1968, replacing Lynton Guest. Steve Ellis left the group in December 1969 to start a solo career. The remainder of the group continued as LA, recruiting Gus Eadon from The Elastic Band and taking a more “progressive” direction. Steve Ellis teamed up with Zoot Money and Jim Leverton in Ellis Group and later formed Widowmaker.

Steve Ellis released a new solo album, Best of Days, in 2008. This included a new acoustic version of Everlasting Love and a cover of Paul Weller's Brand New Start.

An excellent compilation of Love Affair material Time Hasn't Changed Us 1967-1971 was released in 2015. Steve Ellis: Finchley Boy was released in 2022, a career-spanning 10CD set including Love Affair.

Making Time recommendation

• The Everlasting Love Affair