by Is there life after mod?
Not my question or words, but the opening mini review in Smash Hits in October 1980. It was probably a little early to be ringing the death knell for the revived mod movement of 1979, but nevertheless Behind Closed Doors, and the band, were heavily criticised in the mainstream music press at the time.
Secret Affair’s first album, Glory Boys, was much better received, even though the mod revival was still largely ridiculed in papers like Melody Maker, completely out of touch with the youth movement and the scene at the time, the first album did very well and produced arguably the tune that summed up the mod movement back then, the anthemic Time For Action.
Behind Closed Doors was written in a bit of a rush, presumably to capitalise on the success of the first record. It meant that the two main songwriters, Ian Page and David Cairns, worked remotely and apart, each writing in isolation in different parts of the world. It is even more surprising then that the album produced some incredibly tight and polished tracks that I think have got even better with age.
If the recent gig I attended is any gauge, Secret Affair have a strong following today, across all ages, and this goes some way to explain the renaissance of the band some 30 years after Business As Usual with the release of Soho Dreams.
Behind Closed Doors opens a little surprisingly, with What Did You Expect, beginning with keyboards and melody so unlike anything from Glory Boys that it’s a slight shock to the system. I’m A Bullet though, with its driving riff and chorus, brings us back to classic Secret Affair. But it is already obvious that the album has a different feel. Glory Boys was all about the clubs, the anger, the youth movement, and Only Madmen Laugh, good as it is, continues to reinforce that Behind Closed Doors is really about none of these things. The roughness and passion is replaced with song crafting and melody.
When The Show’s Over could be taken as a realisation that by 1980 the mod revival scene was, by most people’s accounts, coming to an end. Page and Cairns needed to cement their place in the music world outside of the movement, and that was no easy task, and in fact they never really managed to do that, at least not away from the loyal fans and mods who, in smaller numbers, were hanging on to mod revival with both hands until the ‘mini revival’ of the mid 80s.
And then we come to My World. Just by looking at the number of plays on Spotify it’s obvious My World is known and loved by people who may not even know the name of the band behind it. The single was included on so many 80s compilations and played in 80s discos across the country that nearly everybody has heard it at some stage. The success of the single probably saved Secret Affair from early oblivion, and certainly helped persuade Arista (I-Spy) to release the third album 2 years later.
My World harks back to Glory Boys, and it becomes more poignant and meaningful given that kids were starting to abandon mod, but the ones that remained sang this track from the heart, it meant something to them, do what you like but this is my world today , and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Sound of Confusion was another single release from the album, but misses the mark and was less meaningful. It only achieved 45th position in the uk charts which was disappointing just 2 months before the album was released.
After the opener from side 2 comes Life’s A Movie Too which slows things down, and Looking Through My Eyes, which I think would possibly have made a bigger impact as a single, although again lacks the passion of My World. Live For Today and Streetlife Parade finish off side 2 slowing things down again. Unmistakably Secret Affair, and undoubtedly well written songs, they just lacked the urgency required by youth movements.
Behind Closed Doors is an album of two halves, and it isn’t lost on me that this reflects the way the band were trying to find their place and purpose post mod, not quite agreeing on a style and being neither one thing or the other. As I said at the start, I actually like this album more now than I did back then, and can appreciate the nuances around how and why it was written in the way it was. Looking back through archives, it’s also fairly obvious the music press were very anti Secret Affair for reasons far beyond just the music, ridiculing the band and the mod movement and talking very little about the actual tracks. Some put it down to the arrogance of the two main song writers. They did record a session for John Peel in 1979 and that, I think, validates them more than NME or Melody Maker, or certainly Smash Hits!
I think Business As Usual released in 1982 sees Secret Affair return to something like their best, although by then the damage was done and the album did not perform commercially well. A shame, because tracks like Lost In The Night, Three Wise Monkeys and Dancemaster certainly deserve a wider audience. It’s actually my favourite Secret Affair album.
The copy of Behind Closed Doors I have discussed here was the 40th anniversary edition including two extra tracks, both B sides to the singles, Take It Or Leave It and So Cool. Both would have made worthy additions to the original album.