THE AFFAIR

Sydney pop band The Affair formed in 1966 and lasted until mid-1970. They are not that well remembered today, and the group released only two singles during its career but like many other Aussie acts, The Affair is notable for the important musicians who passed through its ranks, including bassists Bob Daisley, Mike Howlett and Paul "Sheepdog" Wheeler, guitarist Jim Kelly, drummer Tony Bolton and vocalist Kerrie Biddell. The Affair went through numerous lineup changes, with guitarist Jim Kelly being the only member to last through the group's entire career. 

The band formed in 1966 by 16-year-old singer and child actor Gino Cunnico -- hence the group's original name, The Gino Affair. The first lineup also featured guitarist Ray Burton (ex-The Telsatrs) but by late 1966 the lineup had changed to Cunnico, Jim Kelly, Tony Bolton, Tony Bowman and Bob Daisley (both ex-Dennis Williams & The Delawares). The group's name was shortened to The Affair at the beginning of 1967, but Cunnico left a few months later after being invited to join leading pop-vocal group The Executives.

He was briefly replaced by Derek Fitton (ex-Derek's Accent) but the at the end of the year the band took a different direction with the recruitment of a brilliant young vocalist Kerrie Biddell. Paul Wheeler left in January 1968 and was replaced by Mike Howlett. Keyboard player Rory Thomas (ex-The Questions) replaced Maddon in August, adding his distinctive Hammond organ sound. Ian McFarlane describes The Affair as " always a polished and professional pop band". In a 1997 interview, Mike Howlett described their wide-ranging repertoire, which included: "... a mixture of soul and Aretha Franklin songs plus some jazz covers like Lambert, Hendrix & Ross songs and 'jazz-rock' adaptations of Mel Torme stuff -- quite advanced really." 

In 1968 they were signed to Festival Records and recorded "Shoeshine Boy / What Became Of Mary" in July that was produced by the great Pat Aulton. The Affair competed in the Vocal Group section of the 1969 Hoadley's National Battle of the Sounds and they won the finals. The prize was free passage to the UK on the Sitmar cruise line. The second single, "Money Can't Buy Me ", was backed by a cover of Sly & The Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song" (October 1969), a number that was very popular with Aussie groups of the period and which became something of a signature tune for Kerrie, who re-recorded it on her 1973 solo album.

After a series of television appearances and club and cabaret residencies, the band used their Hoadleys prize to travel to the UK in mid-1970. One of their final Australian TV appearances was on on the ABC's Hit Scene, broadcast on 16 May 1970. They performed a song called ''Requiem'' and did a short interview with host Dick Williams. A tape of this episode is known to survive in the ABC archives and this episode of Hit Scene has been added to YouTube (see the clip below). Like most Australian groups who took the same route, The Affair found it impossible to break into the closed English music scene and the group broke up a few months later. Most of the members returned to Australia, but Mike Howlett remained in the UK and joined Gong with Daevid Allen. He has lived there ever since. Rory Thomas died from cancer in 2010. Kerrie Biddell died in 2014 aged 67 from a stroke.

Members
 
Gino Cunnico (vocals), Ray Burton (guitar), Jim Kelly (guitar), Tony Bowman (guitar), Bob Daisley (bass), Tony Bolton (drums), Derek Fitton (vocals), Kerrie Biddell (vocals), Paul "Sheepdog" Wheeler (bass), Bruce Maddon (keyboards), Rory Thomas (keyboards), Mike Howlett (bass)

SINGLES
''Shoeshine Boy / What Became Of Mary'' Festival 1968
''Money Can't Buy Me / Sing A Simple Song'' Festival 1969