AFFINITY 1971-72

At the end of January 1971 both lead vocalist Linda Hoyle and organist Lynton Naiff left Affinity. Although the other three initially decided to go their separate ways they missed playing together so much that they instead looking for replacements. Singer Vivienne McAuliffe was the first on board. She had previously been in Principal Edwards Magic Theatre, and the line-up was completed by ex-Tornados keyboardist Dave Watts. In Vivienne they had a much more folky singer than previously, so some of the jazz edges were knocked off. Her voice is reminiscent at times of Sonja Kristina, or even Sandy Denny.

However, for one reason or another, this line-up never recorded an album and imploded in 1972. But Mo Foster and Mike Jopp have worked through demo tapes and taped rehearsals and have put together this album. What is immediately apparent is that not only is this an enjoyable outing throughout, but that Vivienne had a wonderful voice and it is beyond belief that she wasn't a far better known singer. She died in 1998, aged only fifty, but after Affinity had performed with Gerry Rafferty and Patrick Moraz among others. If you enjoy good strong songs and great female singing then this is worth seeking out.

Glad to report this one is actually all available, technically, via Spotify--who cares that it was off their greater 4-hour boxset? This is going to be a happy day to get a band off The List... I really had higher hopes in general, but earlier today, to explain, I was deep in their earlier, less-than-Prog (and I mean "less-than"...) material (from 1965-1967). Ultimately, the band has a very confusing mix of material, ranging from Beat to Garage Rock to straight-up Jazz to what I would call Proto-Prog. In the very least some of this, like "Grey Skies" (see notes below, too) is indeed very early Progressive Rock as we would know it now.

Overall, most is a bit bland. Some decent songs, and I am a fan of Vivienne McAuliffe's vocals (sometimes reminiscent of Ann Wilson (not too possible she was an inspiration, is it?), but... I dunno. Plenty of low-lights; plenty of material that just isn't going to appease someone looking for Prog (as I frequently am).

The clear highlights for me were "Rio" and "Sarah's Wardrobe", both satisfactory Prog-Lite songs. The latter I can't believe is actually from the early-70s... I hope I'm not listening to re-recordings (though I guess I'm not really complaining here). I'm just saying, hope I've not been duped, somehow (again, not that I'm complaining).

True Rate: 2.5/5.0