Chords for Interview with Steve Ellis

_ It's now been four years since [Ab] he's been in my show. _ _
[Eb] It's 30 years since Steve [Ab] Ellis experienced [Ab] pop stardom as a lead singer of the Love Affair
with massive hits such as Everlasting Love and Rainbow Valley.
Steve emerged from the same [F] London mod scene that produced legendary singers such as Rod Stewart and Steve [Bb] Marriott.
And many pop [Eb] aficionados rate Steve's [Bb] vocal talents alongside [Gm] that sort of illustrious [Ab] company.
In recent years Steve has been gigging with the new look Love Affair, has been making regular TV and radio appearances
and even collaborated with Paul Weller on a new Love Affair single Step Inside My [Gm] Love. _ _ _ _ _
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_ [Gm] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
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_ _ _ [G] But to go back to the beginning, what are Steve's most vivid memories of being up to the edge of pop and drama?
Everything that happened at that time was a bit of a blur anyway because it was all quick.
I mean we'd been together for two years and we had this monster hit and it just_
The whole thing was just one continual gig, television gig, television gig, gig, gig, gig, gig.
Just a merry go round for like two years of non-stop touring, photo sessions, working.
So it was all like a bit of a blur and you remember other things more than_
The funnier things more than the worst things like, you know, sleeping at airports and things like that which was pretty horrible.
The Love Affair acquired something of a bad boy reputation in the 60s.
There was for instance the time they climbed to the top of the statue of Eros at Piccadilly Circus as a publicity stunt
and Julie ended up in court.
We were all in court, [Ab] the drummer's Jewish so he had a Jimi [G] Hendrix perm
and they put his skull cap on the top and it was wobbling when he was taking his oath.
And like we were 16, 17 and we were just falling about in court laughing and the judge was kicking up because, you know, we weren't behaving.
And _ the guitarist wet his pants because he laughed so much.
Truly [Ab] he did wet his pants, he laughed so much.
But we were kids, you know, and things like that you remember because A, you're a kid and B, because it was pretty funny at the time.
Although we were breaking the law.
What type of person do you think the teenage Steve Ellis was? _ _
_ Bit of a pest.
I mean we were, I mean everybody were, the whole band, all the bands were like_
All the bands that were around then, same as us, sort of like [G] Aiming Corner, Small Faces, all those sort [N] of package tour bands.
We were all out for a laugh, you know, the music was most important.
But we were out to have a good time because we were all kids so it was just a lot of fun.
I think you've got to try and get a perspective, you've got to get a grip on it.
When you're younger, a lot younger, you sort of think that's the way it's going to be forever and ever and it's not.
After he split from the [Ab] original Love Affair, Steve had ill-fated stints with his bands [G] Ellis and Widowmaker,
but dodgy deals and music biz acrimony has not embittered him.
Well, I don't know, if you get bitter about things, they eat you up, don't they?
You know, I mean yeah, I've had some terrible things happen to me and so has everybody in life, you know.
[Ab] I mean I'm not buying or doing multiple strokes, you know.
I'm lucky, I've got nice kids _ and I live in a town I like.
_ I get on with most people, some people I don't, I just find that pettiness, I can't stand pettiness.
_ But I'm lucky, I think, I think I'm lucky, yeah.
That's why I'm not bitter, I'm not bitter. _ _
_ At 48, Steve has kept much of the mod style he embraced as a teenager
and many of today's young Brighton mods see him as something of a father figure.
So how much does this enduring youth cult mean to him?
When you're young, you're impressionable, so at the time it was a mod.
So you retain a bit of that, it's in your psyche.
It's not like conscious effort to try and be like a mod, oh I must be like a mod.
You know, I mean we do the small faces convention every year, which is multiple [G] strokes.
And you see all these guys all dressed up and they look brilliant.
And it's like a time warp, it's like going back 30 years.
But I mean I'm not going to dress up like that because it would be really sad.
It would be pathetic, you know, but [C] I can't lose the turn up.
_ _ _ [F] _ _ You need a little [D] modesty, _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
the closest thing [C] to dignity.
_ At [F] the moment Steve is putting the finishing [Ab] touches on a new album
produced by the Love Affair's keyboard player Ian Dunnett,
who [Fm] clearly enjoys the collaboration.
_ [G]
Basically he's one of the old school, he's a real thing.
He goes on stage and does it, he comes into the studio and does it.
He's very easy to work with and whatever you need him to do, he can do.
Very straightforward and very easy to work.
And he's got a great sense of humour as well, [F] a very dry sense of humour.
That appeals to me, it doesn't [Am] always appeal to everybody but it certainly appeals to me.
But [C] for Steve, how does working on this [F] current project compare with [Am] recording
with the Love Affair in the heady days of the late [Fm] 1960s?
As you know I work with Ian, and we go in if we don't like something,
then we say, you know, we'll leave that one.
If we don't bother with that we'll start on another song.
Much more enjoyable, get much more pleasure from it. _ _ _
As I say, I just love music and music is a good part of my life, you know.
_ [Am] I hope it continues [D] to be. _