us. We got to regard it as a terrible nuisance, every time we opened a paper there was someone having a go at the Love Affair." The bad press had little if any negative impact on the band's popularity: their follow-up to "Everlasting Love", "Rainbow Valley" – another Cason/Gayden composition introduced by Robert Knight – reached number 5 in the UK and the additional success of "A Day Without Love" (number 6) made Love Affair the UK's top group in singles sales for 1968, apart from the Beatles. (The Love Affair singles continued to feature Ellis fronting a session ensemble with no other group members participating.) All of these singles were released by CBS in the label's native United States on its Date Records subsidiary. However, despite their popularity in Europe, none of the Love Affair's singles charted in the US. Charts Certifications Carl Carlton version Carl Carlton recorded "Everlasting Love" in October 1973 at the Berry Hill (Tenn) studio Creative Workshop, which was owned by Buzz Cason; however, Cason was not involved in the recording of Carlton's version - the singer had himself chosen to record "Everlasting Love", which he knew via the version on David Ruffin's 1969 album My Whole World Ended. Produced by Papa Don Schroeder and Tommy Cogbill, Carlton's cover features Hayward Bishop on drums and percussion, Cogbill on bass, and Reggie Young on guitar. The recording was engineered by Travis Turk. The track features a distinctive countermelody running through most of the song consisting of background vocal harmonies. Brenda Russell is among the background vocalists. Carlton's original recording of "Everlasting Love" was issued as the B-side of the 1973 single "I Wanna Be Your Main Squeeze"; the track (i.e. "Everlasting Love") was then issued in July 1974 as an A-side after having been given a disco style remix, and became a discothèque favorite before breaking on the Hot 100 in September 1974 to proceed to a No. 6 peak that November, almost reaching the R&B Top 10 at No. 11. Carlton's version of "Everlasting Love" is the most successful US release of the song. It remains an airplay favorite on American oldies radio stations. According to Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI), the 1974 Carl Carlton version has been played more than 4 million times. One of the earliest pop hits to crossover from disco airplay, Carlton's "Everlasting Love" is a staple of disco compilations, including the