February 1967, Manor House, London
Soul City is starting to get going with more customers finding out about the only record store that sells only American R&B particularly since we’ve now got a regular supplier of US imports, Mr. Shapiro from Miami, Florida. Meanwhile, my personal life is slightly in flux! Mike Raven, an early champion of R&B is one of the primary DJs on the infamous pirate radio stations and a friend of Dave Godin’s spins once a week at the club above a pub next to Manor House tube station and a few of us including Gloria of the Dionne fan club and my friend Enid are regulars.
I’m celebrating my 19th birthday there on February 15th and I invite Marion from the New Year’s Eve party with whom I’ve been chatting. I also invite Franklin with whom I’ve been hanging out! As the evening draws to a close, inevitably it’s time for the slow dance and Marion and I are serenading to Aaron Neville’s ‘Tell It Like It Is’ while Franklin’s displeasure is obvious from the way he looks at me. Suddenly, Marion bursts into tears! ‘What’s wrong?’ I ask with genuine concern. ‘Why is that man Franklin staring at you?’ she replies, sobbing. I take her outside the room as Aaron is singing, ‘if you are serious, don’t play with my heart, it makes me furious…’. Marion says accusingly, ‘You know what’s wrong! Who is that Franklin, why is he here?’ I say, ‘He’s just a friend’ but Marion is not having it. She leaves…and I leave with a less-than-smiling Franklin. I’m secretly cussing Aaron Neville for messing up my birthday with his musical plea for honesty…
