October 1967, London
Soul music continues to reflect my experiences in life and in particular in matters of the heart! My friends Michael Crichley and Raymond Cutkelvin (who will become my flatmates in Ladbroke Grove and then Crouch End) are aware of my challenges with boyfriend William. When he announces he’s going on holiday with ‘friends’ to Spain, my instinct tells me he’s going to be up to no good! While he protests to the contrary, I’ve already experienced his infidelity.
On the weekend he’s away, it just so happens that Michael and Raymond are in Edinburgh and since I’m still living at home, they offer me the key to their Bayswater flat… Off I go that Saturday night to Le Duce, our favourite club in Soho, knowing that some of my new friends – Patrick & Terry and Aly – are likely to be there, and they are… and…so is Edward, middle name Overton, last name now forgotten…he’s an American tourist who works at the Chicago public library.
We dance and chat and as the night continues, he asks if I have a place we can go…fortuitously, I do thanks to Michael & Raymond….Edward and I jump in a taxi…and when we get there, I’m nervous. I haven’t ‘cheated’ on William until now but… Edward is, for real, tall, dark & handsome!
I try to delay the likely ‘inevitable’ by telling him how Michael & Raymond have been running the Martha & Vandellas fan club and I’m showing him the photos pinned to the wall of the popular Motown group… he can tell I’m stalling…and finally puts his arms around me with the famous words, ‘I didn’t come here with you to talk about no Martha & The Vandellas!!’
