This one's for Gerry

Back in 1967 I was sent to boarding school, with my sisters, because my parents went to live and work in the Far East. Overnight we lost friends, home and parents, and had to adapt to a very different way of life. I still haven't recovered from the shock. As a young teenager in Manchester I had started going to see groups, mostly on the package tours that were in their hey day then.I had seen the Kinks, The Beach Boys, the Walker Brothers and the Small Faces by the time I was 13, with Gene Pitney, Roy Orbison and Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick and Tich and others thrown in. Simon Dupree and the Big Sound ( remember 'Kites'?) and Terry Reid singing with Peter Jay and the Jay Walkers.
When I got to boarding school there was another new girl from Manchester, Gerry. We became friends and are still in touch. I know she reads this blog. She was more sophisticated, more aware than the rest of us. Not so much in appearance and behaviour, but in attitude. She was intelligent and articulate, with a hint of a drawl in her accent. She had lived in Canada and Ireland. She had plans, ideas and opinions and a great sense of humour. Ours was a hugely important friendship for me. I would have lost my Manchester links if it hadn't been for her, and her family's hospitality at half terms and school holidays.
Most people who are interested know that Top of the Pops was first recorded in a converted church on Dickenson Rd in Manchester. The BBC had another former church studio they used for radio shows, somewhere on the derelict borders between Hulme and Moss Side, before redevelopment. Dave Lee Travis was the compere. the BBC Radio Orchestra played the hits of the day and there would be performances from actual pop singers. It may even have pre dated Radio 1. One school hoilday we went to queue to become part of the audience. After the show we headed across the wasteground to the last pub standing where everyone gathered. Excited girls hung out in the car park area, waiting for autographs. Somehow we got into the pub ( aged 14 remember) and got into conversation with Kiki Dee and her manager Vic Billings, who had also been Dusty Springfield's manager. I know I was much more of a listener and observer than a participant in those days, but Gerry had ambitions to be a record producer and was very savvy about the music scene. We were invited to meet up with them at the Midland Hotel the next day to continue the conversation. All absolutely above board - they must have seen the spark in Gerry. This was before Kiki Dee had her big hit with Elton John.
It was one of those times when you realise adults are treating you with interest and respect - we didn't get a lot of that at school or from our parents in those days.
We tried to go to concerts in the holidays - I remember seeing Peter Frampton and the Herd at the Odeon with her. I wonder how we bought tickets - no access to a phone, no cheque books even.
Then she discovered Roger Eagle's Magic Village, took me there the next chance we got, and for me the rest is history.
We are making tentative plans to start to go to some concerts together again, and I can't wait!