Friday on my Mind

Back in late 1966 I met my first proper boyfriend at a Small Faces concert in Manchester. My friend Wendy and I were huge Steve Marriott fans ( and he was such a tiny man!) They were on at the Odeon, on the edge of St Peter's Square. We had to walk back down Deansgate to get to Victoria bus station to catch our buses home. We were about 13. We soon realised that some lads who had been at the concert were following us, in a nice way, nothing creepy. We got talking, exchanged phone numbers and I arranged to meet 'mine' the following Saturday in town. I lived in Eccles, he lived in Dukinfield. This was long distance love. We had our first kiss ( my first snog ever!) in the alley that led to the Hollies' boutique, just near Albert Square and King St. He was very into music - we'd bonded over a love of the Small Faces, but he played guitar, sang, wrote songs and eventually became a pop star in Italy. His mother was Italian. We met up again at the Magic Village a few years later. But back then I remember we would have long phone conversations, and he would play me records down the phone - Cat Stevens' 'Matthew and Son' and the Easybeats 'Friday on my Mind'. Later we shared a passion for Love's Forever Changes. I can still recall the frantic call telling me to put the phone down and watch Hendrix on Top of the Pops! Now everyone can share most music from any era over the internet - it's amazing, but nothing can ever be the same as standing in the hall of my parents' house, with their red telephone, listening to Friday on my Mind down the wires.