Shirley Dunmall was 16 when she was plunged into the glamorous, and champagne-fuelled world of magazines in the Sixties. Here, she recalls some of her memories – and the stars she met along the way…
Iwas just shy of my 16th birthday when I took a job as a clerk at a publishing house in London.
Part of my role was delivering post to the music magazine New Musical Express (The NME). Desperately shy, I used to ride the cranky old lift to the top floor, throw the post on the nearest desk and run, blushing, for cover.
But those lift rides introduced me to several pop stars: Unit 4 + 2, The Tremeloes and the Small Faces to name just a few.
They were on their way to NME to be interviewed. Little did I know, that this job delivering post would be pivotal to an incredible career and some very famous friends...
It was 1966 and two fellow filing clerks, Sandra and Violet, invited me to the Marquee Club in Wardour Street, Soho, to listen to a singer called David Bowie. As soon as he came on stage, I recognised him as Davie Jones from Bromley, where we both lived.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned ‘Have confidence and always believe in myself ’
He was a regular in the local clubs. It was easy to chat to artists back then, as they weren’t surrounded by entourages, so we got to know Bowie and his band The Buzz pretty well.
These were great times: starting Bowie’s first fan club, going to gigs, often travelling in the old, converted ambulance that they used to ferry them, and their instruments, about.
One memorable time, we pulled up alongside a coach full of people, who seemed fascinated by the old ambulance. Bearing in mind the windows were blacked out, they probably thought there was a patient inside…
Bowie, who had very pale skin, rolled down his window and let his skinny bare arm, flop out of the window. The horror on their faces made us all howl with laughter.
We were invited to David’s home on occasion, a 15-minute drive from where I lived.
It was a pretty terrace, with flowers around the door, which David’s Mum, Peggy, nurtured. We sat in the small front room and his Mum brought us tea, while Bowie strummed on his guitar. The décor was of its time and my abiding memory is of a warm and inviting family home.
Bowie would ring me at random times, to chat and play music he liked, down the phone.
Marc Bolan was a favourite of his. The first time I heard the hit Debora, was when Bowie played it to me! When I hear it now, I feel a tingle of nostalgia for those magical days.
Fast-forward a couple of years, Bowie had released Space Oddity and became a huge star – and our friendship petered out.
But my own career was on the rise. I was now wor
