Friday Brown - Girl Friday (1973)

Marian Stockley (aka Friday Brown) was born on 18 February 1947 in Manchester, the daughter of a headmaster in Little Hulton. At the age of 15 she was introduced to the Mike Taylor Combo group by one of its members, Wilf Lewis, a fellow student at Bolton College of Art, and she joined them for gigs at venues in Darwen and elsewhere in Lancashire, until they disbanded in 1965. She left college to be auditioned at a Preston club, and her first single was 'As He Once Was Mine', written by Wilf Lewis, which was released in 1964 under the name 'Marianne And Mike', with Mike Taylor. A second single followed with 'You're The Only One' later that year, but it was not until 1966 that she recorded again, this time as part of a group formed by Graham Gouldman (later of 10cc) and Harvey Lisberg, the creator of Herman's Hermits, which they named High Society. The band also included Peter Cowap, Christine Ebbrell and Keith Lawless, and they recorded the Gouldman-composed 'People Passing By', backed by Cowap's 'Star Of Eastern Street'. In January 1966 Marianne released her first single under the name of Friday Brown, with Gouldman's 'Getting Nowhere', backed with her own 'And (To Me He Meant Everything)' on the b-side, which was written with her sister Barbara Stockley. Her next single remains her most well-known, and '32nd Love Affair' soon became popular in the realms of Northern Soul. This song was also co-written with her sister, and Brown either wrote or co-wrote most of the b-sides of her singles. In 1966 she appeared several times on the Granada TV series 'Scene', and by 1970 she'd acquired her own television show 'A Girl Called Friday', directed by George Adams and shown on ITV Tyne Tees. She also appeared on 'The Golden Shot' and 'The Stanley Baxter Show', and it was said that she'd guested on just about every major television and radio show in Great Britain. Further TV appearances followed, with two shows for the BBC2 series 'One More Time', and a programme of her own called 'Reflections', with the guest group Fivepenny Piece, before being given her own six-week show 'Tuesday Night Is Friday Night' on BBC1. In July 1968 she took part in 10th European Song Cup contest at Knokke-le-Zoute, Belgium, along with other entrants including Marty Wilde and Wayne Fontana, and she was seen by over 85 million viewers via Eurovision winning the final. She finally released her sole eponymous album in 1971, which comprised covers of contemporary songs, alongside two of Brown's own compositions. It was well-received, but remains her only long-player, as her TV career and live gigs took a lot of her time, but she did release one final single in 1973, which was a cover of 'Groovy Kind of Love', backed with her own ballad, 'Salford'. There's never been a compilation of her 60's singles, which is a major oversight, as with many of the songs being self-penned they won't be heard anywhere else, so here it is, showcasing yet another under-rated and overlooked British girl singer of the 60's. 

Track listing

01 Getting Nowhere (Gouldman) (single 1966)
02 And (To Me He Meant Everything) (Stockley/Stockley) (b-side of 'Getting Nowhere') 
03 32nd Love Affair (Stockley/Stockley) (single 1966)
04 Born A Woman (Sharp) (b-side of '32nd Love Affair') 
05 Ask Any Woman (Stewart/Langley) (single 1967)
06 The Outdoor Seminar (Stockley/Stockley) (b-side of 'Ask Any Woman')
07 Take What You Want (Stockley) (demo)
08 Stand By Your Man (Sherrill/Wynette) (single 1969)
09 I Want To Rain (Stockley/Stockley) (b-side of 'Stand By Man') 
10 God Bless The Child (Holliday/Herzog Jr.) (single 1969)
11 I Sing An Open Letter (Turn Around) (Stockley) (demo)
12 The Only One To Love Me (Trent/Hatch) (single 1971)
13 The Promise (Brown) (b-side of 'The Only One To Love Me') 
14 Shake A Hand (Carmichael) (single 1972)
15 Everything's Alright (Lloyd-Webber/Rice) (b-side of 'Shake A Hand') 
16 Groovy Kind Of Love (Vine/Bayer) (single 1973)
17 Salford (Brown) (b-side of 'Groovy Kind Of Love') 

For more information on the career of Friday Brown, check out this great site, which also includes many photos, rare audio tapes, the Marianne And Mike and High Society singles, and a complete unreleased album.