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THE BLITZ KIDS
FIONA RUSSEL
Fiona Russell Powell,  journalist for  THE FACE  magazine, took over George'  old room at the squat. Now living in a 'hard-to let ' council flat, on the 15 th floor of a tower block in east London.
She says "I movedin with a boy called Brian,  He was straight,  but he liked wearing womens clothes..  At first I was very excited at the idea of living with all this extraordinayi people,  but I soon came  to hate it.
They were so bitchy. You never knew who was talking to whom and if you got on the wrong side of them,  they could be very cruel."
During her stay,  Marilyn ruled the roost "He was in charge of the electricity and if he had a trantun,  he' pull the plug and the whole house would be plunged into darkness.  But,  mostly,  he was nice to me
He thought I looked like his heroine,  Marilyn Monroe.. he knows her features off by heart and he used to make me up to look just like her.  In fact, hes so good at make-up that he can make anyone look like Monroe."
Fiona considers marilyn to be better on make-up than George. "He doesnt wear as much as George and he certainly quickerati putting it on.  I remember calling for George at five o'clock and he was still putting on his make-up at eight.  He's  quite  hirsute and needs a lot of close shaves".
But Fiona admits that there were some advantages to living in a house with boys like George and Marilyn. "They pose no sexual threat. They can be bery amusing and they run to the club scene"
As she talked of her days at the squat, Fiona, a stylist in the forefront of fashion,  worked on mending a pair of Sixties silver wedged platform shoes with a stapler.
When she moved into George's old room she inherited some of his magpie collection. " I still have the fist doll he owned,  and his Victorian Glass Jar to keep my cotton wool balls in.  On the walls are Andy Warhol posters -  the one of Eisten sticking his tongue out -  and graffit saying : "George for Kirk". I never thought George would become so famous.  To me,  he was just an over-dressing,  over made-up purveyor of the latest gossip.
One of the things that  Fiona liked least about squatting was the plumbing. There was no bathroom.
I used to go to friends to wash and we'd sneak into the Hotel next door to use the toilets
The boys would all go off to the public showers at the Oasis leisure centre. When the weather was hot, the male occupants favoured a nude midnight dip with his old friends,  wich I thought was a very nice gesture. He's such a big star now.  Just think what would have happened if the press or his fans had found out".


TV TIMES - 23 -29 JUNE 1984
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