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Bowie and Spice Girls PR Alan Edwards: ‘Through punk I found another family’

The music publicist was given up for adoption and always had a sense of not belonging but, in his job, he found his kindred spirits

Photograph: Courtesy Alan EdwardsThroughout my life and career, I have always felt as if I was seeking a tribe, whether that was the punk scene I threw myself into or the family atmosphere that surrounded me working with the Spice Girls in the 90s. I was surprised when I sat down and the man from the society said: “We knew you’d be a good communicator; if you weren’t, you might not be here today.” I wasn’t sure what he was referring to, but when I saw the papers, copies of which they quite freely handed over back then, I understood why. She told me how Mary, our mother, had grown up in rural poverty before moving to Dublin where she worked in the Post Office and then to London where the bright lights of the West End drew her in.

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