Chapter 7

It took a week, but Willow ended up with twenty-six seats and a hefty invoice to pay, which she did, immediately. She sat down to list the twenty-six who would be there. Two would be her and Garry, two would be the two girls from the office who pulled the rabbit out of the hat, and others would include Vivienne, Nancy, the Head, Hilda, the Russells, Howard, her parents and the Bishop. She expected that Gina would have reserved seating for Maisie and the two husbands.

Others would be Zara, Abbie, Dianne and Barbara. She added Sarah, Sydney and Josh, Clive and Jill. To round it out, she added her secretary, Helen, as a small appreciation, and filled the rest with Tom and Chris, the Cathedral organist, all being those who had been part of things from the beginning.

In order to get the seats, she had to buy twenty-six tours of ‘The Wonders of Great Britain and Ireland’ from the travel company. She had negotiated a deal where twenty-six nominated people would take the tour but stay in the London hotel on the night of the performance. She had spoken to Malcolm, and he would organise and lead a group from Stoneleigh to take the tour, mainly the Village Choir and others, with Willow organising a coach to take them to join the tour.

Then it was a matter of contacting everyone on her list and telling them about their night out. That was a labour of love and took two days with everyone wanting to talk. She had reserved rooms at a hotel near the Albert Hall, so was offering everyone a complete package, but without transport.

While this was happening, Garry was at the agency, being given all the information about how the business ran. He didn’t have the business acumen, yet, that Willow had but would be able to operate with the contact list he was adding to his phone.

They got news that the wall had been removed, and an invoice sent. Willow went to the builder, and they went to the shed. He had been able to remove the wall easily. Just needing to cut the welded ends from the steel uprights and grind the faces flat. She asked him about steelwork and cladding and told him the studio builders would get in touch. She paid him and got the key back, then rang the studio builder to tell them the site was cleared.

Over the next few weeks, she got updates on the construction as she joined Garry and Rufus to go and visit the local clients, who were mainly happy to have someone with stage experience taking over the management. The only grumbles were from older ones who didn’t like change. She noted their names for extra care and attention.

In the middle of September, the day of the performance came around. After a late lunch, the Randalls dressed to impress and went to the Albert Hall. All of their guests arrived, keen to see and hear their friend. The evening was typical, with stirring music that glorified the country, with the usual final tunes of ‘Jerusalem’ and ‘Land of Hope and Glory’, with the audience in good voice. Afterwards, they all gathered at the after-show party, to congratulate Gina, or ‘The latest Piano Virtuoso - Angelina Innocenti’. The Head told them that the Honour Wall will be upgraded with a new picture. Willow found herself talking to some of her old friends who were now clients, asking what they wanted to do in the future.

Rufus had told Willow about the film idea for Vivienne which hadn’t happened, so she brought up the idea in discussion. Viv had been bitten by the acting bug while doing the ‘Magic Laptop’ and was keen to try something new. Willow made a note to talk to film producers on the contact list.

Nancy was happy with her life and didn’t want to go back on the stage, but Zara said that she, and Geoff, were starting to get bored. Gina was leaving for America on the Monday, to start rehearsing with an orchestra there, so they didn’t have much time with her, just enough for a hug and a few words.

While Sarah, Sydney, and Josh were in town; after breakfast on Sunday morning, Willow took them to Watford, where the bones of the new studio had been put up and the wiring started. This was the first time that they had heard of the project. Willow opened the smaller door and led them in.

“This doesn’t look much at the moment, but this is going to be the biggest purpose-built recording studio outside Abbey Road, other than movie soundstages. This area will be the rest area, and that steelwork will support a second floor with storage and offices. The kitchen and toilets are being totally revamped, but the main thing is this free-standing building. It’s located on vibration damping foundations, with a studio space, so I’m told, of a hundred feet wide by a hundred feet long. That’s three times wider than Leicester.”

Sarah looked at it with a professional eye.

“It’s also taller. I guess that internal height would be twenty feet or so.”

“It is tall, with a flat ceiling. The ceiling is hung on steel, with insulation above that. If you look closely, you can see eyes where you can string cabling to attach backdrops. The desk is being built, in sections, and should be installed before Christmas. We’re doubling what you use, in every way, so a forty-eight-mixing board. There will be camera mounts every ten feet around the entire studio, so nine a side, giving thirty-six points. The video desk will be able to handle forty cameras and the entire studio will be blue-screen blue inside. I’m told that the computers will be faster, with huge memory, and we will stop using the tape back-up for a stand-alone SSD array with separate retrieval, in case the desk is unavailable.”

“Who will you get in to record?”

“Now we own the Red Wolf Agency, we will send all of our southern clients here, if we can, and also push the label this way with bigger bands. I also expect that the ENO may transfer here with the bigger space. I know it will take some work off of Leicester, but I’ll make an offer to the three of you now, to think about. If the three of you come south and take this on, I’ll organise accommodation with you choosing the property. We could put your second crew in charge in Leicester and take extras from the ones that you’ve trained at the Blue Coat. I’m sure that the other crew could take over the training at the school, with the experience they now have. They could scale back the hours and make it an easier job. This will be ‘Summer Love Too’, or ‘The Toxic Annex’. This is where Toxic Rocks rehearsed for ten years, and where we put ‘Garreth’ shows together. There’s even the old amps that the Rocks used under sheets in the corner.”

“This will be costing a packet?”

“Mac gave us the building and the studio will be about two million. Other building costs will be about another million, as we have to rework the door we came in, as well as the sliding doors at the other end. The studio is offset in the building, so leaving the big space down the side for storage. The old factory walls will be insulated and clad. The studio space will have enough soundproofing to stop any sound escaping, but the control room will be normal from the window back, so giving an extra couple of feet in width. It’s about twenty feet deep, so more space than we have in Leicester. Look, Sarah, you know the studio builders. Go and talk to them about the specifications. If there’s anything you want to add in the building stage, make your suggestions and we’ll add them.”

They looked inside the studio, where the big window was installed and the inside of the studio finished, except for wiring. There were channels all over the floor space and under the separating wall. Willow switched on the internal LED lights. There was a sliding door and double doors at the end, the same as Leicester, only a bit bigger. Inside, it felt huge. They looked around the outside of the studio at the extra space, walking all around it.

“It's a bit on the dark side, out here.”

“There will be high, double-glazed windows set into the walls when they’re being finished. The upstairs office will have windows added, as well. There will be a similar set-up, with a bank of switches when you come in. There will be a full building alarm system, and the switches will start the air conditioning, which will be housed behind a strong grill to the outside, totally separated from the studio to reduce noise or vibration. They will also turn on all the lights in the rest area, studio and the desk.”

Sarah took a look around her and then looked at the couple, who had said very little.

“Well, you’ve certainly given us something to think about. What do you say, Josh?”

“I say that it would be fantastic. I trust Willow to provide the work, as she did with Summer Love. My brain is trying to imagine forty-eight tracks and forty cameras. We could almost produce Ben Hur. How would you work with housing, Willow?”

“No limit, Josh. You look at the places on offer and choose what suits the two of you, allowing for a growing family. I’ll buy it and you pay the outgoings, as you do now. This may be a chance for you to get married, Sarah. There will be work here for your husband.”

“I’ll talk to the studio guys and Bill. He’s been talking about coming south and taking in the experience of living near London. This would allow us to see the sights and go to shows. It will mean a reorganisation of the Leicester crew, with one promoted to manage the site. We do have some from the school, working as job experience, so it shouldn’t be too hard to put them on full-time.”

They were quiet as Willow drove them back to the hotel to let them head home. She parked and they went in to have lunch in the dining room before leaving. Garry asked Willow how she got on and she told him that she thought that they would be taking on the Watford project. Back in Marlow, they rested that evening, with a light meal and a cuddle. They were both getting used to the wheeling and dealing that running the agency needed.

On Monday, they went into the office. Garry was sorting out a tour, with Sue, for an all-girl singing group called ‘Cauldron’. It was to be in Europe during the next summer, but they didn’t have a backing band. It had been some years since he had spoken to them but picked up the phone and called the manager of ‘Blue Day’. When he finished the conversation, he went down to see Willow.

“I’ve just spoken to the manager of ‘Blue Day’, in Sweden.”

“Oh. How are they going?”

“Not brilliantly, I’m afraid. It appears that their popularity is waning. He asked me if I wanted to take them over. I’ve been trying to find a backing band for the ‘Cauldron’ tour, and I thought we may be able to take them on for it.”

“All right. Tee up an appointment with them and organise plane tickets and a hotel where we can stay. I wonder if they’re fed up with all that snow. How much does the manager want?”

“He said that we can have them, as long as we buy the remaining merchandise. I don’t think that they’ve played for a month or more. The last gig I found on the computer was in July. Seeing that it’s been summer over there, I would have thought that they would have more bookings.”

“Keep me in the loop. It will take some diplomacy when we talk. Herb became very cocky and won’t want to be shown up. Look, why don’t you get back to the manager and get their contact numbers and addresses. Then go on Google maps and see if you can get overhead and street views of where they live. That way, we can work out how to approach each one, starting with Brent. He was just a follower, so is the most likely to open up to me. They may have settled down and won’t want to leave. I don’t mind if we only take a couple, as we need to put together a band for Geoff and Zara. They all had a big payday with the last ‘Summer Rose’ tour, but that was over five years ago, so they may have frittered it away.”

When he had gone, she went back to the list of movie producers to find a project for Vivienne. She struck lucky with the fifth call, and was able to get an appointment, on Tuesday morning, to get into the studio for a screen test. The film was a musical, with two nightclub singers that are fighting over one man, getting more complicated before a happy ending. She rang Vivienne to be ready at ten, and then rang Zara to tell her to be ready to be picked up at nine. It would be an early start for her but could be worthwhile. She told Jacquie that she would be out the next morning at the film studio.

Wednesday, she was booked to go to Dallas, to talk to one of the stable who was to be there for a week. He had complained to Sue, so Willow was going to see what his problems were. It did seem over the top, but that’s what you did for the stars. While she was there, she was going to Nashville to hear a new band that hadn’t been able to get a manager. She didn’t know why but was intrigued.

Leaving Garry still eating breakfast, she left home in her trusty 135 to go and get Zara, and then Vivienne. By the time they arrived at the studio, she had explained what it was that she had found for them. She sat with the producer while each of the girls were put through individual screen tests, and then taken to a set, where they were given part of the script to read. By the time she took the two to lunch, they had signed contracts that had them in the film. The fact that they were both established singers was the final positive. They had a good lunch and she drove them home.

In the office, Garry had more information on ‘Blue Day’.

“You were right. I’ve had a look at their homes. Three are big, with huge garages. Herb was married, but his wife left him. Roy and Victor have steady girlfriends but haven’t tied the knot. Brent has a wife and one child. His place is the smallest of them. The manager was very open about them. I got the impression that he was sick of Herb being a pompous ass. If we get the other three, we could put Geoff with them and make a good band. Their takings are down to rock bottom. They’ve been everywhere in Europe, but nobody wants them back.”

“Call the other three and make appointments to talk to them next week. Make sure the girlfriends and wife are invited. Give us two days there to sound them out. We’ll leave Herb to his own devices for the moment. I’ll be in America until Friday afternoon.”

On Wednesday morning, Willow was on an early bird to Dallas. When she got there, the star was happy to see her. She discovered that he had been pushed down the list on posters for some of the shows that were upcoming. This led to her getting the contact details of the venues and promoter to find out why. It appeared that the printers had arranged the names in alphabetical order. She agreed, with the promoter, to split the cost of a new print run, with him back where he should be. The promoter was happy to help, seeing that an even bigger star was below hers on the list, but hadn’t picked up on it yet.

In Nashville, she went to see ‘Transit’ in a rehearsal studio. It wasn’t obvious why they hadn’t been given attention, until they sang. She listened to them, carefully, and went outside to ring Garry.

“Garry, sweetheart. Are you still looking for an opening band for the ‘Cauldron’ tour?”

“I am, love. Have you found me one?”

“This band in Nashville. They’re an all-girl group and very good. Their problem is that a couple of them aren’t all girl, if you see what I mean. I’ve got a track on my phone, which I’ll send to you. I’ll talk to them about relocating to Britain, with the prospect of a European tour with ‘Cauldron’ next summer. We could use them as a backing band in the studio, once we get it running. They may even have an album that we can give to Clive before the tour.”

“I’m sure that we could give them voice training. It’s still hard to find people to work with them over there. That would help a lot, thanks, my darling one.”

“See you Friday afternoon, love, and we can make up for lost time.”

She sent him the file and went back into the studio, where the band was taking a break.

“Girls, I have to tell you that you’re very good, but you do know why you’re not getting contracts, don’t you?”

“Yes, ma-am. It’s because we’re not all what we look like.”

“How would you like to relocate to Britain, where you may not be able to play sports with other girls, but you can play on stage. I can organise voice training for the two of you. I’m building a big studio and need a house band, but the agency is also organising a European tour for ‘Cauldron’ and need an opening act. It’s three months of next summer. Do you want to discuss it among yourselves. I’m at my hotel until Friday afternoon, and I’ll give you a few of my cards.”

Friday morning, she had a call. They wanted to talk, so she invited them to come to the hotel for lunch, but arrive earlier, so they could discuss the situation. When they arrived, they sat in the hotel bar and talked. There were five in the band, three guitarists, the drummer and the keyboard player / singer. They all had passports, but the two guitarists that weren’t genuine would have to travel as their male persona. It would mean that they were unlikely to be able to return and had talked it over with those in their families who were still on talking terms. It had twigged that they were speaking to Willow Rose, who they had heard of, and had even been to one of the ‘Garreth’ shows. She had got Sue to send her five standard contracts, which she had printed off in the hotels’ business suite. She laid out the likely timeline, with them quartered in Watford, with a weekly allowance before they started earning. She would get them into Leicester to record an album to give to the label, and everything else depended on how good that was. When the new studio was operational, they would see if they could get the others in to record a video of the whole show, to be released at the beginning of the tour.

After lunch, they all signed with the agency and were told to relax until she organised accommodation and the flight. Willow went home, happy with her trip. That weekend the two of them discussed the way things were moving. The longer they were part of the agency, the more they got used to their roles.

It was now three months to Christmas, with an election due in the middle of the next year, so their appointment book was liable to fill up around that time. Willow rang her father, at home, to ask him what he knew about the election timing. He thought that they would be going through to mid-July, unless there was an unusual occurrence before that. She emailed Helen to update the appointment book for next year.

The following Monday, she asked one of the girls to look for a block of flats near Watford, where she could house the five band members, hopefully with a TG friendly doctor nearby to prescribe hormones for two of them. On Tuesday, the couple flew to Sweden to talk to members of ‘Blue Day’, starting with Brent.

They were welcomed into Brent’s home and introduced to his wife and daughter. Willow didn’t beat around the bush, once they were sat at the kitchen table.

“Brent. We’ve spoken to your manager, and he wants to be rid of the band. Are there any reasons for this?”

Brent looked shocked, and then sheepish.

“I suspected this. We haven’t had a new booking for nearly three months. The audiences weren’t capacity for some months before it. I have to come clean. Herb isn’t one to question. He won’t move on, sticking with music where he is the guitar god. He’s good, but enough is enough. His marriage broke up because of his increasingly overbearing ways. We did well, while we could, but we’ve reached the point where we need to change.”

“We’re here to talk to you about relocating back to England and signing with Red Wolf Agency. We need a backing band for a tour next summer, in Europe. If we can get you, Roy, and Victor, we should be able to add Geoff to the line-up. He played with us in ‘Garreth’, and is a good, solid, guitarist. He is marrying Zara, as they’re back together. What do you two think?”

They sat back as the couple discussed things. It appeared that Herb had sucked them in with a couple of dodgy projects, which Willow knew that he had no skills with. The others were only staying together because of habit. Brents’ wife turned to them.

“My husband has shame, but that Herb led him astray. This house is all we have left, other than enough money to live. We had four cars but had to sell three. If you talk to the others, they’ll tell you much the same. We have a good life, and friends, here, but moving to England will not be as hard as trying to find work here.”

“If you sign with the agency, I can guarantee a future for you and your lovely daughter. You may remember the shopping centre, Brent. We still have it, and we can buy out your share should you really need the cash. One tenth of the last valuation is four million pounds.”

They left the couple to make their decision and moved on to talk to Roy. When they were invited in, they saw that Roy needed a woman’s touch, as he was a bit dishevelled. He sat them in an untidy kitchen and chuckled.

“Brent gave me a call. Before you say anything, where do I sign? I did manage to keep some money aside, and, like Brent, sold off the sports cars I had collected. The house is leased, and I can join you inside a month.”

“What about your girlfriend?”

“She moved on to a sugar daddy a few weeks ago, as you can see by the state of the place. I wasn’t spending enough money on her, although I spent a lot of time.”

They explained the situation to him and told him that they would be in touch when they had accommodation for the band. They had his signature on the contract when they left. Victor was still with his girlfriend, so was much better presented when they were invited in. The girl was English and had been the one to talk to Brent when he rang them.

“Before you say anything, Willow, Brent rang and filled me in. Victor will be signing and the two of us will be happy to go home. My parents have a large house and would put us up until we get a place of our own. We own this house and can sell it, and the cars, to be free of that Herb. Bring out your paperwork.”

Victor just sat there, a smile of relief on his face. As far as he was concerned, the Indians had them surrounded and Willow was the cavalry, coming to save the day. The next day, before they flew home, they had all three signatures, and a signed agreement with the old manager to buy the old stock at cost, once he had gathered it together and packaged it.

Marianne Gregory © 2025