Chapter 8

On Monday, they gave Sue the three contracts to add to the client list, with all the contact details filled in. Willow gave things some thought, and rang Helen, their secretary.

“Helen, I’ve been thinking. How would you like to share an office with me in Enfield. I have enough room to add a desk, and the house computers are extremely good. There are seventeen other girls here and are a great bunch.”

“That would be good, Willow. Is there room for my motor bike?”

“There’s a big car park next to us, and the only time it’s full is on Sundays. You have the address, so why don’t you pop around and have a look for yourself. I know how hard it is to work alone.”

Willow was with Thomasina when Helen came in. Jacquie opened the office door and announced that Evil Knievel was here. Helen came in with her colourful leathers on. She was introduced to the other two, and joined Willow and Tommy in the office, peeling off the leathers to reveal a silk blouse and jeans. Thomasina was asked about adding Helen to the payroll, and the shareholder list, with her doubling as the Randalls’ secretary and as an extra help in the organisation. As the secretary, Helen was already employed by GWR, the owner of the agency, so it was really just adding her to the shareholder list. The office was big enough, with the big desk shifted, to have another desk. It would need another computer but could use the printer already in place.

Helen was taken upstairs, and Sue took over, showing her around the different desks, introducing her to the others, and then taking her down the other stairs to show her the cycle rack and lockers, pointing out the computer servers and Tommys’ office. She then sat with Willow as they worked out what would be needed. Helen would bring her laptop in, and it would be linked to the office wi-fi. Jacquie ordered a desk and another gaming chair, as that was what Helen used at home. She was also given a key to the main door, and one to a locker. When she left, she was smiling in her helmet; working with a big group would be good, as working alone can be just lonely.

On Tuesday, they had the news that the Leicester crew would come south in the new year. Sarah and Bill would get married at the registry, and they would organise the second crew to take over, not booking any sessions outside of business hours for the next year. Willow still owned the flats, so there would be space to house any extras that may be needed. They would let her know about properties, so that the transfers could take place before the end of the year.

On Wednesday afternoon, Jacquie buzzed Willows’ phone.

“I have a call for you, Willow, from Sweden. The gentleman asked for the manager and sounds irate.”

“Put him through, Jacquie, but listen in with the recorder going, just in case.”

When she got the sound of heavy breathing, she waited a few moments.

“Good afternoon. How can I help?”

“I spoke to my manager, in Stockholm, today, and he told me that your agency has signed my band.”

“Can you be more specific, sir?”

“My name is Herb, and the band is ‘Blue Day’. What the hell is going on?”

“I have to tell you, Herb, that the three other members of ‘Blue Day’ were happy to sign with Red Wolf, and your manager didn’t ask for any recompense to take them, other than buying your excess merchandise.”

“What about me? I’m left on my own and running out of money. Without playing, I have no opportunity to make a living.”

“When we spoke to your manager, he told us that it was unlikely that the band was going to be booked anywhere. He told us that you were last year’s product, and your band told us that you were the reason.”

“Me! What the hell had I done?”

“From what we were told, absolutely nothing to move forward. They were fed up being second fiddle to a guitar god with an ego bigger than his amp.”

“You can’t talk to me like that! Who the hell are you, anyway? Some desk jockey who thinks she knows about music.”

“Me? I’m just a keyboard player who has toured every summer for the past five or six years. The one who could have taken you to greatness and a lot more money. The one that you turned your nose up to after we toured Australia. I’m Willow, remember me? Garry and I own this agency. It was once joked that I should be the manager, well, I have news for you Herb, I am the manager!”

“You! What the hell can I do now?”

“Nothing, Herb. I don’t need you on my books. I will make you one offer, though. Do you remember that shopping centre that we bought for twenty-five million? We still own it and were offered forty million for it. I’ll buy your share for four million, here and now, to help you out of your problem.”

“Why?”

“Call it for old times’ sake, Herb. It’s probably the only business deal that you ever did that has gained value. If you say yes, I’ll pass you back to Jacquie. She will give you an email address to send your acceptance of my offer and your bank details to send the money. We can have it finalised by Friday. What do you say?”

She could almost hear his brain working, and he finally agreed. She knew Jacquie was listening, so just said that it was a pleasure doing business with him and that Jacquie would take over. Then she hung up, sat back and giggled. Ten minutes later, Jacquie came in with the email printed off and a smile on her face.

“Who was he, boss?”

“He was the lead guitarist in ‘Summer Rose’. He was, and is, very good, in a blues way. His problem was that his ego got the better of him, and he decided that women were only good for two things, and being the band leader wasn’t one of them. We were on top of the world, had toured Australia and did shows in Tokyo and Seoul, and he just wanted to spend his money on wild women and song. He dragged the others of the band with him, and they ended up playing seaside towns far too early in their careers. He has talent, but no head for business, invariably making just a small profit or a big loss. His main problem is that he has no people skills.”

“He sounded like it. This shopping centre, where is it?”

“It’s in Manchester. We bought it while we were all still at school. It cost the twenty-five, and we added another fifteen to upgrade it. What I offered was what it was worth back then. We have been offered forty for it, but only six of the ten shareholders bothered to answer. I have heard that a national retail group is interested, and I’m pretty sure that we’ll be offered a lot more than forty.”

She got on to her accountant in Coventry, giving him the heads up on the deal, finding the email on the server and forwarding it to him to pay out of the WR Holdings account. Whatever they got, in the future, she had two-tenths of it. By the end of October, she also had Brents’ share, with him taking the money to relocate to a nice house in Rickmansworth. With his wife now firmly in charge of their funds, they would bolster their bank balance with the sale of their house in Sweden. Roy had enough to buy a place nearby, to be joined by Victor a street away, with his girlfriend, having been in the country for a few weeks at her parents’ house while their old house went on the market.

Willow organised a minibus, and took Geoff, the three others, their partners, plus Thomasina, Helen, and Sue, on a trip to Leicester, to show them the Summer Love Studio, as it now was. It was a shock to the girls from the office, to see how modern and big it was. The rows of awards was a shock to everyone except Willow. She took time out with Sarah to set up a meeting on the following weekend, to sort out the changes to be made.

After Leicester, all of them got a shock when they arrived at the Watford shed. It was the first time Geoff had been inside since they rehearsed the final ‘Garreth’ shows. The new studio was internally finished and ready to record, while the work on the upstairs office was nearly ready. It was light now, with the high windows, but the old double doors and the internal cladding needed finishing. The keyboard and amps were now in the studio, along with the drum kit, and the kitchen and toilets were ready to use. Some comfortable seats in the rest area, cameras and music stands, mics and booms in the studio, and they would be ready to go. Willow decided to wait until they were given the keys, and then Sarah and the crew could place the orders when they were there, being the ones who would be using the equipment.

It was a good trip in more than one way. It was the first time that Willow had been to Leicester in a long time, and it generated a feeling of hope among the other players. It gave the partners a sense of how big the operation was, and it gave the office girls a window into Willows’ other business. So far, for them, it was all about tours, not the actual making of albums to create the popularity, and income.

As they approached the end of the year, the political events multiplied, with Helen having to pick and choose, seeing that Willow and Garry were very busy with the clients. They had gained a few extras, as word spread about the amount of expertise in the management team. The grumpy ones had been placated by extra attention, and the big ‘Cauldron’ tour was taking a form that they were all happy with. The studio in Watford was handed over and Sarah had brought in all the things she needed. It was able to be used for practise, and the first to play in it were the tour. The American girls had flown in and were housed, not far away.

The first time the tour got together, the girls from ‘Cauldron’ wanted to trial the Nashville group as their backing band, as ten good looking girls on stage would be better than five, as well as having two girl bands on the posters may bring a splitting of support. They played their albums a few times and started rehearsing. This left the others out on a limb. Geoff got the others together and told them that they had two months to have a show together.

“I’ve been told that you guys wanted to move on. I have some songs that I’ve written for Zara but could be sung by a guy. You must have a swag of songs that you weren’t able to try out. Pull out your notebooks, dust off your personal CDs, but we’ll put together enough for a show and an album before the tour, or else I’m a Dutchman.”

Before Christmas, both bands were working hard and making headway. They had a good start for the following year, so stopped for Christmas in good moods.

For Willow and Garry, the party at Chequers was mandatory, as was the one in Parliament for New Year. They shut the office for ten days to give everyone a holiday, with the phone line routed to Willows’ new mobile, purchased for only agency calls. Luckily, they weren’t bothered while at a party, but did have to answer a few queries from their clients about plans for the following year. Willow had a diary with everything known written in, so was usually able to help.

From the time they had purchased the agency, Rufus had been contactable, and had spent a lot of time with Garry, seeing some of the clients that were overseas, and introducing him to producers in America. Garry’s experience with the Rocks stood him in good stead, with these meetings usually ending with handshakes on future contact if anything came up. Now, though, Rufus was bowing out, and they had a party in the office, with him unable to leave until he had been kissed by every female.

It was a bittersweet time for the staff, as he had been a good boss and easy to work with. Willow and Garry, on the other hand, were already generating an atmosphere of excitement and success. Problems were solved, tours were arranged, and now clients had their own studios to record in,

Watford was fully kitted out in early January, and the first bands to record in it were the new, ten-woman, ‘Cauldron’, and the new, four-piece rock band called ‘Third Rating’. They each recorded their new albums, and then set up to record the touring show. Willow invited Clive and Jill, Hugh and Sam, who brought his daughters’ band, and the people from the ENO to attend a ceremonial opening. Howard, Jim, Hilda and the Head were invited as well.

Sarah and the crew had got used to the equipment with the albums and had played around with using a full blue room and the new software. There was drinks and nibbles, an inspection, and then everyone gathered in the control room to watch the show. Because of the width of the studio, they could set up the two bands, side by side, to minimise time between takes. They used the older amps and had brought in six other big ones and three smaller ones. A new drum kit was Brents’ pride and joy, and all the odd guitars that had been left from the Rocks’ days were available.

Willow had brought in stackable chairs and there was plenty of room behind the desk for everyone to sit down. One added feature to the control room was a screen above the desk, showing the current camera view, so the audience could see and hear the show as it would look like on the DVD. They also had a few extra hands, as Sarah had taken three of the new school-leavers and housed them in spare rooms at hers’, and Joshes’ house. The setup now needed two on the desk and four on the video unit to be seamless.

They recorded the rock band opening, with Willow smiling as all four of her schoolfriends shook the place with sixty minutes of raw energy. The Head had a smile as well, no doubt happy that the alumni were still in the game. There was a short break, and then the second act took their places. Willow hadn’t heard what it would sound like and looked forward to being surprised. And surprised, she was. They had put together ninety minutes of girl power songs, with the five originals and three of the Americans taking part in the singing. The last three numbers were hits from the previous year but sounded totally new and refreshed.

Clive took copies of the two albums and DVDs to distribute, with Thomasina on hand to get signatures on contracts, seeing that both bands were Red Wolf clients. He also took a copy of the double DVD of the show, after it had been post-produced, with them now able to add all the credits and fades. Both acts looked like they were on a stage. The ENO people were keen to book their usual week, as it was closer to their base, so wouldn’t need to stay in a hotel. That lowered the cost for the studio, as it wouldn’t have to supply accommodation and transport.

Sam offered five thousand to allow the Vines to record. They had an album ready to go, so took over one of the set-ups, with the keyboard. After working out with a sound check, and agreeing on a background, they recorded their new album and DVD. Clive was given copies of both, with Sam signing the paperwork for the girls and giving Thomasina a cheque. Willow reminded Sam that she was the manager, should he relent about shows.

In all, it had been a very good event. Hugh spoke to Willow and Sarah about filming, with an appointment made for his media people to look at what was on offer to design even more elaborate adverts. Howard was keen to have something for the orchestra to record. They had been working with a ballet company, and the size of the studio meant that they could all be inside to record a DVD, with backgrounds being able to be moving scenery, rather than static scenes. Willow agreed to set up extra portable toilets and dressing rooms in the long space beside the studio when they were ready to come in.

After the guests had left, they had a short meeting in the rest area to talk about things. The current situation had become complicated. Willow, through WR Holdings, owned the site in Leicester and the income from the studio paid the employees. The new studio was owned by GWR, who also owned Red Wolf, but the employees were under WR Holdings. Thomasina was tasked with tidying the problem up.

After talking to the accountant in Leicester, she would be elevated to the position of CFO of GWR, with the employees in the studio paid from her office and the management of the Leicester studio taken over by GWR. The Leicester site was still Willows’, but income from the two studios would be paid into a new account to be set up, using the cheque from Sam Vines to seed. The current bank account held by the accountant in Leicester would remain with him to cover any extra payments need at the site. The Arts Alliance income was now making a profit on standing costs, with the practise building becoming well known.

The next day, Willow and Sarah went to Leicester to tell the crew there about the changes, which were really only on paper. By all being paid from Red Wolf, they would be easy to move from one studio to the other, and Sarah would be putting a system in operation to cycle everyone through the Watford site to gain the extra experience.

They looped through Coventry to bring the school up to date with the new system, which would give students job experience in the newest studio in the country. The studio was, by now, supplying a continuous group of teaching assistants in recording and post-production. There was a new picture in the foyer, with Gina looking like a princess at a grand piano.

The first part of the year was very busy. The office was organising a tour for five of the older clients, playing a week each at theatres over summer. They had another tour of four bands covering the major cities, and two other European tours as well as the ‘Cauldron’ one. Garry was the main point of contact with the ‘Cauldron’ tour and would be travelling with them to handle the immigration. They would all be using the charter plane, so will be disembarking on the tarmac, leaving him with all the passports to be stamped. It would minimise any close scrutiny of the two Americans at the airports.

They were now booking studio time for the singers and feeding the label with finished product to be distributed. As this became known in the industry, they started to get more queries about management. It was easy to hear new talent and sign good ones on, but existing talent needed careful negotiations with their original management to make sure that it didn’t cost too much.

When Willows’ birthday came around in May, she was spending a lot of her time being tugged one way and the other. She was out meeting clients, prospective clients, managers, promoters and venue management on one side, and working with her father for the upcoming election on the other. It was a strain on her, but she couldn’t complain that she was bored.

After that, Garry was off with the tour, and she was depending more on the office staff than ever before. Helen was busy sorting appointments, the girls were busy organising transport, and Thomasina was busy, with her assistants, keeping up with the cash flow, which had increased by a staggering amount. Willow had rejoined the limo service, simply to give her time to look at paperwork while travelling. Some weeks, she wouldn’t see inside the office for days, but loved the thrill of organising and creating opportunities for her family of artistes. That’s how she was seeing them, as she got to meet and talk with them.

That summer, her father was back in Parliament for the second term, and the concept of the travelling exhibition was added to the pandemonium. Luckily, he was able to set up an office to handle the everyday planning, with Willow called on to talk to prospective companies and get them on board. The final thinking was that they would rent a dance hall for a week, have all the stands shipped in by container, and use the stage area for announcements and demonstrations. Also adding the occasional entertainment, which would be advertised in the days before opening. The admission would be nominal, but a chance to be up close with the singers and bands would ensure bigger crowds than a normal business show would attract.

A tender was put out to organise transport and book venues, which Red Wolf won. It was simple for them to add this to the mix, with them adding another desk, upstairs, for another girl to join them. In six months, the staff had gone from the original seventeen to nineteen in the office and a dozen between the two studios.

With Garry away with the tour, Willow found it easier to stay in hotels as she moved around the world. The office had given her a list of likely venues for the exhibition, so she spent two weeks visiting the dance halls to speak to the owners and get a list of vacant dates. After working through the logistics, they booked ten sites and passed it to the official office to issue invitations to join in, starting in August and working through towards the end of the year.

The film that Zara and Vivienne had been involved in finished the studio work at the end of July. Zara flew out to join Geoff on the tour, and Willow got Vivienne in to talk about providing entertainment during the exhibitions. If they added a keyboard and small amp to the shipment, they could recreate some of the VivWillow set, or else have other clients play and sing. Willow had offered the entertainment at a discount, seeing that it was a patriotic event.

The first week was in Copenhagen and was quite successful. Willow and Viv did four sessions of half an hour each day, and the stands were full of British know-how, with Hugh taking four to promote his various companies. Willow had Sue on the GWR stand to promote the two most modern studios around, which attracted a lot of interest from a range of prospective clients. Later shows had Viv, now able to play her own accompaniment, or a solo Willow, as well as the other agency clients.

Ashley was on hand at some of the events, along with Wendy and John, now at the ‘getaway’ age. The government girls kept a record of enquiries and actual signed contracts to report back to Parliament. When the ‘Cauldron’ tour finished, Garry was able to be at the last few. The Randalls used their nights in the hotels to get to know each other again.

Marianne Gregory © 2025