Chapter 9

After the travelling shows had run their course, there was a period of comparative calm. The agency was growing to a point where the original office was becoming cramped. They had no more room to add any more staff. They had a meeting and agreed that they should move. Willow looked on-line and found a new industrial building on Station Road, just north of the M25, in Waltham Cross.

She organised a viewing with Sue and Thomasina joining her and Garry. The inside was mainly an industrial space, but there was one end with a proper reception area and two floors of office space, with a lift. The developer really wanted it to become a logistics hub but ended up offering it at a good price, as it had been sitting empty for a while. They would be able to build a mezzanine floor over the factory space and connect it to the second-floor offices. The big storage area could be used to add parking to the nine spots already set out.

They had a discussion in the office about moving. The girls had been in Enfield for quite some time, but the new place wasn’t far away. The move wouldn’t be immediate, as the alterations would have to be made first. The mezzanine would need to be installed and the offices built. There would have to be more windows set into the upper walls, and the big, lift-up door would need to be replaced with a smaller, garage door with multiple key-ring buttons so that the staff could just drive in. There was enough space inside to handle everyone, leaving the outside spaces for clients and visitors. The site was still close enough for most of the cyclists.

GWR bought the site and work started on the changes. It would be the catalyst for changes at Red Wolf as well. In the past, the whole office was only present in the early afternoon. Those concentrating on Europe would come in a couple of hours before the ones working England and leave early unless working overtime. The few working with American bookings on the East Coast would arrive later in the day and work into the evening, with the West Coast being looked after locally, the one place that was still to be visited, as it seemed to be working well. The new offices would give them the ability to be operating on a twenty-four-hour basis, with a pair of desks to be on call for the west coast of America, and another pair to concentrate on the Far East. Red Wolf was going global.

That Christmas was a time of expectation for the following year. There was the usual round of government parties to attend, the big one at the Dorchester to give out the awards, and others with the stars. The office staff was now being involved with socialising, and getting friendly with the people they worked for, meeting them for the first time. It created a bigger bond between the agency and the clients, that had an added bonus of attracting more enquiries.

The client list was now over a hundred names, and Willow was starting to think about the bigger picture. The profits had nearly doubled from what it was when they had bought the business, with the addition of studio income, and she had the idea that it was time for something different.

In early January, the Randalls’ held a lunch, at Marlow, for a set of invited guests. It wasn’t a big group, but included some of the old members of Summer Rose that were fully engaged in their own activities. There was Nancy and her husband, Nathan, Bryan and his wife, Eleanore, and Edward with his wife, Olive. They had a light meal and talked about old times, and then Willow got serious.

“I’ve brought you together with an ulterior motive, although it’s great to catch up after all these years. Garry and I own the Red Wolf Agency that we signed to after leaving Peter. We will be opening a new office building in the early part of the year. Since we bought it, we’ve gone from being a dozen and a half staff to well over two dozen. With the new office, we’ll be going global, and I wondered if any of you wanted to join us. The pay’s good, the hours will be flexible, and the work is interesting. We’re after someone to work in conjunction with the West Coast of America, someone to work with a new office that we’re going to set up in Japan, and a third to work with a new office in Melbourne, Australia.”

Nancy grinned.

“Why us?”

“Because I know and can trust you all. You’ve been on stage and can talk to our clients as equals. There’s a big crew to back you up, so it isn’t deep end first. I know that you all may have other jobs that you may love, but this is something where you can work as couples, travelling to the areas to set up local offices. With Japan, we would need one good English speaker with music contacts, and after that they could be the office manager.”

“Can we think about it?”

“Of course. Now, let’s talk about other things. If any of you are interested, I’ll organise transport and show you the whole company. The Leicester studio is going well, and we now have a new one, in Watford, which is twice the size in the recording part, and the desk. If you do come on board, you will join in as a shareholder, with a payout at the end of the year. Garry and I are just the chairs of the board.”

They had been talking about the old school days when Nancy asked another question.

“What about the other members of Summer Rose? What are they doing?”

“Roy, Victor and Brent were with Herb for a while, but had been jettisoned by their manager as unbookable. We have signed them on, and they are now with Geoff, from the old G-Force, and have just done a tour of Europe with ‘Cauldron’. They’re called ‘Third Rating’ and had an album out in the summer. Vivienne is now a film star, with her first film due to be on the screens soon. She was with Zara in the film as a couple of night club singers. Herb is still in Sweden, as far as I know.”

“That band that toured with you, last year, they were all from Australia, weren’t they?”

“Yes, and the leader is the Samantha who you met when we toured there. She’s the car drivers’ daughter and says that meeting Gina and I changed her life. Touring with ‘Garreth’ certainly did that in spades.”

“If I get on board, will Nathan be able to travel with me?”

“For what the job requires, that’s a given. The salary would enable you to both get involved, and all expenses are covered. Two can work better when they can discuss things, and it leads to better outcomes. If you took the Australian office, you would be talking to local artists and listening to new music. We need more than one input into signing new artists on. Once the local office is set up, you would only have to keep in touch by phone or email, unless we have tours going that way, at that point you would have to be the ones at the sharp end.”

“I think that I’d like that.”

“I would say that you’re more suited to that office, as both Japan and America tend to prefer guys in charge.”

Edward looked at Olive and grinned.

“Olive has an uncle who already works in Japan, in Hiroshima. He’s into import and export. We can ask him what he thinks about setting up an office to handle musical acts.”

“Tell him that it will be a two-way street, with us taking western acts there and bringing their acts to the world. All that would be needed would be a sound that sells anywhere. I know that there must be Japanese groups who cover western songs there. Let’s face it, Summer Rose played to full houses in Tokyo.”

Bryan laughed.

“Can I have America, please. I’ve been working night shifts in a supermarket since leaving school, so I’m used to the late hours.”

“If you want, Bryan. We don’t have a lot to do with actual bands there at the moment. Remember, we don’t have any druggies on the books, so that’s one thing we use to weed out applicants. The other thing is lack of talent. If you’re interested, come back in the morning, and we’ll take you on a magical mystery tour. If one of you take another couple, we’ll take a couple in our car, and you can follow us.”

When the door closed on the departing guests, Garry held Willow and kissed her.

“You really are an old softy, at heart. Talk about jobs for mates!”

“I’ve worked with these, darling. I’ve seen them go the extra mile to get a show sorted out. All three of those were wind players who went on stage with us without any rehearsal at times, yet adapted to whatever we were playing. That shows a quick mind and willingness to back your skills. I’m sure that all of them will be good at whatever we get them to do. Look at how quickly the two of us have adapted to the management. We were both mixed up loners at one time. I once wondered if I could get a hundred to a birthday party, now I’m pretty sure we would be hard pressed to keep the guest list under a thousand.”

“I suppose you’re right, my love. Tomorrow will be interesting.”

The others arrived just after nine. Nancy and Nathan had Bryan and Eleanore in the car with them. They got Edward and Olive in the back seat of the BMW, with Willow driving, and gave Nancy a hand-held two-way radio, in case they got separated.

The first part of the trip was north to Leicester. For the three ex-bandmembers, it was good to see the old studio, while this was all new to their partners. They were welcomed by Athol, the new site manager, which made Edward grin, seeing that Athol was a good three years, or more, younger than them. Athol quickly made it clear that he was on top of his game and gave them a complete tour. For Nancy, she stood in the upper office and remembered the day they decided to buy Small Heath, too many years ago.

There were two bands from the label in the studio that day, with one resting and working out lyrics while the other was laying down tracks. The guests watched the screens as the team worked on the camera vision, seeing results that they had never seen when they recorded. Willow explained that when Sarah and the original team had been in the studio, they had found a lot of effects that Frank and Dave had missed, with something similar with the audio desk. After they had looked into the rehearsal studio, they stood in the carpark. Willow looked at them.

“As you can see, the old studio is now totally professional. We only employ those who have top marks out of Blue Coat. Athol was taught by Sarah and is now teaching the next wave in the evenings. Blue Coat now has off-site courses in pyrotechnics and lighting and just teaching the classwork. Things have moved on. If we get back in the cars, we can go to Watford, and the other studio.”

On the way south, the passengers in the following car started a conversation over the two-way, with questions about the old studio and all the awards now almost covering the walls. Garry was driving, so Willow answered the best she could. When they pulled up at Watford, the others looked at the old exterior of the shed and wondered why they were here. Willow grinned.

“We did nothing to the outside, as that’s the easiest way to hide what’s inside. Come on into Summer Love Too.”

Sarah greeted them as they entered and took over the guiding duty. They were recording the next ‘Cauldron’ album, and it was easy to see how more advanced this studio was, from the huge mixing desk to the sheer number of camera pictures that Josh and Sydney were working with.

Edward looked through the big window at the huge space and held his wife’s hand, tightly. Sarah gave them the dimensions of the studio, and casually dropped the fact that they had Howard, a full orchestra, and a ballet company in there the week before. Sarah explained that the guys at the mixing board were ex-Blue Coat, who had started in Leicester before coming here.

“We have a contact list, in the office. It has details of other recording studios who will take anyone that leaves us, because of the training we give them after the training they had in school. Abbey Road even sent Xavier back to us to get extra knowledge.”

Nancy laughed.

“We all thought that he was the best around when he produced our early albums.”

“He was as good as he could be, but Willow gave the three of us two months in Leicester to explore that desk in a way he would never have been able to. Unlike Xavier, two of us were girls and we read the instruction manual.”

The eight went to the steakhouse for lunch before moving on to see the new office, still being worked on. When they had parked outside, Willow got them around her.

“This will be the new home of Red Wolf Management. It will have more office space than we’ll need, at first, but we’ll grow into it. Parking in the big space, and the extra offices on that steelwork. It’s taking a while but will be a lot roomier than the existing office, even if it’s less scenic. Now, come along and meet the crew.”

They drove the short distance to the office. In the carpark, Bryan commented that it was certainly scenic. Garry led them in, and the guests were shown everything, met everyone and was told the answers to whatever questions they asked. When they were with Thomasina, Nathan asked the one question that the six were interested in.

“What’s the turnover?”

Thomasina looked at Willow, who nodded.

“It depends on how many tours we organise in any one year. Before Willow took over, it was steady at about eight hundred million. Last year we did eighteen hundred million. Of course, a lot of that goes to the clients; they are, after all, the ones out there earning it.”

They had to find seats for Olive and Eleanore and have them put their heads down until they felt better. Nancy thought about it.

“I can see how that can happen. The charity tour we did grossed over eighty million, and admission prices have gone up since then”

Thomasina smiled.

“It’s all numbers. Take that short tour and multiply it by twenty and you have one point six billion. We are getting close to a hundred and twenty clients on our books. There are a lot of costs. The charter jet that Willow and Garry were in for their first American tour cost four million plus fuel. The point is, that it also carried all the stage outfits, all their normal clothes, dressers and sound specialists as well as the instruments. Taking all of that by commercial airlines wouldn’t come far short without the convenience. I expect that we could get over the two billion mark, this year or next. The new office can’t come quick enough.”

Nancy looked at Willow.

“How will it work if we join you before then?”

“We’ll get you sitting with all the girls upstairs, a desk at a time, to see how the things get done. When the new office is getting close, you’ll be able to organise our move, without us losing any output. After that, you’ll have your own desks and start working on your designated areas. Unless, of course, you want to go and check out the areas first. We can give each of you couples a month to explore and talk to people. We’ll supply a contact list, phones and laptop with a lot of information already loaded. There’s already the office on the West Coast, the Uncle in Japan, and our friend Barry Boysee in Sydney. You could talk to ‘Enlightened’, who are on our books for shows outside Australasia. They may be keen to come back here for a tour.”

“Is there somewhere we can talk?”

“It’s not bad outside. There’s a big table and a load of chairs out the back, and you can see how many bird species there are as you talk. It does tend to calm you down. The girls use it for relaxation. That’s why I’ve included a rest and recreation room in the new office. We’ll be in our office when you come back.”

They took a good half an hour before they came back inside and knocked on the office door. Nancy took the lead.

“We’ve talked it over, and tried to find any negatives, but the advantages outweighed them all. I’ll take on Australia, Bryan will take the West Coast, and Edward will take Japan. It will take two weeks for Bryan to leave his job, and Edward will need three. Nathan will need a month, but all of us girls will be free to take in as much as we can, so can come in as soon as we can. The only thing is to discuss a salary.”

“I’m prepared to offer all of you fifty thousand a year, until you’re settled in, with the amount after that dependant on how well your areas are going. That will also include expenses, leased cars, and a shareholding in the company, with the payouts before Christmas, after company expenses and a retained amount for the following year taken off. You are the ones to take us into areas we haven’t been up to now.”

“Olive will pick up Eleanor and me to come in. Do you mind if we start on Monday?”

“Perfectly all right. I’ll send Jacquie out for extra coffee mugs. Welcome aboard!”

After the six had sat with Thomasina and given all of their contact and employment details, Willow took them back to Marlow and treated them to a good meal at the restaurant a short walk away. That night, the Randalls cuddled in bed. Garry still wasn’t sure.

“It will be interesting to see how they work out.”

“Don’t worry, my love. We’ll help them as we can, but the three band members were wasted with what they ended up doing. All three were ‘A’ students and all Bryan could get was work in a supermarket. That’s scandalous! Nancy and Edward could have been with the orchestra if they had stayed in touch. OK, so Nathan has a good job in an office. He’s obviously wasted there, and the chance to use all their brains again will work out. If it doesn’t, we’ll just have to promote internally and advertise for office workers.”

Over the next month, the three girls soaked up all that they were told. Olive had been in touch with her uncle and had been sent a list of the best recruitment companies in Tokyo, because he told them that Tokyo was the place to set up. He helped them write a request to find an English-speaking local with a musical background and recommended one of the agencies.

In the fifth week after the girls had started, Willow, Edward and Olive flew to Tokyo, first class, to talk to the recruitment agency and then meet Olives’ Uncle in Hiroshima. They had a good hotel in Tokyo, and the meeting with the agency went well. They had three applications that had been put forward, and Willow had reviewed all three before they left England.

They arranged to interview all three applicants together, much to the consternation of the agency. They got all three into a small function room in the hotel, and could see, straight away, that all of the applicants were wary of each other, very much as expected with the salary-man atmosphere that prevailed in Japan.

The first thing that Willow said wasn’t aimed at calming them, as she knew that none of them would be happy to bare their soul to competitors.

“I thank the three of you for coming to talk to us today. If, at any time, you don’t think that what we’re offering is for you, feel free to stand up and walk out. We will not be reporting anything to the agency. Now, I want each of you to tell me about yourselves, your schooldays, your qualifications, your experiences in the music scene or other jobs you may have had. I know this may be hard, but you will be dealing with western bands and singers, and they will expect to be told the truth, especially if something is going wrong. There is no room for hiding behind someone else. I hope to walk out of here with all three of you working for Red Wolf Agency. Now, we start with you, sir, on my left.”

It was a bit like pulling teeth, but, eventually, the first man swallowed his pride and spoke about himself. That allowed the other two to be a little freer with their story. Willow and Edward had read the files on them, so were able to see any discrepancies, asking questions until the truth came out. At the end of the session, Willow congratulated them on their bravery and Olive called the reception to send them some drinks. The westerners stayed with soft drink, while all three Japanese had local beer.

When they had relaxed, Willow outlined the plan, with the three of them working together to open a local branch of the Red Wolf agency in Tokyo, with them looking for a good site. They would be working under Edward to promote western band tours, and to look for local stars who would work well in the west. One of the Japanese had been working with pop groups and organising shows, one had a pop band background and a short period with rap. The third was a concert trumpeter with experience in organising classical concerts. As Willow told them more about the company they would be working for, the more that the three realised that this would be a dream job, not for just one of them, but for all three.

It was the fact that both Willow and Edward had actually played to sold-out concerts in Tokyo was the one thing that proved to them that this was serious. Willow smiled.

“The three of us are going to take a break. We’ll leave the three of you to talk it over. Remember, you all know more about each other than any other three guys in this city. You will need to be friends as well as co-workers. There will not be a manager, as such, as all of you will be doing the management as it’s needed and take on the collective responsibility for your decisions. If you’re all here when we get back, then you all have a job, and we’ll get to the paperwork.”

When the three came back, all of the applicants were still there and smiling. They shook hands and bowed to each other, and Willow told them that she would clear the employment with the agency.

They left all the contact details for Edward and Olive, and spoke to the agency the next morning, before they flew to Hiroshima. There, they were met by the uncle and taken to their hotel. Willow left the couple to catch up with the uncle and tell him what was happening. The uncle had a lot of contacts with various manufacturing companies and shipping organisations. The next afternoon, they flew back to England, happy with a job well done, and with Edward and Olive having a much greater understanding of how big the job was that they were taking on. For Olive, it was a real-world example of all the things she had learned in the office. For Edward, it was relighting the spark that had driven him with Summer Rose.

Marianne Gregory © 2025