Chapter 6

They got into tune and played one of the Carpenters numbers until they saw Xavier waving to them. Then they put the buds in and waited for his word. Nearly an hour later, they finished the last song and closed down all the equipment. Most of the band went into the rest area and sat around with the Gees, talking about the tour and any likelihood of another.

Willow stayed in the control room, watching as they created the CD of the last set.

“Frank, does this equipment have all the bells and whistles to enhance a recording?”

“Sure does. What do you want? Echo, reverb, Leslie, sustain, fuzz. It’s all on tap.”

“You can apply that to different tracks?”

“Sure can. Which one do you want to jazz up?”

“Do you remember what Abbey Road did with ‘Dummy Spitter’? I’d like us to do the same sort of thing with ‘Lit Up’ but more bluesy. The sort of guitar that Herb played at the end of the Liverpool show, and a bit of a live feel. I think it would make a great single for the download.”

After he had started the CD burning, he went back and picked the number from the master file, then proceeded to ‘jazz it up’ to Willow’s specifications. It took a couple of tries before she smiled.

“Can you give me that on a few CDs only and play it through the rest area speakers.”

She went out to the others as it started, instantly grabbing all their attention. When it finished, Geoff asked if one of their songs could get the same attention. Willow looked at her watch.

“We have about twenty minutes before we’re picked up. Go and ask Frank if he’ll do one for you if you pick the one you like as the download single.”

At half-past five, the two vehicles pulled up in the road. Willow took all the hi-vis to take back to the office, with Gina taking her bag with her to get on the coach. When they were all aboard, they set off for Coventry.

“That single take was brilliant, friend. And so was the one that Geoff picked. What’s the plan?”

“Well, you all have a copy of the two albums, as well as the two DVDs. I’m going to package a set, including a CD of the single, and send it to Jill. Geoff told me that he was thinking along the same lines. If we have something on the market in the next few weeks, they may organise a tour. It would be just the two bands, as the Hikers are heading for Spain, but they might organise something in our breaks. I’ll include the days of the half-term break and the Christmas one. We now have enough for a good show, and then some new songs from both bands.”

“Kick-starting the system again?”

“Well, it worked last time.”

When she arrived home, her parents were out, so she had a shower and changed before going to the club for a meal with them. That evening, she packaged up the two DVDs and three CDs. With the names on the cases in texta. She added the note, sealed the package and addressed it. She took it through to the sitting room.

“Mum, can you please send this by priority to the label when you’re in town tomorrow. It’s a couple of sets that we recorded today.”

Her mother took the package as her father turned off the show that they had been watching.

“That was an episode of ‘Midsummer’ that we’ve seen three times already. Are you just going to stand there or are you going to show us your latest creations.?”

“If you insist, Dad. These were shot in the Summer Love Studio this afternoon. The vision is OK, but I expect that they’ll want to record something suitable for the market. We did the ‘in studio’ thing at Abbey Road, and you can’t do any better than that.”

She slid the first DVD into the machine and sat with them to watch it. When it had finished, Wendy went and hugged her.

“Now that was something out of the ordinary. That one is worthy of an award. You used most of the band, had a story woven into the tracks, commented on the modern world and produced an album that can stand alongside others, especially the Moody Blues first one. That really showed how good your teaching was, with the classical bent. I think it was an opera, wasn’t it?”

“It’s Vivienne’s version of the ‘Magic Flute”. It was originally a single song, but we all worked on it, with her coming up with the single song expanded.”

She ejected that DVD and replaced it with the other one.

“This, I think, will be the bones of our next album. It’s more to your liking, Dad.”

She sat down and, as the tracks started, Ashley moved to cuddle his wife. When it finished, the two were grinning.

“Another hit in the making, my darling. That one about being lit up was really good.”

“If you liked that version, this is what Frank produced for me. I think that it will be great live, and also the hook for the download single. She slid the CD into the slot and played them the enhanced version.

“Wow! That makes it something else. The guitar sounded like Clapton in his best days.”

Before she went to bed, Willow sent Peter an email, asking him to pay Xavier, Frank and Dave fifteen hundred each, for ‘services rendered’.

On Monday, it was back at school. Wednesday was the session where the orchestra finished working on the second part of the Messiah. They had completed two-thirds of it the week before, but Willow wanted to allow extra time for the last movement. She stood up and addressed the orchestra.

“As you can see by the music and the songbooks, we have arrived at what everyone thinks of as the highlight of the opus. The Hallelujah Chorus is hard, and it has the sopranos getting to the highest notes in the whole thing. I don’t want anyone to strain their voices with this. Drop out if it’s got too high. I expect that you younger girls will be the stars here.”

They spent half the session on that one movement, improving each time they played it, with more soprano voices as they went along. At the end of the session, they were all getting excited about playing to an audience. Willow arranged for Xavier to record it the next week, then they would start on the last third. Mister Bamborough gave her a smile before they left. He had kept back as he had allowed Willow to control the rehearsals and was glad that he had done so.

On Thursday, the Music Studies was all about the development of the musical. On Friday, Willow was deep into producing a musical herself. They had rehearsed most of the solo songs, and completed those, then started with the ones that had the chorus. Soon, they would be including the dialogue that rounds out the story. As far as Willow was concerned, they were on track for the performance in a month’s time. Jacob was well along with the backdrops, and Gina was with some of the other girls designing costumes to fit the revised story. So far, they had been left to do their own thing.

On Saturday morning, while she was having breakfast, her mobile rang. When she answered, it was Jacob.

“Good news, Willow. Racheal gave birth at midnight. Mother and baby are well, and I have a niece called Rebeccah. Rick wanted to call her Angel but was howled down because the name would be easily changed when she got to school. Rach reminded him of his surname, and said that she would end up as Anglo, as in Anglo Saxon. They’re at the University Hospital.”

“Good catch, love. When can we see them?”

“Visiting today for her is between two and five. She should be able to say hello then.”

“Right! We’ll be there.”

She ended the call and smiled, sweetly, at her mother.

“Mum, can we go into Coventry today?”

“Why is that dear?”

“Racheal and Rick have a daughter, named Rebeccah, born last night.”

“Absolutely! We need to get a nice card and a small toy. We’ll both need a new dress for the visit. You get yourself dressed and we’ll head into town. Hubby, dear, you can potter in the garden for the day, us girls are getting clucky.”

Mother and daughter went to town, literally, ending up with three new dresses and a few skirt and top outfits. Willow paid with her debit card, and Wendy paid for lunch, both being careful not to mar their new dresses, after the shopping bags had been put back into the car. The highlight, for Wendy, was when they walked past a record shop and saw a life-size picture of Willow. She had her daughter stand next to it and pose while she took some pictures on her phone. That slowed them down, as a queue of fans wanted Willow to sign their CDs that they just had to get with the star there with them.

Willow took it all with good humour, posing with the odd guy with one arm around her shoulders and the other around the photo. When they did manage to break away, citing another place to be, the manager told them to pick anything from the racks as a gift. Willow chose an album by Amy Winehouse, while her mother grabbed one by AC/DC. Oddly, one had a song on it named ‘Back in Black’, while the other had ‘Back to Black’.

The CDs joined the other bags and they headed for the hospital. When they arrived at Racheal’s room, Rick was there, looking haggard.

“Not much sleep, Rick?”

“No. My darling wife decided to go into labour at dinner time, and we’ve been here since. That’s after three late nights with the Hikers in your studio. Xavier told me that you pay the guys two hundred and fifty an hour, and they’re well worth it. We ended up with a great album, with a performance DVD, and a ripper single. That Frank can make a Christmas Carol sound like Led Zepplin.”

“I’m glad that we could help. Have you sent it anywhere?”

“It went by priority mail on Friday. I sent it directly to Clive.”

Just then, a gurgling sound interrupted as the baby was brought into the room by a nurse, who laid it on Racheal’s chest. Other conversation was stopped by praise of how sweet the baby was, and how well Racheal looked. They sent Rick off to go home and shower while the three of them talked. Racheal asked them if they wanted to hold the baby. Wendy was first, and Willow took a picture of her.

When Willow was handed the baby, she looked down at the cute little face and her heart melted. She had a feeling that rocked her to her toes. The feeling of love for a helpless infant and the feeling of sadness that she could never hold one of her own. Wendy took a couple of pictures, and Racheal got them to find her bag and pull out her own phone.

“Why would you want a picture of me holding your daughter, Rach?”

“Because I still hold you responsible, young lady. If you hadn’t added that killer organ, the song would never have been a hit. Then Rick and I wouldn’t have got drunk enough to disregard any safety measures and little Rebeccah wouldn’t be there in your arms. On top of that, the organ also gave us enough money to buy the farm and be happy. Will you be her godmother?”

“Will they allow me into a synagogue?”

“Probably, but you’ll have to be in a separate area with me, unless they’ve changed the rules.”

They spent a pleasant couple of hours until Wilhelm and Rosalie arrived. After that, they went back to Stoneleigh to join Ashley at the club for dinner. They left him working and went home. Willow put her new things in her wardrobe while Wendy did the same in her room. They met in the kitchen over a hot chocolate.

“So, Mum. Akadaka? I suppose I’ll have to put my earplugs in after Dad watches that one. Don’t you think that it’s just a bit dangerous?”

“I suppose that you’re right, darling. Just wait until you find what turns your lover on. It can be very exciting and satisfying.”

“I’ll just have to wait a while, then.”

“You can’t lie, love. You’ve had the attitude of a girl who knows what it feels like for months. Just make sure that you clean properly. You can’t get pregnant, but you can get nasty diseases.”

“It’s the ‘pregnant’ part that made me sad, today. Holding the baby today was a wonderful feeling. I’ve been able to hold it together, but that made me realise that I’ve been living a lie. I’m not, and never will be, a complete woman, and it means that I can only maintain the appearance.”

“Don’t say that my darling. You looked like a girl the day you wore that skirt, and you’ve been totally a girl since that first operation. So, you can’t have children, but that puts you in with the thousands of women in the same situation. Don’t ever put yourself down. You’re Willow Jean Rose, the leader of a successful and popular band. Did you think that any of those boys who had their arm around you thought that you were anybody other than their favourite girl singer.”

“I suppose that you’re right, Mum. I do tend to get a bit controlling, though, maybe a bit of maleness showing through.”

“Nothing wrong with that, it takes a bit of that for a woman to make it in the world, and there’s no way to say that you haven’t made it!”

On Sunday, they sat in the church as Gina played the organ. Afterwards, they all went over to the club. Willow, Gina, and Maisie were talking about the costumes for the musical. Wendy was listening.

“Wait a minute. I thought that you were doing ‘Wicked’. Where’s the pretty Glinda dress, where’s the black witches costume and pointy hat?”

“The kids are doing it in modern dress, Wendy. Gina told me that the first years had decided how they want it to look. Willow has helped them alter the words to be more modern. It’s going to be an interesting performance if they bring it off.”

“Willow, does the school know this?”

“Not yet, Mum. We’ll invite the teachers to the first dress rehearsal, but it will be too late to change it by then. Actually, I have had an idea about that, to let Mister Jamieson into the secret.”

On Monday, it was back to the usual school day, something that Willow enjoyed. The lessons gave her that little bit more confidence with learning. On Wednesday, the orchestra performed the full second section of the Messiah, with it recorded by Xavier.

On Friday, they worked on ‘Wicked’ and were able to perform every song as it would be performed. It just needed the acting part and to have a proper dress rehearsal. Willow took the email addresses of all the players and singers, telling them that she needed them in case there were any problems.

On Saturday, there were emails. One was from Wilhelm to tell them that the Small Heath property was now theirs. The vendor had accepted the offer with a quick sale. He said that he had advised Mervyn that the property was available and to contact the agent for the keys. The accountant will be drawing up a lease agreement with it commencing on January the first, giving two months to fully transfer the business. The lease at Leicester will be paid to December the thirty-first. The acceptance left them a million for other costs and any alterations that may be needed.

There was an email from Mervyn, just to Willow, thanking her for her care and attention to detail with the business dealings. He advised her that he was commencing the shift as soon as he could, with new pallet racking being installed soon. He expected to be out of the main building by the first week of November, with just the office remaining until the new one had been set up with the latest in communications and computers to handle the bigger loads.

There was another email from Jill. It had been sent to all the Summer Rose and G-Force, as well as Xavier, Frank, and Dave.

‘Hi, band members. Sorry about the short notice but we have been held up with getting confirmation of venues. During your half-term holiday, you will be on a lightning tour to cater for the growing popularity of both bands in Europe. On the Saturday and Sunday, you will be playing at the Bella Centre in Copenhagen. It will be to around thirty thousand each night. You will be staying at the Bella Sky Hotel, just a stroll away, from Friday night to Monday morning. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, you will be at the Paris La Défense Arena and staying at the Citizen M Hotel, again just a stroll away. The arena will seat forty thousand. Robbie Williams and Taylor Swift have performed there. On Friday morning, you will be taken to Berlin, to play at the Uber Arena, with a capacity of seventeen thousand, on the Friday and Saturday nights, staying at the Hotel Indigo, close by.

All venues are indoor and purpose-built. All equipment will be supplied by music stores in each place, so only your favourite guitars and effects boxes will be needed. All travel by air and coach connections. All hotels are four-star with individual rooms, all doubles. G-Force will open all shows, but the sets are of equal time, so ninety minutes each. Both the Paris and Berlin shows will be filmed, with the plan for a ‘G-Force Live in Paris’ and a ‘Summer Rose Live in Berlin’ DVD. The stages will be similar to the ones you’re used to. The tech team is the same as the previous tour and asked for your three techs to be part of this.

This was in train before I received your new albums. The G-Force album will be released in conjunction with the DVD. Summer Rose, your ‘Greenhouse’ one will be released with your DVD, and the ‘Magic Laptop’ will be held over until close to Christmas. There was a suggestion, here, to add ‘A Hint of Musk’ to the name but that was quashed.

Anyone without a passport should contact me directly, so I can organise temporary performers papers. This is not a charity tour, so profit will be divided equally between the total band members, after costs. Tickets average out at two hundred Euro each, so the expected total will be over thirty-five million pounds. Your flight out leaves Manchester at seven on the Friday.

As a footnote, I see that all three bands have sent me DVDs of their albums, all looking amazingly similar. You need to tell me where the albums were recorded, as the quality is first-class. We can go into production with all four CDs as is. Certainly, a lot better than the good quality of your previous home sessions.’

Willow printed that one for her parents to read. Wendy read it out to Ashley over lunch. They both gave Willow a hug.

“Looks like you’re being treated like royalty, darling. Air travel, good hotels, you’ll hardly have time to look around, though.”

“Plenty of time, later, Mum. This is a working week. We will have some time during the days, if anything is organised. It’s a big logistic problem, shifting around twenty of us around, but we should be home in time to have a short break before going back to school.”

Ashley snorted.

“All of Sunday afternoon!”

“It’s OK, Dad. Just a shower, put my used stuff in the hamper, a good night in my own bed, and it’s back to normal for a while. The Leicester site should be pretty well vacant by then, as Mervyn is keen to move to Small Heath.”

“What do you plan to do with it?”

“We were thinking of leasing the ground floor offices to an accountant or something similar. If we clear the pallet racking in the long shed, we could repurpose it for an extension of the studio space, maybe an entertaining area. I’m thinking that we could use the big shed as parking and storage. We don’t have our own PA system, and we may need to have our own stage that we can erect. The cost for the tour was a quarter of a million per venue, so it may be a money saver if we had our own.”

“That would make the site the home of Summer Rose.”

“It sure would. Amazing, when you come to think about it.”

After lunch, she walked to the church to check the hymns. The weather was now cooling again, but the church would be a warm place this winter. That evening, they had a big table with Maisie and Gina, Rosalie, Wilhelm and Jacob. The adults all sat at one end, talking about new baby and the amazing tour, while the younger ones sat together and discussed the individual rooms. Gina had looked each hotel up and showed them pictures of the rooms, with big beds, just waiting for some use.

Monday, at school, Willow went to see Mister Jamieson.

“Sorry to bother you, sir. Are you nominally in charge of the ‘Wicked’ group?”

“I am, Willow. I’ve been staying away to see how you’ve been getting on.”

“We’re very close to a dress rehearsal, but I want to ask if we can get the cast into a recording studio, so that we can have a CD soundtrack to sell at the three shows.”

“How much will that cost?”

“Nothing, sir. I can get us time in the studio, and Xavier will handle the recording. I would say that we could do it over the holiday, but Summer Rose will be playing in Copenhagen, Paris and Berlin. If we can take a little extra time on Friday, we can take the cast to the studio. It’s about a half an hour away. I have all the emails and can warn them that it will be a latish evening, unless you can organise a special early leaving, which would be good for me, because I’m flying out later in the evening.”

“Look, leave it with me. They’re up for Music Studies that afternoon. I’ll check with the Head to see if they can leave after lunch. Can you organise your security to have a coach?”

“Can do, sir. It would be great if we can work it that way.”

“How’s the Messiah coming on?”

‘Two-thirds rehearsed, just the last third to go. It is the shortest part, so I’m hoping that we can get it sorted out before the holidays. After that, we have four sessions before the performance in our theatre, then the three nights at the Cathedral. It would be nice to have that behind me.”

“From what Mister Bamborough has told me, you’ll be pencilled in to direct the performances that might come up next year. Who knows, after the Messiah, the Bishop may want something else, maybe one of the requiems.”

“Please don’t wish that on us!”

“I’ll let you know what the Head decides before you leave, today.”

“Thank you, sir.”

That afternoon, heading home, Willow asked Sebastian if he could organise a full-sized coach for Friday afternoon, to go from the school after lunch, to Leicester and return. Gina and Jacob were brought into the scheme. That evening, she sent out emails to all the singing and playing members of the cast, telling them that they would be recording a soundtrack album on Friday afternoon, and to let their parents know that they would be dropped off at home when they had finished. She also emailed Xavier that he was required, and she would pay him, even though it was a school project. She also emailed Jill to tell her that if she wanted to see the studio, to be at the school around noon on Friday.

On Wednesday, they started with the last third of the Messiah, now with the expanded orchestra that included timpani, trumpets, and French horns. It was, thankfully, only nine movements, and they all breathed a sigh of relief when they had finished the last ‘Amen’. It was the usual time for the session to end. Before they all left, Willow looked at Mister Bamborough, who nodded. She stood and called out.

“Please. Listen up. Thank you all for your hard work on this. It has been hard for everyone. We have the half-term holiday next week, and you can have an early finish on the first Wednesday back. It does leave us three sessions before we present this to the public, in the theatre. I’m going to see if we can set up in the theatre on the second week, to run through the whole opus. That will give us another long session to sort out any wrinkles. The last Wednesday of the month will be a full-dress performance for the Head and invited guests, probably the Bishop to see how we’ve got on. After that, the following Tuesday is a full performance in the theatre, for parents and friends, then we’re off to the Cathedral for three nights. Again, my congratulations to you all for all the work you’ve put into this. It’s just the final things to get done and you’ll be able to bask in the applause that I’m certain you’ll be getting. Have a good holiday, and we’ll see you all in November.”

Marianne Gregory © 2025