Positively Patsy Part 23

Mary had been busy while we had been away and had organised a cooking school which was already under way. Greg and Peggy had been back a while and everything was under control. There was to be another one coming in for two months when this one finished; then a riding school, followed by a music school towards the end of the year.

She had already pre-booked three sessions for the following year as well. We would have three month music schools at the beginning and the end of the year with the UK Olympic Riding Team in for May and June. I looked over the bookings and noted that I really wasn’t needed until the music school in September so Joanne and I had seven months to organise another ‘Angels of Joy’ album. I contacted Riordan and asked her if she was up for another one and she said she could come over and stay with us until it was ready. To give us a deadline I called Gerome and asked him if he could get us a bit of time in his studio during August and he readily agreed, saying he would organise the orchestra again “Just make sure you have some music for them, this time.”

With Mary being so organised I started to think about the future myself. I got Joanne and we went to a quiet corner to chat about things. I said “I have been thinking about the next couple of years. This year we should make another ‘Amazon’ album this year while we are still in every ones mind but I have had a bit of a brainwave. What do you think about working towards a live TV spectacular in the middle of the following year? This would give us time to get it sorted. We could rework our set to be mainly new works with a couple of the old hits front and back. It could then be the basis for a live DVD without us needing to tour.” She sat and thought about it and agreed that we should follow it up. I said I would talk to Chris and Simon regarding setting it up and we can start planning it if the rest of the band agreed.

I then went and found Greg and asked him about the sound and vision from the world tour. He told me that it was all in storage as the rest of the band were off doing other things and didn’t need the promotion. I asked him if it was possible to buy the sound and vision of the Paris and Tokyo shows and he said he would check with his management. I mentioned that I was thinking of a TV spectacular next year with ‘Amazon’ and maybe some other group to open. “Why don’t you get one of the choirs?’ he asked. Wow, that was out of left field. We had the school choir in Nashville and the Cotswolds Choristers to choose from – or maybe both? I said “if we do that, would you like to play classical guitar on TV?” That made him think. He then smiled and said “it could be fun.”

So I went and phoned Simon, asking him what he thought of an ‘Amazon’ live TV show in the middle of next year with the opening act being the choirs plus friends. I told him that I was talking to Greg about buying the sound and video of the world tour as his management had just put it in storage. He told me that, if I could, I was to buy the lot as he thought it would be pure gold with the right distribution. He said that his company would go up to ten million for it. He said that his CEO was now very pally with the TV networks as he was able to supply movie material. It seems that he had bought the back stock from the studio in Los Angeles. He then said that the more he thought about it, the more excited he got.

After speaking with him I rang Jake and asked him about recording an ‘Amazon’ album in August and then about a TV spectacular the following year and he told me it would all be good. He was in the middle of the final production of the blues album that would be released. He said that it would be called ‘Songs from a Southern Safari’ and he was very glad the band went along. He then told me that Pierre, our friendly music store man, was speaking about retiring and was thinking of selling the store. I asked Jake if he would be a partner if we could buy it and he said he would. When I rung off I phoned our banker Bruce and told him that I had heard that the music store was for sale and could he investigate, please. He said he didn’t need to as Pierre was a bank customer and one of his colleagues had all the details.

I hung on while he went to fetch the folder. When he came on again he said “Right, the store is presently leased but I know that the owner will sell it if he knows that Pierre will not be renewing. He also owns the store next to it which is currently being used by pop-up bargain sellers. I guess that we could get the two for about half a million. Pierre will sell his franchise for half a million plus stock at value. The last stocktake was valued at three quarters of a million, or there-about. His profit and loss sheet for the last year has been good but you would know why that is.” I told him to approach Pierre about buying the franchise and stock and also get on to the store owner to see if he could make a lower offer for cash that would be acceptable.

When I rung off I went to find Joanne and told her that I was going to try and buy Pierres’ music store and she said, “How much will we need.” I told her that franchise, property and stock would be about one and a half to two million and she said that it would be a good start to her own portfolio. I said that the store may come with the next door premises as well and she told me she had been in it a couple of times when they had specials for sale. She said it would make a good café.

I sat back and thought and then said “OK, what if we get both properties. You can buy the unused one outright. We then turn it in to Joannes’ Bakery and we put in an ‘Amazon’ display with some mannequins with guitars, behind a barrier, of course. We could put in a couple of amps and invite the music store customers to do sing-alongs on a Saturday morning while having brunch. We talked around the concept and then my phone rang again. It was Bruce back again and he said “Patsy, I have taken a leaf out of your book and have spoken to Pierre. He will sell the franchise to you at a special price of four hundred and fifty thousand with stock at value, which he thinks is presently about six hundred thousand. I told him I would speak to you but consider the store sold.”

“He asked about the staff and I told him that I was sure the staff would be looked after. I then spoke to the property owner and told him that I had a buyer who wanted to move quickly and would pay cash with immediate possession. He said he would take two hundred and fifty thousand for the music store and a hundred thousand for the vacant property next to it. He also told me that the vacant land behind both stores was available for forty thousand. It is about the size of both stores again and presently is just used as a car park but is just dirt.

I told him straight away to buy the music store and the vacant land in my name and pay for them out of my account. I then passed the phone to Joanne who instructed him to buy the vacant store in her name and pay for it out of her account. She handed the phone back to me and I instructed him to organise the transfer of the franchise and the stock and I would come over to Nashville to sign.

I told him to contact Jake Sullivan at K Beat regarding the franchise and that he and I would be partners in the music business. After the current stocktake was done we would pay for the whole thing between us. He asked me if a new business name could be registered and I told him to register Meyers Music Mart under the names of Jake, Joanne and myself. He congratulated me on saving a hundred and fifty thousand off his estimate and told me that he would get back when everything was ready. I then rang Jake again and told him he was now a partner in a music store franchise and that Bruce would be in touch. He laughed and said he would go in tomorrow and talk to Pierre. I asked him to get a list of employees with their service records and entitlements listed. I also asked him to think of any product that we did not sell that he thought may be worth chasing. I also told him that Joanne was also a partner and now owned the store next door and would be opening a music themed café so he would be able to get his pastry fix.

Part 24

Well, now I was a principal in a charity, the owner of a car yard property and the owner of a music store property and a partner in a franchise. Not bad for a twenty two year old. Joanne asked me why I had listed her as a partner in the music store franchise but had not asked her for any money. I told her it was because she was my partner and that she would have lots to do with the café. If our concept worked she would be an integral part of the whole business. I told her that I thought that we would leave the ‘Reece Manor’ part of our life to Peggy to run as I was feeling a bit homesick.

She agreed and said that the next album and a possible TV show would see her thoroughly over ‘Amazon’. We went to find Greg, Peggy and Mary and got them together to tell them what we were planning. I asked Peggy if she would be happy now running the house on behalf of the charity and she said she would, but only if she had a good assistant. I then turned to Mary and told her that she had the choice to stay with Peggy, here in the UK, as part of the charity, or we could take her back to the US and transfer her employment to me directly. She said she would like to come back to the USA so I said that there was plenty of time to advertise for a suitable assistant manager who would be employed by the charity and directly responsible for the house bookings.

Greg asked if I was pulling away from the house and I told him that I would be spending more time in Nashville for a while as I now had interest in two properties that would take up a bit of time but would come back when needed for music schools and would still have the charity close to my heart. I told him that we would be in and out until the music school in September and then busy come May with, hopefully, the TV show. I planned to be in Nashville for December and January and then after November the following year. If I was needed for anything I was only a phone call and a flight away. Joanne told them that she would be very busy setting up her new café and that she was looking forward to settling down.

A couple of days later Riordan and Nina flew in and we went to pick them up. Riordan told us that Nina was here because she wanted to see what we got up to here and that she also was interested in joining the ‘Angels of Joy’ for the next album. After we settled them in we took them around the house. Nina was amazed with the place and said she could see what had kept us busy for the last couple of years. As the cooking school was still going we took over the ballroom and studio to write and try out our songs. By the end of June we had enough in the bag for another ‘Amazon’ album and about twenty songs for an ‘Angels’ album. I called up a contact in London and got a music writer / composer to come and stay with us to write out the music for a small orchestra and, in the first week of July, Joanne and I flew to Nashville to sign all of our paperwork and finalise the purchase of the franchise.

We went and saw a good real estate agent to find us a ranch style home out of the city with big outbuildings and to put together a list which we would inspect just before Christmas. The second week of July we met up with the other band members in New York to lay down the next ‘Amazon’ album. It was a much more rocking album but with a lot of complexity to the lyrics that was a reflection on my choral experiments. We left the masters with Simon to release and flew directly to Geneva.

We met up with Greg and Peggy there as Mary was looking after the riding school. Peggy had brought the orchestra music which pleased them immensely. We worked through the songs with the band and the orchestra and laid down a new album for Nina with the ‘Angels’ as backing vocals and then a double album of “Angels of Joy’ music, having augmented our new songs with old masters, the music for those being already available. During our time there I was asked to join Greg and Gerome in a private office and was told that the entire world tour video and sound was available to buy for eight and a half million US. I took them down to seven and a half and shook hands on the deal on behalf of Simon and his company. When I rang Simon he asked me if I wanted in in the deal and I told him I would take one third for two and a half and that’s how it worked out.

As we released live singles from the best shows and then a ‘Primal Purge Live in Tokyo’ DVD we made our money back inside six months. We then put together an ‘Amazon Live in Paris” DVD just before Christmas which went to number one on release. Along with our new ‘Amazon’ album hitting number one in the CD charts we were all doing very nicely. The whole year was rounded off with Ninas’ album hitting the top ten in the pop charts and number one in the MOR charts, only knocked off that perch by the ‘Angels’ double album.

In the meantime, Joanne and I went back to the house with Greg and Peggy to help out with a group of children who were all learning strings – violin, viola and cello. We were not much help here but offered encouragement and organised a recording session or two for them. As there were four each of the violin and viola players with two cello players, they organised themselves into two quintets and that is how we recorded them. The two groups picked a name each and we sent the masters off to Simon. As usual, he sent back two sets of contracts for signing and there was another two albums of chamber music in the charts by the middle of the next year.

In the beginning of December, Joanne and I flew to Nashville with Mary. We had interviewed some applicants for her job over the last few weeks and had picked one to take over. She was well qualified as a competent rider and piano player and fitted well with Peggy. She would start on January the fifth as an employee of the charity. In Nashville we went to see Bruce to move Mary over to an employee, and secretary of, the Meyers Music Mart and I put a half a million into the new account in that name. We then went to see our real estate agent and took a list of properties to look at. We had six to see but the fourth was just what we wanted. . It was a ranch house on twenty acres that had been used as a retreat. It had ten double bedrooms, all with ensuite, plus a master with enough storage for our two lots of clothes and a double shower ensuite. The lounge and kitchen were huge and the outbuildings were just right for conversion into a security shack, garage and studio.

We went straight back to the estate agent and made an offer. She said she would get back to us. I told her that the offer was cash and was for occupation inside thirty days of signing. A day later she rang me to tell me the offer was accepted so we went back to her office with a bank cheque for the deposit. I told her that our banker would pay the remainder on inspection in thirty days and she was happy with that. We put the house in joint names of Joanne and me. Joanne took some time deciding what she wanted with her shop and we contracted a builder to make the alterations and fit a professional kitchen and counter along with a good paint job.

We also had a meeting with Jake and Terry, the manager of the music store, to discuss any alterations that he thought would help business. He said that a couple of soundproof booths would be good so we checked out the building and decided that we could put a door in the back wall and build them behind the store as an extension. We got back to our friendly builder and contracted him to do that work as well and told him there would be work on our ranch house later in the year.

We left Mary in Nashville of oversee the alterations and flew back to London as, by that time, we had another music school to look after but they were a group of ten percussionists so we left them to it while we worked on the TV show. I contacted the Cotswolds Chorale about taking part in a TV spectacular in the USA in June and they were happy to be part of it. I told them to get all their passports in order and that I would be flying them to Nashville at the beginning of May to rehearse. I told them that I hoped they would join a local choir for the show and that they would rehearse together. After a couple of weeks we flew to New York to discuss the show with Simon.

Marianne G 2020