Chapter 5
When Wilhelm dropped them off, it was still mid-afternoon, so Willow walked to the church to check the hymns. It was soothing to be sitting at the keyboard, doodling Bach. She thought about the morning and the joy of having the band around her. They hadn’t played as the full band since the last show in London.
The label had been quiet, and she hadn’t heard from Jill in a couple of weeks. Not that she minded having some time off, after all, they had worked through most of the summer holidays. As she followed that line of though, it occurred to her that when you’re an adult, there are no long holidays, just forty-eight or more weeks a year of working.
She stopped playing for a few moments as an idea grew in her mind. When it gelled into something you could write down, she smiled and started playing again. This time, it was the slow and quiet Saint-Saens. When she left the keyboard, she walked home and found Wendy sorting out some laundry.
“I’ve made a decision about my future, Mum.”
“Oh!”
“I want to have a life where I work when I need to and visit other places.”
“How are you going to do that, love?”
“I’m going to perform, whether it’s with the band, another band, as a solo, in an orchestra, conducting, directing, or organising. I want to travel the world and be happy. I don’t want to be bound to office hours for ninety percent of my life.”
“And where would Jacob fit in with those lofty ideals. He doesn’t seem like a lad who would venture far from where he grew up. I can’t remember a time when he wasn’t just following your lead.”
“I’ll just have to draw him out, I suppose.”
“What if you do that and he turns out to be pushy or develops a mind of his own?”
“Then we’ll just have to work it out when that happens.”
“Has it allowed you to decide what you’ll be doing at university?”
“I’m not sure if conventional university is in my future now. There may be places where I can hone my skills. You never know, there may be an opportunity to go on stage as an actor. The thing is, that if I go to uni, it would be to learn how to do a job, and I want to work for myself and if I have to employ others, I will.”
“That’s entirely possible, seeing the way you’re going now. Look, it’s good that you’ve decided, but you still have some years of school left. Things may be different for you then. Just remember, your father and I will be behind you, no matter what you decide.”
“Thanks Mum, I love the two of you. I’ll try to not let you down.”
“You will never let us down, love. Make mistakes? We all do that sometimes. You’ve been on track so far, and good things have happened. Once you have this term out of the way, you might be able to coast for a while next year.”
She played the organ in the church the following morning, then went over to the club afterwards. What had begun as a hot drink to warm you up was now, in the last heat of summer, a cool drink to cool you off. After lunch, she walked home with her mother and pulled out her notebook and her laptop.
“Mum. Can you check the uni account for me please? There’s an email from Wilhelm with the current balance of Summer Love Properties, and I want to see where I stand, overall.”
Wendy checked the account on her phone.
“It’s showing sixty-seven thousand, love. With what you spent in the early days, it dropped quite a bit, but’s still good enough for a three-year course fully covered. You’ll have enough of your own to cover living expenses.”
“Thanks, Mum. The syndicate is sitting on a bit over one and a half million at the moment, with everything paid for and some months still to go on our property insurances. If we all chip in, as usual, it will be up to around two and a quarter million, just shy of what we had before the studio.”
“What about the account with Peter, that should be pretty big by now.”
“I’ve been pulling money out of it to add to my own company account. At the last month, it was down to a bit under a quarter of a million.”
“What about your personal account? I know he’s been putting a thousand a week into that, and you haven’t gone out and spent a lot.”
“That’s now at twenty thousand. You’re right. I haven’t had to spend a lot because a lot of what I get comes through the band purchases. Our company account is sitting at two point three, but I’ll have to send a half a million to the new syndicate when that’s set up, so it’s effectively one point eight. It will be interesting to see the next statement, without the huge windfall that was the tour.”
“You still have over two million, even after buying into all that property and paying off this house! That’s amazing.”
“Wait until the accountant has worked on it and the taxman has had his share. It does have to pay company tax. I’m not sure what that would be, as it’s only been money paid in from outside without any trading done. The syndicate hasn’t shown a profit and is likely never going to do so until we sell off sites.”
“So, what are you going to do with that money?”
“I was thinking of an investment on my own, without any others. I looked at shops, but you can easily end up with an empty one and a lot of back rent owing. No, something where the tenant has a good reason to look after the place and pay their way. I’ve looked on the net, and there is a building in London with the lower floors used by a restaurant, two apartments sold on a hundred-year lease, and another two that are just leased. If I bought that, I may have somewhere to live if one of the leases ends. I could afford it next month. It’s only a short walk to the University of London.”
“That way you could eat well and walk a lot of the excess weight off.”
“Like we do here, you mean? Home to club, then club to home.”
They had a quiet evening, with Willow thinking hard about her finances and future.
Monday morning, she was picked up and started another normal week. Xavier handed out the four-track CDs at lunch. Willow played the organ on Wednesday morning and took the orchestra through the complete first third of the Messiah in the afternoon, with Xavier and the others recording it. On Friday, the Keyboard session was fun, with Willow learning something from the lesson and the two girls imparting tips that they had learned from performing in front of sixty thousand fans. After school, they set up the Vines in the rehearsal room and worked some of the songs with the main singers in ‘Wicked’. As far as she was concerned, it had been a good week.
On Saturday, she spent a lot of time in her room, working through songs that the others had sent in, especially some that Vivienne had produced, adding her input and sending them back. She also made notes for herself; titles and scraps of words for songs which she gave a group name of ‘Working Girl’. It had a single theme, all the bad things that can happen to a ‘working girl’ in different jobs, based on TV shows she had seen and magazine articles she had read. It bore about as much similarity to real life as Dolly Parton’s ‘Nine to Five’.
The family walked to the club for dinner and were entertained by Zara and the G-Force. Now with several new songs. In a break Zara came over and sat with them for a drink.
“Great set, Zara. Some new music tonight?”
“Yes. Gerry and Victor have been busy writing. You like?”
“I do. When are you recording a new album?”
“I don’t know. Peter is off on a tangent again, and we haven’t heard from the label for a while.”
“I haven’t had a word, either. They must be allowing us some leeway. I was wondering if they were working on a lightning tour during our half-term holiday at the end of next month.”
“Could be. I’d better get back to work.”
On Sunday morning, the family was in church to hear Gina playing. The two girls sat on the bench as the rest of the congregation went to the club.
“How are you feeling, Gina?”
“I’m not sure, friend. I feel as if we’re just spinning our wheels. I know that we’re building another album with Viv’s songs, and maybe yet another with the other ones, but we did have a busy holiday and it’s hard coming back to earth.”
“I know the feeling. How about us getting the band into the studio next weekend, even taking the two days. We have everything we need to make a full day of work. We could get Sebastian to take us there in the morning and pick us up late in the afternoon. If we do enough on Saturday, we could get Xavier in on Sunday afternoon to record some new work.”
“I’m already feeling better! Let’s do that. We can arrange it with the others at school.”
“The Gees had a lot of new songs that they played last night. We could get them to follow us on Sunday and record them as well.”
“That would be nice. A bit like our recording session in the club. That kicked off a big move, this may do the same.”
That afternoon, Willow sent an email out to the band, asking if they could find time over the weekend to attend a full day at the studio on Saturday, followed by a recording session on Sunday, with another to Xavier about Sunday. It didn’t take long for a full set of agreements to come back. It looked like they were all feeling in need of some creative time.
On Monday, at lunch, Willow went and spoke to Geoff and Zara.
“Good show on Saturday night. You get better every time you’re on stage.”
“That’s a big compliment, coming from the superstar herself.”
“Do you remember our recording day in the club?”
“How can we forget it. It was the turning point for all of us.”
“Well, we have created a little hideaway. It’s where we keep the gear that we ended up with after the tour. We’re planning a session on Sunday afternoon, and I wonder if you all want to come along. Max knows where it is, so he can pick you up after lunch. Sebastian will take us in a minibus.”
“Sounds good. Do we need to bring anything?”
“We have the amps, the keyboards and the drums from the tour. I’ll give you one tip; bring the buds that you were sent after the show.”
Geoff grinned.
“This sounds like the ‘hideaway’ is more serious than just a shed, somewhere.”
“You’ll find out how serious it is when you get there.”
Monday evening, there were a few emails on Willow’s laptop. One was from Geoff, confirming that the G-Force would be waiting for picking up from one on Sunday, and that they would spend Saturday perfecting an album-ready set.
One was from Peter with the statement. The ‘Journey’ CD had sold around two hundred and seventy thousand copies. The DVD had sold two hundred and twenty thousand. ‘Homegrown’ had moved over three hundred and thirty thousand, with the DVD at two hundred and eighty thousand. The ‘Carpentry’ album had been on a rebound with a hundred and twenty thousand, and there had been sixty thousand in merchandise sales.
His costs had added up to sixty thousand, and the label’s had come in at twenty-five thousand, some of that the extra instruments. Willow’s share, with the commission taken, was four hundred and fourteen thousand. She smiled when she saw that he was still taking fifteen percent.
There was a note on the bottom, telling them that a lot of the new sales had been in Europe, with a lot of fans who would have seen the Manchester stream. She saw that her previous balance with him was over two hundred thousand, so she replied, asking him to transfer half a million to WR Holdings. That was her side of the new syndicate paid for.
There was another from Wilhelm, telling them all that the new syndicate had been set up, with the name being ‘Legs Eleven’. A new bank account will be running next month to pay into. The estate agent had been in touch with the vendors of the Small heath property and had made an offer of four and a half, cash purchase. There would be a lot of costs involved with taking over something that size, so any extra left over would be good. He reminded the seven that their payments were due, so Willow transferred a hundred thousand and replied that she had done so.
Wednesday, the orchestra started on the second third of the Messiah, now working a lot faster. They were all in the rehearsal room now, with every session, and the preliminary work was paying off. Friday, the ‘Wicked’ sessions were gaining pace as well. The students, never having been totally involved in something so difficult, were really excited. They had decided on a modern story that fitted the songs, with a bit of tweaking of the words. The Wizard was now the Father, and Elphaba was now coloured, but not green, with a delightful, coloured girl well suited to the part. Jacob was in the school workshops, with his crew, busy making the scenery which indicated the run-down city where they were setting the story.
On Saturday morning, Willow was the first to be picked up and then the others were picked up in the coach. They were dropped off in the road outside the site, and Sebastian continued on to head home for the day. The band went and collected their hi-vis and then made their way into the studio. After switching everything on, they spent the rest of the morning working through Vivienne’s songs until they had them sorted out. After that, they had the pizza delivered to the site gate, with Willow waiting for them. It was the same lad who delivered.
“Hi, ten assorted, as ordered. The workers here must be well looked after.”
“They are, I can assure you of that.”
“Are you doing anything tonight?”
“It’s nice of you to ask, but I live south of Coventry, and already have a boyfriend.”
“Lucky guy. You know, you look a lot like Willow Rose.”
“I get told that many times. See you another time.”
She was smiling when she carried the pizzas into the rest area. Gina looked at her.
“Something funny?”
“Something male and cute and he asked me out tonight. He told me that I looked like his favourite singer.”
They had their pizza lunch, brewed some drinks, and relaxed for a while. Herb gave out a big sigh.
“This is already feeling like home. Everywhere we had practised before had others looking on. I miss the idea of having an audience, but it’s nice to be able to work things out without them.”
In the afternoon, they worked on some of the songs that had been exchanged via email, before taking another break. Then they ran out of those, finding that they now had ten of Vivienne’s and ten of the new ones. Before they were picked up again, they had a brainstorming session about names for the two albums.
The ones by Vivienne ended up as ‘The Magic Laptop’, as the clown that won the lady’s hand won by bypassing stupid dances and pet videos on Tic Tok, going to YouTube with a longer post where he did magic tricks. He then turned that into money by being contracted to do his magic on stage, creating a solid fan base.
The other one was more difficult. There wasn’t a theme to the set, so they finally decided that it would have to be called ‘Greenhouse Varieties’. There was one of Herb’s songs that sounded like hit material. He had called it ‘Lit Up’ and was about a lad meeting the girl of his dreams. When it was time, they all tidied up, took the hi-vis back and gathered in the car park until Sebastian pulled up. They all boarded and he could see the grins.
“Good day, then?”
“Sure was. We’ll record them all tomorrow. It was good to be creating something new?”
Willow was dropped off at home, in time for her to stop for a comfort break and walk over to the church.
“A bit late, Willow. Were you busy today?”
“You can say that Reverend. We’ve been working on new material.”
“That’s good. I can’t wait to hear what you will come up with next. How’s the orchestra going?”
“Really good. Next week I hope to finish off the second part, and that includes the big one at the end, so we may run late.”
That evening, she had dinner in the club with her parents and friends. After that, she sat in her room, working on the sections of the second third that they hadn’t done, as well as trying to pick holes in the ‘Wicked’ story.
Sunday morning, she was in the church playing the organ, allowing the music to wash through her. After playing the Bach when the church emptied, she was in a good frame of mind. She sat in the club with Gina and the parents, when Jacob came in with Rick.
“Willow, Rick wants to come along today to see how the studio works. He wants to check with Xavier about recording an album.”
“That will have to be in a few weeks’ time, won’t it, Rick?”
“Why is that?”
“How’s your maths. It’s almost exactly nine months since that song of yours went viral. Have you forgotten what you did then? Or didn’t you remember much of that night.”
“You’re right, Willow. I’ve got so used to Rach moving around slowly, it’s felt like it would carry on for ever.”
“If I were you, I’d stay close to home for the next couple of weeks and make sure the car is ready for a trip.”
“Yeah, yeah. I get you. The label wants us to do a tour in Spain. The streaming of the show from Manchester seems to have created a bit of interest. I was hoping to get an album ready to issue for that.”
“When is the show?”
“Three weeks in November.”
“Why don’t you talk to Xavier to spend some evenings with you. Get Racheal’s mother to stay with her while you’re not in the house. You might even get it in the can before the end of the week.”
“Can you get Xavier to give me a call. I’d better head back to the farm now. Thanks for reminding me of my responsibilities as a married man.”
They had an early lunch and went to Willow’s house to be picked up. Sebastian had a coach, so they went off to pick up the rest of the band and Xavier, who had Frank and Dave with him. When they arrived at the site, Sebastian dropped them off, telling them that he would be back at about five-thirty. They collected up the hi-vis for moving around the site, and Willow waited outside, with more, for when Max arrived with G-Force.
When he arrived, they all got out, carrying their guitar cases, to be issued with the vests.
“Welcome to our hideaway. Please wear the vests while you are moving around the site, even if it’s only a short walk. Being Sunday, it’s a bit quieter, but this site operates seven days a week. It’s a distribution centre, and goods are moved from the shed that we are going into, to the big shed behind me. The forklifts are electric, so quiet. No messing about, stay to the edge of the walkways, and keep your wits about you. Our transport will be back at around five-thirty. Now, follow me.”
She could hear the comments as she led them past the pallet racks, then into the workshop. The door was unlocked, so she opened it and told them to enter. When the last one was inside, she shut the door and that was the first indication that this wasn’t a wind-up, as all the outside sound was cut off.
“Around the corner is another door. Head on into the rest area.”
There were comments and a little laughter when they saw the comfortable room, with the kitchenette and the awards on the wall. Willow grinned when she saw what Frank had been carrying when he boarded the coach. On the other wall, previously unadorned, was a painted sign that read, ‘Summer Love Studio’.
“Toilets to the right, drinks and biscuits to the left, and Xaviers wet dream through this door.”
She opened up the door to hear the sound of the band coming from speakers. The others filed in, and mouths were agape at the sight in front of them. Geoff was the first to gain his voice.
“How on earth did you find this?”
“We bought the site as an investment, and this was unused. It was a cold store, so the four walls and ceiling were filled with expanded plastic, and eighteen inches thick. The studio was about two months in the making, and yesterday was the first time we’ve used it seriously. If you guys make yourselves comfortable, I’ll join the band and we’ll record an album that we’ve put together. Then you get the chance to make one of your own. Did you bring the case with the buds?”
Victor held it up.
“Good. We have the same system as the tour. There are twelve cameras, which Frank and Dave are controlling. We don’t plan to use the vision for our DVDs, but it’s handy to have one for a keepsake. Xavier can tell you what’s happening, so I’ll go and join the band.”
She stopped to pick up her buds, put them in and went through the two doors to the studio. Over the next hour, they recorded ‘The Magic Laptop’ in almost a continuous wall of sound. When they had finished, and confirmed that it was all good, they came out and the Gees went in. Most of the band went through to the rest area as the Gees tuned up.
Willow stood behind Xavier as he unplugged their communication transmitter and plugged in the one for the Gees.
“Can you all hear me?”
There was a chorus of yeses.
“All right. Seeing that it’s your first time, play something for me to get a sound check and then I’ll play it back to you.”
Leaving them to enjoy their time, Willow went to the rest area, had a comfort stop, and asked the band if anyone wanted an ice cream. With the numbers jotted down, Gina joined her to walk around the corner to the supermarket. With two dozen ice creams in a box, they went back to the studio, handing around the ordered ones and putting the remainder in the freezer. She ate hers, and then went through to see what the Gees were doing.
She sat on a roller chair next to Xavier. The Gees were playing one of the new songs that she had heard at the dinner dance. It sounded so much better with more amplification and a good mix.
“They’re four songs into the album. It’s good.”
“What we can do is to give them CDs and DVDs of the songs, and a stick with the digital recording. That way, they can do with it what they want. I guess that the label will want another take, for the saleable DVD, but this would hopefully be good enough for manufacture. Can you do copies for them while we’re doing our second album.”
“Frank has the skill for postproduction. The unit here is easy enough to use if you’ve done it before. We’ll give them a dozen CDs and can produce a DVD on the synchronised audio and visual. We’ll do the same for you, if you want to wait a little while. It depends on how quickly you get the second album down.”
“That will be great. I’ll get Peter to pay you for the afternoon. The three of you will be on two hundred and fifty an hour, including travelling time.”
“That’s better than the tour. The organisers only paid us fifty an hour, plus the accommodation. Just being here and working this board is almost payment enough, but we’re not refusing any money.”
They looked at each other and grinned, then concentrated on the recording. When the Gees finished the set and were putting the guitars back in their cases, Xavier played a couple of the tracks back to them, through the speakers. He took the transmitter out and replaced it with the one with a big, pink circle.
“Give us ten minutes and have a break. There are ice creams in the freezer when you come out. I was talking to Rick, and he wants you to call him to set up a recording session. Don’t let him spend too much time in here, as Racheal is due.”
“Thanks, Willow. You really do think of everything.”
As the Gees came out, all sporting huge smiles, Summer Rose went in to get ready. Willow followed then in and spoke to them before they inserted the buds.
“Just a word, please. Xavier is taking a short break and then we’ll record ‘Greenhouse’. While we’re doing that, Frank will be producing a set of CDs for us with ‘Laptop’, as well as a few DVDs to show people. He will also be producing a set for the Gees. When we finish this one, I’ve been promised a set of CDs before we close down. Let’s get the show on the road.”
Marianne Gregory © 2025