Positively Patsy Part 3

We went back to the hotel and had dinner. In the evening we were sitting in the lounge when Grog came in with Peggy. He came over to me and asked if we could have a private conversation so we moved to a side room and sat around a table. He said that he had told Peggy about his plans for the final show and that she would support him afterwards.

Peggy said that it was such a shame that she found her father only to find that her time with him was to be limited but Grog said that he will make it last as long as he could now. He said that previously he was resigned to death but she had given him a reason to fight. He then asked me about the final song. I told him that I had an idea of a song where he sings the chorus line first, then the girls and I sing each verse which will be about the various parts of his career and that Jake was practicing the killer riffs. At the end he sings the chorus as an ending and that I thought it would be nice if Janet and Libby came to the front of stage and led him to the exit where he could turn and wave while the rest of us played on. I said I was sure his band would be left floundering by it as planned. He said “What about the words, Patsy, it all depends on the words.” So I sang him the opening chorus quietly –

“Don’t be sad, when you see me walk away,
I’ve played my songs and I have had my day.
I’ve seen it all and experienced highs and lows,
But now I need my rest and now I have to go.”

“Oh Patsy, you are a wonderful wordsmith” he said “What about the ending?”

“So don’t be sad when you see me walk away,
No need to cry, just applaud my leaving.
You did me proud and now my chest is heaving,
So don’t be sad, as I must now say farewell,
And as a heavy metal icon – I’ll see you all in Hell!!”

He laughed heartily at this and had to dab his eyes. “Oh, Patsy, I take that last remark back. You are the legend among wordsmiths. I couldn’t have come up with all of that in just a few lines if I had all year to write it.” I told him about the five areas of his life that we would sing about and said he should talk to Jake about the riffs he wanted. He asked me if I could go and get Jake now so I got up and went into the lounge.

I saw Jake sitting with the band so went over and asked him if he could join me in a private conversation, so generating smirks on the faces of the other members of the band. He followed me to the side room and we sat down. Grog said “Jake, I have heard you play and I believe that you are capable of playing some of my old riffs for the final number, have you tried some out?” Jake said he had and then they talked about the various eras and decided on the five riffs that Grog wanted to hear on the night. Then Grog said “Right, all but one of those riffs was played on my old Fender Telecaster and you will not be able to replicate the exact sound as the old girl had been tweaked electronically. The final one from the current era can be played on an SG like Patsy’s. Can you play that one, Patsy?”

I said I probably could, given a bit of time. “Jake, because of what you are going to do with that song, and because of my faith in your future career, I am going to give you the old Fender to use on the night. Have it on when you come out on stage at the end. I know you will look after it like I have but don’t show it around until after we have done this.” Jake was staggered by this but promised to keep it under wraps. Grog said he would have his people ship it from his house to the K Beat office for Jake to pick up when in the states. This would give him a bit of time to get things right.

Grog said the one he wanted me to play was from the song they used as an encore. It was called ‘Pillsplitter’ and was a pleasant ditty about a guy who loved his girl so much he would share his ‘medication’ with her. He said that they often used it for a sound check and suggested that, during the tour, we jammed with them on their sound check. He said he would suggest it as a ‘bonding exercise’. I said that we use ‘Dancefloor’ and maybe ‘Purge’ could jam with us on that. On top of everything, jamming can be great fun and a good way to let off steam after a long flight. Everything agreed, we stood and the boys shook hands while Peggy and I hugged. Then Grog hugged me and Peggy hugged Jake a little stronger than I thought suitable. I caught her eye on the way out of the room and lifted an eyebrow. She blushed and nodded.

The next day was ‘Primal Purges’ time in the studio and, although we didn’t have to be there, we all went in on the bus to see them in action. It was loud and certainly proud and Grog was the master of it all with riffs pouring out of his fingers. The man was truly a maestro. Jake stood in the control room with his mouth hanging open and we were feeling wrung out by the end of it. I made a note of the important parts of ‘Pillsplitter’ for later work. Peggy stood next to me with her hands firmly grasping my arm during the whole set. At the end she said “Gramps called him a pothead; I think he is a total legend. To think that this is my Dad.”

They didn’t have anything they really wanted to do after they finished so Grog suggested we all have a jam session with our sound check songs. Talk about moving fast! So ‘Amazon’ joined them in the studio and we started with ‘Pillsplitter’. It took a while for Jake and our band to get into the swing of things but we did get there. I thought that our four female voices joining their two made for a full sound and I think Gerome heard the same as he called from the control room “Can you do that again, please, it is a bit different.”

So we did ‘Pillsplitter’ from the top and made it last about a quarter of an hour with Grog and Jake sharing solos and having a whale of a time. We then did ‘Dancefloor’ with the others picking it up as we went along. Of course, Gerome, seeing a killing, asked for it again so we did it from the top and I think this one may have lasted twenty minutes. When we finished we were all sweaty and panting but had gelled into a single unit for the two songs.

I could see by the look on Gerome’s face that he saw it too. Roger was sitting in the corner of the studio with a silly grin on his face so I went over to him to see how he was. When I spoke to him he was unresponsive but then I saw the plugs in his ears so I tapped him on the shoulder and asked him how he was after he could hear me. “Never better” he said “what I have got today is gold on its own.”

Our group went back to our hotel after that to freshen up. We had a dinner with much conversation about the day and the prospect of the tour to come. Jake was almost still in shock with sharing the front line with Grog and amazed with himself for holding his own. “I’ve never played like that before” he said “I felt the spirit enter my fingers; it was if I was being lifted to another level.”

The next day we had time to sightsee and took in all the best bits of Geneva. The following day we went back to the chateau for a small conference on the do’s and don’ts for the various venues we were starting with. There was another party, a bit smaller than the previous ones and the day after that we went to the airport in the bus where our plane was sitting. Another one was next to it being loaded with sound gear and scaffolding – that was the one going to Singapore for the second show. We all buckled up and took the short hop from Geneva to Athens. We were on our way!!!

Part 4

It was Wednesday afternoon when we arrived in Athens and a small fleet of buses took us to our hotel. At least we were all together now. As the shows were Saturday and Sunday evening we had a couple of days to sightsee and relax. We enjoyed seeing the ancient sites and trying Greek food and all too soon it was Saturday morning and time to see the stadium. The buses took us there and we went in via a back entrance to a garage under the stage area. We all got out and were led up a flight of stairs to a corridor with lots of dressing rooms; then it was up another flight of stairs to the playing arena level followed by a temporary staircase to the stage. The stage was big, easily big enough for both bands to play side by side. The amp set-up was massive as was the venue. I reckoned at easily a hundred thousand. When I looked around the stage it was set up for both bands, with two drum sets and three keyboards so there would be no moving around between halves.

There was a stage manager to ensure that everything ran smoothly and he came around to our band with small satchels that contained our remote mics and heavy duty buds. Our guitars were produced, ready to go so we strapped in and moved about the stage to get a good feel of where to stand. Riordan tapped her comms button and asked if we were ready to go and, as we all were, she counted down from three and we started ‘Dancefloor’. About ten lines in I heard a distinct change in the music and when I looked around the others had joined us so we did an extended jam with Grog, Jake and me doing solos. At the end of it the sound man gave a thumbs up and Grog keyed his comms and said “Now let them hear what loud music really sounds like!” and we hit the straps with ‘Pillsplitter’.

Obviously, the sound man knew what was expected as the amp volume was cranked up and the noise waves threatened to push me off the stage. A couple of times I managed to mirror-image the main riff with Grog and he gave me a wink when it happened. Jake had kept his magic fingers and was really flying. I could see Grog evaluating him as we played. When we finished the sound man stood up beside the mixing desk and gave a deep bow so I reckon it was good. Grog touched his comms and said “Great work people, let’s go get something to eat now and relax until show time.” We handed over our satchels with our personal kit in and went back down to the buses.

Back at the hotel we had a lunch and sat around the pool until it was salon time. After a light dinner we went to our rooms to change. With this tour we would dress in the hotel and just pick up our personal kit and instruments at the venue so it was definitely a band that fronted the foyer. Maxine had done us proud and Lucy was pleased as she bobbed and weaved among us to make sure everything was correct. The girls had lightweight skirts in a burgundy with black peasant blouses while the guys were in black slimline pants with burgundy shirts. We all had boots with three inch heels and the guys were finding it a little difficult to walk at first. The others had their usual heavy metal outfit of leather and chains with biker boots.

We all piled onto the buses and made our way to the stadium. This time the traffic was heavy and there were also a lot of pedestrians. Climbing up to the dressing room area we were given our satchels and put on our mics and buds. Riordan checked us all through and then we strapped on our guitars and went up to the stage area. The hubbub from the audience was almost too loud to hear anyone speak so we were glad of our buds. The stage manager came over the radio saying “Five minutes to start.” Then it was three, then two and at twenty seconds we walked out on stage and took our places. At three, two, one we started playing as the lighting system kicked in. It must have looked great as the crowd was on its feet already. We worked our way through the set with both Jake and me on another plane; Joanne and Julia were really putting out good sounds and Nina must have been taking lung exercises as she really belted out the main vocals.

We finished up with the usual ‘Maximum Dance’ and, as the crowd were screaming for more, did ‘Dancefloor.’ We went up to the front of the stage and did our bows and waved to the crowd as we walked off. “Follow that!” said Jake to me and I told him that we were just the entrée, the main meal was about to erupt. There was a half an hour break so we got down to the dressing rooms where Grog and his band were kitting up. “Good crowd?” he asked and we had to admit that the crowd was excellent. “Right” he said “at the end of our set I am going to call you guys back on stage so don’t lose your kit or instruments. We, that is, the band and I, have decided that our combined version of ‘Pillsplitter’ is going to be the icing on the cake and will leave everyone talking. On top of that, it’s so much damn fun!!!”

They made their way up to the staging area and, as we had our buds still in, we could hear the stage manager counting them down. At zero the floor shook and the walls seemed to bulge as they hit the first number. We spent our time having a drink and getting comfortable and then the stage managers voice sounded in our buds that it was time to assemble. We went up to the stage area and waited until they had finished the last song. Grog then called out “I am sure you want to give your appreciation to ‘Amazon’ again, well here they come” and we went out onto the stage. Grog then shouted “It’s time to say goodnight with the ‘Pillsplitter!!!’ “; and we got stuck in to a twenty minute version of hell on earth if you were a classical scholar.

In one of the solos I played a fraction of a second behind Grog and I could hear the Doppler-effect from the amps so he nodded at Jake and the next time we played it we were each a little out and the effect was intoxicating, a bit like a Lesley speaker on nitrous oxide. At the end the crowd was jumping up and down and I could see tears in the eyes of many in the front rows, although that could have been the effect of two thousand watts on the ducts; I know my tubes were cleaned out. We all bowed and waved to the audience and walked off the stage as the stadium lights came up.

Down in the dressing rooms we gave up our instruments and popped our personal stuff into the satchels. We were joined by Roger, Lucy and Peggy and went down to the buses and back to the hotel where we had to be taken around to a secure entrance. At breakfast next morning I found out that Peggy and Lucy had seats in the sweet spot next to the mixing board and that Roger had been everywhere with his telephoto lens. Grog stood up and said that it was a great evening and that if every show went as well it would be a highly successful tour. We took it easy during the next day and followed the same routine in the evening to a rapturous crowd.

Monday morning we had a round of interviews with TV and radio and they got me and our girls posing in our L’Estrange outfits for the fashion papers. Marion, Janet and Libby were feeling a bit left out with all this fashion attention so we got Lucy to measure them up and send a message to Maxine to see if we could get some outfits for them sent to Singapore. We flew to Singapore on Tuesday for a Saturday and Sunday show there. It was hot and rained in the afternoons but the venue was covered so the rain would not be a problem. On the Wednesday we took a trip around the island and Thursday a ride over to Saratoga Island on the cable car, an experience not for the squeamish. Friday we went to the venue for the sound check and then relaxed until show time Saturday evening.

It went as well as Athens on both nights and we were pretty happy with the way things were progressing. Again, our Monday was interviews and photos. This time all the girls were included in the fashion shots. Tuesday was the flight to Tokyo and probably our toughest gig so far as the Japanese take their music very seriously. The stadium here was the biggest so far, seating close to a hundred and fifty thousand with the playing surface covered.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 31

After we had all gone down to the dressing rooms and change back into normal clothes, Lucy took charge of the stage gear for cleaning and transporting to New York. I went to see each of our stars and told them that we would get together in a week Friday at their hotel in New York and to enjoy their break. I told them to watch the Seattle show on the weekend as it was a bit different.

We let the Nashville choir go home with their families, carrying their make-up cases and the Cotswolds choir was in for a treat as we had organised a trip to Disney World for a few days, followed by some more time in Los Angeles. Greg and Peggy were heading back to the Manor for a few days for him to get his breath back and I warned him to be at the hotel in New York on the Friday or I would come and find him this time. Out in the foyer we mingled with our guests. The TV guys were now happy and their sound and light guys were comparing notes and making a plan of camera positions. Simon told me that there would be several requests for more shows in the future and I told him I would think about it. He said he had come to an agreement with Roger over the book and that I would have to go on a signing tour when it comes out. He also told me that the TV guys had asked who the producer and director was and he had told them it was my show from start to finish.

They also wanted me to go to New York to record some comments about why the Seattle show was different. I said to tell them that I would get Chris to film me in Nashville and we would send it to them, just email the questions. If they did it quickly I would do it tomorrow as I was going with the Cotswolds choir to Disney World. Finally the headmaster of the Nashville High School collared me and told me how wonderful the show was and how much I had given his choir in training and exposure. He said it would put the school on the map and it was a pity I had not attended it. I nearly burst out laughing as I had, indeed, gone there as Patrick and that he was my maths teacher at the time. I stifled my giggles and turned them into a big smile and I told him it would have been a pleasure to attend such a forward looking establishment.

As he left the Mayor came up to me and told me that I would get something in the post regarding a citation from the city as I was bringing so many good vibrations. I saw Simon talking to the TV guys as I left and he gave me a thumbs-up so I went up the stairs to Chris and asked him to come out to the ranch tomorrow with a camera and sound man as we needed to film additions to the show that was to be played next Saturday night.

Those of us staying at the ranch went home. I was worn out. That night Joanne made me a hot drink and gave me a cuddle as I calmed down. After a good nights sleep I checked my emails and printed off the list of questions the TV guys wanted answered and, when Chris turned up, we went into the studio to record the clips. Knowing how the show went I could give the answers required, with a bit of extra insight into the situation. I gave Chris the email address to send the clips to and thanked him for his help and asked if he was out of pocket. He said that having a copy of last nights show was reward on its own as it was gold for twenty years in the future.

That sorted, we saw Greg and Peggy off to the UK and Riordan, Nina and Julia left for New York. We packed our bags and left Mary to look after the ranch and went to the hotel and pick up the choir and choir master. Our security man drove us in my SUV and we waved him off when we got to the hotel. We had a bus take us to the airport and we flew down to Florida. At Orlando airport we had a bus take us directly to the hotel at Disney World and gave out the two day passes, warning them that too many hot dogs would mean they couldn’t get into their stage dresses or suits.

After a great time that tired them all out we flew to Los Angeles and a visit to see Lorraine at the studio. She had organised a tour and a social gathering and we had a lot of fun. The choir was awed by the TV and film stars they met and they knew Lorraine from her first film but had not realised that she was one of our original band. All the girls were a bit fluttery at meeting Burt Jackson but he spoiled his image by backing into a barbeque to put a mark across the back of his pants. I said we had to call him Burnt Jackson from now on and there was much giggling. A lot of pictures were taken and I saw some of the stars give choir members a hug and thought that it would be a wonderful memory to take back to Oxford. We took a tour of the sights and went to one of the shows on at the time and then we all flew directly to New York on the Wednesday to be bussed to our hotel.

I called Simon to say we had arrived and that both choirs were back together. He asked me if I had seen the Seattle show on TV and I had to admit that I was too busy having fun. He said that the ratings were through the roof and that the clips I had done really gave an insight into life on the road. He told me he would bring the clippings when he saw me next. I told the choirs that night at dinner that Thursday they were going to be immortalised as models. I said that we would be all day at the premises of L’Estrange and there would be a photo shoot for the Fall and Winter collection. I added that the payments for modelling would be paid into the choir account and not to be surprised at the amount. I told the girls not to wear any make-up as it would all be done for them.

We went to the premises of L’Estrange Fashions and Beauty in our bus and when we arrived, Maxine ushered everyone in to the big studio, where Alexi was waiting with his crew. Meg had a crew for the dressing and Ann was there with her team of make-up artists so the choir was quickly sorted into groups. As there were only eight boys, they had their own group and were taken off to the dressing rooms by Meg. There were the sixteen girls then to sort into three separate groups, one of the taller blondes, one of the taller brunettes a, one of everyone else. They were taken to three of the cutting rooms that had been converted to dressing rooms. Alexi had a strict listing of the clothes that were to be photographed and it was up to the dressers to choose the models so it wasn’t long before the first few came back in Fall get-up.

I knew now why the air conditioning was set a bit cool as I would have hated to be modelling fall and winter clothes in the middle of summer. As that group finished, another arrived and Alexi was in constant motion until lunch time when everyone had a catered lunch, standing around in whatever they were wearing at the time. Maxine then told me that it was our turn so Joanne and I were taken off to be made beautiful and dressed in the height of cool weather evening wear. We were fitted in between the other sessions and must have changed a dozen times. I could see some of the choir looking a bit tired and mentioned it to Maxine, who assured me that there was just one session to go. At the end of it they were told that they had handled themselves like professional models and that everyone could choose one outfit they had worn to take away with them.

As they went off to pick their clothes, Maxine told me that it looked like it would be a very impressive catalogue. She wondered whether we could all get together in January to do the Spring and Summer shoot and I told her I would ask the choir masters but to make sure it was somewhere warm. She said she was thinking about a shoot in Australia.

We finally got the excited singers into the bus with their clothes on hangers in garment bags and took them back to the hotel where, after allowing a half an hour for freshening up, had a dinner with Riordan, Nina and Julia joining us. I told them that we would be doing a morning of sight-seeing and would go out to the stadium in mid-afternoon to have a look only. I knew that we would have to treat a few cases of the jitters when the choir saw the huge stadium so I got the band members together to warn them to look out for signs the next day and to make sure to say that, just as two thousand people loved them in Nashville, the audience here will love them as well. I didn’t say that the expected TV audience was predicted to be about a hundred million.

Part 32
Next morning we got our bus and went for a cruise around New York, with a stop at Coney Island for a hot dog and burger lunch. We then meandered our way to the stadium, arriving at about three pm. We took them through the main entry and walked through the vendors sites being set up, many greeting us warmly and some giving the choir little keepsakes. There was my crew from the music store setting up our stand and I noticed our favourite car company had a couple of cars on revolving platforms. There were a few stalls selling posters and the choir were amazed at seeing themselves being displayed.

There were also stalls with the different CD’s and DVD’s on. I explained to the choirmasters that the stock was purchased from our distributors and there will be a percentage being paid into their choir accounts. The English one said that as we had paid for their whole time in hotels and Disney World, airfares and everything else, how could we afford it and pay the choirs as well. I just said “When I take you up on to the stage you will see the auditorium; just try to work out what the ticket sales here will be at around a hundred and fifty dollars a seat; and remember we sold out last week.”

We finally got around to the dressing rooms where Lucy was already setting up the stage clothing on racks and the beauticians were setting up their make-up tables. One of the Cotswolds girls said “Back home my mother didn’t like me wearing make-up. She is sure to get a shock when I step off the plane.” The stage here was quite wide so we had set it up so there was a decent wing each side that was out of sight of the audience. We had put a couple of porta-loos each side to take care of on stage jitters. There was also a set of steps either side so we split the choir into the grouping they would be for the later sets and I led one group up the right hand side and Joanne led a group up the left.

When we walked them out to the centre of the stage there were audible gasps from the choir. I saw one girl turn white and quickly went over and gave her a hug and got her to sit on the floor with her head down for a few minutes. I could see a couple of others in the same situation so told them sternly to sit. When they were all feeling better I told them to stay as they were for a little while longer and went to the front of the group and asked for their attention. I said “I know this is a bit of a shock as we have never told you the size of the audience tomorrow night to keep you from worrying. This is the situation; you sang to two thousand in Nashville and they all loved you. Tomorrow night you will sing your hearts out to sixty thousand and they will all love you as well.”

“One of the things that someone said to me early in my career was that the people out there have paid good money to come and hear you sing. It is your responsibility to give them the best you can. We will have more wattage behind us as it is a very big room so tomorrow I will supply everyone with genuine rock and roller ear buds. This is all a big step for you all and it will give you something to talk about for years to come. I bet you will annoy the hell out of your children and grandchildren with it – you first big gig.”

“Now, tomorrow morning is free time to catch up with your families at home; the hotel wi-fi has a special code which is A1CHOIRS for you to use so you can call who-ever you want. We will have a good lunch and come here to dress and get made up before doing a full show as a sound check so that the camera, sound and lighting people can get their settings and cues. Tomorrow night is a one and only event so we want it to be as good as we can for those punters out there. Does everyone understand that?’

They all said yes so I added “one of the effects of playing to a crowd this size is that they get so excited it tends to get you excited too. Don’t be afraid of it as it has happened to the rest of us more than once. Because of this I want you all to pack an extra pair of panties and I will hand out pads for everyone tomorrow with the buds. I know that tomorrow will be very different to anything you have ever experienced but you have been magnificent up to now and I know that none of you will falter tomorrow.”

With that we left the stage and went back to our bus and then to the hotel for dinner. The rest of the show having arrived while we were out, it was a big group that sat down that night. Simon arrived with a file of clippings from last Saturday’s show about Seattle and it was generally written up as a great piece of rock and roll history and a real insight into the inner workings when something goes wrong. One bright spark had delved into the archives and discovered that no-one had noticed anything different at the time. Didn’t he realise that this was the whole point!

Simon told the assembly that the ticket sales had maxed out and the forward sales of the TV show to international interests had been strong, so each choir, each star and each band members will get a bonus into their accounts. He also mentioned about Rogers’ book and our plan to sell it with a DVD of tomorrow nights’ show and that there would be payments for that and any record sales going our way in the future.

Shantel spoke up and said that she had come into the event because of the picture I had painted and that she was not close to being disappointed with what had transpired. She said that she had learned a lot of things about herself that will stay with her forever so the show will just be the icing on the cake. Yolande said that when she went home for a break last week she was constantly being looked at strangely by her friends as she had mellowed so much they thought that she was taking something. Barbreeza took that up and said that her partner had searched her bags to try and find out what was making her so happy. We told everyone to get an early night and to have a long bath before going to bed to relax the stress and I told them I would see them all at breakfast, ready to conquer the world!

Next day, after breakfast, I was sitting in the lounge, reading a paper, when Simon came in to talk to me. He told me that all the preparation at the stadium was complete and just needed the sound check to finalise things. I told him that we will be doing the whole show in the afternoon so the settings can be made then. He said he would tell the TV guys as they would want to film the whole thing first in case of an unexpected power cut or something. He then told me that one thing he didn’t mention last night was that, as I was director and producer of the show, I would be getting a personal bonus. I protested that all I did was to try and make everything work and he said that, if it wasn’t for me, none of it would have happened.

He asked me about my future thoughts and I said that I just had to get past tonight first. Then I said that with the charity and a couple more ‘Angels of Joy’ albums, plus my time with the music store and any other commercial ventures, it would not leave a lot of time for much else except song writing, my first love. He told me that all five of our lady stars wanted me to write songs for them as they thought I had a magic touch. Also that the TV guys were thinking into the future and saw a stage show along the lines of Andrew Lloyd Webber, as long as I wrote and produced it! I sat up and exclaimed “What!!” He nodded and said it was true, they wanted to fund a show like ‘Cats’ or ‘Phantom’ and all I needed to do was think of a story and about twenty songs. They considered it nothing for a girl of my talents.

I was staggered and almost fell out of my chair but pulled myself together enough to answer “A young girl from the choir called me ‘Wonder Woman’ a while ago but I don’t think that I have developed into ‘Miss Miracles’ just yet. That concept is just too far away from reality.”

When he left I sat there with the paper now forgotten and called the waiter for a fresh coffee. As I thought about what he had said I was firstly about to laugh it off but then I thought that I already had a story to tell. I could do something about my ancestor, Richard Reece, and his adventures with Drake. I knew we could borrow items from the British Museum – swords, armour, costumes – or, at least have access to them so we could make genuine copies that were lightweight enough to wear on stage. There were also lots of larger gold artefacts that we could copy to make authentic stage props. The man was a genuine privateer who had never had his story written up in the history books. This meant that I could, if needed, make up stories, with songs, that would never be questioned. The more I thought about it, the more I warmed to it.

Damn that Simon and send all the TV executives to the gangplank!!

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 5

When we went to get dressed for the first show on the Friday evening we found that Maxine had supplied us with outfits with a Japanese flavour. All the girls were in variations of the ‘Lolita’ fashion so loved by young Japanese girls, while the boys had button-to-the-shoulder tunics with dragons front and back. On any other day I would have thought it over the top but, having walked around Tokyo and seen what was being worn in the street, I was interested to see what the audience, and the media, thought of our gear.

We went through the usual preshow ritual and were entirely ready for the moment we walked on stage to play the first song. What we were not ready for was the roar of approval when the audience saw us. We worked through the set as usual and did the ‘Dancefloor’ encore and left the stage. Down in the rooms I said “That was different”. As usual, ‘Primal Purge’ did its best to demolish the far wall of the stadium and then we were back up on stage with them and the ‘Pillsplitter’ finale. We got the Doppler Effect again when we soloed which was odd, as we had not got it in Singapore.

Next morning we were having breakfast when a hotel undermanager came up to us and told us that there were about a hundred reporters and photographers wanting to talk with us. He said he had already organised a large room, so when we had finished we made our way to the room where a horde of eager reporters awaited. The main thrust of the questions came down to two topics, the tour and how it was going; and our outfits last night. The common question was ‘who made them?’ so we allowed Lucy to describe the process of how they were made and the input of a Japanese designer working for Madame L’Estrange. We said we had similar for the next two shows in Tokyo and told the photographers that we would allow a half an hour before we leave for the venue tonight so they could snap away. I could imagine Maxine chuckling over her tea when the reports filtered back to New York.

After this it was a steady weekend; we did the photo shoot, played the Saturday and Sunday shows and on Monday we were again bombarded with requests for interviews. It was un-nerving to be interviewed by morning show hosts in Japan, they seemed cast from the same insipid mould that they used in the states but they were so damned polite it was impossible to get mad at them.

Tuesday saw us fly to Sydney for a three night gig. On the plane I asked Grog about the weird effect when we jammed and he said that he had been thinking about it himself. I pointed out that both times it happened was with the number one stage and that we may get it again in Auckland. He said that it would be nice to be able to call it up at will so sent a text to the tour freight manager asking him about any differences in settings or positioning of the amps.

In Sydney we were to play at their Olympic Stadium so the weather was a factor. Luckily it stayed fine for the weekend after a bit of rain on the Wednesday. We spent some time on a private yacht on the Harbour on Wednesday afternoon and then had a private tour of the Opera House. Thursday we were supposed to have been taken for a tour of a local wine region but this was altered after it was pointed out that none of us drank wine. Instead we were taken to the Taronga Zoo where the media got lots of nice pictures of us petting furry, and some not-so-furry, animals. On Friday we did the sound check and relaxed until show time. Maxine had given us outfits that featured the colours of Australia, yellows, greens and rusty reds so we looked quite ‘ocker’ when we walked onto the stage. The shows went as well as we now expected and both Monday and Tuesday saw us on TV again. The Auckland gig was just the two nights so we flew over on Wednesday.

Auckland was a smaller venue, as befits a country with a much smaller population, but Grog had played here in the past so was much revered. This I found out when we left the airport in the buses with a supporting convoy of very large guys on big motorbikes that rode with us to the hotel and created an avenue we had to walk down when we got out of the bus. As we reached the steps of the hotel a group of them formed up in front of us and did what could only be described as a war dance. At the end, Grog went up to the head man and they rubbed noses. After that it was all smiles. Some greeting, I was almost pooping my pants!

On Thursday, they flew us down to the South Island to Taupo where we got on buses to go to the Milford Sound. We had a very relaxing boat trip on the Sound among the most beautiful surroundings. Back in Auckland on Friday we went to the venue for the sound check. Try as we could, we did not get the effect we were looking for. We asked the stage manager and he told us that they had checked the manifests for both stages and the only difference between the set-ups was the placing of our radio receivers into the amps but he had fixed it now. We asked him if he could put them back the way they were and, after he had consulted some paperwork, we tried again and magically the effect appeared.

It looked like Grog and I were plugged into the same amp here but not on the other stage and, with the mic’ing up of the speakers to be relayed to the PA system, we set up a sort of audio strobe that didn’t happen when we were going through two separate amps. We asked the stage manager nicely if he could arrange for the other set-up to be altered to be the same. The effect did not change our individual sets, only when we played together. The two nights in Auckland went well and we spent our, now usual, Monday being interviewed and on Tuesday took the longest hop so far, to Hawaii.

By now, we had settled into a routine, only broken by having to play. On the flights we could sit and chat or hit the gym machines. I tended to use the treadmill more than anything else but it did help with my fitness. It was a funny feeling to be running on the spot while tens of thousands of feet in the air and going forward at several hundred kilometres an hour. We had got into the routine of using hotel laundries while we were on the ground and it did keep us all looking and feeling good.

Hawaii was our first show on the US soil and it was a two night event. We did the tourist stuff with the media in tow on the Wednesday, relaxed at the beach on Thursday and went to the venue on Friday for the sound check. We were happy that we got our effect again. Now we were in the US, ‘Amazon’ was as big as ‘Primal Purge’ so there was intense media coverage for both bands. We had to do a meeting with the press on Friday afternoon and it was a relief when Saturday came around and we could claim that we were mentally preparing ourselves for the show. It was good to see our vendors had set up here. The two shows, Saturday and Sunday, went well again. I was almost thinking that it all seemed too good to last but hoped it did.

Come Tuesday we flew to Los Angeles for a three night gig. We caught up with Lorraine and her leading man, a real hunk called Burt Jackson. On Wednesday evening Hector Vickers the Third (her Producer) threw a party for us with a fair number of film and TV actors in attendance as well as the well-heeled of Hollywood. We mingled, nibbled, got our pictures taken by the press, and generally had a good time, especially watching those who made good use of the liquor provided. I am sure some were primed before they arrived. When we left there were a few draped over couches and other places and I wondered how they managed to actually work their craft. Maybe it is all a con; the stars on the screen are all stand-ins who are teetotal while the names are all in rehab. I hoped that Lorraine could resist the pull of the pushers; she seemed to have done so to date.

Part 6

The gig in LA was three nights so we were able to keep ourselves from the press over the weekend but, come Monday; it was wall to wall invitations for interviews. We spread ourselves out and we satisfied most of the stations that wanted to talk. Tuesday we flew to Miami for a two day gig so had plenty of time to meet the press and relax before the weekend. However, there was bad news for Grog as he was told that one of his ex-wives had died over the weekend and that the funeral was Wednesday of the following week. He, Peggy and the rest of his band except the girls, decided they needed to be in the UK for the funeral so arrangements were made for them to fly from Miami to Heathrow on the Monday morning after the shows. If everything worked well they would be in Seattle for the next gig by Saturday morning. The rest of us still had use of the 747. We did the Miami shows and they flew off on Monday morning, leaving the rest of us to do the morning shows.

Seeing where we were, we got our pilot to fly us to Nashville on Monday afternoon where we checked our mail, renewed our underwear and, in the case of the band and I, did a couple of practise sessions of Grog’s finale song. As promised, the Fender had been delivered to K Beat and Jake handled it like it was a goddess. I told him to treat it like it was a battle-axe and he was amazed at the sounds he got from it. Over the Tuesday and Wednesday we got it down and recorded it to a CD so Grog could get the timing. Thursday we flew to Seattle and Friday we did the sound check. To make it easier for the audio guys we did ‘Pillsplitter’ at Purge Volume so they could get the settings close. We fielded the press and told them that the others were due back Saturday and the show ‘will go on!’

Come Saturday we made sure we had everything right for the shows. When we arrived at the stadium the stage manager was beside himself. It seemed that the flight the boys were to take had been diverted to New York due to a technical problem. This put them needing a different way to get to Seattle and the timing seemed to indicate that they would not be at the stadium until about a half an hour after they were due on stage. We sat around and discussed the problem. Jake suggested that we did an extended set and listed a few songs we could add as well as pushing the timing on our dance numbers.

I suggested that an announcement was made just before the show that, due to a technical problem, the opening act would be delayed for fifteen minutes. We could put some screams and squeaks through an amp to back that up and have a couple of techs pull the back off it and look worried before smiling and giving a thumbs up to the crowd. I told the stage manager to let us know when Grog and the rest are ready for the stage and that we will start playing ‘Dancefloor’. The other band can then join us in a jam and, when it finished, we could remove ourselves from the stage so that they could start their own set. That would allow us to finish close to time. I was wondering what it was about Seattle that changed our shows as it was here that a lot changed in our previous time on stage.

In the end, it all went as planned. The techs put on a bit of a show with some interesting sounds from the amp and got a big round of applause when the showed that it was all fixed. We were kitted up and went on stage with the stage manager giving us the countdown to match the light show and we were away. The lighting guys had been told where we were adding bits and they were able to make it all look as if it was part of the show. We did extended versions of ‘Bounce’ and were just about ready to play ‘Maximum Dance’ when the stage manager told us that the others had arrived and were getting kitted. We did ‘Maximum Dance’ and bowed to the crowd who, luckily, wanted more so we started playing ‘Dancefloor’. As we got into it I heard extra instruments, firstly Marion on the extra keyboard and then Janet and Libby on vocals. I didn’t have to listen for when the rest of the band joined in as the roar of the crowd told me they were there. We jammed to the end and, as the crowd were roaring, ‘Amazon’ left the stage waving and Grog led his band straight into their set. At the end we were brought back on the stage to jam with ‘Pillsplitter’, leaving the audience tired but happy. We did a bow and waved to the crowd as we left the stage.

Down in the dressing room we all took our buds and mics off and put them in the satchels. Grog came over and shook hands with the guys and gave all of the girls a hug. “Thank you for that, it was an amazing catch that, once again, saved the day. You guys are really the best to have on tour with your ideas and ways to make it look good when all around is falling apart.” We all went back to the hotel and a welcome night’s sleep. The Sunday gig went as per the usual sets and we were surprised on Monday morning when no-one on the TV or radio shows noted any different between the two shows. I am sure the fans knew, though.

Tuesday we all flew to New Orleans for a three night gig. When we checked into our hotel we found our ‘support crew’ and other friends already there. Alice had organised tickets for everyone and K Beat paid for the accommodation and flights. I was able to spend some time with Ruby and Jim was in his element talking to Grog and the band. Roger was chatting with his buddies and showing them some of the photos he had taken. I introduced Peggy to Jim and, once again, she was amazed to meet him has he had featured in her ‘Great Producers’ course at Uni. Grog was telling everyone how we saved the day in Seattle and Alice told him that this was ‘situation normal’ for Patsy.

I had a chance to speak to Peter and his family and he told me that the car sales were holding well with the new outlook. He looked ten years younger and when I mentioned it to his wife she said that she prays every day with thanks for sending me. Her daughters were beside themselves, as usual, to be in our midst and I made sure to introduce them to Grog and the others. They were taken aback by the exposed tattoos on the band as we didn’t see much of that in Nashville, yet! Wednesday and Thursday went well, with us all doing some tourist things with the press in tow and then came Friday and the sound check.

It all was good and we had our first look at the enormous stadium. Friday evening was the first show so we went through the usual salon and dressing rituals. Maxine had supplied some Spanish inspired stage gear with big skirts and boleros. The show went as usual and we got back to the hotel well before any of the audience. At breakfast the friends from Nashville came in looking like they had been in a war. “How on earth do you put up with that volume?” asked Jim. Of course we all put a hand to our ear and said ‘What!” He laughed and told us that his sinus was clearer than it had been for years.

Saturday and Sunday shows went well and, as the Nashville group went to fly home, we did our usual interviews. Tuesday we flew to Saint Louis for a two night gig and the following Tuesday was Chicago for a three nighter. We were getting old hands at the system now and the shows all went well with full houses. After Chicago we had a three night gig in Washington, DC. We were surprised to get an invitation to meet and greet with the President but I was not surprised when everyone said no as we were too busy. I expected that he would have been able to hear us from the White House.

On the Tuesday we flew to New York for our last US show. It had been fun and I am sure we had sold a lot of albums. Simon came to see us at the hotel in the afternoon and told us that we had, indeed, sold enough albums to push us into the platinum disc area. Actually, both bands had made the grade. He told us that sales in Europe were going through the roof as well. He took me aside and told me that Gerome had sent him a CD of the folk and cabaret songs and that he wanted me and Joanne to do an album of cabaret songs with an orchestra as soon as we finished the tour.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 7

On the Wednesday evening there was a party, hosted by Annette and Maxine L’Estrange so, of course, all the girls had to look their best. We all were taken to the new building which was now fully equipped for the production of high fashion and cosmetics. The group now included Peggy, Marion, Libby and Janet as well as Angela and Mary. We were all stripped, provided with underwear, new make-up, shoes and evening dresses to die for.

Of course, there was a price to pay and, as we were ready, we were paraded in front of a green screen while Alexi and his team took pictures. I gathered that these would eventually form the basis for a special catalogue. We went straight from here to the party venue which was filled with more of the well-heeled but more genteel members of high society as befitting of Maxine’s customer base.

One interesting facet of the evening was that there were plenty of copies of the spring fashion catalogue as well as copies of the summer one; all with pictures from our photo shoot earlier in the year. We were posed with customers for pictures and our dresses were commented on. All we could say was to ask Maxine as we had only been put into them today. One of the guests, a well-known billionaire, commented to me on how the sisters had turned the fashion business on its head by using current pop stars as models.

The shows went well and the Monday interviews were again split into two camps, the women’s shows wanting to talk about the fashion and the men wanting to talk about the tour. On Tuesday we flew the short hop to Montreal for another three-night, sell-out, gig and then it was across the water to our first European show, a two night gig in Madrid. As Europe was the fan base of Grog and his band, we were shifted a bit sideways but it was a relief not to be hounded by the press for a while.

After the two shows where we wore our Spanish inspired outfits, it was a different matter, with the women interviewers picking up on our modelling. Tuesday we flew to Paris for our first four day sell-out gig with shows Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The female press had, by now, picked up the fashion side of our show and was running with it. This threatened to burst when we played the Paris shows in our evening dresses from the New York Party with the guys in suits. Even Marion, Janet and Libby wore theirs which looked somewhat strange against their bands metal gear.

I knew that Maxine had her tongue firmly in her cheek when she put these in for us. It was a smack on the nose to the Paris designers and it certainly gained us column inches in the local and European press. The next gig was three nights in Rome, another fashion city and the bubble was carried along with us. There we were shown the Ferrari factory and we girls were photographed in, or draped over, various cars. I swear that some were so low I could use them as bar stools.

Our next two European cities were heavy metal heaven, Berlin and Oslo. The four nights in Berlin was like standing in front of a barbarian army with more chains, studs and tattoos I have ever seen. They loved ‘Primal Purge’ and really loved the jamming finale, which we extended to over a half an hour, just for them. After Oslo it was over to the UK and the final section, starting with Glasgow for two nights and then on to Liverpool for three, Birmingham for three and Bristol for three before the final show, four nights in London.

This was to be Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We were now in the first week of October, having been on the road since the end of April. I was getting ready to stop but part of me didn’t want it to. I spoke about it to the rest of the band and they all felt the same. It would, however, be nice to spend some nights in my own bed, for a change. We had given Grog the CD with the final finale and had managed to get a few hours in a quiet room with him to run through it. Before the London shows he announced that we wanted us to follow the Seattle example and not have an interval. We were to do a few of our additions and they would join us for ‘Dancefloor, do a few extras themselves and get us back for ‘Pillsplitter’.

This went well on the four evenings and the crowd was very happy, while the press was full of our ‘fabulous show’. At the end of their set on the last show, we were called back on to the stage and Jake had the special Fender strapped on. We did ‘Pillsplitter’ and I saw that Grog was a bit emotional when Jake let loose on his old guitar. At the end the crowd went wild as usual and Grog unstrapped his guitar and gave it to Kyle to hold and went out to the front of the stage and held his hands up for quiet. When he got it he said “Friends, fans and music lovers; it has come to the end of our farewell tour.”

There was a loud groan at this. “I have asked Patsy, here, to write me a little song to say how much I love you all and I ask that you allow us to sing it for you. It is not as loud as the songs you have just heard but the message is clear.” I started with the opening chords and he started singing “Don’t be sad, when you see me walk away”. At the first verse about his early career in rock and roll he smiled when Jake nailed the killer riff and the crowd roared. In the second verse about his time playing blues the crowd roared again when Jake replicated a very famous passage. For the third verse I had written about his supergroup days and, again, there was a killer riff that brought the expected response. The fourth was about his time back in rock and roll when he did some solo records. There were many to choose from here but we had picked the most famous and the riff nearly brought the hose down. The fifth was about the heavy metal and my turn to play the riff. Of course, we were playing quieter so we had got the audio to turn me up for the riff, which I thought sounded just like the real thing.

After this he sang out the final chorus while Janet and Libby came to stand on each side of him. As he sang the last line “As a heavy metal icon – I’ll see you in Hell!!” they guided him to the back of the stage where he turned and waved to the audience before disappearing down the stairs. The crowd went wild, I looked at his band who were standing there gobsmacked. We sang the chorus line again and played the final chord as the lights went out. It took nearly half an hour for the crowd to settle down enough to start leaving. We were all completely drained with the emotion. Kyle came over to Jake and said that he had sounded almost better than Grog with the riffs. What he then said made Jake stop and think. He said “you know, by letting you have that guitar he has anointed you as his successor, and a worthy one. I am sure the music press is going to have a field day with that last little song, I know I was crying as it played through.”

We did our final gathering of buds and mics for the satchels and made our way to the hotel and a shower, I was soaked through from the stress. After my shower I was in my nightie and in bed asleep almost as my head hit the pillow. While we were not going anywhere else, Monday morning was full of interviews with Jake getting grilled on his being the ‘anointed one’ and many questions about the final song. I was asked if it was to be released and I told them it was a one-off which may turn up on social media from the audience but was never to be performed again. “It is Grog’s farewell and is his to keep.”

Jake was amazed later in the week to be on the front cover of ‘Guitarist’ in full flight with the Fender. I saw that the photo was taken by Roger. We hung about London for a few days trying to get our heads back together and I got a message from Maxine to go and see a friend of hers in the trade. When I got to the address I was shown into the office of a well-known dress designer and asked if I would grace the cover of her next catalogue. So that’s why I stayed in London when the rest of the band flew back to Nashville by normal airlines, the 747 having been given back to the charter company. I did a photo shoot that was over a couple of days in settings around Cambridge and was not surprised when back at my hotel I was visited by Peggy.

Part 8

Peggy greeted me like a long lost friend, with a big hug. “Patsy, it is amazing what I have gone through since I met you. My life has been just crazy with experiences. I knew what you were planning for Dad on the last night but I just did not expect to be so moved by it. It was pure artistry. Where I was sitting by the mixer board I could see fans howling their eyes out. The pathos after the high energy set was totally unexpected. The rest of his band just didn’t know what to make of it. Dad sent me to tell you his heart-felt thanks for the event and to also thank Jake for his playing.”

I said that I was happy to have been able to provide the moment. She went on “Dad wants you to come to the Cotswolds with me for a few days at the house. He wants to speak to you alone before you go back to the states.” I said I could do that as I was free at present and had not booked a flight yet; so I packed up my luggage and checked out of the hotel. The Rolls had been replaced with a less ostentatious Mercedes which she drove herself. On the way to the house I asked her if she had any plans for her own life now she was independent. She replied that it had crossed her mind that she didn’t need to but still wanted to sing. I told her that she would have a good career singing with a band and that she could pick and choose venues as she did not have to turn a profit every time. She told me she liked the songs I had sung in Geneva so I dug the Nashville CD out of my purse and we listened to them during the trip.

At the mansion the security opened the gates for us and closed them again when we were inside the grounds. I remarked that it was being kept tight and she said that there had been reporters and paparazzi lurking about for days. She said there would probably be a picture of us arriving in one of the magazines next week as the ‘mysterious guest’. When we got to the house we were greeted by Grog, who looked a bit worse for wear. He saw me notice and told me that he had been ‘artificially’ enhanced by painkillers on the tour and the medical staff had kept him going. He did say that he would not have missed it for the world. “Just playing with ‘Amazon’ was a real blast as you are all so professional and quick thinking.” He then said “Patsy, I have asked you here as a special favour to me. You are, believe it or not, the first person outside the medico’s and the staff to see me since that London show. I intend to keep it this way as I do not want photos of gaunt Grog in the magazines. I will be getting gaunt as that is the way of my illness. Peggy, here, is fully aware of what is to come and I praise the day you brought her to me as she will be my rock.”

He led the way into a small drawing room with easy chairs and indicated that we should sit. He offered tea or coffee and I asked for coffee so he rang a little bell and a maid came in and took the order. He told me that the butler will have taken my bags to my room and that Peggy would show me where it was later on. When our drinks arrived I sipped on mine and waited for him to tell me what he needed me for. He thought for a while and then said “Patsy, my wealth is not as great as all this indicates. I was a bit of an expensive addict when I was younger and I now realise I should have invested a bit more wisely than the next high. Mind you, the tour has realised quite a bit of income from tickets and album sales so it will be significant when I die. I know that this house is far too large for Peggy after I have gone and I know she would prefer something a little easier to maintain. My thoughts have been that it would make a grand country residence for children from a disadvantaged background. I saw the work that you and Riordan do with the homes in the USA and I was wondering if I could do something here. There is already a medical centre in the house as well as a gym and about twenty bedrooms, most with ensuite”

“There is also a fully equipped recording studio and ball-room so it could be run as a live-in music camp. I wonder if I could impose on you to look into a worthy organisation that could do it justice.” I said that I would be happy to assist in such a worthy venture and would talk to Riordan about any input she may have. I asked Peggy if she was all right with the concept and she told me that it was all good with her as she certainly could not live here afterwards. Grog looked pleased but started coughing badly. Peggy rang a bell and some medicos came in and took him away. “Sorry about that” she said “but he does get that from time to time. They will calm him down and put him on a drip for a few hours so I had better start being the hostess.”

She took me out of the room and down a corridor. Just before the end we turned a corner; Peggy indicated the door at the end and told me that this was the medical centre and Grogs’ own rooms. Along the wing of the house were several large bedrooms to the outside and to the inside was a library, music room, ballroom and the studio. Next to the studio was a room with about fifty guitars in it. “I think that Dad will give these to Jake in his will” she said “he has got a real soft spot for him and thinks he will be the next big thing.” I asked what she thought of Jake and she blushed. “I don’t know yet. I will have to see what he thinks before I can be certain.” She added “We did get on very well during the tour but he may have been just friendly.”

Moving around to another wing we looked at the dining room, which I had already seen, the kitchens and the utility area. It all looked big and professional enough to cater to a crowd. Upstairs were about fifteen bedrooms and storage rooms. Peggy slept in a corner room with a great view over the rolling hills and she had put me in the next door bedroom. She pointed to a door opposite and told me that this was the back stairs directly to the kitchen and that I could ask for anything to be brought up. I told her that I was perfectly capable of going down to get my own and she said “Good, that is what I do.” We went down these stairs to the kitchen and I was introduced to the cook and her daughter, the maid. Peggy asked if we could eat in the kitchen as she was overawed by the dining room and we sat there and had a very nice evening meal. I needed to think so I said I was a bit tired and retired to my room. I unpacked some clothes and had a shower, dressed in my nightie and sat in a very comfortable bed to think. In the morning I knew that I was going to have to talk to Riordan and Julia and find out if their pet organisation knew of similar ones here in the UK or whether I may have to raise the funds myself.

In the morning Peggy showed me around the grounds. There were several out-buildings, as befitting the history of the house. There was a fully equipped stables and dressage arena. I asked Peggy if she knew when it was last used as everything was dusty and she said that it had not been used since Grog bought the house some fifteen years back. There was new garage with quite a few cars in it under covers and a self-contained cabin for the security team. The thing that got me was a large glass-house with an associated cabin for the gardener. The entire estate was almost self-sufficient for vegetables and there was an herb garden as well. I commented to Peggy that the house could be used as a live-in music school; a live-in cooking school or a riding school or, maybe, rotation of the three on a four month basis.

I asked her if she would consider being the headmistress of the music school, given her qualifications, and she just looked shocked at the concept but did not immediately say no. We strolled around for most of the morning; it was great to be in the open air and able to relax. After lunch I called Riordan in New York and told her about the house and Grogs’ idea for it after he had gone. When I explained about the big kitchen, the stables and the garden she became quite excited and told me that she would talk to her contact at the care home and get back to me later. She told me that she had been in a meeting with Simon and that we had made good money from the tour with pay-outs to be made in a couple of weeks. She told me to expect about twenty five million as my share! She also told me that Nina had been in the studio putting down tracks for a solo album of cabaret songs, some of them the ones Minh and I had written for her, which was to be released before Christmas.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 9

When she hung up I stopped to think for a moment. She had rattled off a figure of twenty five million as if it was chump change. I picked up my phone again and rang Sarah. After telling her where I was and the task that Grog had set me, I asked her about the payouts from the tour and queried the number that Riordan had quoted. She told me that the tour was sold out for every show; so we had grossed one billion, two hundred and seventy five thousand dollars.

After costs and various taxes it left five hundred million between the two bands. This left, roughly two hundred and twenty five million for ‘Amazon’. She said that K Beat had earned twenty five million in management fees and she thanked me for paying for the new studio. I was staggered. I knew we would make some money but my mind was thinking in the four or five million range. I asked her where that left me with K Beat and she said that I would have a picture on the wall of reception and then laughed. She said “Patsy, you can do anything you want, now. I have been loaned a copy of your cabaret songs CD and I suggest that you organise a small orchestra to record it properly. I also listened to the songs that Peggy sang in Geneva and, if you bring her to us, I will give her a contract which will include a similar album. In fact, you could record the two at the same time using the orchestra.”

When I hung up I went to find Peggy. She was in the drawing room so I sat down and asked straight out “Peggy, how would you like to record a double CD album of cabaret songs with me and a proper orchestra? We could call it Peggy and Patsy Sing the Songs for After Midnight.” She looked at me and asked me if I was joking and I said ‘No, I am perfectly serious. I have just been on the phone to Sarah at K Beat and she wants us to record separate albums but I had the thought that it would be great if we could sing our individual songs and also do some duets. She suggested a full orchestra but I think we could also do some songs with the ‘Amazon’ band.” I told her that Nina was already recording a similar album as a solo and, as far as I could see, ‘Amazon’ would not be touring for some time in the future. I thought that this would be a good use of our time while we investigated the outcome of this house and it meant that, if we did any live shows together, we would be able to wear evening dresses and jewellery on stage. She said she would think about it.

We were joined for dinner by Grog, who looked a lot better today. He asked me what I thought of the house and I said that it would not be suitable as a care home as it was too grand. He was a bit disappointed. I then told him that I thought it would be an ideal live-in music, cooking or riding school and he brightened up considerably at that. I said that I had talked to Riordan but if we could not find an organisation to run it I would fund it myself. He smiled at that and said that he thought I would be drawn to the project. I told him he was devious but I forgave him. I asked him if he had heard of how much the tour made and he said that his accountant had sent him an email this morning. He said he was amazed at just how good we did.

Peggy looked sideways at him and he told her we grossed one point two billion US. She looked like she was going to faint so I rushed to her side and helped her breath with her head down. I said, “Peggy, after costs it is a lot less but the returns to each member of each band is significant. That is what I am basing my involvement in this house on.” She said that she had never had an experience like the tour and doubted that she would experience the like ever again. I told her to wait until she was headlining her own world tour. Grog looked at me and I told him that Sarah wanted to sign her for at least one album of cabaret songs.

“That’s grand” he said “I suggest you go for it, Peggy, it would give you invaluable experience in the industry.” I said that I wondered if Gerome would let us record in Geneva and he told me that Gerome would welcome any of us there to record; and that, if he was reluctant, Stephanie would override him. He then grabbed a phone and dialled a number. When it was answered he said “Oh Stephanie, this is Greg Goggins, I have Patsy and Peggy with me and we were wondering if they could get some studio time with you down the track?” I heard her squeal from where I sat and I knew we would be there some time in the future. He finished talking and told us it was on as soon as we could find the time. He said we would stay at the chateau if we were recording. We had a good dinner and I gave my excuses and retired early. I was still reeling from the shift in my life and what I could do with the money.

The next day I made my booking to fly back to the US. I wanted to fly to New York first and talk seriously to Riordan and Julia regarding the house. Peggy and I went into Oxford and walked around the town, looking at the University buildings. We were getting on very well and some people looked at us strangely as we walked around quietly singing. We went into a record shop and were looking at the female artists rack when a chap asked if he could help. I said that we were looking for albums that were recorded in the forties and fifties by female artists and he pointed out a nostalgia rack. “I suggest that you look at the Peggy Lee or Billy Holiday albums. If you go a little later I think you will find that Helen Shapiro did a very good album of that kind of music, as did Brenda Lee.” We picked out about a half a dozen CD’s from these artists to listen to later. When I paid for them he looked at my credit card and asked if I was the Patsy from ‘Amazon’. When I nodded he got a bit flustered but managed to ask me to sign a couple of our albums; one for him and one to his girlfriend. We had to prove it was me that signed by Peggy taking a picture of us on his phone.

We had a meal out and when we got back to the house I packed up my luggage with just having an overnight bag to fill in the morning. We had a good dinner with Greg and Peggy told him about the record store guy. He told her to get used to it because she would be subject to that sort of attention when she was famous. I arranged with Peggy for her to fly to Nashville the following week to organise the paperwork with Sarah and Simon and again retired early.

Next morning Peggy drove me to Heathrow and we hugged when she dropped me off and I told her that we were going to do great things together. I pushed my trolley into the airport and to the first class counter. The joy of first class is a separate lounge to sit while waiting for the flight and I spent it catching up on my texts and sent a text to Simon asking for an appointment the next day as well as one to Maxine to tell her I would be in town. The flight was good but not a patch on the tour 747 for space. In New York I checked in to my hotel and rang Riordan. She agreed to meet me for dinner at the hotel and when she came in we hugged.

Over dinner I told her all about the house and the layout. I said that if we could not get an organisation I would fund it myself and she immediately decided to come in with me on it. She said that it would have some serious effect on our tax bill and would allow us to keep more of the tour income. I told her that Peggy and I may be recording in Geneva with an album of cabaret songs and she said she would like to come along to the session herself as she had toyed with the genre herself and “after the tour I don’t think we could top that so it may pay to shift sideways.” We chatted about the tour and the effect it would have on our lives and I said that I was rather looking forward to doing my own thing for a while.

Part 10
Next day I had the appointment with Simon so dressed well and took a taxi to his office. When I went in I had my ID around my neck so was able to go up in the elevator to his floor. Walking into the outer office I saw Mary at the secretary’s desk. We had a hug and I asked her why she was in here. She said that she was just filling in for the usual secretary who was on maternity leave and would be back to looking after bands soon. She buzzed Simon who asked if we could both come into his office. As usual, I was diverted by the fantastic view from his big window. He led us both to the easy chairs next to the window and sat us down. He asked me why I wanted to see him and I said that it looked like I would be involved with Greg’s house as an ongoing concern.

I described it and said it could be either a music; cooking or riding school or all three. I told him that even if we found another organisation to run it, I wanted to start a non-profit under the name of ‘Angels of Joy’ with myself, Peggy Evans and Riordan as the main executive. I said I would put five million into the organisation and that I thought I could get a similar amount from Riordan. Peggy did not have access to large sums of money until her father died. I told him that Peggy would be in the country next week to see Sarah and that it looked as if Peggy and I would record a double CD in Geneva in the future.

He was impressed at how much I had done in the week or two since the tour ended. “Most stars wander off to a desert island for six months and hibernate after a tour like that.” He turned to Mary and said “You ride, don’t you?” When she said she did he asked me if I would like to take over Mary as an employee? I was shocked, me employing people!!! He saw my face and said that I would be employing cooks, security staff, drivers and dressers myself in the future and it would be advantageous to have a chief of staff with the background that Mary had. I looked at her and asked her what she thought of it. She said that it would be a great idea and that she was ready for whatever I threw at her. “What about Andre?” I asked and she said that it was no longer a factor. I asked Simon if he could organise the setting up of the charity and make Mary its first employee as my Personal Assistant.

We could arrange for all the signatories to be in New York the following Wednesday. Simon then told me that I had earned a fair amount of money over the last year and would be a bit shocked when I looked at my bank statement. I had to admit that it had not bothered me over the last six months as all expenses had been picked up by the tour. He said there was royalties from all of the albums; both as a singer and writer, as well as payments for my modelling so I was now independently well off but did not own a house or even a car of my own! I thought for a bit and said that I did not know where I would put down roots as it seemed that I was halfway between Nashville and the Cotswolds at the moment.

When I left Simon I took a taxi to the premises of L’Estrange. Going in I was greeted by the receptionist who gave me a hug and told me that Maxine wanted me to go to the studio. When I walked in I was confronted by a number of staff members and both sisters who greeted me with applause. “To what do I owe the applause?” I said and Maxine said, “Patsy, you have been the catalyst in making us a new force in the fashion industry. As separate companies we just crept along until you arrived. We just wanted to thank you and to show you something.” We had some drinks and nibbles and then they pulled out some large posters in wheeled frames for me to look at. There were a couple from each shoot I had done, including the one in London for Maxine’s friend. “What do you see?” asked Maxine. “Me in some beautiful clothes” I answered, “what else is there?” ”That’s what I love about you, Patsy. You discount the fact that it is you that make the clothes beautiful. There are a lot of models who can do what you do but none make the statement that you do – ‘here I am, looking good and sophisticated but I could still be the girl next door’ – it is a classic!”

She pulled out another wide poster. It showed us on stage, in Paris, with the evening dresses on and I had to smile at the memory. I said that it was funny going on stage to rock and roll with guitars in evening dresses and I said that my thought at the time was a picture of her with her middle finger in the air at the Paris fashion houses. “Ha-ha! You know me too well” she exclaimed. She then pulled out more wide posters of us on stage in the various costumes. I told her that the Japanese one really stood out in my mind as a brilliant idea. She told me that her sales in Japan had multiplied by a factor of ten since the tour dates there and that she was getting nasty emails from Paris designers after she had taken a forty percent slice of the evening dress business in France.

She said that I should be available in early January as they were planning a fashion shoot for the spring and summer collection and they wanted me on the cover. “Oh!’ Maxine said “while you are here today we would like you to take part in a special fashion shoot that should not take long. It’s for Vogue as they want you on the cover of the Christmas edition. It’s only five outfits so we should get through it in about an hour.” Well! What could I say but yes; these ladies had bent over backwards for the band during the tour without any questions. I was now able to thank them for providing clothes for the girls of ‘Primal Purge’ to which Maxine said “it was nothing.” I asked where all of the stage gear was as I had not seen it once we had our wear from it. Maxine said it was back here, in the building and would be a special display along with the posters. In fact, it was a couple of the stage outfits that Vogue was particularly interested in.

We cleared the studio except for Alexi and his team and got down to work. The first outfit was the Japanese one and Annette herself did the make-up. I did several poses with this, some a bit over the top but it was fun. Then we did the Australian outfit and the Spanish outfit. The fourth was not stage gear but a very elegant cocktail dress which needed my hair up and the smoky eyes look with the final one being the evening dress from Paris. I had a bit of fun and when I got back into my normal wear, the sisters said they would take me out for a meal. We went to an up-market Italian restaurant and over the meal I told them about the house that Greg wanted to see used for disadvantaged children after he passed.

I said that Lucy had been a great help during the tour and Maxine told me that she would be joining L’Estrange very soon after she had worked through her notice period at K Beat. I took a guess at the stage outfits Lucy had designed and was mostly right. Maxine asked me how I knew and I said that Lucy had a flair for designs that seemed to flow well and Maxine said that was why they were poaching her.

Next day I flew to Nashville and took a taxi home. When I got there Joanne greeted me with a big hug and, after I had put my clothes away and filled the laundry hamper we sat in the kitchen with coffee and caught up on my time in the UK. When I told her about the house and my plans for it she said she wanted to be in it as well as she was looking for her future life. I told her that I was putting in five million and she said she would as well. I rang Simon to add her to the list of principals for the new charity.

I then told her about the recording session in Geneva and she was excited about recording there so now, instead of Peggy and Patsy, there would be the four of us. I had a sudden flash of inspiration and thought that we could do the CD’s under the name of ‘Angels of Joy’ and the proceeds could go to the charity. With that on my mind I rang Peggy in the UK to let her know of the developments. She was happy that there would be the four of us as principals and agreed that the CD idea was sound. She then said that she had put the charity idea to her father and that he will change his will to leave the house, contents and grounds to the ‘Angels of Joy’ charity. She then said something that floored me “Patsy, I have been getting things tidied up around the house and when the guys were taking off the ivy on the front walls by the gate, they discovered the original name of the house carved into the stone. It is called ‘Reece Manor’.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 11

Talk about coincidence! That will be something to speak to Ruby about. When I hung up I said “Joanne, how about we go and visit the nursing home then go and see Peter about getting a car?” We freshened up and took the sports car to the nursing home.

When we walked in Kay greeted us both with a hug and kiss. “Hello, you two, it’s so great to see you again after that long tour. Ruby will be so happy to see you. You were fabulous in New Orleans; the show was an absolute blast, much more energy than my days with Alice.” We went into Rubys’ room and she was sitting up in an easy chair so, after giving her a hug and kiss we pulled up a couple of other chairs and sat chatting. We talked about the tour and then I told her about Greg’s house which was called ‘Reece Manor’ She said, “Patsy, Rod would always say that he was a distant member of a noble family from England but no-one would believe much of what he said, anyway. He was a past-master of BS as befitting a pirate radio jock.”

We chatted some more and then went to the day room where the ‘support crew’ welcomed us. We had to sit for a while and relate some of the tour highlights. Roger was there and said that the finale of the last show was one of the most amazing things he had witnessed in all of his days with bands; “I could hardly see through the viewfinder, I was crying so much.” I told them about the plans for ‘Reece Manor’ and the founding of the ‘Angels of Joy’ charity. Roger said that he had two books in production, one on the formation of the new ‘Amazon’ and one on the tour. He expected them to do well and said that he would donate a quarter of the profit to the charity. I gave him a big hug and thanked him. He told me that the documentary that Chris was producing was being put to the TV channels and could be shown in the lead up to Christmas.

When we left there we went to K Beat and got in to see Alice. I asked her about the house and she told me that one of the papers I had signed a couple of years ago was the lease for it so it was my official address. The payments had been taken from my income, along with management fees and provision for tax. I asked about the sports car and she said that it was my company car and owned by K Beat, the same as the sedan that Joanne drove. I told her about ‘Reece Manor’ and she said that it would be a good idea to maintain the house in Nashville as it gave me a stable address for the government and state agencies. I would be able to live in the UK for six months or more of the year and not have to pay UK tax unless I did work there. I said that I had done a photo shoot after the tour but that I thought it was as a favour for Maxine.

She said that she was closing the Patsy Office for the moment and moving Ma to another band that was ready to go out into the world. I was to keep the media guy for myself from the other office. She told me that Jake and the band had started working on a blues album now he had an authentic sound. I told her we may want them to record with us in Geneva in the New Year on an album of ballads and blues. She told me that I certainly do not let the grass grow under my feet. When we left her we went to see Ma and Lucy, giving them both hugs I congratulated Lucy on her elevation to the fashion industry and wished her well in New York. Ma was very pleased for her but admitted to being a small-town girl and would hang around Nashville. She told me that the two tours had been the highlights of her life and that she now needed the rest. We checked the inner office and saw that Jake and the band were sharing the two desks that used to be Nina and Lorraine’s. The media guy had been moved into our outer office which was now named the ‘Amazon’ Office.

We checked out from reception and drove over to Peters’ car saleroom. When we pulled up a bouncy blonde asked if she could help and I asked to see Peter. When we were shown to his office he got up and gave us both hugs. He asked what he could do for us and I said that I was about to buy my very first car. He asked about the sports car and I told him that it was a company car. He asked what I wanted and I told him I wanted a medium size SUV with all the bells and whistles. He wondered why and I told him that I was going to be a bit more independent from K Beat in the future and wanted something that would go anywhere, in any weather. I also wanted a vehicle that provided more security than a soft top.

We went out into the lot and he showed me what he recommended and I took it for a drive. It was certainly different; being up high was a real buzz as you could see over all of the other cars. Getting back I said I would have one, picked the colours and got an invoice to take to my bank. Joanne said she wanted a test drive and I waited until she came back and said she wanted one too. Peter said that the sale would go down to the lass that greeted us and said that both vehicles would be ready in two days. We gave him our names and the house address to put on the paperwork.

Leaving there we went to our bank where, a long time ago, we opened up our accounts. Walking in a young chap asked if he could help and I asked for the manager. He told us that the manager did not see normal account customers and assured us that he would be able to deal with anything we needed. I told him to call the manager and tell him that Miss Meyers and Miss Swift wanted to see him. He huffed a bit but made the call. When he put the phone down he didn’t even have time to say anything before the manager came out of his office and welcomed us warmly. “Back to your menial activities, vassal” he told the lad with a smile.

Ushering us into the office he said that the lad was the son of a branch manager of another branch and was a bit too much full of himself. He asked what he could do for us and we showed him the invoices to the car showroom that needed to be paid. When he called up our account details he gave a bit of a whistle and said “I knew you girls were doing well but this is amazing. You are close to being our biggest customers. I told him that Nina would be not far behind but Lorraine will probably overtake us when her film career took off. I asked him about an account for a charity that we would fund next week and he gave us the paperwork that needed to be filled in to placate the IRS.

When he asked what the seed money was I said it would be fifteen million and then there would be payments from the sales of Roger’s books and our CD’s. He called another chap into the office and introduced him as Mister Bruce. He told Mister Bruce that he was to be our personal banking contact and would be available twenty four seven for us. We were given a handful of Mister Bruce’s business cards and found out his Christian name was also Bruce. The manager told us that Bruce had been to our last gig in Nashville before the tour and couldn’t stop talking about it for days. Bruce was turning bright red so we told him that we just normal girls with unusual jobs so stop being embarrassed. Before he left he checked our accounts himself and said “Wow; that is impressive. I can see why you need a personal account manager. Whatever you need, just call.” He walked us out to the car and waved us off. Not wanting to cook tonight we went to Mario’s for dinner. He greeted us warmly and put us in a booth where we were a bit out of sight. We had a good meal and went back to the house and bed.

In the morning we tidied up the house and did the laundry. I spent some time in the studio and got my head straight regarding the various songs I had on the go and rolling around in my brain. I made a list with four columns – Patsy, Joanne, Peggy, Riordan – and started listing the various songs that would suit the different voices that I already had and then listed the ones that could be adapted to each voice that were not completed. In the end I had a dozen for me, ten for Joanne, six each for Riordan and Peggy. I had the feeling that those two may want to recycle some old standards anyway so I was not bothered by a shortfall. We had a quiet weekend and the following week joined Peggy and Riordan in New York to sign the paperwork for the charity.

Part 12

When we gathered in Simon’s office we were joined by a couple of legal types. They had drawn up a constitution for the charity which we all had to read through and sign a paper saying that we would abide by it. Then we processed to banking paperwork that I had been given with all the correct names. I rang Bruce and told him that I was emailing him a copy of the constitution and the banking paperwork and asked that he could ring me back with an account number when the account was open. We then discussed the likely use of ‘Reece Manor’ and it was agreed that Mary, who from this meeting was my PA, should come back to Nashville with Joanne, Peggy and me and then go back to England with Peggy to look at the equestrian facility. I asked Peggy if her father was good with us doing this stuff early and she said that he was happy that the Manor was starting to look lived in.

Mary’s first task was to see what was needed to bring it back to life and the second was to investigate the things we needed to do in order to operate it and keep horses there. We would need some kind of certification. I asked Peggy if we could set up bedrooms that would be for our use only so we could use the house for a base in England and she said she would sort that out. My phone rang and it was Bruce who gave me the account number. I instructed him to transfer five million from my normal account into it and then passed the phone to Joanne who identified herself and asked the same. We gave Riordan the account details so she could transfer from her bank in New York. We also got the account details for Mary and I instructed Bruce to set up a regular salary payment into that account monthly and put Mary on the verify her details. Bruce said he would send me a transaction card in the name of the charity. With all that sorted we went and had lunch.

Later in the day we flew back to Nashville and went to the house. Joanne and I had cleared Lorraine’s room and put her stuff in the storeroom alongside Nina’s so we told Peggy that this would be her room here. Mary already had some clothes hanging in Nina’s old room so we were back to five again. I rustled up a light meal as we had eaten on the plane and we retired. Next morning there was a call from Peter saying that our cars were ready so we got Mary to drive us in the sedan to pick them up. After getting a run-down on all the features, Joanne and I drove back to the house with Mary behind us. After lunch we took Peggy into K Beat and she signed as an artist with the usual contract. We then needed to go to our bank for her to open up an account where her US earnings could be deposited. Our friend Bruce was pleased to see us and she had an account opened within minutes and was told there would be account and credit cards sent to her. We suggested that they go to the Nashville house.

Once back at the house I showed Peggy the list of songs that I had made and she told me that she had listened to all of the CD’s we had bought and there were about six that she really wanted to sing. She was amazed that someone had not mined the wealth of material there was from that time as most of the songs were timeless. Before dinner Alice rang and said she wanted me in the office for a short time in the morning to tidy up Patricks’ estate so we made a time to meet. Seeing that we needed to keep moving on the charity we all decided that we needed to get back to England so that Mary and Joanne could see the house. We made bookings to leave Nashville tomorrow afternoon and stay overnight in Boston before going directly to London.

So that’s how it worked out. I took my new SUV to K Beat and met with Alice. The lawyer had completed all of the paperwork and there was a cheque for me as the designated beneficiary. I took it to the bank and had Bruce put it into my account. Then it was back to the house for lunch and then we tidied up, got our luggage together and called a taxi to take us to the airport. We had a good hotel in Boston overnight and then took a plane to London, arriving late in the afternoon. Peggy had booked a limo to take us to ‘Reece Manor’ and it was twilight by the time we arrived but light enough to see that the place certainly looked more cared for now.

Peggy showed us to our rooms and we unpacked and freshened up before going down to the dining room. Greg was there and greeted us warmly, giving everyone a hug. He seemed a lot better for the present. We had the usual good dinner; the cook was secure in her job! I asked him if he had known of the original name of the house and he said that there had been no mention of it in any of the paperwork he had seen when he bought it. I wondered how much of the interior was still original and he said that the house as we see it today was mainly built in the 1780’s but there were parts of the kitchen and some other downstairs rooms that retained their walls from the original house. He said that he had been told by one of the locals that the first house was mainly built in about 1600 to 1620 so had a bit of history about it. He suggested that as tomorrow was Sunday, I should go to church as they often had records on the early owners.

So it was that Joanne, Peggy and I went to church. Mary wanted to inspect the stables and Greg volunteered to show her around. We went with our cook and her daughter in the Mercedes with Peggy driving. When we pulled up there were a few odd looks, especially when our cook got out of the car. In the church we sat near the back and admired the architecture and, after a pleasant service with none of the fire and brimstone that I was used to in the US, we went out of the main door to shake the vicar’s hand. When he took my hand he looked me in the face and said “I have seen you before.” I told him that I was a singer in a band and part-time model and he said “No, no, it is somewhere else. It will come to me.” We stood around and chatted to the ladies of the village who were keen to meet the ‘new’ people and, as we were about to go, the vicar came over and said “I have got it; I have a picture of you on the wall of the manse!” I said there were a lot of pictures of me on walls but that was the first time I heard I was in a manse. He said “No, you don’t understand, this was painted in the early 1600’s.”

He invited us all to the manse for a cup of tea and to see this painting. I was intrigued, our cook and her daughter were beside themselves to be invited into the manse and it was an interested party that walked across the road to an imposing house. Peggy, ever the forward one, commented on how grand the manse was for such a small parish and the vicar said that she was correct; it was part of the legacy of the people in the pictures we would see. In the drawing room we were shown two pictures, side by side. The lady did look a bit like me but it was the man that caught my eye. He was the spitting image of the man in the photo beside Rubys’ bed in the nursing home. I said “What do you think, Joanne; is this or is it not Randy Rodrick Reece.” The vicar stood stock still and then took me by the hand. “Young Lady” he said slowly “you know the people in the pictures?” I told him that I had no idea who they were but the man was the spitting image of my uncle Rod who may, or may not, have been my father.

He then said “These two people are the Lord and Lady of the Manor between 1620 and 1660. His name was Richard Forsyth Reece and he was a sailor. No, not just any sailor; he sailed with Drake in the privateer days between 1572 and 1574 when Drake was, in essence, a government licenced pirate.” I laughed at that and told him that Randy Rod was a DJ in a pirate radio station in Nashville called Double RRRRRRR! He went on “After that he sailed with Drake to circumnavigate the world between 1577 and 1580. He came here and bought the land where the current ‘Reece Manor’ stands and built the original house in about 1600.” I told him that it was Peggy’s father who lived there now and that we were going to turn it into music; cooking and riding school for disadvantaged children.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 13

He moved to the other picture and told me that this was a picture of the Lady Olivia Reece who died in 1670. He said that it was she that paid for the sarcophagus that is in the church where Richards’s body lies. I was interested that they had him in a special place and the vicar told me that Richard was a very rich man for his day.

It seemed that Drake and his crew had ‘liberated’ over twenty tons of gold and silver from the Spanish, one of the reasons Phillip of Spain sent the Armada later on that Drake so famously vanquished. He asked me if I was particularly interested in the family and I said that it was just a strange coincidence that my ‘uncle’ Rod and the pirate Richard looked alike and even stranger that I looked like the lady of the manor. He was then very serious and asked “You are not here because of the treasure?” I told him that I had no idea that any treasure existed and, anyway, pirates buried their treasure on desert islands, didn’t they? The tea arrived and we sat down and he said “I am going to tell you something as I believe that you ought to know it. When Richard Reece was put into the sarcophagus, he was wearing the full pirate regalia with cutlass and leather belt.”

“Around his neck was a leather pouch and inside the pouch there is supposed to be a letter and a key to the wealth that he had hidden away. Only direct descendants of Richard and Olivia are allowed to take the pouch from the body. Over the years many have claimed a family connection but there are two things that define a direct descendant. The first is a distinct birthmark that none knew of and the second is that we opened the sarcophagus twenty years ago and took a tooth from the skull. We had that tooth examined and was able to extract the DNA profile from it recently which will confirm absolutely who is a direct descendant or not. We had to open the sarcophagus secretly and I saw the body and pouch, but did not touch it.” “Let me guess” I said “the birthmark is a crescent moon beside the navel”.

He spluttered on his tea and asked me how I knew. I said it is just that I had it myself and was just taking a punt. He excused himself for a minute and went to his telephone; when the other party answered he said “Yvonne, can you come around to the manse straight away and bring a DNA test kit with you?” Sitting back down he asked me about my history. I told him that my mother is the sister of Ruby, who was Rods’ wife. I told him that they had a son called Patrick who is now dead from a boating accident and that Rod was a known ladys’ man. I said that my mother had moved to Florida about three months after Patrick was born and that I was born nine months later. I said that Patrick had the birthmark as well.

All the time Joanne was sitting there nodding sagely as she was the only other one here that knew the truth. Just then the doorbell rang and the vicar let in an elegant lady. “This is Yvonne, our village doctor. Would you please allow her to see your birthmark and take a DNA test swab?” I agreed and she and I went into a side room where I showed her the birthmark and she took a picture of it. After I got dressed she took a swab and sealed it. When we returned the vicar asked the cook if she could verify the truth of my involvement and she explained my link with Greg and that I was a singer with ‘Amazon’ that had been with Greg over the last six months. Peggy told him that she had met me when I was in Vietnam to identify Patricks body and that Patrick looked a little like the picture of Richard.

The vicar said that nothing could be done now until the results of the DNA test so we took our leave and drove back to the Manor. When we told Mary and Greg of our adventures they were amazed, however, Mary said that serendipity had struck again.

We asked Mary about the stables and she told us that they were an excellent set-up that just needed cleaning and a paint job. She told us that they could house about fifteen horses and that the tack rooms and storage areas were good to support that number. Greg told us that they had walked into the wooded area around the house and could see distinct trails where horses could be ridden; they only needed to be cleared of the overhang. He said that they had rung the local riding club and someone would come to the house on Monday to talk to us.

The following week was pretty busy, on the Monday the visit from the guy from the riding club was interesting as he said that he had no idea that such a good stables was in the area. He said that we would certainly get locals and even clubs from outside the area wanting to hire the complex. He suggested a name of a qualified vet who would be able to advise on what changes or upgrades would be needed to enable us to get certification.

We also closely looked at the kitchens and counted the stoves and ranges and decided we could teach about ten cooks at a time. We went through the bedrooms with a clipboard and noted all of the repairs and upgrades that would be needed to turn the accommodation into a first class residence. On the Wednesday the vet came around and did his inspection of the stable complex and told us that it would not take much to bring it back to use. He recommended a company that he used who could clean and refurbish it and Greg told him to get them in. He also told us of a local group who would be able to rework the walking trails and we organised them as well.

On Friday we had a call from the vicar who told us that the DNA test result was in and wondered if we could meet him in the church that afternoon. We went to the church and there was quite a small crowd there. The vicar announced that all the tests had proved positive and that I was a direct descendant of Richard and Olivia Reece. The others there were a few workmen who were there to remove the lid of the sarcophagus and there were two guys from English Heritage to oversee the operation as well as recording the body before anything is taken.

The lid of the sarcophagus was swivelled so that we could see the head and shoulders of the skeleton, clad in rotting shirt and tunic. The leather braces and belt were intact, as was the genuine cutlass in a scabbard at his side. Looking in the bottom of the sarcophagus we could see a pair of magnificent leather boots. The English Heritage guys took lots of pictures and then I was allowed to unbuckle the pouch and slide the strap out from under the bones, trying not to upset them. Once I had the pouch they resealed the sarcophagus and everyone shook hands. One of the English Heritage guys asked if he could be present when I opened the pouch so we invited him back to the house. When we got to the house we all sat around the dining table and I carefully undid the strap holding the pouch closed.

Inside there was an envelope and a leather bag that felt like there was jewellery in it. The English Heritage chap, Kevin Johansson, photographed both items before we opened them. The bag did, indeed, contain a necklace with a strangely made emerald pendant which was held at the large end and had tapered facets to the small end. The envelope, which Kevin told us was velum, contained a note written in early English. Kevin examined it and told us that it actually said

“To find where the booty is buried,
Look for the pattern that’s serried.
You must withstand the heat,
And then the trove you will meet.”

Part 14

“Wow!’ I said “All I could see looked like gobbledygook.” Kevin said that it was the flourishes on the old writing that made it look odd, as well as all the esses looking like effs. “So where does that leave us” asked Greg. “We need to find some serried patterns. What are they, anyway?” Kevin told us that serried was a term for being in close formation, a bit like an air display or even a type of flower bed. “So we look in the garden for four hundred year old flowers or even a row of trees?” asked Mary. “No” said Kevin “we can be certain that the pattern that is referred to will be still existing, unless it was destroyed when the house was rebuilt. I had a look at the history and there was no secret room or buried treasure found then. So, it either is somewhere else altogether or it’s still here.” We had a look around the older part of the house, knocking panels with our knuckles but found nothing so we decided to sleep on it. We showed Kevin up to his room and presented him with a pair of PJ’s and some toiletry. We all then had dinner and retired early to think about the riddle.

Next morning we were in the kitchen having breakfast and discussing the treasure trove. Peggy said that maybe we should look at the riddle in reverse. Withstanding the heat could refer to a fire, or fireplace. Looking across the room I examined the old fire hearth which was decorated with tiles in a chevron pattern. Of course it was no longer used and the place was filled with the old spit and a rack of pots and pans. I walked over to it and looked at the tiles, wondering about them being serried. Then I saw that near the base of the hearth, on each side, there was a large tile with a row of three smaller tiles underneath with the chevrons all pointing the same way. “Kevin” I called “In the old days of sailing ships, how did they sail in formation?” “Always in a line astern” he said “It allowed each one unfettered access to fire at an enemy without hitting their own.”

I said “Come and have a look at this, then.” He came over and I pointed out the three small tiles all pointing towards the back of the fireplace. “Interesting” he said “can you take all of these pots and pans away while I go and get my kit?” We got stuck in and cleared the fireplace of the pots and pans and the stand as well as the cross piece of the spit. When he came back with a bag he rummaged around and came out with a small hammer similar to the ones they use to test your knee reflex. He crouched down and tapped the ones on the left, including the tiles above and below. They all gave of a dull note. Then he moved to the right hand side and they all gave off a dull note except one small one in the middle of the three. “Good pick-up” he said and got down and pressed the tile. “It will be a bit stiff” he said “it has not been moved for four hundred years.” He got a can of lubricating spray and carefully sprayed around the edge of the tile. After a couple of minutes he tried again and the tile pushed in and there was a click. At first we could not tell where the click came from but Joanne, who was standing on the side of us, said “There is a large tile a couple above that one which now seems to be slightly proud.”

He looked at the tile and again sprayed around the edge before trying to move it. After a couple of minutes he got a little tyre lever and pushed the end into the slight gap and, when he gave a twist, the tile swung away from its companions to reveal a hole in the middle of the backing stone. When I looked at it and saw the shape I went up to my room and retrieved the necklace from the tomb. Coming back I pushed the facetted point into the hole until it stopped. Kevin said that it should be pushed so I pushed harder and there was another click and a gap appeared down one side of the back of the fireplace. He pushed the tiled back and it swung inwards to reveal a small landing with steps leading off to the right.

“Right” he said “this is something else again. We don’t know what is down there and there could be booby traps so I, for one, am not rushing down. What we need here is a full archaeology team to explore from here in. It has sat for four hundred years so another couple of hours will not harm.”

We were all let down but did as he asked and finished our breakfast while he called up a team. I went up to my room and changed into older jeans and boots just in case. Around ten the rest of his team arrived. Firstly they took photos of the mechanisms and the lock, with and without the jewel. Then they set up some floodlights on small stands and pushed one into the space, pointing down the stairs. Next to the light was a small camera. When it was all turned on we stood behind the camera operator and looked at the screen. The stairs went down almost out of sight. They then switched on a small rover with tracks and drove it into the gap, turned it ninety degrees and slowly took it down the stairs. We now had three screens running with a picture to the front, one above and one switching between two cameras on the sides. Each one had small LED lights so we could see good detail.

At the bottom of the stairs they made it turn a full circle and we could see that a room existed that ran under the kitchen floor. They then moved it into the room and switched on a larger light which showed a large room with boxes, chests and various items covered in dust and cobwebs. Everyone gave a cheer and there was much high fiving. Kevin said that this was where we stop again as the British Museum needed to be contacted as well as the trove registered with the government. It did not classify as ‘found’ as it was in a private house but still needed to be properly inspected, something that could take days to do. “No rushing down and throwing diamonds at each other” he said. Greg said that he would increase the security detail immediately and would restrict all access.

Peggy said that we could house the team and she organised the staff to prepare several bedrooms. Kevin made some more calls and said that there would be three people coming from London straight away so Peggy had more rooms prepared. While we were waiting they drove the rover around without touching anything and we realised that the room was bigger than the kitchen, which was itself pretty big. There was no indication of booby traps but you may have had to be bigger to trigger them. Greg sent the cook with Peggy to get more supplies in order to feed everyone. “No talking about this in the village” he ordered “although you can pop into the manse and tell the vicar that something has been found.”

We stayed close to the house over the next week while a team were sent into the room wearing hazmat gear. They moved through the room, photographing everything and setting GPS co-ordinates before anything was moved. Much video was shot. Then they started to bring things out. There was a lot of period gear, swords, knives, leather belts and boots and even some plumed hats. The British Museum people had set up an inspection room in one of the downstairs storerooms and were in seventh heaven. Then out came boxes of silver artefacts and jewellery, boxes of similar items in gold and then boxes of necklaces, bracelets and brooches in precious stones.

Everything was weighed, photographed and catalogued. They got really excited when they turned up a chest containing items from Richard Reese’s days with Drake, including various navigational instruments and even a log of one of the voyages. This box also contained a number of letters which one of the historians thought could have been written by Drake himself. Then there was a box with nothing but golden coins of the period that looked mint. At the back of the room, the last boxes contained Spanish military uniforms and armour which got everyone going. When they had cleared the room we were allowed to go down and have a look ourselves. It was well lit by then so we could see every detail. As I was looking I noticed a stone on the wall which had the mark of my birthmark on it so I gave it a good push and a section of the wall swung open. I called up the stairs “Kevin. I think you should come down and have a look at this.”

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 15

When he came down he looked at the hole in the wall and asked me how I had opened it and I showed him the birthmark on the stone. “I just had to push it” I told him. He stood outside the room and shone his torch inside and gave out a whistle.

“Right” he ordered “everyone outside again, We need the team back down.” We civilians were herded back into the kitchen and he got his team together again. “There is a new room to look at which Patsy here managed to open. It looks to me to contain artefacts from the South American tribes, maybe Aztec. It could be plunder from the Spanish galleons that had never been given to the Queen at the time. This will make a big find a significant one, so get to work.” It took another three days to clear the room and, by this time, the whole team were getting hyper looking at the gold that was coming out of the fireplace. Even with just a wipe over it all looked magnificent.

When everything was cleared and cleaned and catalogued, they got in some strong boxes and everything was carefully packed and taken off to the British Museum in armoured trucks. We were assured that it remained the property of the house but did need to be properly assessed and entered into the register of historical artefacts. Greg was told that as the owner he could ask for it all back but that the Museum would certainly make him an offer for much of the trove. He was given a copy of the catalogue and a signed receipt from the British Museum. I was given a receipt for the riddle and the necklace which went with the rest of the find.

When the last of the team had left we sat around the kitchen table looking at the fireplace which was now closed again. “That was the strangest couple of weeks I have ever experienced” said Greg “not even when I got high have I had the sense of excitement and fulfilment that the last couple of weeks have brought. I don’t know how we are to top this but I don’t care any more.” I was feeling that I had been instrumental in a wonderful addition to the history of this country. I was a bit miffed at having to give up the necklace but I had been assured I would get it back. We managed to settle down and continue with our original plans.

I helped Mary sort out the stable complex. Now the other excitement was over, we got the cleaning and painting crew in to bring the complex back to the present. Then we had the vet provide us with a certificate that allowed us to house horses again. I then had an idea and called up the National Equestrian people and asked them if they could come out and look over the complex with an idea of it being used by the national team prior to big competitions. When they came and looked they were very impressed and made lots of notes and told us that they would be in touch. In the meantime we went and bought a few riding horses and the tack needed and Mary proceeded to teach us all how to ride.

With all of this happening, Christmas came and went. We had a small party at the house with some of our neighbours and, of course, the vicar and the local doctor and their families. It was all very friendly and old-worldly as we all wore decent clothes with us girls in long dresses and the men in tails. We were able to show off pictures of some of the booty and showed the vicar how the fireplace opened, although, not having the jewel, we could not actually open it. We had all settled into English country life, especially having it snow on Christmas day! Greg looked like he was good for another twenty years these days as the different lifestyle and having us around seemed to clear out all of the old anger and anxiety. He still needed his medical team on hand and they were very helpful the day Joanne fell off her horse and was badly bruised.

Then came a day in the middle of January when we got a message from Sarah in Nashville. It appeared that ‘Amazon’ was nominated for a couple of awards in the upcoming Grammys and so was Minh. They had also nominated Greg Goggins for a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ so we all made our preparations for a quick trip to the US. Towards the end of January we flew to Los Angeles and were picked up by limo and taken to our hotel. Minh, Riordan, Julia and Nina were already there and Jake and the guys were due the next day. We all had dinner together and chatted about the awards ceremony. Maxine had told Riordan that we were all to be outfitted by L’Estrange so there were no worries on that score. The organisers wanted us to perform but Sarah had told them no.

She had, however, agreed that Riordan, Joanne, Nina and I would do an acoustic rendition of ‘Serendipity’ if the organising committee made a donation to the ‘Angels of Joy’ charity. On the evening of the awards we all looked extremely elegant and sophisticated, which is more than you could say about other female artists in stupid costumes. I swear that some designers do it because they hate beautiful women. During the evening Minh won the ‘Best New Artist’ award and sang one of the songs from her number one album. ‘Amazon’ won ‘Best Band Album’ for our CD as well as ‘Best Live Performance’ for the DVD. On top of that we got ‘Band of the Year.’ Greg was elevated to legend status with his ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ and gave a very nice speech about all of the people who had helped him over his lifetime and especially Peggy, who now graced his life with daughterly love. We girls, including Minh, got to play ‘Serendipity’ with just a couple of guitars and we left with our awards and a good feeling.

While we were all together, Maxine had organised a photo shoot down on the Baja Peninsular for the spring and summer collection catalogue so we all spent some time under canvas among sand dunes. Even Greg came along. We were sitting on a sand dune one evening watching the sunset and he said “Do you know, this is the first time I have watched the sun set like this. The odd thing is that since you girls came to stay with me, for the first time in my life I feel like part of a family. Before there was always bands and crowds of hangers-on but I did not feel connected the way I do now.” The guys were here as well and Jake and Greg spent some evenings playing acoustic guitars and singing old songs; the camera crew and make-up artists felt that they were being serenaded, especially when the rest of us joined in. In the end we got a lot of pictures taken with all of us wearing new creations and we even had Greg in some playing a guitar to give a Spanish feel to the pictures. It was a special time for all of us and the great acclaim that the catalogues created when they were released proved how special it was.

Greg and Peggy flew out to London and Joanne, Mary and I flew to Nashville for a few days. Sarah had already taken the awards back to Nashville to showcase in the K Beat reception area, along with our platinum albums. If we kept this up they were going to have to build another wall – but they were doing that already at the new studio. Sarah took us out to the site and we were photographed with spades in our hands for posterity. I had a lot to tell Ruby when I saw her about our ancestor, the pirate. She was amazed when I told her about the silver and gold and asked me what was to become of it. I told her that this was up to Greg but that I thought that he would loan it indefinitely to the British Museum as it was so significant.

When I saw Roger he gave me some copies of his two books, for me and to give to Peggy and Greg. He also gave me a double DVD with the four documentaries that Chris had done. It seemed that they had shown on the TV before Christmas and had been sold to several other stations in the UK and Europe. After a week in Nashville, the three of us flew back to England to continue our transformation of ‘Reece Manor’. When we got to the house we were told that Gerome had contacted Peggy to tell her that there was a slot of two weeks available at the Geneva studio at the end of February so we arranged our tickets and organised with Riordan, Nina and Julia, as well as Jake and the boys. Greg said he was coming as well so it was to be another family gathering, this time at the chateau.

Part 16

When we were all gathered at the chateau we all had bedrooms furnished in the French provincial style. Gerome said that he had access to a small orchestra when we want it so we first worked on the blues style of numbers with just the band plus Greg. After three days we had these in the bag. I had three tracks, Joanne had two, Peggy had four and Riordan had one. We then added the orchestra and, as we had no music for them, we played them the songs we wanted to record, one at a time, and went through them as they picked up on what was wanted. I thought we should make sure we had some printed music next time. Working every day we completed a double CD with twenty tracks per CD. I had eight solo tracks and two with Joanne and two more with Peggy. Riordan had ten of her own; Joanne had eight while Peggy had ten. We decided to call it ‘Angels of Joy Sing Ballads and Blues’. Gerome promised to post produce it and send the result to Simon for production and distribution. After all of the work, Stephanie decided that a party was in order and we all dressed up to mingle with the local well-heeled once more. I was getting to recognise some by name now and we had a good evening. Next day Jake and the guys flew back to Nashville, Riordan left for New York and the rest of us went back to the UK.

We were now in the beginning of March and we were looking forward to making more changes to the house. The stables were now ready and had our horses there. We had employed two stable hands to look after that part and there were a couple of rooms in the stable block now converted to sleeping quarters. Mary had been busy finding customers and we were delighted that our first was to be the US Olympic Team who needed a training camp and had booked for the whole of May. Riordan had been told about an organisation that hosted music camps and we got in touch. They came out to see us and was impressed by the ballroom, studio and accommodation and booked for June, July and August. The kitchen had always been big enough to cook for large groups but now we needed to employ more staff to cater for the long periods of visitors. Our cook knew of some ladies from the village who could use some extra income and we ended up with a group of six more that we could call on. We also put together a list of another six who would come into the house in the mornings and do the beds, cleaning and laundry as casuals.

At the end of March we were invited to go to the British Museum for a discussion about the trove. We all drove into town and booked into a hotel near the museum. The next morning we walked into the museum and asked at the door for our contact and we were taken to a meeting room where several people waited for us. After all the introductions Greg told the museum folk that, although he was still the owner of the house, it was my good luck to be the descendant of Richard Reece that led to the discovery. They thanked us for being thoughtful enough to allow the professionals to do the collection of artefacts as it was unusual to find such a trove untouched for four hundred years and it added so much to the find to record everything in-situ.

They said they wanted to buy the trove from Greg but said it would have to be paid over a period of years as it would be way over their yearly budget. They offered ten million pounds a year for five years. I had calculated the gold and silver by weight and they were pretty much on the money. I did ask about the weapons and armour as well as the Drake memorabilia and they said that these were not able to be valued but would consider us for further recompense if we donated it to the nation. Greg asked what recompense would be offered and they said that he would be nominated for a GCVO Knighthood while I would be up for an OBE. He said “Add my daughter Peggy for an OBE and you’re on.” They mumbled among themselves and agreed. Greg then told them that, on his death, the remaining payments should be made to the ‘Angels of Joy’ charity and they agreed to that as well.

After much shaking of hands we were taken to a closed off display room where they were setting up a big display of the trove. They had got mannequins and dressed them in the pirate and Spanish garb. It all looked good. I asked for the necklace back and agreed that I would get it when they had made a duplicate. I was happy to let them keep the riddle. They had a professional photographer to take pictures of us with some of the mannequins and by the cabinets of the trove. They told us that we would be contacted to come back and sign contracts and we had a bit of a look around the museum with our own guide before we went back to the hotel.

Over dinner that night I asked about the titles. Greg told me that the GCVO was Knight of the Grand Cross, Royal Victoria Order. He said it would be interesting to see what they will put on the citation and said that he would be a sir. He said OBE was Officer of the Order of the British Empire and was a foothold on the ladder, should we continue to do good deeds it usually led to the title of Dame for women. He then said that the charity will be much more respected if two of the principals had OBE’s. He told me that the Beatles all got one. I wondered what our friends in the US would say if it came through.

At the beginning of April we were contacted by Maxine’s friend in London who wanted the whole band to walk the catwalk in her fashion show at the end of the month. Joanne and I agreed and got on to the others to see if they were happy to do it. Everyone thought it would be fun so I got back to her and told her we would do it. She wanted us at her studio a week beforehand to be measured and have a trial run. The others came in to the UK and stayed with us at the house. I could see that Peggy was a bit shy around Jake, still. We would have to work on that. After a couple of days we went into London and booked into a hotel near the studio. We were to be the entire modelling crew for the show and I thought that it was to be a brave move. We were measured and our sizes matched those provided by Maxine so we were easy to fit.

The runway music was to be ‘Amazon’ songs so we all knew the timing already and, with the help of a couple of professional models, we spent some time perfecting our moves. We stayed in London until the day of the show and took in some tourist sights. We went to see the trove exhibition which was now open. Jake and the guys were amazed that all of this came out from behind the fireplace and had a few minutes pretending to swordfight with the pirates, something one of the guides said happened every day but not usually with fellows so old. I told him that they were Americans and he nodded as if that explained it all. The contracts were ready to be signed so we did it then.

On the day of the fashion show we were all at the studio early to be primped and preened and made ready for the show which was just after lunch. We had a light lunch ourselves and dressed in our first outfit. The music started and the MC announced the first dress, which was Joanne. As she turned at the end of the runway it was my turn to start the walk. We started with outdoor fun outfits and then changed to casual and then cocktail party with a final one for evening dress. With the evening dress set we were to have Joanne stop at the top of the runway and then we all joined her to end up as a line along the runway to applaud the designer when she came out to join us. It all worked very well and the cameras were popping most of the time. At the end there was much applause and we were inundated with congratulations and requests for selfies. The designer was very happy as she was sure the papers would be kind to her collection; and she was right as the next day the papers had plenty of pictures and a good write-up.

Back at the house we had everyone stay for a day or so but they had to get off so we could prepare for our other US guests and their horses. I must say that the next month was very interesting and I made friends with some of the riders and officials who were, at first, a bit shy with us being rock stars but we soon became very chatty. They even took time to teach me some riding tips.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 17

Other things progressed while the American riders were with us. They were mainly practising the dressage portion of the sport but, seeing we already had some show jumps in store, they set them up and did some jumping practise.

They advised us on what other jumps would be needed to do it properly and we found a supplier and got the extra jumps delivered. They were amazed at our willingness to do this and were very happy to be able to practise the show jumping. The only things we didn’t have was the electronic timing that is used in competition. They also explored the acreage and the trails around the house and sat down with us one day and suggested a route that could be made easily with cross-country jumps built in various places. It would mean that a team could practise for a three-day event with ease. We told them that we would see to it and that it should be ready if they return. They left with their horses in the floats and we set to getting all the bedrooms ready for our next guests, a busload of talented children.

Before they arrived the postman brought us three letters with official seals. They were notification of our nomination for awards being successful and that we would be listed in the Queens’ Birthday Honours List on the second Saturday in June and an invitation to the investiture. We put these away as no-one else was to know about it before the list came out. A couple of hours later a coach pulled up and we had ten children, from about eight to the mid-teens, plus three teachers. We got them all housed and sat them all in the dining room with a light lunch and had an introductory session. The children were less impressed at who their hosts were than the teachers. We told the teachers that Peggy had a degree in music and could help while the rest of us could offer sessions in singing and in playing in public.

Of the ten there were two boys who were learning guitar, three girls and a boy learning piano, two girls on violin and the last two were harpists. An interesting mix. Luckily they had bought their own instruments as we did not have any harps but we did have two pianos and an electronic keyboard. The teachers had skills in all the instruments between them. After a few days of letting them do their own thing we tended to listen in on their lessons and, eventually, Greg and I were giving the guitarists some extra tips and Joanne was helping out with the keyboard players. In the evenings we began to do sing-alongs with Greg and me on guitar trying to play songs that everyone knew and the children started to become quite good singers. With us helping with lessons it gave one teacher extra time with the harpists.

When the papers came on the second Saturday we looked at the list and there we were. Greg was Gregory Oliver Goggins, for services to the music industry and service to the nation through the Reece Trove. I realised that this is how he had been called Grog and asked him if he got the nickname at school. He said that I was right and asked me what I had been called. I said “Patrick” and he laughed, saying that he would have never taken me for a tomboy. Peggy was cited as service to the nation through the Reece Trove and I was cited as service to the music industry and through the Reece Trove. The staff and our guests were amazed that they were in the house with three people getting honours. We had to show the children how the fireplace opened and told them that we would take them to London to have a look at the trove. Of course, the teachers took the opportunity to make it a lesson in history and we took the children to the church to see the sarcophagus and the vicar told them about Richard Reece and his wife.

The investiture was the week after so all the crowd from America came in and stayed in London, along with Gerome and Stephanie from Geneva. We went up with our guests in the coach and they stayed in the hotel. Maxine had brought two incredible dresses for Peggy and me to wear. We duly received our honours, had plenty of pictures taken for personal use and by the media and had a big party at the hotel that evening. The children were amazed to be surrounded by ‘Amazon’ and ‘Primal Purge’ and the teachers also appreciated that they were in the company of top line producers and a major distributor. The next day, all our friends went home and we took the coach back to the house.

During the time that the children were with us, we played them the documentary that Chris made, over a four night period. It was embarrassing to see myself a few years younger in the second episode. The first episode was purely on the original ‘Amazon’ and was quite moving to see Ashley’s slide into addiction. Greg had tears in his eyes and when Peggy asked why he told her that it reminded him of how stupid he had been. The third one was the tour where we evolved and the fourth was just a live show taken late in the tour, actually, it was Detroit as we looked like a bunch of mechanics. That was played with the sound up. The children were now extremely motivated to study and went from strength to strength.

By the end of July we were getting them into the studio to learn how to record their work and, with the help of one of the teachers who could read and write music, I put together four original songs that all of the children could participate in. They practised them in the evenings and by mid-August we had the tunes recorded properly and I sent the master to Simon to put a hundred copies on CD with a proper cover. They came back before the end of the camp and the children were given two each and the rest, minus a couple we kept, were given to the teachers to sell if anyone wanted them. By this time our double CD was on the market and selling well so we gave everyone one each signed by the three of us. All in all it was an interesting a fun three months.

With the sales of our CD we had gained some recognition as British artists and Peggy was contacted by the Bristol University to hand out the awards to their Masters and Honours Degree winners in the first week of September. Mary, Joanne and I went with her and it was an interesting visit. She gave a good speech about following your interests and we had a good time at the soiree afterwards talking to her lecturers. The other item that was interesting was that I was nominated in the song writing section for an Ivor Novello Award. I didn’t get it but it was good to be noticed.

As it was getting into the colder months it was time to run a cooking school. Mary had made lots of calls and we had a group of ten children from Liverpool coming in with four chefs in the second week of September and they were going to stay with us until the end of November. Once again we got stuck in to getting the rooms ready and everything was good when the coach turned up. We had been sent a list of provisions that would be required so we had a pantry full of cans, bags and boxes. All of the vegetables would be from our own garden that was, by now looking really good. We had a deal with our local butcher already so we were ready to get cooking. All of the children were in their late teens but none had a bad attitude; they all wanted to be well paid chefs.

The course not only had food preparation and cooking but creation of a menu and also work in the vegie garden to learn how to pick the best products. After the first week they were creating all of our meals so we sent our cook to Spain for a holiday. The period passed in a haze of interesting food and good company. I learned a bit about better cooking myself. The children were all old enough to ride so Mary gave lessons with the horses in the early mornings and in the afternoons, before the dinner preparations. The teachers had a good time themselves and, on the last evening with us, they created a meal so exquisite that I salivate whenever I think of it.

We were now getting close to Christmas again and it had been an interesting and rewarding year. The ‘Angels of Joy’ CD was selling very well, even though some of the critics wondered why rock stars would be delving into music of the forties and fifties. Nina’s CD was also selling well and between us we had started a niche market with people who liked good music, sung well, with lyrics that were able to be understood.

Part 18

Joanne, Mary and I thought that it was time to head back to Nashville for a while so I called our security at the house and asked them to organise it getting clean and some food in. I also needed the SUV’s ready to drive. A few days later we flew to Nashville and our security guy was waiting for us in my SUV with a small trailer on the back. Smart guy as it was needed for our luggage. Back at the house we put our stuff away and spent some time on the gym equipment to get the travel kinks out. I went off to the nursing home to see Ruby and when I walked in Kay did a curtsey and said “Welcome, my lady”. I gave her a hug and told her not to be silly.

I had along chat with Ruby, telling her all about the different schools that we had run and all the interesting people I had met. I had a couple of books about the Trove with me so left her one to read. She asked me if Rod would have been able to claim the treasure and I told her that he would have had to be at the church and shown them the birthmark. Not only that, but even if he had retrieved the riddle, unless he had access to ‘Reece Manor’, he would have never solved it. She looked a bit ‘older’ than the last time we had met and I asked Kay later how she was. Kay told me that Ruby was at the point where her ails were starting to take control and that she was on painkilling medication these days.

I went into the day room and chatted with the ‘support crew’; Jim giving an exaggerated bow and a hand flourish. I gave him the Trove book to look through and we chatted about the activities of the past few months. He asked me about the charity and I told him about the music and cooking school. The riding team had paid for their time with us so that was income for the charity. He commented that I seemed to be moving away from the music scene and I could not contradict him. I did say that we had the ‘Angels of Joy’ CD on the market and he told me that he had heard that we were up for a ‘Special Achievement Award’ at the Grammys next January with Nina up for a nomination in ‘Best Album’.

Leaving the nursing home I went to K Beat to catch up with Alice and Sarah. The new building was going up quickly with all the walls and roof on. They were building the inner walls and soundproofing the studios so it should all be ready to move to by mid-year. Sarah told me that there had been requests for me to appear on various TV shows but she had rejected them all while I was in the UK. I told her that this suited me fine at present. I went to see Alice and had a chat with her. I asked if her friendly surgeon may consider my final conversion sometime and she said she would ask. She congratulated me on the ‘Angels of Joy’ CD and then told me that Minh was down in Houston doing a show with some other children’s entertainers but would be back next week and would be home for Christmas. This was good as I had brought a number of songs with me for her input, maybe enough for another album.

From K Beat I just drove into the countryside to enjoy being alone for a little while. It seemed that I was always with people these days; not a bad thing, but a little solitude was nice. Eventually I found myself at the little garage where I had stopped a couple of years back. I topped up the SUV and went into the shop to get a bar of chocolate and a drink and to pay. The girl that served me before was there again, and greeted me warmly so I gave her a hug. She wanted to know if I was back in the US for a while and I told her it would be for a couple of months. She looked as if she wanted to say something but was scared to do so, so I sat at one of the tables in the shop and said “OK, what is it you want me to do?” She sat opposite me and told me that her school choir was to give a series of recitals at various hospitals and childrens’ wards, as well as a couple of retirement homes, over the Christmas period and she wondered if I would like to come along to hear them. I looked at her name badge and said “Jennifer, how about I come along and sing with you?” She gave me the address and time of their next practise session the next day and I told her I would be there.

So the next evening, Joanne and I drove over to the college hall and when we walked in there was a bit of a flurry. Jennifer came over and took us to be introduced to the choir master. I apologised for coming in without an invitation but offered our help if we could fit in. He told us that most of the repertoire was the standard carols but there were a couple of genuine choral pieces from Tallis and he could give us a spot if we wanted to sing alone. I told him we were here to help, not show off and said that if the choir wanted to sing any of our songs we could help them practice. We spent the evening singing along with the choir going through the standard carols and fitted in quite well. Then the choir had a discussion about our songs to see if there were any that would fit and the resounding winner was ‘Serendipity’.

It seemed that the choir knew the words so we tried it as a purely choral piece and I liked it so we did it a couple of times more. The choir master was amazed that a ‘pop’ song could sound so good with a choir and said that it would be the finale of the recitals. The following practise Joanne and I had studied up on the Tallis pieces and was able to sing along with the choir this time. We had got quite friendly with the choir members and now were being treated like normal members. The first recital was in the childrens’ ward at the local hospital and it went over well, many of the children asking if they could have a selfie with Joanne and me. We did six other gigs before Christmas and even got a photo or two in the papers with the headline ‘Local Stars sing with School Choir’ which made all the others giggle when it was discussed. We had a good time and had a bit of fun while doing some good. After Christmas we got the choir into the K Beat studio and recorded the whole performance and got Simon to produce five hundred CD’s for the choir to sell and fund further performances.

I worked with Minh on the songs I had brought with me and she had some that we worked on together. We got her into the studio with the band and, over a couple of weeks, we recorded her next album. At the end of January we all gathered in Los Angeles for the Grammys. Once again Maxine had supplied us with wonderful dresses that were elegant as well as beautiful. I did notice that more of the other artists had rejected experimental fashion for elegance. The ‘Angels of Joy’ won ‘Pop Vocal Album of the Year’, much to our surprise and Nina got the “Album of the Year’. We didn’t have to perform this time around so just had a good time. Of course, Maxine took the opportunity with us all together to schedule a photo shoot. This time it was in Jamaica and, again was the spring and summer collection. This took us to late February and, after some more time in Nashville; the three of us flew back to London.

Mary had organised a cooking school for March and April so we needed to be there. After the cooking school we had the Australian three day riding team in May and June with a bit of a break and a music school for August, September and October. We looked after our guests for the cooking school and, once again, they looked after our meals. Alice had made me an appointment with my favourite surgeon in the middle of May so I flew back to Nashville alone and went straight into the hospital for my final conversion. After the operation and a week in the hospital, I spent two weeks in a private nursing home recuperating, healing and learning to dilate. I flew back to the UK in the middle of June with a whole new outlook on life. While I was recuperating I had a lot of song ideas and, once I had put them on disc in the studio at ‘Reece Manor’ I sent them to Riordan. She liked what she heard and we all went into the studio in New York during July and recorded a new ‘Amazon’ album.
Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 19

August, September and October we had the music school. This time we had ten very talented late teens that knew all about ‘Amazon’ and Greg’s work and were very attentive from the word go. These were all from foster homes and had shown their talents through high school bands.

We had five boys and five girls and it was a bit of a job keeping all of those hormones under control so we worked them hard. All of the boys and two of the girls played guitar and the other three girls played keyboards so we rotated the guitarists about with turns on lead, rhythm and bass, with one of Gregs bass guitars coming out of the store room as they had not brought one themselves. The three teachers had guitar and keyboard between them but one played drums as well so we had a discussion and it was decided that the best way to fully learn performance was to learn to perform.

They chose six songs that they wanted to be proficient at and we worked on those with the aforesaid rotations so anyone ended up doing anything in the band. We got the keyboard players rotating on the piano as well. We rotated on a daily basis so they all had lots to learn. When everyone was happy we opened up the recording studio and each rotation got to record the six tracks. This took quite a while as we had seven guitarists alternating on lead, rhythm and bass so there were plenty of combinations. One of the lads really took to bass playing and got quite inventive so, as a finale, we recorded a jam session with the bass; two rhythms and four lead. Greg and I had shown them the rudiments of polite jamming and also a bit of jamming duels so, when we let them off the leash, it got pretty frantic. As usual, we sent our recordings off to Simon who sent back twelve of each rotation and the jam session on CD. We were very satisfied with our input and the teachers were very happy as well. It proved a success as, within two years, every member of the class was playing in a professional band, with a couple of them having records in the charts, of course being distributed by Simon.

Once again we were approaching Christmas and; out of the blue, the choir master of the Cotswold Choristers contacted us to see if we could take part in a Christmas concert. He had spoken to the choir master from Nashville at a festival during the year and had been given a copy of the CD we had made. They were going to sing in a nearby concert hall over three nights as the choir had achieved quite a good reputation over the year. He told us that it would be with musical backing and Joanne offered to play piano for them. He then said that a couple of the works needed a classical guitarist and, to my surprise, Greg volunteered. He said that, as a young man, he had learned how to play classical and just needed the practise. I queried this as he had said that when he walked off of that stage in London it was to be the end of his public performances. He said “Patsy, that was what I felt then but now I feel as if I have been given a new life without the pressure of being a star. With you girls here, you are just so grounded and just love life. It is a way I can do something I love without someone taking ten percent.”

We offered our ballroom for practise and that was eagerly accepted so, a few days later, a coach rolled up at the house with a bunch of excited choral singers and the choir master. We took them to the ballroom and they told us that they had listened to the CD and wanted to sing ‘Serendipity’ with me on acoustic guitar and Joanne on piano. They had the bulk of the set practised so we just needed to practise the songs where we joined in. So, firstly, they played a couple of tracks that had the classical guitar and Greg listened to the first playing and played along with the second. He had a Martin acoustic from his collection and it sounded good. The choir master got the choir in their position for the songs and Greg sat on a stool to one side. He was to play an opening piece before each song so this is what happened. It really sounded nice.

They went through the two songs another couple of times and then it was Joanne and I accompanying them on ‘Serendipity’. The first time through was as good as it gets but the choir master made us do it another couple of times to prove the point. I asked him if we could go through the set from start to finish to see if there was anywhere the four of us could fit in. He produced four song books and stood Greg in the bass section while Joanne, Peggy and I were towards the mezzo area. As they worked through the set we slowly picked up the tunes and tempos and when it came to our instrumental parts we walked to our positions and played our instruments. They had selected the songs to have ‘Serendipity’ as the last piece. We had a break with drinks and cake and chatted about the recital. It was to be a ticketed event with some seats already allocated to the disadvantaged, with different organisations on each of the three evenings so was right up our alley.

After the break we did the whole set again. The classical guitar pieces were near the end so Greg just went over to his stool and swapped his songbook for his guitar. My bit was right after so I walked over to my stool and swapped my songbook for my trusty Fender. When we had gone through the set the choir master asked if they could come back in a couple of days’ time and do a full dress rehearsal. I asked him what the dress was and he told me it was the usual costume for choirs, black fine knit jumper and slacks for the men and black long skirts or dresses for the girls. We could do that. Before he left I gave him a CD and told him that it was an original of mine that had not yet made it to commercial release and that I thought it may make an interesting addition to the set. It was a song in the same vein as ‘Serendipity’ called ‘Lucky’ that explored just how lucky we are to be here and alive.

Two days later, when they pulled up, he told me that they had played the song on the coach CD player and the choir was adamant that they wanted to sing it. They had taken the trouble to transcribe the words to add to all the books. When we assembled in the music room we looked good and we took our places and went through the set without any problems. I had played ‘Lucky’ to Joanne and Greg so we were ready to roll when we practised it. It worked well but could be better. I suggested a slight change in the voices and wanted it slowed a bit and when we did it next time it sounded very atmospheric. The choir master said that it would be perfect to finish on and asked me if they could claim it as a Commission Premiere so that he could acknowledge me from the podium. I agreed.

He asked us how we wanted to be listed in the programme and Greg asked if he could be named as Sir Gregory Goggins, while Peggy and I should have our OBE on the end of our names. As we had the set down, we went to the studio and made a recording of the full set. When the weekend of the performances came around, we arrived at the Concert Hall on the Friday to be told that all three performances were sell –outs. I gave the choir master a box with two hundred copies of the full set on CD, with a proper cover, that Simon had produced for me. He was flabbergasted and said that it was wonderful and would be sold after the event with a limited number each night. I told him that I had another fifty for the choir so he could sell the lot.

Come show time we assembled on the stage to some applause and did our thing. It all went well and when we finished ‘Lucky’ the choir master stood with his hands up to create a period of silence and when he put his hands down and turned to bow the applause was deafening. We took a group bow and then the four of us were picked out to do our bows, finally he announced that the last number was the World Premiere of a new work by Patricia Meyers and someone gave me a bouquet of flowers. It was all very dignified. The Saturday and Sunday performances were as successful and we were all very happy with the whole experience. It would be interesting to see what the papers say during the week, if they say anything.

Part 20

The papers during the week were interesting, in that they could not decide whether to praise the choir or wonder how they got some local rock stars to perform with them. Greg was listed as a gifted guitarist, no matter what he played, and my two songs at the end were considered a shining new direction for choral works, if a bit ‘poppy’. The reviews were generally very good and we were not surprised when the choir master called to ask if he could come and see us the next day. When he turned up we took him into the drawing room and sat him down with a hot drink. He thanked us for our involvement and said that he had never seen so many column inches devoted to a choral recital before. We assured him it was a lot of media over reaction but he asserted that we were real improvements to the normal recital.

Then he got to the nub of his visit. It seemed that an entrepreneur from London had been in the area and, drawn by seeing Greg and the girls; came to the show on the Saturday evening and bought a CD. He had contacted the choir to ask if they could perform at one of his theatres in London, over a two week period with a matinee Saturday and Sunday. He had offered a handsome payment but only on the condition that the four additional members were present. This was to be in the middle two weeks in January. I had the feeling that it was a very blatant and opportunistic offer to fill what would have been an empty theatre. I wondered if someone had pulled out of a show or if a show had tanked before it was due there. Anyway, the money would be very good for the choir to have for a two week season and quite realistic if we could half fill the theatre every performance.

I asked the choir master if they had accommodation near the theatre and he said that he had not got that far. Greg asked which theatre it was and when he was told he made a phone call. He chatted with one of his old band mates and told him what we were after and grabbed a notebook to write down an address. He thanked the guy and turned to us to say “OK, we have a house only ten minutes’ walk from the theatre for the two weeks needed plus a couple of days either side. It will only cost us twenty tickets for my mate.” The choir master asked if it would fit all of us and Greg told him that the house was an old hotel and had twenty double bedrooms so was not a trouble if the members of the choir could share rooms. He then said that we would stay in a hotel he knew of in the next street so we would not intrude.

There we were, then, booked for an unpaid gig in London and looking forward to it. I asked how the CD’s sold and was told they had all sold out so got on the phone to Simon and asked him if he could ship another two thousand copies to me for the first week of January. I asked him to hold for a moment and asked the choir master if he would agree to have that CD released for general sales and he readily agreed. Getting back to Simon I asked him if he wanted to distribute it and when he said yes I asked him to send the standard artists contract for signing.

We had a small party for Christmas with our neighbours and village folk and then made ourselves ready for the stint in London. We did not have any schools booked until another music one for March, April and May; a three-day team training for June and July, so we were feeling a bit easier about life. Greg asked me if Jake and the band were doing anything at the moment and I told him that they had done a blues album that was selling well but would check with them to see what their plans were. I made the call to Jake and was told that they had nothing planned for the year and Greg asked me to invite them to the house after our shows. I told Jake that the band was invited to the house and told him that we would not be here until after our two weeks in London, and he said that they would come over to take in our show and then come to the house.

I was a bit thoughtful and when Peggy asked me what was on my mind I said that it was now two and a bit years since the world tour and it seemed to have flown by. She told me that I had been busy with the charity and the schools and still had found the time for fashion shoots, a fashion show and putting out the ‘Angels of Joy’ CD as well as another ‘Amazon’ one. Then there was the choir in the US and the one here. Saying it like that I had filled up the time and I didn’t mention my ‘final conversion’ as she didn’t know about that side of my history.

We had recorded the choir with ‘Lucky’ as the last song and I thought it may be nice to see what else I could write in a choral format. This includes multiple harmonies and lines sung above other lines. It was quite an interesting project and I was nearly there with another song along the same path as ‘Lucky’, which I called ‘When I wake up’.

We went into London with the choir in the coach a couple of days early and they were all very excited at being on stage in London. When we arrived and got them settled into the house the rest of us went to the hotel. Next day we all walked to the theatre to see what we had let ourselves in for. It was actually quite a nice place and just off the main theatre street. The box office was open and when we asked we were told that sales were good, especially for the first few nights. The dressing rooms were clean and the stage was well angled. The venue would seat about two thousand. One of the girls said that she had never sung in such a large venue and I told her that it was just more people who had come to hear her and the size meant nothing if the punters were happy. She asked me what the biggest venue I had sung in and I told her that it was an easy one; Tokyo was far and away the biggest venue at a hundred and twenty five thousand. Greg was listening in and told her that he remembered that gig well because the ‘Amazon’ girls were dressed as Lolita’s and were looking really hot.

We did a dress rehearsal on the Friday night as the first show was the matinee Saturday. The crowd for that were appreciative but the one on the Saturday evening gave us a standing ovation. The reviews in the Sunday papers were good so the box office reported a marked increase in sales over the next few days. The Sunday matinee was better than Saturday and the Sunday night was good. I asked the choir if they would come to the theatre on the Monday afternoon and played them my recording of ‘When I wake up’ and asked them if they would like to add it to their repertoire. They were enthusiastic so we tried it out. I had already had the lyrics printed up for them and over a couple of tries we got it pretty good. The choir master wanted us to add it to the set for the last weekend so we had time to run through it some more before then.

The week flew by and we arrived at the second Saturday matinee which went very well. On the Saturday evening we were on the stage and I noticed some familiar faces in the audience. Simon and Sarah were there, along with Annette and Maxine. The performance went well again as the choir were far more relaxed in the set. We got a standing ovation again and were in the dressing room when the four from the US knocked on the door. I introduced the choir master to Simon. Annette and Maxine were introduced to the girls of the choir and I could see them evaluating the girls critically. Of course, being Cotswold girls they all had flawless skin and were all similar build and height so I could guess that an offer to a shoot would be in the future.

Simon and Sarah cornered Greg to ask him if he wanted to record a classical guitar album but he told them he had other plans but would keep them informed. The final weekend saw Jake and the band in the audience on the Saturday night; and they were very taken with the whole thing as it was a genre that they had never explored. We told them that we would be back at the house on Monday afternoon and would see them there. After the Sunday show we told the choir to come out to the house on Wednesday to record ‘Lucky’ and ‘When I wake up’.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 21

We went back to the house Monday morning and Jake and the band showed up for lunch. We were sitting down eating, and Greg told them why he wanted to see them. “Guys, I walked off the stage in London thinking that I would be dead in a few weeks and intended never to again grace a stage.”

“As you saw in London, I have not only graced a stage but did so in a choir and playing classical guitar. I have to say that it looks like I have been given a second life and I want to do something that had been in the back of my mind since I was a young lad. I have the time and the money to indulge myself and I want to tour the Deep South to explore the roots of the blues, learning the true way to play the songs and performing for the locals. For this, I need a band that is good enough to perform to the standard I require. I have listened to your blues album and I think you are the guys. What do you say?”

The guys had questions about where he wanted to go, where he would stay, and the type of music he was looking for. Jake said “Surely it has all been mined out by now?” and Greg said that this may be so but it would take some time to befriend the locals and, maybe, find artists that have not been ripped off. He said it could lead to a serious album of genuine blues that could be used as a teaching aid in music history courses. He then said that, although his career had been on an electric guitar, his early training had been acoustic and playing the classical guitar lately had reawakened his need to play seriously. “I do not need, nor do I want, to be the Grog of my past. I have my knighthood to uphold now” he said with a smile. The guys said they would think about it and let him know by dinner time.

In the afternoon I showed the guys the revamped stables and they saddled up horses and went off for a ride over the grounds to chat in private. Luckily it was a cool, but not wet, day. By late afternoon they were back and, with the help of our two stable hands, the horses were looked after and returned to the heated stable block. At dinner, the guys declared themselves as Gregs’ band for as long as it took for him to scratch his itch. Jake also told us that the latest ‘Amazon’ album was up for a couple of awards at this years’ Grammys and that Riordan, Nina and Julia would be attending, seeing that we were all busy. I realised that I was not worried about that these days as I had so many things to keep me occupied and the guys agreed. We decided that we only need a new album each year to keep the fans happy and that we had no desire to tour the band any more. Anyway, it would be hard to top the last tour.

On Wednesday we had the choir visit and we recorded ‘Lucky’ and ‘When I wake’ with Greg, Jake, Keith and me playing acoustic guitars as accompaniment and Peggy and Joanne in the choir. They really sounded good and I emailed the wave files to Simon and asked him if they would be suitable as a single record in the classical market. The girls told me that the London designer friend of Maxine had been in touch and wanted them all to go to her studio to talk about a photo shoot. I showed them my photo album with the pictures of ‘Amazon’ doing her last production and they were amazed at the clothing, especially Jake and Keith in tails. They wanted to see more fashion pictures so I pulled out all of the L’Estrange catalogues that we had been in.

One of the girls commented that it would be wonderful to wear such beautiful dresses so I said “Well, I have all of the dresses that I have kept in my room upstairs. Why don’t I take you up to my room and you can come back down and show us how beautiful you all are once you have found something to fit you.” They all jumped up and down so I took them up to my room and opened up the walk-in robe and told them to knock themselves out. About an hour later they came back into the ballroom in the dresses and they had made themselves up to suit. We lined them up in model mode and took pictures for them to take home with them. We had an elegant dinner and then they went back upstairs to, reluctantly, change back to their normal clothes before all getting into the coach to go home. During dinner my phone chirped with a text and I read it out to the assembly. It was from Simon who said that the single would be on the market in a week or so and he congratulated them on great songs. As the choir master was leaving he took my hand and told me that the choir had come on by leaps and bounds and he was very grateful for my input. I just told him that this was what I seemed to be here for, these days.

Early February we saw the pictures of Riordan accepting the ‘Best Rock Album’ award so I sent her an email of congratulation. She sent back to say that if it wasn’t for my songs it wouldn’t happen. I settled in to write more choir music as the format had grabbed my interest. Greg and the guys made ready for their song hunt and they put together all the kit they needed, guitars, drums, small amps and a ‘recording studio in a suitcase’. Greg had pulled out some of his special guitars to take. There were two more Fenders that had been tweaked and he and Jake had a few sessions on them, mainly to see who could bend a note the most. Boys will be boys. They got a small container delivered and packed it with the musical equipment and some suitcases of clothes and it was sent off for storage in New Orleans. They then flew to Nashville to start the hunt by asking Alice if she knew anyone in the south who could help. It seemed that Ron Bose had been told about the quest and volunteered to take some vacation time to help with any recording. It was starting to look like a safari.

After they had left we had the house to ourselves and we sorted out the bedrooms for our music school. When I asked Mary what we are teaching this time she said “You won’t believe this but we will host an all-girl choir from Kent. It was organised late last year so is a real coincidence. There are twenty in the group, plus the choir master, and they will share the bedrooms. They are coming to concentrate on performance and have a number of songs that they have not rehearsed yet.” I thought that this would be interesting. It would help me concentrate on choral music, although I did need to get some more ‘Amazon’ songs together for recording in the summer and I had not begun to think about a follow up to the ‘Ballads and Blues’ album. I asked Peggy and Joanne if we should think about another ‘Angels of Joy’ album and they thought it may be worth aiming at the Christmas sales period with one of carols and Christmassy tunes; a bit like ‘How much is that Barbie in the window?’

When the coach load of girls turned up we found that they were all disabled in some way, which caused a bit of worry until the choir mistress told us that every one of them was determined to get along with life without letting their problems overcome them. They were a cheerful bunch and called themselves ‘The Oast House Singers’. We got them sorted out with their rooms and sat them down for lunch. I told them that we had a recording studio in the house and when they were ready we would make a professional recording. I told them that the last choir here to record was ‘Cotswolds Choristers’ and they were impressed as they all had heard the choral album. I played them the two new songs that were about to be released and they got quite excited. The choir mistress asked if there were any songs I had that had not been recorded yet and I told her that I was in the process of writing some new ones. We came to an arrangement that they would rehearse the standard choral pieces that they intended to, but, if I could come up with new works, they would work hard to perfect them as well. I told her that if they came up to scratch I would send a master to Simon, in New York, to see if we could get an album on the market for them. That sorted out we had given them a reason to excel and, for the next month, they worked on the standard pieces.

Part 22

It was a good month as the girls worked hard. I was exposed to more choral pieces and a few writers I had not heard of. I was amazed at how many living song writers there were in the choral scene. At the six week point we took the choir into the recording studio and they had a whole new experience to learn. It took a few days to get them to relax and not shout at the microphones and, by the end of the week; we had a dozen songs on record. Over the next three weeks I took them through four songs that I had written and that the choir mistress had approved. It took a little while to get them right and then we went back into the studio and recorded them. I sent the resulting sixteen songs to Simon and, while we were waiting, the girls had riding lessons as a reward.

Some of them were already good riders and we put them to work with the newbies. In order to let everyone have a go I rented ten horses from the local riding school and one of their teachers came out with them and stayed with us for the few weeks. A week after sending the files to Simon we got a reply. He congratulated me on finding another good choir and said that, as soon as the accompanying contract was signed, there would be an album released into the classical market. The choir mistress signed on behalf of the choir and we scanned it and sent it back. In the week before the girls left, a big box arrived with two hundred CD’s in it for them. I kept one back for my collection and the choir took the rest. They were as pleased as punch at having a professional CD out there and I told them that they would find that this was just the beginning. They would be far more respected in future, especially when the album sells well. The skills they had learned were more than just getting a song right, they had learned that they could do much more than they had been able to do before.

The next group to join us was a team of riders practising for an up-coming three day event. This is held in an area where there is a cross country course and a ménage or arena. The first day is cross country over a range of jumps, the second is horse control and presentation, while the third is show jumping. The team spent a week doing our little cross country course and three weeks in the ménage, with half of it show jumping. They were very happy with our set-up, especially as we had all of the usual show jumping jumps.

When they left we were quiet again as we did not have a cooking school organised. Joanne, Peggy and I were able to really get our heads down with song writing and tryouts. Mary spent her time on a tour around the country with brochures we had produced, to see if she could get us bookings for a couple of years. I kept in touch with Minh and her songs, as well as with Riordan and getting ‘Amazon’ songs organised. In October we had collected enough ‘Amazon’ numbers to make an album so contacted Jake, in the Deep South, to come to New York with the band.

Joanne and I flew to New York and we all joined up to spend three weeks in the big studio. We ended up with a new album that we were all happy with, one that was a bit more bluesy than usual. Jake told me that the safari was going well. Carl had been told of the quest by Ron and had come down as well. It seemed that he had connections with the area from decades ago and was very helpful in finding a few artists that had been around in the earlier days. Of course, they had plenty of guitar sessions together and Jake was surprised to find that Carl could fingerpick. He told me that they had recorded enough original early music for an album and that Greg was looking fitter every day.

After the ‘Amazon’ session, Joanne and I flew down to Nashville to help out Minh with another of her albums. She had created a real following among the pre and early teen set and they all had parents and grandparents who bought them albums. Alice and Sarah were now very busy as the new studio was very close to being opened and they asked us to stay over for the official ceremony. I took some time to spend it with Ruby. I know that I had not seen enough of her in person but she had been happy to get my phone calls every few weeks and told me time and time again to go with what I was doing as it was helping so many people. Alice had been sending her the various CDs I had been involved with and she said she loved the choral music.

Another happening was the premiere of Lorraines’ movie and we got the whole band together in Los Angeles for a Red Carpet event. Again Maxine came through with some fabulous dresses and we all got our photos in the paper. One fashion magazine rated us all as an eight or nine with Lorraine getting a ten. The movie was a far cry from the one we had walked in to all those months ago. It had been revamped as a love story set in a small town that had a rep company putting a stage show of Calamity Jane on, and various problems around the staging. It allowed Lorraine to sing a lot of the original movie songs as well as having some very tender scenes with Burt, ending up with their wedding. It was quite good and got good reviews, especially Lorraines’ singing. She told me that the wedding scene made her cry and that she and Burt may well do one of their own. She asked me if I would be the Maid of Honour.

Back in Nashville I had become increasingly worried about Rubys’ health and, just before Christmas, she died in her sleep. I was glad that I had been around for her last few weeks and we arranged a funeral for early January. It was an interesting event, with all of ‘Amazon’: Greg and Peggy; our ‘support crew’ and many K Beat staff and current artists as well as Peter Logan and his family and the guys from the music store. It was presided over by J.P. Jackson, a blues singer from the sixties who went by the name of ‘Bopson Jackson’ then, but had always been an ordained priest. Alice and Riordan took the front of the coffin as we carried it in, with Joanne and Lorrain in the middle and me and Minh at the rear. At the end of the service, as the coffin was lowered out of sight, the six of us sang ‘Amazing Grace’. It even had some column inches in the paper with a picture of the six of us singing at the end. The headline was ‘Local Music Identity Farewelled by The Stars.’

Of course, Maxine took the opportunity of us all being together to organise another photo shoot. This time it was just ten days in Mexico doing another spring and summer collection. It was a good time to relax a bit with friends around and get over my grief.

When I was back in Nashville I went to see our personal banker, Bruce, who took me through my accounts, pointing out ways I can increase my wealth. I asked him to investigate the purchase of commercial properties with tenants as I was certainly not going to gamble with stocks and shares. We then went through the account for the charity and he congratulated me on how we were going. The income from interest, the sales of our double album, and the percentage from Rogers’ books almost covering our outlays on the ‘Reece Manor’ and Marys’ employment. Our income from the riding teams added to that. I told him that the house was still in Gregs’ name and that there would be extra costs when it was transferred but that I couldn’t see that happening for some years yet.

Before I flew back to the ‘Reece Manor’, Bruce called me about a large car yard that was up for sale. We went to have a look at it and I then took him to see Peter. I explained to Peter why we were there and I asked if he was interested in expanding his franchise as my tenant. He told me that he had considered buying the property himself as it was on the other side of town, but his accountant had advised him that it would severely cut into his cash flow. He got hold of his accountant and we all went back to the yard. We walked about it and discussed improvements that the landlord (me) would need to make before he could take it on and we came to a mutual agreement on terms and everyone shook on it. On the way back to the bank Bruce told me that it was a pleasure to see me work. I asked him to finalise the purchase of the yard and to get Peter to recommend a builder for the improvements when he signs his agreement to lease.

Joanne and I then flew to the Bahamas for a few weeks true holiday, lazing around a pool and dining in various restaurants, before flying back to Heathrow.

Marianne G 2020

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

Positively Patsy Part 25

In New York we had a conference with Simon and his CEO about the TV show. One of the networks was interested and we made an appointment to go and see them. When we got to their office it was almost filled with suited types with lots of gold jewellery. I immediately asked how many TV executives it needs to change a light bulb.

I think my thoughts had been clear enough as half of them left. I looked at the ones left and asked which ones makes the decisions and which ones were yes men and three more left, leaving two. One looked at me and said “You are one feisty girl to come in here like that.” I said “I am here with a proposal that will give you the top ratings for a month and I think I need to talk to the guy who says yes or no.” “OK” he said “give me your pitch.” I asked him if he had caught Chris’ documentary which was shown on another channel and he said yes.

I then asked him if he would like a number of programs that he could show over a few weeks, culminating in a live show, held in a stadium, of a range of music but culminating in a live set of ‘Amazon’ doing new songs and a few of the hits. I said that we would organise the show and keep the door takings but that his channel could do the filming with sound piped from our mixing desk. I then said that we would then split any profit from the sale of the show 50/50. I said that the documentaries sold overseas for several million.

“OK” he said “what have you got for the other shows you spoke about?” I told him we held the sole rights to all video and sound from the World Tour of ‘Amazon’ and ‘Primal Purge’ a couple of years ago and that there was originally sixty eight shows, of which just two have been released to DVD. He looked a bit interested at this. I then told him that the first part of the show would be choral music and Greg Goggins would play classical guitar in that set. “OK” he said “how much do you want to be paid for all this?” I said that it would just be a hundred thousand as a donation the ‘Angels of Joy’ charity plus his costs to do the filming.

“That’s a bit much” he said “how do you justify that?” I told him that I would be contacting some other recording stars to add to the line-up at no cost to him. “OK” he said “I’ll talk to my boss and get back to you in a couple of days.” On our way out Simon, who had remained silent, asked me what stars I had in mind. I asked him what stars he had in his stable who would like a bit of feel-good air time and would fit in with a choir. He told me he would email me a list of names but it was up to me to get them on board.

Next day I flew down to Nashville and got in touch with the school choir. I spoke to the choir master and outlined my idea of a joint choir singing the more accessible pieces for about thirty minutes, with Joanne, Peggy, Riordan and me singing along with them; plus about four other artistes when I got them on board. I said that the set would finish with Greg Goggins playing a classical guitar accompaniment to a couple of songs. He had heard the Cotswolds CD so knew how that went. He said he would talk it over with the choir but thought they would go for it.

Next day Simon emailed me a list of current stars in his stable and contact details. I picked out four female singers who, I knew, sounded right. I called each one and explained what I was setting up for a one-off show in June that would require them to sing with a choir first but that I will arrange for them to do a couple of their own songs with ‘Amazon’ as the backing band. Three of the four were very interested so I made an appointment to see each of them the following week.

Simon had also found a suitable stadium near New York that held sixty thousand. I looked again at his list and rang a couple more singers and got a positive result with both of them so added them to my appointment list for the following week. I then went to speak to Sarah at the new headquarters for K Beat and laid out my ideas to her, with the names of the extra stars I wanted to have, and that we would need accommodation for the Cotswolds Choristers, the extra stars and, maybe, a few others, as well as a rehearsal studio in the new complex which I would pay for if needed. I told her it all depended on the TV channel at the present.

Two days later the TV network called me and told me that they would allocate a three hour show for me in prime time on the Saturday night in the middle of June so we were really off and running now. I called Simon to do the signing of agreements and then I called Sarah to book the rehearsal studio for all of May and to arrange the accommodation in a good hotel for sixty from the first of May to the end of June. After a couple of days rest I flew to my first appointment and was able to talk Shalysa into appearing free, for the air time and to show a different side of her persona.

Next day I flew to the second appointment with Barbreeza for another positive result and the following three days were equally positive, even quicker once the stars I spoke to knew who else was to be on the bill. I told them all that I had hotel rooms booked for all of May in Nashville and that we would do all the rehearsals there and they all agreed to turn up in the third week of May. Each one provided me with the songs they wanted to do in their solo set so I could get the band to rehearse them before they arrived.

I emailed Simon with the list I had attracted and he was quite excited at what the show may produce in terms of video content. It was now near the end of February and I contacted all of ‘Amazon’ to be in Nashville for the beginning of May and then contacted Greg and Peggy to come then as well. I also arranged the travel for the Cotswolds Choristers and emailed the choir master with the details, telling him I would arrange transport here. While thinking about that I booked three buses for all of May and June and got onto Tom to find three drivers.

The building work on the music store was nearly finished, as was the café next door with Joanne there almost every day, so I got the builder out to the ranch and showed him what I wanted done. He told me most of it was straight forward and would take about three months as he would put a team on it straight away. He was a bit unsure of the studio so I told him to just give me outside walls as the first project and I would get a specialist to finish it off.

Just for a bit of a break, I sat down in our office in the new K Beat building and got a sheet of paper and a pen to map out the show. I thought we could open with the joint choirs singing three songs then adding our extras for another three songs. Then I thought we could have the five stars doing a couple of songs each, accompanied by the ‘Amazon’ band and with the choirs as backing singers. Then I thought we could have Jake and Greg play a few numbers of their blues songs, followed by the rest of ‘Amazon’ to finish the event. We would have to time it properly when we were all together but I thought we could fill three hours easily. We needed to allow about twenty minutes for ads so only had the hundred and sixty minutes to fill.

I thought it would be fun to pay for a couple of spots for Meyers Music Mart of Nashville. For another slant on the whole thing I got my SUV and went out to the nursing home. When I walked in I saw Kay and we had a hug. I told her I was here to talk to the ‘support crew’ and asked her how they were. She told me that a couple had passed away but the main ones still sat in the day room so I went there. When I walked in I was greeted by Jim and Roger and I noticed a few new faces. I was introduced around and then asked what brought me to their humble abode now Ruby had passed.

I sat them down and outlined the coming few months. Roger asked if he could be on board from the start as he could see another book. Jim said that I certainly didn’t let anything get in my way and thought that it would be a real money spinner with the line-up I had put together. He asked me how much we had agreed to for the profits and I told him 50/50 with the TV channel for video but we were keeping the ticket sales. He congratulated me on my business acumen and I said that I needed to think that way now I owned the music store.

Part 26

After leaving the nursing home I had a drive out into the country again. On the way round I stopped at the country store for a drink and small bar of chocolate. Jennifer was there so we sat and chatted. She told me that the choir master had told them they would be in a TV show and she thought it would be fantastic. I told her of the five stars I had signed up for the show and she started shaking. I told her to calm down, as after a couple of weeks rehearsing with them, they would seem like normal people. Just like me. “You’re not normal” she said “you are wonder woman!”

Back at the house I sat for a while with my coffee before Joanne came home. She had really put her whole being into getting the café the way she wanted it. We had got hold of some mannequins and had a Jake, a Kyle, and Riordan, Nina, Joanne and me dressed in stage gear and equipped with the right guitars and a keyboard. They were behind a clear screen and there was a sign saying that the musical instruments were supplied by Meyers Music Mart. We had found the two original 50 watt amps in the storage next door and they were set up behind the figures. We had cut a doorway between the two shops so that people could wander between them without going outside, especially good in cold weather. She had installed a coffee machine, pie warmer and an ice cream maker and organised a deal with a baker nearby to supply pastries and cakes.

Next door we had completed the extensions with two soundproof booths with 50 watt amps in, plus a restroom for the staff with a locker room and a secure door to the back lot. I had the dirt car park bitumised and got a nice letter from the town hall thanking me for beautifying the area. We were planning an opening at the beginning of May when we had the band and choirs present. Jake had investigated some suppliers and we had a line of entry level guitars and keyboards and had increased our stock of violins and other stringed instruments. Business was pretty good so far and I thought it may get better after the official opening and a few column inches in the paper.

The builder rang me and said that the studio walls were up and that he had converted one of the out buildings to a security hut, with space for a desk and a bedroom with ensuite. I got in touch with our security firm that we already had at the house and asked them to install a set of perimeter alarms and cameras on the entry gate and around the ranch. I also got on to Sarahs’ studio expert and asked him if he could build me one in the shell we already had. The house had been cleaned and painted inside and out so Joanne and I had a great couple of days picking furniture and all the other bits needed, especially our own big bed.

We had an enormous flat screen TV in the lounge and had fast internet installed along with the security lines. Given a few days to move our stuff we could say goodbye to Alices’ house. It had been like home for about four or more years now but we were very happy to finally move into our own place. Of course, after moving, we had a mass of paperwork to plough through for address changes on all our cards, licences and a host of other things, like power and water connections. It was almost too much to bear but we did it in the end and slept our first night in our very own bed. It was a very quiet place to be as we were so far from any main roads but it did enhance the times we played our instruments. I found that I had developed mild tinnitus and the quietness allowed me to notice it. I suppose standing in front of a bunch of big amps can do that to you, even wearing extra strength ear buds.

The TV network had been looking at the tour footage and had decided that the Saturday night before our show; they would show the Seattle one, which had no interval and the bands changing over during a ‘Dancefloor’ jam session. They also requested a meeting to discuss the show format, so I flew to New York to attend the meeting with Simon. This time they were a lot less confronting and we all sat in a boardroom like civilised people. They told us that we needed to allow for the ads so I proceeded to outline the show. I told them we would start quietly with the combined choirs singing three songs; then there would be an ad break while we added guest singers plus Greg and me on guitar. Then the choir plus would do three songs before another break.

I said there could be a few minutes at this point as we would need to clear the choirs off the stage and add the band; then we would have two of my guest stars doing two numbers each, ad break, and then two more with two songs each. After the ad break we would have the fifth guest with two songs and then Nina with two songs. After that ad break we would have ‘Amazon’ on stage for five songs and, after another ad break, we would finish the evening with everyone on stage to sing a finale song which I was writing, which would be called ‘A night in June’ and would run for about seven minutes. They said that they could use the light system that was used in sports; when we went to ads the light would go on and when it went off we were live again. They picked up on the song name and said they would advertise it as ‘Amazon and friends, a night in June.’

With that sorted out I went to see Annette and Maxine to talk about stage wear. I told them all about the show and asked if they would be interested in supplying all of the clothes and, maybe, buying an ad or two. They were keen and asked me if I could supply all of the sizes, especially the five stars. I said that the choirs would only need a simple long dress but not in black, with the boys in similar colour with shirt and pants. The five stars should all be in different colours with ‘Amazon’ and Greg in gold. They had all of the sizes for the band so could get going on those quickly.

I asked that the choir dresses should have a zip back as we would put a bud mic on them with the wire running to a sender that was in a pouch at the waist, clipped to the back of their panties. Also, while in New York, I went to see our main souvenir vendor and told him what was coming up. I made sure to tell him it was a one-off show and, quite likely, a good one to have a web site for as it would be shown nationally. When I told him who it would showcase, and the venue, he got quite excited and I told him to contact Simon about a sales site on the day. He said he would get in touch with some of the other vendors to see if they would be interested.

He took me to lunch and we chatted about the shows we had all been to. He told me that he had really had a good time at our events as they all seemed to be more profitable than most, without having to put up with drunken crowds being obnoxious. I said that this may be because we were all clean and that could be the fans we attracted. I did tell him that the previous Saturday to the show there would be a showing of the first Seattle gig from the world tour and he was very interested at that.

Back in Nashville I emailed the choir master in England and asked for a complete list of sizes for the choir and told him about the format for the show. I then phoned the choir master here and asked for the sizes and told him the format. I then emailed Greg and Peggy with the format and asked them to come to Nashville in the beginning of May, followed by an email to Riordan with the format and a request for her, Nina and Julia to be in Nashville for the beginning of May. Then it was an email to each of our stars to tell them to be in Nashville from the middle of May, and the question as to their size and preferred dress length and colour as the stage dresses were to be supplied by L’Estrange.

It all seemed to be coming together. We were into March now and I needed to finalise the building work on our house. The studio designer had built the soundproof studio and the basic layout for the control desk. He wanted to know how many feeds I wanted and I asked for at least twenty with a mixing desk to suit. We discussed recording equipment and I chose the best I could get, knowing that it would probably be ‘so last year’ in a year or two. Our garage was now finished so we could put the cars away; everything seemed to be coming together.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 27

I now had time to sit down and write ‘One Night in June’ for the band, Greg, five stars and two choirs. This would be the biggest hurdle to overcome. After about a week at getting a basic idea sorted, I rang Sarah and asked if she knew of a local composer who could help me with it and she gave me a name to contact.

I rang the composer, Justin Smith, and he was very happy to help so I gave him our address. He said he would be over the next day. He arrived the next morning and I took him to my study, where I was doing my writing and showed him what I had already. We went through the lyrics and I played him the basic tune on my guitar and he said “You seem to have it all sorted, why you need me?” So I told him that it would be for an upcoming TV show, live in a stadium near New York, and there would also be a combined choir of about forty voices, the five stars, Greg and ‘Amazon’ and I wanted it to be remembered as an anthem. “You are really pushing your limits, there” he said “it is a big undertaking. Will you have an orchestra?”

I told him there will be three lead guitarists, two rhythms, a bass and drums, and two keyboards. He looked thoughtful for a moment and then said that that would make it easier to do as it would only need the keyboards to supply an orchestral sound. He assumed that the lead guitars would be supplying their own riffs, once it was being rehearsed, and, as we had the basic tune for the rhythm, bass and drums, we would just need to work on the overall presentation “to be magnificent and memorable”. I showed him the studio, as it was so far, and said that we could use it when it was finished but that we had use of the new studio at K Beat to get everyone together towards the end of May. I gave him a disc with my basic tune and song on and a lyric sheet and he took it with him. As he was leaving he told me that he had admired my song writing for a couple of years and was honoured to be working with me. I asked him if he wanted to help out with the rehearsals from day one and he readily agreed.

By the middle of April our studio was good for rehearsals so I put a couple of amps, a set of drums and a couple of keyboards from the shop. I managed to get Joanne to stay at home and Justin came by with a bunch of music and presentation ideas. We went into the studio and worked through his composition with me on guitar and Joanne learning the piece on the keyboard. By the end of the day we were quite a way forward so I told him that I would give him a call when the rest of the band got into town and we could get it sorted out, with just a rehearsal with the choir and stars needed before the show.

A couple of days later the choir from England flew in. We picked them up in a bus and took them to their hotel. I told the choir master he had use of the bus and driver so to just let them sightsee for a day or two and then we would get them into the rehearsal. Greg and Peggy came the day after and I took them out to the ranch and showed them to their rooms. Greg had brought his Martin and one of his tweaked Fenders. I showed them around the place and Greg was impressed with the studio. Peggy thought the ranch and the surroundings were lovely and asked if I was going to add a stable. That was something I really had not thought of.

After they had unpacked I took them into town and showed them the music store and Joannes Café and Greg was happy to see that Jake had got ‘a real job’ at last. We sat in the café and I told Jake and Greg that I had held one thing back from them when I gave them the show outline. I said “When I gave you the list, I put that ‘Amazon’ would do five songs. However, what I would like is for that part of the show to start with you two and the band doing a couple of real blues numbers; before the rest of us join you for three of our songs from the latest album.” Greg told me I was wicked but said it with a smile. He asked Jake “How would you like to do the blues on TV with an old fart like me, young feller?” Jake had a big smile and said it would be a pleasure. I then took them over to the new K Beat studio to have a look and Greg remarked on how similar it was to Geneva. Sarah told him it should be as it was built by the same company.

At last the first week of May arrived and we got the two choirs together in the rehearsal room and started working through their first three songs. As they were standard choral pieces it didn’t take more than a few days for them to achieve a good sound. The two groups were getting on pretty well and we then took them into the studio to record their set. We gave them the rest of the day off and then, next day, started on the second part of the show. Roger was getting busy with his camera and Justin was getting quite excited after hearing the choirs together. He was making lots of notes to take to his composition of the finale. For the second part, Greg, Joanne, Peggy and me joined the choirs to sing the first piece with Greg on classical guitar followed by ‘Serendipity’ and ‘Lucky’. I told the choirs that later in the month we would be adding Riordan and our five stars to the sound and there was much giggling from the girls. It took us the best part of a week to get these three sorted out, with Justin adding some very good ideas on the presentation. We finally got the recordings done on the Friday so I took everyone to Marios’ for dinner.

He was a bit flustered at more than fifty of us walking in but we got three big tables. I told him that everyone in the group was a singer and that we could probably carry the karaoke night alone but that I would pay for the meals. We had a good evening with several of our choral singers doing the karaoke but the kicker was Greg going up and slaying us with his rendition of “I was born under a wandering star.”

Saturday the rest of ‘Amazon’ arrived and Joanne and I took them out to the ranch in our SUVs. After they had settled in we made them lunch and then we took one of the buses into town to visit the music store and the K Beat studio.

Sunday our five stars were arriving and we kept it low key with Joanne and me with our SUV’s and Alice with a limo. We took them to the hotel and got them settled in and took them out for lunch. The restaurant had not seen the like and we got lots of sideways looks but, being Nashville, we were generally left alone. In the afternoon we got everyone into the rehearsal room and I went through the proposed layout of the show and asked if anyone had any problems. With none forthcoming we got the choirs lined up along with our stars and the usual additions and started working through the three song set. We had given the stars a song book and I was happy that they picked up the tune and tempo so well. We were happy with the result by dinner time and we piled into the buses to go to a restaurant for dinner. I had booked this time.

Monday we gave the choirs some days off and they went off sightseeing together. We got the band and our stars in the rehearsal room to work through their numbers. Jake and the boys had practised the ones they had nominated and I was pleased to see Greg up there with them. We then worked through Ninas’ songs as well. Tuesday we worked on the penultimate section with the ‘Amazon’ band plus Greg doing two blues numbers, followed by all of us doing three of the new songs from the album. Wednesday we got everyone into the rehearsal room to go through the show so far in real time.

We put the choir in front of the band equipment and I said we would be timing each segment as we went along. I told them that we would have two minutes to make our changes on the night during an ad break so we needed to be ready to move in an instant. Justin had a couple of stopwatches and a clip board. We started with the choirs and, when they had finished, the extras took our places and, when Justin called “Now” we started with the classical guitar intro. At the end of ‘Lucky’ the choir moved to the side walls leaving the first star as the band took their places and Greg strapped on his Fender. When Justin called “Now“ Shalysa did her two songs with the band behind her, exited stage right as Barbreeza walked out front, and the band began her two songs. When she finished hers I called for a break.

Part 28

While we were taking a break, the two stars that had already tried their songs, came over to me and Shalysa said that she hated letting the chance to sing with a choir behind her go begging and could we work them in. I said it would help with the movement in breaks so stood up and called for quiet. “Right” I said “I have been asked if the choirs could back our first two stars, is that OK?” The choir masters looked at their charges and they were all nodding. “What about the rest of the solo acts?” I asked. And they all said it would be good. I turned to Justin and asked if he could write some backing lyrics for all six solo acts and he said he would get on to it tonight. We gave him a CD with the first recordings to work from and then we got back to work.

The second solo section went well, as did the third. I called a break again. After ten minutes we got the band back at their places and they did two blues songs from their album and it was magic. Then the rest of ‘Amazon’ walked to our places and we did three songs from our latest album. At the end of that Justin told us that the performance time was one hundred and forty seven minutes, which gave us a window of thirteen minutes. I then told them that there would be an ad break, and, when we came back live, everyone would be on stage and there would be a finale song which we would rehearse in a day or so, but would last about ten minutes. I gave Jake and the boys a CD of the trial recording to practice from and did the same for Riordan and Julia. I said we would take a couple of days for the band to get the finale started and for Justin to get some words written, so tomorrow we would rehearse the first two sections again so that everything was perfect, not that it wasn’t close already.

So, the next day it was the choirs, Greg and the stars plus Riordan, Peggy and Joanne who gathered in the rehearsal room. We worked the three songs from the first section several times until the choir masters were satisfied. After a break we worked the second section several times and varied some verses so that the stars sang in harmony for a few lines. When we took a break, one of them told me she had not had so much fun since she was in a school choir. A couple of the others nodded their heads at that. They were getting really friendly with the choirs and Jennifer whispered to me that I was right when I told her everyone would bond “This is awesome” she said.

While we were having our catered lunch, Lucy came in and told me that she was here with a small container of stage clothes so I said that it may be a good time to do a dress rehearsal. We got everyone out in the car park where the container sat and she opened it up. With the stars first she handed out the stage clothes on hangers and covered in plastic. The choirs lined up to get theirs when they gave their name. The choir masters did not go begging either. I took mine as well as Julias’ and Ninas’. I carried them to the SUV and put them in the back. Lucy said she would deliver Jakes’ and the boys’ gear to their houses.

Back in the rehearsal room there was a buzz as the choir looked at what we had handed out. I called for quiet and said “What you have just been given are the clothes you will wear for the show. I want you all to go back to your hotel this afternoon and try them on. They have been supplied by L’Estrange and, if you have any problems with them, tell Lucy here and she will organise a proper fitting. They should be good now but we cannot allow for any recent burger binge.” Lucy said “Take care of them as if they are your own, because they will be when the show is over.” There was a gasp from a lot of girls at that statement. Lucy continued “I will come back to the hotel with you and be there to answer any questions. To answer one that you girls will think of is why we have supplied three pairs of panties with extra strong waistbands. This is because you will have a small radio transmitter clipped to the back of them, connected to a bud mic on the neckline.” I said to wear the new dresses tomorrow as we will do a true dress rehearsal.

I took the other clothes back to the ranch and handed them to the others. I told them we would do a dress rehearsal tomorrow of the first two sections with mics. I rang Ron and asked him to set up the rehearsal room with a PA and the multi-band receiver for the mics I had stored there. I had also got a big box of buds. Then I rang Peter and asked him if the car company was going to have an ad during our show. He told me they had bought four; one minute spots and that they were very good. I also called Maxine and asked her if they were going to advertise and was told that they had done so. I had put together an ad myself with Chris filming Jake and me at the music store.

The next day we gathered in the rehearsal room with all the boys in maroon shirts and pants and the girls in long maroon dresses with the rest of us in our various colours. Ron and I fitted the choir and our stars with the radio mics and I handed out buds to everyone. “Right” I said “today you choristers are going to experience the joys that the rest of us take for granted, you are going to sing your songs with yourselves coming from behind you, amplified. It is a weird experience but one you will have to master. These buds will give you the overall performance directly in your ears. You must train yourselves to listen to those, not the sound that is outside your body. It takes a while but you must remember that we will be in a large stadium and heavily amplified and it is easy to get dis-orientated. We will do the first song. If you find yourself unsure – stop – and try to pick it up when you orientate. OK?”

We turned everything on and I keyed my comms button and asked, in a normal voice, for those who can hear me to put their hand up. Two didn’t so we checked and found that they had not fitted the buds correctly. We finally got it right and the choir master got them ready. He led them into the first song and the room reverberated with the amplified singing. More than half were seriously shocked, including the choir master. We stopped them and I keyed the comms and asked them to try again. I got Ron to lower the volume a bit as we could slowly crank it up as they got used to it. The second time was much better. If I saw anyone looking lost I looked at them and tapped my buds until they got it. We kept on repeating the first song with the sound moving up until they were all singing properly.

We then went to the second song and then the third. I commed ‘well done’ and gestured for everyone to take their buds out while Ron switched off the volume. As they stood there a bit amazed that they could hear still I told them they had done well and to take a break but not to mess up the stage clothes. After the break we set up with the instruments. My Fender had a mic inside and we had a mic on a stand for Greg. We got everyone in their places and got all the buds in. I gestured to Ron to start with a lower sound and we got into the first piece. It went better than I expected and we moved through the set as the sound came up.

I could hear that it seemed good. When we finished I commed and told them I thought it was good but to start from the first song of the first set and work through the whole two sets. I got Ron to lift the volume again and they started from the first song with the rest of us joining at the fourth. When we finished I congratulated everyone and said to take a break. Once everyone had taken off their buds and was relaxing I explained to the choir that my mic with its comms button would be joined by a few others on the night. We would have a stage manager who would communicate through the buds and, once we had them on, we obeyed instructions. I told them that this was how stage shows started with sound and lights all at once. The two choir masters would share the spotlight so we gave them radio mics that were set to the comms channel so they could encourage the choirs during their performance, if need be. In the afternoon we transferred everything to the big studio and did a seamless recording of the six pieces.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 29

The next day we got the full band back in, staying in the studio. We set it up as it would be on stage and worked on the six solo acts, with the choir now standing back beside the band, half on each side. I must say that our stars were very good and looked good as well in their stage gear.

Justin had come up trumps with some lyrics and the places they fitted were in natural points of the songs. I could see our stars warming to the effect. I knew three of them had really only come into fame through video clips with sexy dancers and the other two were out front of four piece bands so having a wall of sound was a new experience for all of them.

Once we had the choir singing the backing I got the whole thing repeated with the choir swaying with the music to give a bit more movement. Then we did the blues songs with everyone on stage with the ‘Amazon’ singers behind the choir. Then ‘Amazon’ came forward with our instruments and did our three songs with the choirs dancing in place. I suggested that they could join in with the backing so we did the three songs again with them joining in. At the end of it I said that this is how we would work it on stage and to just pick up the songs as we went along.

I had heard our stars joining in through my buds so was secretly pleased at that. We had a break and I asked Jake how he had gone with the finale song and he said they had got it pretty well sorted. Riordan and Julia had also got some time in on it so, after the break, we formed up as we had been with the ‘Amazon’ songs and I told them that we would now have the first tryout for the finale song. Justin handed out the lyric sheets and I got the band to go through the tune a few times to get everyone familiar with it. We then did a run through with singing. It had been written so everyone got a solo with the choir supplying the underlying tune. There is an awful lot you can fit into a ten minute song.

At the end I looked at the choir masters and Justin, who were standing together by a side wall and was pleased to see them smiling. I looked at our stars who were also looking happy and the choir were all beaming, so I reckoned that it works. I commed my mic and told them that it was a good job, but we would run through it again and to remember that it is destined to be an anthem. I nodded to Ron to record and we sang it again with everyone doing their best for posterity. It sounded magnificent and when we finished I stood quiet for a few seconds and the turned around and clapped them all. Ron gave me the thumbs up so I asked them all to relax and take their buds out. We got some drinks and Ron played the last take back through the speakers. Justin came over to me and told me it was a number one with a bullet.

We called it a day at that and we all went back to our various residences to relax. Back in casual gear I got the buses to pick everyone up and we went out to dinner which I had booked. Alice and Sarah joined us and Sarah told me that a couple of our stars had contacted her to ask if I could write some songs for them as they had noted the two choral pieces, one of Ninas’, and all three ‘Amazon’ songs were mine and that they had been blown away by the finale. I had to say that Justin took my basic premise on that one and took it to the song it is today. I asked her if we could hire the Athenaeum one day to do a full stage dress rehearsal and she said she would get on to it.

I mentioned that the Nashville choirs’ parents and maybe some of the senior school would like to hear them. Roger came over and told me that he was honoured to have seen the show put together and that I had a real mastery of production. I told him that I just adjusted things until they looked good and he told me that what he said was exactly that. I told him we would do a proper show at the Athenaeum and to make sure the ‘support crew’ came along.

We gave everyone a day off and the day after that we got into the studio, again in full dress. The choir had their lyric books complete and we worked out a way for the stars to have theirs taken from them after the sixth song and able to be retrieved for the finale. In the morning we discussed aspects of the show and everyone had a say on any worries they had. We then had lunch and, in the afternoon, we did the full show with as much volume as we could get in the studio; with Justin and his stopwatch and a torch to give us the break times so we could make our moves. I thought that the concert goers would not find it strange as they are used to artists rearranging themselves between sets. I noticed Alice in the control room and, when we had finished, she told me that we had the Athenaeum for three days hence for the whole day. I told the group that they had two days off and we would be doing a live show in a local hall for the parents and helpers and senior school. They would be picked up in the afternoon for a rehearsal on stage before the show at night.

I took advantage of the couple of clear days and flew to New York to see Simon. He told me that the stadium was already fully filled so the show had better be good. I assured him that it would and invited him to come to Nashville to see a proper performance for families and friends. I told him that I had an idea to make a bit of money after the event. Roger had been taking lots of pictures and I wondered if we could add a DVD sleeve to the book cover and put the show there. We could then sell it through book shops, record shops or music stores. I said my store would take a hundred, sight unseen. He said he would talk to Roger when he was in Nashville.

We took a couple of hours and went out to the stadium for a look. It was certainly big and the stage area was in an ideal place. Simon said that there were about twenty vendors that had signed on as well as Meyers Music Mart and the company stalls. While we were there his phone rang. It was the TV network and the guy that we spoke to said that his bosses were getting the jitters about a completely new, and unknown, show going into prime time for three hours, even though the advertising spaces were fully subscribed. Simon told him to get down to Nashville the day after tomorrow as there would be a run through of the show on the stage of the Athenaeum that evening. The guy said he, and a couple of his more conservative bosses would see us then. Simon told him to bring a sound and lighting man with him to get an idea of what will be needed.

Back in Nashville the next day I went to see Roger again. I said that as the Athenaeum had once been a cinema, there were several projection windows at the back. I asked him if he would get Chris to set up cameras with long lenses to film the show for me, purely as a personal thing. I said that it may be an interesting keepsake for the artistes after the TV show. I told him I had hired twenty security guys and that, before the show I would go on stage and enforce a ‘no filming’ rule so that nothing gets to the social media before the TV event. That meant that Chris would have to keep a low profile. I then mentioned that Simon would be talking to him about distributing the book he would write and there would be a DVD of the show added inside the back cover. He got quite excited at that. Jim can over after I had finished talking to Roger and said that it seems that I was shaping up as quite the producer. It made me think a bit. I told him to critique my work after he had seen it the next day.

On the morning of the show we all went to the Athenaeum around mid-morning. Lucy had got all of the stage clothes cleaned. I was surprised when Annette and Maxine walked in. Annette had ten beauticians and a big box that contained fifty make-up kits. The troupe got up on the stage and we marked out the standing position, colour coded for each section. We had a catered lunch sitting in the stalls. The choir was getting a bit hyper so I got out in front and told them that tonight they were going to sing for friends and family so it will not be such a big deal. I told them that they had all worked hard and, this afternoon, we would do a full show for the supporters who were already in the building. “Remember” I said “Everyone here tonight has come to hear YOU sing. They are not here to run you down so make them proud of you.”

Part 30

While I was talking to them I noticed some movement up in the film windows so I gathered that Chris was setting up. Ron had done his usual magic and the PA was fed from two, twenty five channel, mixers and the master mixer had his digital recording system attached. Once we had finished our lunch, the caterer cleared it away and left. We got everyone into the dressing rooms, some having to take turns, to change into the stage clothes. Then Annette set up her beauticians and all of the girls got the treatment and the guys were given the once over as well. After that I walked out onto the stage and noticed that my security detail was in the auditorium so I waved for them to come to the front of the stage and told them that I was going to announce that the show must not be filmed as we did not want anything to go onto the social media as a spoiler for the TV event. I told them that a professional film crew would be in the projection room and I asked them to space themselves along the sides of the theatre and watch out for anyone trying to use their smartphone. We had saved the first two rows for the TV and other guests as it seemed that the mayor and some councillors wanted to come and I knew that Peter and his family were going to be here.

Once everyone was pampered and preened we got the choir in place for the first part. I asked them to hold until I made an announcement and walked to the front of the stage and said “Those of you who are in the auditorium are in for a special treat this afternoon. I ask you to refrain from trying to film or record the show now, or this evening. If our security detail sees you trying, you will be ejected from the building and your device will be held until after the TV event in two weeks.” I gave the small audience a steely glare and then smiled and turned to the stage manager to time us down.
He gave us ten seconds and counted down to go and the choir master held his hands up and started the first three songs.

I watched from the side and was feeling good about it. At the end of the set the stage manager said “Two minutes, change over.” I and our other additions walked to our places with Greg and me carrying our stools. We got ourselves comfortable as the stage manager counted down from ten again and at the go, our second choir master pointed to Greg and gave two beats with his hands and Greg started the classical guitar into and the choir came in after a few stanzas. I looked out at the audience as we were singing and I saw that everyone was looking at us intently. I imagine that it may have been the first time they had heard this style of music. For the second song I played my Fender with Greg adding a rhythm and we finished with the third song.

“Two minutes” said the stage manager and the choirs moved to each side of the band who took their places while Greg and I removed our guitars and stools and went to stand at our places with the choir. Peggy also joined us as she had a verse in the finale. At the go command, Jake and the boys started playing the first of Shalysas’ pieces and she came back onto the stage and sang her two songs. When she finished there was some applause from the small audience and then Jake played the opening riff for Barbreeza who also did her two songs. When she finished we got the two minute warning so relaxed a bit.

Looking out I could see a few more in the audience, mainly K Beat people. At the go command the band started Shantels’ music and she came out from the wings singing her song. Again, as she finished her second song there was a bit of applause as Yolandes’ music started and she came onto the stage for her two songs. After the two minutes we had Alletta, followed by Nina, a star in her own right. When the stage manager called his two minute warning I noticed that his voice sounded a bit excited. This break had Greg going to stand next to Jake with his tweaked Fender strapped on. Riordan and Julia went to one side of the band with Joanne and me on the other side. We had our guitars on and the two keyboards were set up.

It was always magic for me to hear Greg play the blues. I thought that it had always been part of his life and I could see that Jake had been bitten by the same bug. They did their two songs and, as the applause was dying down I started playing our first ‘Amazon’ song while Nina came out to the front of the stage to sing. It was amazing to hear as Jake and Greg were in sync with the lead breaks, which left me a bit on the outer but I tried to do my bit. We did our second and third song and, as the applause grew, the stage manager gave us the two minute warning. Peggy came forward to join us and our stars came out and stood with us in a line across the stage and, at the go command we started the final song. I had the idea that, as we moved into bigger buildings, with more amplification, the grander it sounded. When the last notes faded there was an outpouring from our smallish audience so we all gave a bow and those out front turned to applaud the choir and I beckoned for the two choir masters to take a bow. When the applause died down I thanked them all and said we would have a catered light dinner and make sure you don’t mess your clothes.

It was a bit of an anticlimax for the moment and I took my guitar off and went to give all the stars a hug, telling them that they were magnificent. They all told me that they wouldn’t miss it for the world and a couple asked when the next spectacular was due. I told them that it was not even on the radar. Down in the auditorium I saw that Simon had arrived and his smile said it all. Jim collared me and told me that a critique was not needed as I had nailed it first time. I thanked him with a peck on the cheek. I found the main security guy and told him that, as his crew had seen the show, they can watch the crowd this evening without distraction. He told me that they were all totally distracted with the first performance but would be totally professional this evening.

We had our catered meal and then all the Nashville choir went out to the foyer to greet their family and friends. Simon and I went out near the doors to wait for the TV guys and local dignitaries. Alice and Sarah came up to us to say hello and there was a fair crowd from K Beat with them. I started to worry that we would have enough seats for everyone. Chris came up and told me that the rehearsal was fantastic and he had got a lot of good footage. Simon looked at me with a raised eyebrow and I told him about Chris and his crew being up in the projection rooms with long lenses. He told me I was wicked and I said that it wasn’t the first time I had been called that.

At last, the TV guys arrived and Simon took control of their party while I waited for the Mayor and crew. They turned up eventually and I led them to the front of the stalls and the reserved rows. I could see the auditorium filling up so went back to the foyer to round up the remaining choir members and hustled them to the dressing rooms. We just needed a make-up touch up and it soon got to start time. We were going to start on the hour of seven and the stage manager was giving us a count down from thirty minutes out. We got the whole choir together in order and, at the five minute mark, walked them out to the stage to stand. I went out in front of the stage and told the audience that they were here as a special treat. I told them that the TV show would be in just over two weeks and that we would not allow any filming or recording to be made of this show and that the security guys along the side walls would evict anyone they saw with their phones out so to turn them off and put them away. I gave them a stern glare and the security guys looked like they meant business.

I walked off the stage as the count-down reached fifteen seconds and then it was on, again. There was much applause at the first break, more at the second and applause after each of the stars songs. When we got to the band playing the blues there was an audible gasp when Jake and Greg swapped lead breaks and applause while ‘Amazon’ came forward. At the end of the set the applause was now into being prolonged so I had to wave my hands to put a stop to it as we timed down to the finale. At the end we got a standing ovation, even the TV guys were smiling. I pulled Justin up on stage to take his own bow and he got a kiss from every girl on stage, much to his embarrassment.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 33

When everyone gathered for lunch I found Simon and just said “Damn you and your crazy ideas, you have just made me lose another year of my life!” He laughed and asked me what I had thought of and I just said “The life and times of Richard Reece with Drake.”

He said “That would be interesting to see on a stage.” I left it at that and we had a pleasant lunch; I gave out the buds and pads and then we took ourselves to the stadium, now needing two buses. I forced myself to think about the matters at hand as we walked through the vendor area again. Of course, the whole band plus five established singing stars meant that it was a long walk, with lots of selfies and pictures of us by various stands. One of our stars said that she had never experienced such a set-up and I told her that we sold the sites, provided much of the stock at a discount and benefitted from the sales from our company outlets for CD’s and posters. I told her about the ‘Amazon’ tour and the US leg of the ‘Primal Purge’ tour and when I mentioned the returns she whistled. We may be in it for the fun of singing but the business runs on profit and you can take it where-ever you can.

We finally got to the dressing rooms and, as the choir were being looked after; the rest of us went up to the stage and marked out the various standing positions. I made sure that the Fender and Gregs Martin were in place with the mic on its stand and the two stools. The rest of the band instruments were set in the centre stage rear with my SG in a stand. We had four amps behind us, each of five hundred watts and there were leads that snaked over the back of the stage to a mixing desk out in the middle of the audience. I waved at the guy at the desk and he flashed the interval light for me so we knew where to look for it. When I looked out I could see at least ten cameras on small towers so it will certainly be a multi-aspect show. After making sure we were happy with it, we went back to the dressing rooms to get ready ourselves.

We needed to get started before three ‘o’ clock so that we had a suitable break before the show itself so I asked the stage manager to get the TV guys to their positions by two thirty for a start at two forty five. Back in the dressing room we were very close to being ready to go so I commed my mic and asked if everyone could hear me and to put their hand up if they can. A couple didn’t raise their hand so we checked them out and refitted their buds. I asked again for a show of hands and everyone put their hand up. I told them we would start the rehearsal at two forty five and that we would go up at two thirty, or about five minutes time so take care of any personal needs now.

At two thirty the stage manager came over the buds that it was fifteen minutes to start and went through the list of camera men, sound desk and lighting techs to make sure they were ready. We led our choir to their first position and the rest of us stood in the wings. At go time the choir master raised his hands and they sang their three songs without a flinch as the extra amplification washed over them. When the light went on the extras joined the choir with Greg and me with our stools and guitars and did our thing for the following three songs. And so it continued, our stars did their things and we ended up with the penultimate set with Jake and Greg and band. Then it was ‘Amazon’. At the start of our final song “A Night in June’ I knew it would be a hit when the full volume worked its magic. At the end of it we stood there quietly with the TV techs and cameramen clapping us.

Back in the dressing room I got everyone to take off the stage clothes and put on dressing gowns while we had a light catered tea. Roger came over to me and told me that the show in Nashville was good but this is going to be magnificent with the bigger audience. I went to see the TV guy from the sound desk and asked him if he could quickly add a light, just below the edge of the stage; that was linked to the break light. He said it could be done in a couple of minutes so I asked him to get it fixed. We would be going live at seven so our break was brought to an end by six fifteen and everyone got dresses and touched up quickly.

I could hear a hubbub filtering down the stairs so we went through the ritual with the buds and everyone was good this time. I asked if the stage manager was on board and he said he was so I asked him to give us count down every five minutes and that I was coming up to the stage now for an announcement. I went up the stairs and out to the middle of the stage to a round of applause and held my hands up for quiet. I could see that the place was already close to full so I said “Ladies and Gentlemen. I am Patsy Meyers and I welcome you all to tonight’s one-off show. As you know, we are going out to the nation on live TV tonight and, because of that, everything is timed to the minute. We have, just in front of me, a light.”

I saw the light by the sound desk go on so I carried on. “When that light is on, the TV channel has gone to an advertising break which lasts exactly two minutes. This will go on a number of times during the show. While I, and my fellow singers, love to hear your applause, I do ask that you quieten down when that light goes off as we cannot stand and wait for you or else folks in their homes will be throwing pillows at their TV sets. There will be plenty of time for you to show your appreciation after the last song. Thank you and enjoy the one Night in June.” I turned and walked off stage to some polite applause.

As I walked to the wings I heard the stage manager give the twenty minute warning so I stayed where I was and commed my mic to get everyone up to the stage as I knew that the choir would take a few extra minutes to calm down. As we got them coming on to the stage there was loud applause and I checked them all out before we started. Jennifer said, as I checked her, “We haven’t even sung anything yet” and I told her it was because they love you already. As we had everyone in place we got the five minute warning and I took a look out at the vast crowd and saw a group of people I knew by the sound desk. It looked like most of the executives from Simon’s office as well as a bunch from K Beat and even Peter and his family with what looked like car company executives as well as Jim and Kay from the nursing home. I knew that the staff from our music store were here for the stall so would probably listen from the doorways.

At seven a voice came over the PA from the TV feed and told the viewers that tonight they were in for a treat and to sit back and enjoy ‘A Night in June’. As the light went out our first choir master turned to the choir and raised his hands. We were off and running again, this time for real. At the end of each song there was good applause which stopped when he raised his hands to restart and, when the light went on for the first break there was a wall of approval. The extras quickly made our ways to our allotted spaces and, as the stage manager called the ten second warning, I raised my arms and waved to the crowd to quieten.

As the light went out our second choir master took us through the piece with the classical guitar and I sensed a real hush from the audience as Greg played, with a roar of approval when he finished. We then got on with ‘Lucky’ and ‘When I wake’ and the applause was deafening as the light went on. We quickly moved the choir to the back of the stage, behind the keyboards and Julia and Joanne took their places.

The applause was still strong and I allowed it to continue when the light went out and Jake and the boys started the first stars number. It was almost like a rock concert as she did her two songs, only to be replaced by the second one. We had told the TV people who we had but not to advertise their participation until the final credits so it was a surprise to everyone in the audience, even more so after the two minute break when two more well-known stars did their thing. The choir were noticeable with their backing and swaying and I thought it was a good result. With the fifth star leaving, Nina came on for her solo songs to much cheering. It was all looking good. After the break Riordan stepped in front of the choir on her side while I stepped in front on mine and we stood there while Jake and Greg brought the house down. It looked like the audience was in seventh heaven.

Part 34

As they finished there was a lot of applause but we had to start our ‘Amazon’ set so started playing anyway. By the time we finished the three numbers the crowd was really going for it. As I walked to the front of the stage I tried to wave them to a bit of a quieter roar and managed to do so as they kept up the applause as our five stars came back on stage to line up with us. When the stage manager gave us the ten second warning I quickly commed and said I would make an announcement first and to follow my prompt to start. When the light went out I took a step forward and asked for a bit of hush. As the roar came down I thanked the audience for being so good tonight; and that they were all TV stars now and to enjoy our last song, ‘A Night in June’.

Turning back to the band I called three, two, one and we started the finale. Everyone gave it their all, our stars were getting to a level I had not heard before and the choir was magnificent. Greg and Jake added their guitar riffs and we all went for it. As the final chords faded the house erupted and we had got to the end. Those up front gave our bows and we called the choir forward to take theirs, then I brought the choir masters back on stage to take a bow. I knew that we were still live as the credits needed to roll so we all took more bows until the light went on and we were off the air. I commed my mic and said “Very well done, you are all stars. Please go down the stairs and wait by the dressing rooms as we have one more task for the evening”

I led them through the under stadium tunnel to come out in the foyer where a very long table was set up with queues of fans already lined up with merchandise to sign. We got everyone seated and supplied with a few markers each and we spent an hour and a half signing. I was glad to see several guitars being offered to Greg and Jake for their signatures and I even had a few SG’s of my own to sign. The stars were very busy signing their own albums and posters and every member of the choir had lines in front of them to sign posters and their own albums. As it drew to a close we did the final signatures and left the foyer to go back to the dressing rooms.

Jennifer walked on one side of me and told me I was right again – three times. The lass from the Cotswolds who spoke about her mother and make-up was on my other side and said that she now was going to tell her mother she orgasmed twice in front of sixty thousand people and thoroughly enjoyed it.

We were tired but in high spirits when we changed and left Lucy with the cleaning. Back to the hotel in the bus was taken up with everyone singing ‘A night in June’ and, when we arrived at the hotel, there was a welcoming gaggle of media folks with cameras flashing and microphones stuck under noses. I loudly told them that they could have a press conference tomorrow but tonight we were all too worn out to say anything meaningful, and we all went inside while the hotel security held the press at bay as the other bus arrived. In the foyer I told the choirs to head for bed as they would fall asleep as their heads hit the pillow while the rest of us went into the lounge to meet up with the TV and studio people. There was much hugging and high fiving and it was generally a feel good get-together. I was soon about to pass out and I could see some of the others in the band felt the same so we made our excuses and went off to bed ourselves.

In the morning I felt as if a load had been lifted from my shoulders and Joanne and I were in the breakfast room fairly early as we were quite hungry. We loaded up with a big breakfast each and a cup of coffee and had got about halfway through when Greg and Peggy came in, followed , in dribs and drabs, by everyone else. They all wanted to give me a hug and to thank me for the experience and I really felt the need to hug everyone. It was that sort of morning. The choir was amazed that fans wanted their signatures and I was told that several group pictures were passed along to be signed by all of the members. Lucy came by and told us that the stage clothes would be ready at lunch time so they could be packed when everyone left.

I asked her how the sisters went with the ads and she told me that the phones had started ringing at six in the morning and it was lucky they had recruited a small band of operators to take the messages. I hoped that the answering machine at the music store had enough memory to record all the calls. Peter and his family came in and all of them wanted a hug with both me and Joanne ‘my two favourite customers’ and I introduced them to our five stars telling them that if ever they were in Nashville and needed a car, Peter was the man to see. His daughters were beside themselves once again, especially as two of their favourite singers gave them a hug each. Simon came in with the TV guys and they all got hugs all round and the main TV guy said that his data people had told him this morning that the show started on eighty million viewers and peaked towards the hundred million before the end. He was very happy and so were his bosses.

Peter said the car company would be happy at those numbers. I still had not seen their ad and asked him about it so he pulled out his smartphone and played it for me. I was staggered as it opened up with the original ad I had done but with the company name over his franchise name and the second half was a series of pictures of big car yards with waving salespersons and the voice over saying that the company was proud to be associated with Patsy and her band as the originators of the most successful advertising campaign in the company’s history and that they knew the show would be a success as that’s what I did best.

“That went on national TV?’ I asked. “Yes it did; four times.” he answered. Riordan, who had been looking over my shoulder, said “Peter, do you have any idea of what that ad did for disadvantaged children?” Peter said he didn’t, other than the two hundred thousand that we had donated at the Detroit show. She told him “Because of the ad, and the acoustic set that Patsy played in your showroom, I got Patsy to play for the children in the homes and that generated a lot of interest in the homes. Patsy doesn’t know this yet but donations have doubled since she came on board. That also led to the ‘Angels of Joy’ charity being formed and, because of that, the ‘Angels of Joy’ double CD and involvement in Reece Manor schools for the disadvantaged in Gregs house in the Cotswolds. You asking for that ad helped hundreds of kids across the world and I, for one, thank you for that.”

She then pulled him to her and gave him a big smoochy kiss. Everyone cheered, even if they didn’t know why. His wife, who had been listening in, said that she was also proud of him and double smooched him. I had to laugh as he was very red in the face so I said, “Sit down, Peter, or your doctor might not like me anymore.” He sat and composed himself and said “You know, I always thought that the old saying about a butterfly flapping its wings was bunkum but this is how it happens in real life.” I told him that he had seen four documentaries on TV that Chris had made and that his career started because of the ad as well.

We all stopped talking when a waiter brought in a pile of newspapers and the New York Times had a picture of us doing the finale on the front page with a caption ‘A Night in June in New York captures the country’s attention’. I turned to the media pages and there was an article by their TV critic who was rapturous over the show. OK, that’s all I needed to see, others may not be so nice. However, it seems that they were all good. One even called me the ‘most influential song writer and producer of our times’. Well, they have to get some things wrong.

We managed to get all of our breakfasts finished when the hotel manager came in and told us that the ‘gentlefolk of the press’ were gathered in the big meeting room and he could lead us there. We followed him to the meeting room and answered endless questions with the hardest one being ‘What’s next’. In the end I stood up and said “To tell you the truth, there is nothing on paper at the moment except a bit of quiet time but I have an idea about a distant ancestor of mine and it will be an operetta about pirates called ‘Drake and Reece’.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 35

The band members looked at me in amazement and one reporter said “Drake I have heard of, he beat the Spanish Armada, but who is this Reece.” I told them that Richard Reece was a mate aboard one of Drakes ships when Drake was a privateer.

They had to ask “What’s a privateer?” so I told them that in the late fifteen hundreds, several English captains were ordered by the queen to attack and plunder Spanish ships off of South America. They were called privateers but were actually government sponsored pirates, a bit like the US contractors in Afghanistan some years back. I told them that Richard Reece also sailed with Drake with only the second crew to circumnavigate the globe and that, if they were interested, if they looked on the British Museum website they would see pictures of the loot he saved for himself.

I said that I was a direct descendant of Richard Reece and that Greg lived in the house that Richard built in the early sixteen hundreds. I said it would be a story of high seas, high adventure and lots of singing because that’s what you do in an operetta. “However” I added,” I can’t tell you any more about it because I have not yet written a word.” I did point out that I hope to get Justin Smith on board as he was the one instrumental in making our finale last night so memorable. One of the final questions was “How long have you been planning the operetta?” and I looked at my watch and said “About twenty three hours, but I have been rather busy during that time.”

We ushered them out and Joanne said that I kept things close to my chest. I told her to blame Simon, who looked all innocent. Riordan and Nina came over and asked if they could play dusky native maidens and we all laughed and hugged before they, and Julia, left to go home. All of our stars came to say goodbye and they all told me to write them in, maybe as tavern girls so they could show lots of bosom. I told them I would keep it in mind. They went off to pack so they could leave after lunch. The Nashville choir was flying out as well, as was Jake and the band. Greg and Peggy were flying back to England on Monday with the Cotswolds choir so Joanne and I stayed in New York to see them off.

After lunch and all the ones leaving had done so, we were sitting in the lounge just relaxing Greg said that he was amazed at how I moved to the next thing without thought, as if it would all be all right. He said that he had never met someone who would publically announce a future show before a word had been written. I told him that I had told the TV guys the name of our finale last night before I even had a tune. I said that this way meant that I had to write it now, or else lose face and added that if it had not come up in the press conference, I may have well let it slide because of other things but now I had a good excuse to not get drawn into other big projects for a while. He sat and thought for a while and then said “If it gets to the stage before I die, can I be Drake?” I gave him a hug and told him that I would write it with him in mind.

During that afternoon, Annette and Maxine came to the hotel and we had a group hug. They said that the phones were running hot and it was still a Sunday and that they had really enjoyed the show. They had some proofs of the photo shoot and we had the Cotswolds choir gathered round as we looked at the pictures. They were amazed at how they looked and the sisters said that their friend in London wanted them to be her models for the London Fashion Week and that she would be in touch. Our usual girl said that her mother was going to have kittens and that I had better be prepared for a stern letter – make-up, orgasms and now a modelling career. The sisters said, in unison, “Orgasms?” I told them it was a usual happening to new female singers when performing to big and friendly crowds. One of the boys piped up “Not just to girls, either.”

We all had a laugh and I told them I would take them out to dinner. I rang the Italian Restaurant that Angela and Mary had taken me to and booked a table for forty. Maxine said that this called for some loan outfits and rang her office to tell them to expect twenty – odd choristers for outfitting for dinner, plus Patsy and Joanne, Greg and Peggy.

We went up to our rooms to freshen up and gathered in the foyer as our bus arrived. The sisters had taken Lucy in their limo and we were in high spirits as we went to the fashion studio. Once there we were again primped and preened and the boys got flash suits while the girls got cocktail dresses and suitable evening make-up. We walked into the restaurant looking like a million dollars and the manager greeted us warmly, congratulating us on the show last night. He said that he had put a big TV in the restaurant so the patrons could watch it while eating and that everyone enjoyed it. He asked us if it would be all right if he called a professional photographer friend to take our picture tonight so he could put it up by the entrance and we all said it would be good. We had a good meal with a lively atmosphere and the said photos were taken. Some of the patrons came over and asked for autographs and a couple of elegant ladies asked who made our dresses so Maxine gave them her card, telling them that they were looking at half the models in the next two catalogues.

The next morning we all had breakfast together and we all hugged as the choir, plus Greg and Peggy, left in the bus for the airport. We then had a look at the papers to see a picture of me at the press conference with the caption ‘Patsy plays with a Pirate Project’. One paper called me ‘Pirate Patsy’. I nearly dissolved giggling as I thought of what people in Nashville will call me now. I will have to practise my aaarrrhhh. “Joanne” I said “Do you think we should buy a monkey or a parrot. We could teach it to say ‘Pieces of Eight’ and hang its cage in the café.” “Don’t you dare!” she exclaimed “I won’t have a parrot in the café. You can put it in the music store and teach it to say ‘nice riff, matey.’”

We were smiling as the pressure was now off of us and we could just be ourselves for a while. We went up to our room and packed to go home and, after I settled the account, we ordered a limo to take us to the airport. We had a flight to Nashville just after lunch so ate at the airport first class lounge and then flew home. I had asked one of the security guys to pick us up in my SUV and he drove us back to the ranch. On the way he told us how good the show was and that everyone he knew had watched it. “By the way” he said with a smile “if you need a pirate crew there’s a bunch of us guys that would look good in breeches.”

Back at the ranch Mary told me that the phone had gone crazy and that I had lots of people to call back. She did tell me that I do have to ring Justin as soon as I got in. I rang him and when he answered I immediately apologised for mentioning him in relation to the announcement about the operetta and he said that no apology was needed as it was something he had thought about but had no idea for a story line. He wanted to come over and talk about it so we made an appointment for the next day. All I really wanted to do this afternoon was to have a long bubble bath and an even longer sleep. And that’s what I did.

Next morning he came around and we sat in the lounge. I told him the story of Richard Reece with Drake and then showed him the British Museum catalogue of the Reece Trove. I pointed out that the costumes found was genuine sailor wear and that the Spanish costumes and armour were also genuine. I said that I could probably get access to all of the items we would need to recreate lightweight copies for stage work. I wanted the look to be authentic even if the story wasn’t. He asked if I had any idea of the story and I said that it should open on board ship, off the South American coast and the first song should set the scene about the loneliness of a sailors’ life; contrasted with periods of sheer terror when attacking another ship. I said that they circumnavigated the world so we could add songs from their ports of call after we get a list. I told him that we already had Drake, two dusky maidens and five tavern girls from our show cast.

Part 36

“Tavern girls! What tavern girls?” he asked. I laughed and said that the five stars had put their names forward and that Riordan and Nina wanted to be the ‘dusky maidens’. I wanted to know what he thought of the show in the end. He said it got better every time he saw it and the TV broadcast was good, but he thought it was probably better live. I told him it was, particularly at the higher volume. I was actually feeling sorry he had not been there but if I had pulled him from the wings to take a bow, no-one would know who he was. He did get a special mention in the credits though.

I told him I would contact my friend at English Heritage and ask him to send me the known route of Drakes journeys and we may get more ideas from that. I said that the final scene should be Drake and Reece standing together on the ship as England came into sight with them singing about their adventures and the life before them. We had an opening idea and a closing idea and just needed the two or three hours in between.

After he had left I emailed Kevin at English Heritage to ask him about the route that Drake sailed during his privateer days and the circumnavigation. Joanne and I then went into the city to see what was going on at the music store and café. The store staff were all now back at work but the stand and left-over stock was on its way back by road. Jake was busy looking at the books and said that he had banked several thousand dollars in cash and the bank statement showed some more thousands in electronic deals. He thought we had done well. He then asked me who I had cast for my operetta. I laughed and asked him who he wanted to be, seeing that Drake was already taken. He said he thought he would make a good Reece and I had to agree with him. Damn show not written yet and we already had the main characters in place. Just what is happening!

Joanne was happy with the café and with the lass she had left in place. I went in and sat with a coffee and we chatted about how we would work things. I said that Jake was perfectly able to run the music store and seemed to enjoy it and the manager could do his usual good job in his absence. Joanne said she could stay back from the café now unless something came up that needed executive decisions. I mentioned that there was a music school coming up in September for three months but we could leave that to the crew at the Manor. This left us free to do our thing. I said we should go to England and properly research Drake and his voyages before sixteen hundred and the go to the various places he visited to gain the atmosphere of the locations. The operetta would have to all take place on the ship unless we could make some details disappear and add some scenery to allow the audience to think it was somewhere else. We would have to have each side of the stage look like the raised parts front and rear of a sailing ship. We could have a prop that looks like a hatch in the middle of the stage that can be removed between scenes. I thought that it would work with a minimum of fuss.

I reached over and took Joannes’ hands and said “Joanne, how is it that a few months ago we were singers and players in a band, today we are stars from a TV spectacular and tomorrow we could be producers of an operetta for TV. It makes me wonder what will be happening in a year from now.” She told me that it was the serendipity at work and that she was happy to support me as we went further on. She said that we had something to think about that would take us to lots of nice places. So the path opened up for us. We would need to secure our businesses in Nashville and then go to London to research where we go to next.

We went to K Beat to have a chat with Sarah and when we were in her office I told her about Simons’ challenge and my reaction to it. She asked me if this was the rumour that I was writing an operetta and I told her that nothing had been written but ideas had been thought of. I said that Joanne and I were going to the UK first and then would try a follow the route of Drakes voyage around the world. She said she would keep us in the loop if anything happened that we needed to know about. She wished us luck and we hugged and left.

We popped into the house that Minh was now the lessee of and had a chat with her. She had been very busy with her tours and signing sessions and was busy writing for a new album. I said I would be tidying up my workings for a week or so and will send her anything I had that may be suitable. She said that she had watched the Seattle show the week before and was very glad she did not have to play at that volume and with that intensity any more. She said she watched the show on Saturday night and was totally awed at my production; it was seamless and made such good TV. I said that it had taken a while to put together but I was glad we did it as it seemed to have opened more doors for us. She asked me if the Drake and Reece idea was going forward and I said that it was now our main project and I asked her if she wanted to be in it. I did say that Drake went around the world and that there may be a scene set in Asia. She said she would be in it if I would write a song that suited her.

When we left we went to see our ‘support crew’ who seemed to be shrinking as time went on. Jim was still in command and we had a long chat about the TV show. He told me that I was brilliant at my production values and that the final song was going to reverberate around the world. I told him that the rumour about Drake was true and I even had a cast but nothing written yet. He asked me the one question that no-one had before. “Patsy, what part will you be playing?” I had a thought and told him that I would not be on stage as the only part I could take was Lady Reece and she did not figure in the time scale we were talking about. He nodded at that and told me that I was metamorphosing into a writer and producer. I told him I was a writer first and foremost and, as for the second part, maybe I was just bossy.

On our way out Kay told me that she thought the show had been magnificent and she was so glad she had seen it twice as she knew what to look out for. I was glad everyone liked it but was getting a bit past it now. We went back to the ranch and told Mary we would be travelling a bit for a few months and asked her to look after the day to day business with the properties. If Bruce contacted her about any properties she was to inspect the site and send me her thoughts.

Joanne and I then spent several days in the studio going through all of my undeveloped songs and finalised about ten that we thought would suit Minh and emailed her the wave files with a note. We also worked on some ‘Amazon’ songs and sent them to Riordan with a note telling her of our intentions. I thought that a new ‘Amazon’ album was a year or so away so wasn’t fussed about writing any more. I emailed Peggy to say we were coming to England and asked if our rooms were vacant and she replied that everything would be ready for us and that she was looking forward to our arrival.

Kevin had emailed me with a list of places that were known ports in Drakes voyage and I answered him with thanks and told him I was coming to England and would get in touch again. We then booked our flights and packed our bags for the trip to London again. We flew to Boston for the flight to London. Whenever the airline staff saw our names we were treated very well, several commenting on the TV show. Back in London Peggy picked us up at Heathrow and drove us to the Manor where they were having a break before the music school starting in September. Peggy said it was to be a group from London who were learning African and West Indian drumming styles so we were certainly not needed for that one. We sat down with Greg and I explained what I was aiming for. The next day I went to see the vicar to ask what he knew of the earlier life of Reece but he didn’t know much at all. He did say, however, that he thought that Reece was not well schooled but a good sailor. His wife was a good reader and writer and was the brains of the family. He said that, of their five children, two sons went to America to better themselves while their three daughters all married well but died childless. It seems that I was part of the luckier side of the family.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 37

Kevins’ list of ports had been very sparse. It seems that Drake never bothered to describe the odd places he stopped at to replenish. All of his exploits seemed to happen ‘off the coast of’ and the only certain landings were in the San Francisco Bay, which he claimed for the Queen and called ‘New Albion’, and the Molucca Islands (otherwise known as the Spice Islands).

I really could not see them sailing across the Atlantic, creating havoc among the Spanish, sailing around the Straits of Magellan and halfway to the Arctic without stopping somewhere. After the stop in California it was also hazy, some saying they went west from California to the Moluccas and then across the Indian Ocean to round the Cape of Good Hope and north to Plymouth.

Let’s get real, they were at sea for three years, I am sure they would have had more than two breaks to stretch their legs. Anyway, we went into London to speak to the British Museum and ask if we could have access to some of the trove items so we could make lightweight copies. They told us that they could offer us a small office and, if we bring in our own 3D imaging scanner, they would bring us the items we wanted, one at a time. I thought that this was a good deal. I asked about the letters that had been found and discovered that they had been written to Reece after 1580 and ended at Drakes death in 1596 with Drake keeping his shipmate up to date with his exploits, especially his torrid time as the Mayor of Plymouth. He was not used to democratic decision making. I asked them about the ports he may have called into as some records were very skimpy and they told me that there were a number of ports that he would have certainly called at as they were well known and not in the hands of Spain.

I was given a short list that included Salvador, in Brazil, and Montevideo on the east coast of South America; Valparaiso, Lima and San Salvadore up the west coast and, of course, San Francisco Bay. He said it was thought that Drake was pushed north to a landfall near Portland, Oregon, but the actual landing point was uncertain. After leaving the coast of America, his next stop would have been Palmyra, near Christmas Island, and then across to the Moluccas. Then it would have been directly to Durban, before rounding the Cape of Good Hope and on to Freetown, Casablanca and home.

I emailed Justin Smith with the full list and asked him if he would like to spend a few days with us in the different locations to get the feel of the typical music of the times. He answered for me to give him the meeting point when we were ready. I got in touch with a company in Essex that did 3D imaging and manufacture of replicas and asked for a quote to set up an imaging machine at the British Museum and recording a number of items. They said they would get back to me.

Back at the Manor there was a message from the choir master of the Cotswolds Choristers who wanted to ask us to a party at their rehearsal hall the following Saturday evening. I rang him to accept. I suppose our presence in the area was noted and the grapevine operated well. Until Saturday, we did research and also got some riding in. I was going to have to get a stable block at the ranch. On Saturday evening we all got ourselves ready and Peggy drove us to the rehearsal hall. When we got there the car park was packed but one of the choir boys was obviously sat at the gate to guide us to a space reserved for us. When I got out of the car I thanked him and asked him if he was happy to be home. He told me it was a bit dull after all the excitement but that he was now one of the popular boys at school, especially with the girls. I laughed and told him to take every chance he got to be sociable as that was what made the world go round.

He led us into the hall, which was full of the choir and their families. As we walked in there was a bit of a cheer and the choir master came over to guide us through some introductions. There were some local dignitaries there as well who were keen to press the flesh but we kept the hugs for the choir members, and some for family members who were so happy that their children had experienced such a trip. I was thanked for organising the Disney World and Los Angeles trip and for keeping them all out of trouble. The event was a stand-up buffet so we all mingled. I saw that Greg was collared by several councilmen who, no doubt, wanted him and his knighthood on the council.

Peggy and Joanne were surrounded by choir girls and their mothers and I found myself talking to the choir master. “You know, if someone had told me I would be here today, after the show in New York, I would have told them they were crazy” he said “it seems that one of the families had a friend in America who taped the show for them and sent it over by express post. They then hired the correct player and had a showing here, in the hall, for all the families. I am told that many of them were shocked, as they expected their children to be singing in a moderate sized hall, not to sixty thousand in a stadium.” I asked him if they liked the show and he told me that they were totally blown away by it and that he, himself, had been contacted by more than one choir to ask if he could lead them already, even though the show had not been on the TV here yet. I asked him, seriously, if it had made any difference to the choir in their own development and he said that they were all far more sociable and confident, especially the boys, who were normally reticent and shy.

“They are much more ready to ask for assistance and explain their fears or worries, now” he said “at school, their involvement is marked and the teachers have told me that they all have improved in their studies since they came home. I think that the way you took them through the songs in rehearsal has given them a new work ethic that will, hopefully, stay with them through their lives.” He then added “It has been really funny to hear that they have all described the effect of orgasms in front of sixty thousand people to their school chums and it could have been that show alone that caused them to grow up.” I laughed and asked how the mother was who was going to send me a stern letter so he took me over to her and I hugged her daughter and then her and asked if everything was all right and added that her daughter was wearing make-up tonight.

The mother smiled and told me that her little minx was now a full grown minx, thanks to me. We chatted for a while and then someone tapped a glass and called for quiet. The school headmaster then stood on a chair and gave a speech in which he thanked us for taking the choir from a bunch of kids that sang to a proper choir with an album on the charts and many invitations to attend festivals. He said that he had seen the show recording and that it would create a storm when it was shown on the TV here. We were brought forward, one by one, and presented with a gift from the community that, while not expensive, was a heartfelt thank you from everyone. Joanne was first, followed by Peggy and me, complete with our titles, and then Sir Greg. He surprised me by giving a speech; saying that he was very pleased at being able to receive this gift as he had previously been given the gift of life. He said that when he finished the world tour he was adamant that he would never be on a stage again but that I had taken him and guided him back to truly living again. He told them that, in Nashville, I was known as the ‘Patsy Pill’ as, where-ever I go, I bring joy, and that everyone could see that I had administered a massive dose in this room. That got applause and I was urged to respond.

I walked up next to him and gave him a hug and said “Greg is too kind to admit that he, alone, gave himself the will to live again. I only try to guide people to be true to themselves. I didn’t give lessons to your children in America; I just provided them with the chance to explore their own desires and wants and to learn to focus on them. I was known as the ‘Patsy Pill’ in a nursing home where the patients were all ex-music industry folk who I provided with a focus to help a young band. It was nothing but a reason to live and that is what I urge you all to do, find that reason to live and you will be happy and be better for it. Thank you.”

Part 38

The headmaster shook my hand and told me that he would like me to give a speech at the next prize-giving ceremony and I asked him to let me know the date early as I was going to be researching my next project. He asked what I was going to do and I told him about the connection with the builder of Reece Manor and the voyages with Drake that led to the first Englishman to go around the world. He said that he had taken the senior class to see the trove in London and that it was amazing to see the actual booty from that voyage. He asked how I was going to present it and I gave him an outline, as short as it was so far. “Maybe there is room for a choir in there?” he said with a smile and it suddenly struck me that I had been thinking about the show as a sort of Gilbert and Sullivan style of operetta but could work better as a true opera.

There doesn’t have to be much of a plot in an opera and our show finale was very close to an operatic final scene in itself. He looked at me as I thought and asked if I was all right. I said “More than all right, headmaster, you have no idea what your comment has produced. I can assure you that there will certainly be room a choir.” I said that I would keep in touch and gave him a hug. He asked me if I was going to keep the beheading in the script and I had to ask “what beheading?”

He then told me that the expedition started with five or six ships and Drakes own was the Pelican. There was also the Marigold and the Elizabeth. The Elizabeth was captained by John Winter and, in his crew, was a certain Thomas Doughty who quickly created bad blood between himself and Drake. Doughty had been especially chosen by the Queen to keep Drake in check and, by the time they got to the Straits of Magellan, Drake was so angry that he accused Doughty of witchcraft and attempted mutiny; had a quick and one sided trial and had Doughty beheaded. Before that happened, he had two ships scuttled as he thought such a big fleet would attract the Spanish. He lost the Marigold in a big storm on the way up the west coast of South America and Winter took the Elizabeth back to England. He said they started with over a hundred and seventy sailors and it was less than sixty when they renamed the Pelican as the ‘Golden Hind’.

Back at the Manor I emailed Justin and the message just said ‘Operetta dead – we now have an opera!’ Then I told the others that we were now doing an opera and Greg just sighed and said “Women!!!” Joanne just raised an eyebrow and I told her we were going to turn it into an opera, but without genuine opera singers. I must have dreamt well during the night as I woke up with the acts clear in my head.

The first would be set in a tavern in Salvador with Drake and Reece singing about their trip from England and Drake saying that two ships would have to be scrapped as the fleet was too big. I could have the Doughty character being negative and we could have three tavern girls with a song about drinking up. The next act would be near Lima with songs about the beheading of Doughty for witchcraft and attempted mutiny; a song about the storm, the loss of the Marigold, and Winter returning to England. Then there could be songs about the plunder of the Spanish bullion ships. The act would have to end with a song about renaming the Pelican as the ‘Golden Hind’. The Third act could be in the Moluccas and we could have Minh with a song and songs about the west coast of America.

The last act would be in Casablanca, just before the voyage to Plymouth with two more tavern girls and two dusky maidens with a song about rounding the cape and the final song starting with a chorus about the whole voyage and ending with Drake and Reece singing about life after the trip. I would set up the stage with a forecastle on one side and aftcastle on the other that were mounted on rollers and the portable hatch cover that would be good for the second act, while the other three would just need tables and chairs and different backdrops. We had lots of volunteers to be pirate crew and the choir could be positioned in front of the stage on a lower platform.

It would need an orchestra to work properly and the choir could take their cues from the conductor. If we did it that way we wouldn’t need the Spanish armour except as a prop during the second act and we would only need cutlasses during that act as well. I suddenly thought that when they mention Doughty we could darken the main stage and have Doughty singing ‘I was just a servant of the queen’ on one of the side platforms before his death. The end of the second act could have the whole crew on stage brandishing their cutlasses with a chorus about the ‘Golden Hind’. That would go to intermission on a real high as the ships name is synonymous with derring-do.

I made copious notes and typed them up to send to Justin with a message to meet us in Salvador in a week. I had made a search and found what looked like a good hotel, and gave him the name and said to send me the bill for his flight. I asked Greg and Peggy if they wanted to come but Peggy said she had to stay at the Manor to prepare for the music school. Greg was happy to come along as they were all places he had never been to. I contacted the hotel in Salvador to book three rooms and also for cars to pick us up. Then I then looked for a good hotel in the Moluccas and booked us there for the week after and found the various flights that would get us there. I then did the same for Casablanca the following week. I told the others that all the places were close to the equator so to travel light.

We spent a few days tidying up the Manor for Peggy and then flew to Rio de Janeiro for an overnight stay before a domestic ‘Avianca’ flight to Salvador. The car from the hotel was there to take us from the airport. It was quite a long way and the driver told us that we were lucky to have booked through the hotel as his vehicle was known as a Coometas and was the safest way to the city. He said that the normal taxis would drive around for half an hour to put a big bill on the meter. I said that he did not have a meter and he explained that his type of taxi was a set rate and it would be on the hotel account. I asked him if we could reserve him for the next two days as we had heard that the town was a bit rough. He said that for a little extra he could arrange a second car with a couple of his heavy cousins to keep the urchins at bay. I wondered if he was having us on but said to organise it for tomorrow.

He wanted to know where we wanted to go and I told him that we were particularly interested in places that were already there when Drake came to town. He said “Which visit?” which made me stop for a bit. I asked him how many times Drake had visited and he told me that Drake had been aboard slave ships when his cousins, the Hawkins, visited and had landed a couple of times while he was a privateer around 1572 when the Spaniards called him ‘El Draque’ or the Dragon. I said that we were interested in the 1577 visit when he went around the world. He said that there are two wrecks off the coast from that visit but there wasn’t much to see. He said he would take us to the places we needed over the two days and I asked him if there was anywhere in town that sang the old songs and he said he would think on that one.

The hotel was magnificent. Our driver said that if we were looking for atmosphere it was the place to stay as it was started in 1586 so the original architecture would have been familiar to Drake. Justin was already there and greeted us in the foyer. He hugged everyone, which brought a smile from Greg. We were shown our rooms and went down for dinner. Justin said that he had found out that the town had been founded by the Portuguese in 1549 and had been the capital of the slave trade for many years. He said the oldest part of town was the Pelourinho or the old city centre and the area along the bay, called the Cicade Baixa. I told him our driver would pick us up in the morning and take us to the old places so, now, we can have a pleasant evening and get a good night.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 39

In the morning our driver took us into the old town and when we stopped the car was surrounded by children. “Do not get out of the car; they will have your wallets and hand bags in a second. Just wait for my cousins. Just then the second car pulled up behind us and two big guys stepped out and approached our car.

The children vanished like smoke. We got out of the car and the big guys smiled at us. Our driver told us that they spoke no English. He then said that he had brought us to the Museo Nautico Da Bahia, which had a lot of information we needed. He said his cousins would follow us as we went through the museum and he would stay with the car. Inside we wandered the place for a couple of hours and took lots of notes. The town had been like something out of the Wild West for almost a century. We came out and got in the car and asked if we could go somewhere equally as interesting for lunch and he took us down to the bay area and a quayside tavern where we had, not only a good lunch, but an opportunity to get photos that would allow us to build a set for the first act. Justin took pictures of the bar area as we could paint that as an authentic backdrop. We bought the three locals a good lunch as well.

For the afternoon we asked our driver to just take us around the locality and point out places of interest and then we went back to the hotel for dinner. After that he took us to a nightclub in the Amaralina district where they played music in the old ways. Justin and I both had our recorders in our pockets and turned on so we recorded the music for future use. We had been very lucky to get this driver and had got everything we wanted in just the one day. Back at the hotel I got our flight to Rio brought forward to tomorrow and booked a hotel in Rio overnight. In the morning our driver took us to the airport and we gave him a good tip with a bit extra for his cousins and then flew down to Rio where we did a bit of sight-seeing before having dinner and getting to bed.

To get across to the Moluccas we needed to fly to Lima and then to Kuala Lumpur first and we did it with a couple of days in each place. The flights to Ternate, the northernmost island and the most likely as the port of call, only happened on Wednesdays and Sundays so we had plenty of time to find out what we needed. We flew into Ternate on the Wednesday and got a taxi to our hotel, and old fort built by the Dutch in about the same period that the Manor was built. The Manor did not have battlements and cannon, though. The weather was wonderful and we girls got some use out of our bikinis at the hotel pool. The next day we went to the Ternate Sultanate Museum as the time that Drake arrived, the Sultan had kicked out the Portuguese a few years before and still had not signed a trade agreement with the Dutch West India Company. The museum was very interesting and we took photos of the fixtures and fittings that would help in our set building.

We spent the rest of the day back at the pool and had a good dinner. On the Friday we asked the reception which restaurant or café was closest to how it would have been in the early days and we were directed to the Borneo 82 Café, which turned out to be a bamboo edifice and a wonderful location for our set. We took lots of photos and had a good lunch. On the Saturday we took a tour of a clove farm and learned lots about the spice island history. We couldn’t find anywhere that old music was particularly played but was assured that the current day music was pretty close so bought a CD of local songs to listen to later. On Sunday we flew back to Kuala Lumpur and Monday we went to Casablanca, via a stop-over in Dubai.

Casablanca was, in all honesty, a bit of a disappointment. It had been a haven for pirates in the fourteen hundreds but bombarded by the Portuguese in the late fourteen hundreds and taken over by them in the early fifteen hundreds. The old Moroccan architecture could have been built in Drakes time or yesterday so we had a base-line for our set. We could not find a good museum that covered our wanted period but did have a lunch in Ricks, the replica of the café in the movie and they even have a piano player that does ‘As time goes by’ We had a Grands Taxis, a white Mercedes, that took us around the various points of interest. The Old Medina was interesting but we saw nothing we wanted to buy but the New Medina was better, with ‘vintage’ leather work and handcrafts. I bought a couple of bags.

Our biggest problem was that the port area had been built over during a couple of hundred years and then completely altered in the Second World War. I thought we could create a set from our photos and be a bit creative with the musical styles for our fourth act. We only stayed a couple of days and then flew to Heathrow and a ride to the Manor. It was Justins’ first visit there and was highly impressed. The next day I took him into the British Museum and showed him the Trove Exhibition and we spent some hours discussing what we would need to get replicas of.

Over the next week, Justin and I spent a lot of time in the studio, out of the way, to work out the fabric of the opera. We needed some dialog first, followed by a song about the privateer days and then a general song with the crew about the trip from England and the sinking of two ships. We needed Doughty to have a song to chastise Drake on his actions to set the scene for his downfall and then we needed a song from our three Tavern Girls about drinking up and having a merry time.

The second act would start with a song about plundering bullion ships with the full crew on stage, then a duet with Drake and Reece to talk about the activities of Doughty and our vignette of the beheading, followed by a song about the storm and Winter turning around.. This could end with a voice from above calling ‘Land Ho’ and Drake saying that it looked like they had arrived at Lima and the whole crew singing about the voyage of the mighty Golden Hind. The third act would be in a bar at Ternate with all the bamboo and gold drapes with Drake and Reece discussing the repairs at New Albion and the trip via Palmyra. Then they could talk about the trip home with a couple of songs about the loneliness of a sailors’ life. We then needed a song for Minh to sing about drinking up in traditional Malay dress. We could finish with a song about the spice trade.

The finale act would take place in a bar in Casablanca and would open with two tavern girls and two dusky maidens singing about the delights of the port. The two main characters would talk and sing about the visit to Durban and the trip around the Horn. There should be a song with the full crew singing about seeing England again after three years and lamenting that there were now only a third of the men who left. Drake could sing about having to see the queen again and wondering what she would have him do next, with Reece having a song about taking his share and settling down with a girl he had met before he left.

It should end with the four girls and the whole crew singing about the trip being an epic voyage and should end with the line that Drake was the first Englishman to go around the world. This gave us plenty to go on and Justin left to fly back to America. Joanne and I made time to go and see a few operas that were playing in London and the midlands. It was good to note that, although they were well over the top, there was a flow of music all the way through and I realised that I needed to come up with a tune that would catch the attention of the audience and provide a flowing link.

The music school members showed up and, within a couple of days, Joanne and I were getting tired of the drumming that reverberated through the house so we made our excuses and flew back to Nashville for some peace and quiet. Justin and I could get together now and work on the tunes. As we worked on each song, I wrote out the lyrics and he wrote the basic music and we sang the duets with him taking the Drake voice. It was coming along very nicely and was only broken by the Christmas period and Joanne and me singing with the school choir for some hospital visits.

Part 40

During the first three months of the following year we made great strides with some dialogue and songs. When we had the whole opera mapped out, we got our local choir master to come in and arrange the choir parts. Justin had written out enough music for strings and brass for us to think about involving an orchestra so, as a first point of call, I went to see the headmaster to ask him if we could borrow the school band. I had heard that they were pretty good as they were goaded into working hard to keep up with the choir. When he said it would be a grand way to give the band some real-life experience I went to see their conductor and gave him the music, explaining what we were doing and that he was welcome to flesh out the basic music if he could see things that needed changing. I knew we had not yet written any woodwind or percussion parts and I wondered if he could add some. He thought that it would take a bit of time for his band to get to know two and a half hours of music. During that time we honed the lyrics and got Jake to come in and sing his Reece parts. Justin recorded the Drake parts and we sent the lyrics and the recording over to Greg to see how he felt with the songs.

I was starting to think that we would use the band and friends again, so I got in touch with our five stars and asked them if they would still be happy to sing in an opera, maybe around the middle of the year. All sounded still keen. I auditioned our friendly security team and found four who could sing well so took their particulars and got them measured. I asked Sarah if there were any middle-aged singers in the stable who could do a grumpy Doughty and she sent us one who had already sung opera as a younger man. We contacted a stage design company about building our forecastle and aftcastle and the tavern props and they came back with prices dependant on the theatre size. This led to a discussion about where we would do the show to be big enough to hold a good sized audience and to also be convenient for the TV people. Funnily enough, one was available in the first week of August, in San Francisco, no less. That would be an interesting hook for advertising.

Early April we got the school band, the choir, our five stars, the whole ‘Amazon’ band, security guys and Greg into the rehearsal room and we worked through the first act. It took a week to get something that sounded like we wanted it so went on to the second, and then the third and fourth acts. By the end of May we were pretty happy with the result, the staging company had come up with the constructions for the theatre, the TV people were on board and our replica company in the UK had sent over authentic looking cutlasses and belts/ brace sets for the crew. Maxine had come through with authentic looking clothes for the whole cast as well as boots. We decided to do a full dress rehearsal at the Athenaeum for our supporters and I flew the headmaster and choir master from England, as well as a representative of the British Museum to verify our facts. We could use the backdrops but not the ship parts so we just had a row of authentic looking fencing from the back to the front of the stage for act two. I would go on to the stage before each act to explain what the audience would be seeing and any changes that would be made for the performance in San Francisco.

On the second Saturday of June, we had an audience assembled in the theatre in Nashville. We had our usual support crew, all of the friends and parents of the choir and band and some representatives from the various companies we had used. Simon came down from New York, along with Annette and Maxine and some TV executives. We also invited some media but warned them that no photographs or recording was allowed. Sarah had invited some other industry people as well. It ended up as quite a full audience.

Before the first act I went onto the stage and told the audience what the opera was about. I said that the show in San Francisco would have a properly printed programme with this information. The band then struck up our overture and we went into the first act. I was particularly taken with the way our stars made themselves totally buxom during their songs and our Doughty character was really good with the nastiness.

Between acts I went back out to set the scene and explained that the sides of the stage would be filled with extra ship parts for the TV show and then the second act overture started. There was a fair bit of applause at the end of this act and we all went for an intermission. I had a chat with Jim, who assured me that it looked good so far. The British Museum chap was very happy with our show so far as the clothing and sailor gear was right for the times. He told me that many producers of this type of performance go over the top with lots of silk and frills, which would be stupid for shipboard life.

The third act and fourth act went well. We had written the final song to be sung by the whole cast, so it was a rousing chorus to finish, and there was an appreciative applause at the end of it. After being used to the roar of fans at big concerts, we were unused to politeness. Jim assured me that it would be all right, on the night, and gave me a hug before he got on the bus to the nursing home. Simon said that it was certainly different from things we had done before but said that he would organise an audio master from the TV people in case a CD could eventuate. The surprise of the evening was when a couple of Sarahs’ guests shook my hand and said that they would be in touch about putting the show on in London, should I be interested. Luckily the UK headmaster and choir master were within grabbing distance so I put them together to talk about a production in England. The British Museum chap told me that we had his seal of approval.

Justin was really pumped by the end, somehow unable to believe what we had achieved. I told him to settle down and conserve his energy for the big show later on. Maxine was a bit unhappy about the drabness of the clothes when they were on the stage but I assured her it was authentic and would be appreciated as such. Jake and Greg were like two little boys who had both scored home runs. They created a wave of joy through the cast so everyone went home happy that night.

In the morning the papers were interesting. The music critic did not really know what to make of it but did agree that there were a few songs in there that could get airplay. The arts critic, though, was effusive in his praise, saying that it was a genuine story, sung well and looked authentic enough to calm any purist. He said that it was a wonderful addition to the Nashville history and looked forward to the TV performance. I could take that any day! Sarah called and told me that the guys who spoke to me last night were from a front-line opera company in the UK and had started to speak about me producing it in London, with their own cast. She also said that there were a couple of guys from New York who produced opera there and were interested in us putting it on in their theatre with our cast. I told her to talk to them about staging it as soon after San Francisco as I could not guarantee that all of the singers would stay with us after the TV show. I said I would put it to them as soon as she gave me the dates and details.

We gave everyone a break and arranged to get together in San Francisco two weeks before the TV Show. We organised the printing of the programme with a note on the cover that the opera was approved by the British Museum for authenticity. We finally called the opera ‘Drake and Reece – the World Tour!’ Joanne and I spent a few days at the ranch and then flew to London to talk with the opera company, which was quite fruitful. We then flew to New York to finalise details with the TV people and a conference with the opera company there which finalised a three-week run at a theatre just off Broadway, starting two weeks after San Francisco.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 41

My first priority was to get the whole cast up to speed with a three week stint in New York. I was surprised that all of my stars were happy with it as they had all had dreams of appearing on stage as genuine actresses when they were young, rather than being pop stars. Greg was more than happy and said that it was the idea of change that kept him alive.

Our crew of security guys were very amused at being in a New York theatre production as well as being on TV. Minh, and the rest of the ‘Amazon’ band were philosophical about the whole thing as just another line on their, already long, CV’s. It didn’t seem like long before the TV date came around and we all gathered in San Francisco at our hotel, two weeks before the event, I was able to give them more information about New York at that time, hotel, venue, performance times and the like. I told them it would be very much a test run of the opera in real life. We would be getting a lump sum from the TV Company for the show and had fifty percent of the box office for the one night but would have to rely on sixty percent of the ticket sales in New York. We would have to put bums in seats to make it work.

Our venue for the TV show was available from the Monday so we went to see it then. It was pretty big, with about three thousand seats, and the stage was a good size. The contractors were already there when we arrived, building the platform for the choir just above the orchestra pit and assembling the ship bits on either side. There wasn’t much we could do until it was ready so we did a bit of sight-seeing. By the weekend it was all ready to go. The TV people had been in and erected their camera positions and the lighting guys had done their magic. The band and choir were due on Monday so I just had the cast I had available go through their paces as we marked out the stage positions to suit the area we had to work in. Lucy and her crew turned up on the Sunday and we put all the costumes in the dressing rooms. She had brought a lovely long dress for me to wear on the night as the TV guys had a plan that I would sit in one of the boxes with their arts presenter and we would open up the TV show from there. I would answer questions during the first and third breaks and they would run an informative clip about the Reece Trove during the half time intermission. With that on the cards I made sure that Joanne was fully up to speed with the production so she could solve any problems that may arise backstage.

We did a full dress rehearsal on the Tuesday and there were problems with the fore and aft castles. They tended to impede some of the sight lines so we got the riggers to move them back into the wings by a yard or two and, when we did another rehearsal on the Wednesday, it was much better. On the Thursday we did a full dress rehearsal with all the cast properly miked up and balanced out the audio. Friday it was the whole box and dice with the TV cameras rolling and being fed, along with the audio feed, to an outside control truck for recording. We now had our back-up in case of disaster. After all of the preparation, Saturday was a breeze. The crowd arrived and started to fill the auditorium, I had a talk to the whole cast to say how proud I was of them to be doing something so far out of their comfort zone with such a high level of performance and then I went to get preened and changed to look good for the TV.

As usual, we all had ear buds so we could hear the TV stage manager and when the count reached zero, the camera in the box with us started feeding the picture of a filling auditorium to the nation. As it came around to the presenter and me, he opened up with the welcome to the theatre and the usual nice things about what the viewers were going to see. He introduced me as the producer and lyricist for the show. I had insisted that Justin sit with us and he was introduced as the composer. We had a time down to the start of the overture and as the introductions were finished, the camera light went out and I could see, on our monitor that the picture was the stage where the band was starting with the overture.

The choir was already in place and then the curtains opened for our big event. At the end of the first act there was good applause and the presenter turned to us to ask about how the opera came about and how hard it was to write. Justin and I tried to give as much information and insight as we could and then we were into act two. During the intermission I was asked about my family link to Reece and the finding of the Trove and then we went to a twenty minute film about the Trove, after which there was time for more chat before we got to act three. In the break before act four I managed to get a plug in about our upcoming run in New York and, at the end of the opera, while the audience was applauding lustily and the whole cast was taking their bows, the presenter made the closing comments while the credits rolled and, as the curtains closed, we were off the air. I must say I was a bit clammy by then with worry but the presenter was very happy with the show and said it would depend on the ratings but he thought it had a few repeats in it. I hugged Justin and told him that, in New York, he would be on stage at the end of the first performance to take his own bows.

The after show party was memorable with the whole crew being feted by many of the rich and famous who were amazed that a bunch of pop singers could have produced such a class act. I smiled as I thought that every time anyone goes on stage it is a class act, it is just the opinion of the watcher that changes. We all had a few more days in San Francisco to read the reviews, which were quite good, and then we all went to New York. It took a few days to move that set to the new theatre so we had a few days in New York before opening night. The promotors had told me that the ticket sales had rocketed after the TV show and it looked like we were going to be the place to see and be seen. As long as it filled seats I did not care about the audience state of mind to be there. We did our rehearsal and made alterations to the set layout and then opening night was upon us. Joanne and I were able to be backstage up until five minutes before the overture and then joined Simon, Justin and Sarah in a box seat. Unlike the TV show I had no buds so sat back to see the opera as a normal audience member. I must say that I thought it looked, and sounded, good, but then I am biased.

Just before the end, Justin and I made our way to the wings and, after the cast had taken their bows, Greg and Jake gestured for us to go on stage and take our own bows. It seemed a bit of an odd thing for me to be taking a bow when I had not been in the performance but I was happy to be there. The reviews the next day were all very positive with Justin and I being likened to some of the earlier great composer/writer couples. The three weeks passed in a blur, with more parties and meetings than I had been to in my whole life up to this point. Simon had come to an agreement about distributing an Original Cast CD which would be in the stores in a few weeks; the TV network had asked me to be a guest commentator for, yet unknown, future shows; Justin had been asked to write some music for a few big orchestras and all of our stars had been given offers to perform in other stage shows. It all ended up as a big positive for everyone and I felt very pleased that it turned out in the end. Greg and Peggy left to return to England with Greg thanking me for the opportunity to do something so different and Peggy giving me a big hug and thanking me for extending her fathers’ life.

Instead of going back to Nashville straight away, Joanne and I flew to London, after a few days’ rest, to talk to the opera company there. After a couple of days of meetings we had come to an agreement for me to be the producer, with Joanne as my assistant, of a new version of the opera, this time with professional opera singers, including a few knights and a couple of dames. No pressure there!!

Part 42

We stayed in England for a few weeks with Greg and Peggy. There were meetings with the opera singers and production people. They were more technical and businesslike than I had been used to but I was starting to get used to being serious so was now known as Patricia Meyers. I had a strong discussion with the dressers, who wanted to use some outfits left over from an old production of ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ and I told them to go and see the Trove and take note of what the sailors of the day actually wore. I had insisted that Joanne was to be a co-producer and I left the discussions of staging and positioning to her while I concentrated on the music and overall presentation.

They were, happily, a very professional group and took to the story with gusto. By the time we reached a full dress rehearsal I was amazed at how much more this production would be. It made our show in New York look amateur. We opened in the theatre in the West End on a Saturday night and it was a glittering affair. We had a lot of the rich and powerful in the audience and Joanne and I had to be glammed up with long dresses for the evening. Justin had flown in for the Opening Night and was resplendent in his tux. As the show went on, the audience became obviously more involved and, by the end of the second act, the applause was solid. Joanne, Justin and I mingled with the guests in the foyer during the intermission and received some lovely compliments. The second half started and there was good applause at the end of Act 3, with a rousing applause at the end. Justin and I were brought on stage after all the cast had taken their bows and I was given a big bunch of flowers. I gestured to the wings and brought Joanne on stage as well and we all bowed to the audience, which, I noticed, had several on their feet. Maybe they were just rushing to catch the tube.

The after-show party was pretty mundane until one very drunk guest had to complain that a mere pop star could never have written the songs (or arias for the purist) and that I must be the front for a real lyricist. Some of the older members of the cast stood up for me and told him that I was a song-writer of note and the fool said he had never heard of me. I joined the group around him and asked him what type of music he preferred and he replied that he liked cabaret. Ahah! I thought, we may have him here. I wanted to know if he had ever listened to the ‘Angels of Joy’ album and has slurred that it was a magnificent collection of songs, so I told him that I had written about half of them. He decided that I was lying so, having noticed a grand piano in the corner of the room, I bet him that I could sing six of the songs tonight, and, if he agreed it was me on the album, he would apologise to me and the rest of the room for being a buffoon.

The rest of the room, by this time, were grinning as, I know, many of them had researched my body of work before asking me to London. Joanne sat at the piano and I sang six of the songs from the album. It was actually an uplifting moment for me as I had not sung in public for quite some time now and it felt good to be here tonight. When I finished, the guests gave me polite applause and all turned to look at the guy, who was getting less drunk as he realised what a fool he looked. To give him his due, he stood up straight and announced that he was sorry he acted like a buffoon and that I was, indeed, a gifted song writer. He was then led from the room by his friends and everyone had a good laugh. A couple of the opera singers took me aside and asked why I didn’t sing any more. I answered that I had been so busy with the opera I had not had time lately. I told them that it was doubtful ‘Amazon’ would tour again and that we had never performed the ‘Angels of Joy’ live. I was taken over to a group of men who were talking among themselves and introduced. One said that I sang beautifully and asked if I could meet him for lunch the next day, with Joanne, of course, to discuss a little project. I noted the details and said we would see him at the restaurant he nominated. So I like free meals!

When Joanne and I arrived at the restaurant, we were taken to a table in an alcove where the gentleman who had invited us sat with the drunk from the night before. I didn’t know whether I was affronted or intrigued but he quickly stood and took my hand, saying “Miss Meyers, I sincerely apologise for my actions last night, I was an absolute fool and was put in my place by your wonderful voice. I had not followed your career as I am not into rock and roll, and certainly did not connect you with the ‘Angels’ album. Since then, I have been shown a DVD of your ‘One Night In June’ concert and was very attentive when I read, on the liner notes, how many of the songs that you contributed. I also had a look at my copy of the ‘Angels’ album and I gather that Patmin is a writing duo with you as one half. My name is Sydney Rocco and I own a string of night clubs here, in London and the Home Counties. I am eternally grateful to my colleague, John, here, that I have been given this opportunity to properly apologise to you by being your host for this lunch. Do you forgive me?”

I smiled and told him that he was an excellent example of why I was teetotal and said that, if his lunch measured up, he was surely forgiven. “You did give me the opportunity to sing, something I have not done for some months.” I assured him. We sat down and the lunch did go a long way to getting him in our good books. As we sat with our coffee I asked “Now, why have you really invited us here, today?” John took up the discussion and said that he and Sydney were partners in night clubs and were always on the look-out for new, and good, singers. They were due to open one in Soho the following Saturday night and their booked artist had called in on the Friday to back out, citing a throat infection and they wondered if Joanne and I would grace their stage with our considerable talent. He certainly had the BS down pat. I asked about the performance times and he said we could go on from eight until nine and then eleven to whenever. We would, of course, be paid and, as the opera was off and running, were probably not needed at the theatre unless something urgent came up.

I asked about the space between our sets and was told it would be mainly recorded music so that the customers could eat. I excused myself from the table and went to the ladies, where I pulled out my phone and called Peggy. When she answered I asked her if she was missing singing and if she would like to sing in a Soho Night Club. She said yes to both so I told her to set next Saturday evening aside for the performance and that Joanne and I would be at the Manor during the week to put together a set. Going back to the table I asked the gentlemen if they were interested in another of the singers from the ‘Angels’ album and when they said yes, I told them that I could get Peggy Evans to join us on the Saturday evening and that we would put together a set for most of the evening. I asked Joanne if she was good with playing piano for an extended period and she said she was OK with it. John told me they did have a small band they used to accompany the artists and I told him we would be at his night club on Friday morning and to get the band in to rehearse with us. I expected that they would all be professional enough to get up to speed quickly as our material was either standards or in the same format. We were given the address and I told them that this was a bit of R&R for me after the stress of the opera.

Back at the hotel, I called the promoters of the opera and told them that Joanne and I would be in the Cotswolds for a few days and singing at the night club on Saturday evening but would just be at the other end of the phone if needed. They thanked us for letting us know and asked me if I had seen the papers this morning.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 43

Papers, what papers? I went to the reception and asked about papers and the lass behind the counter smiled and gave me four different ones and told me that I would be very interested in what was in them. I took them back to Joanne and we started with the first paper.

There, on page five, was a picture of me at the party, singing to the opera crowd, with the caption ‘Pop star entertains her cast at after show party.’ There was a short piece about my being the writer and producer of a new opera in town, followed by a note to see the music review page.
Finding the arts section we saw a big article on the opera, under the banner ‘Drake and Reece Conquer the World’. It was a very nice review of the opera, with many comments on how authentic it was, not only on historical facts, but also with the look and feel of the times. There was a picture of the whole cast on stage, taking their bows, and one of Justin, Joanne and me taking ours. The piece did make note of a few of the songs as being ear-worms, especially the ‘Servant of the Queen’ and the final chorus. The Cotswolds Choir was mentioned as a wonderful and original addition to the tradition by being in the front of the stage.

All of the other papers had much the same. I said to Joanne that we may have done well. That evening we went back to the theatre and congratulated the cast and told them that we would be taking a few days off as we knew they would be all right on their own. I was asked about last night and when someone tried to apologise for the scene at the party, I told them not to worry as the gentleman in question had already made amends and that we would be starring at their opening of the new night club on Saturday night. That caused a ripple of laughter and I was pleased that they were happy with it. We were given two seats in a box and watched the show right through, as ordinary punters, for the first time. I was proud to say that the audience lapped it up and I could see the box office returns were going to be good over the next few weeks.

Next morning we made our way into the Cotswolds and the Manor. We sat down with Peggy and went through the events that created a singing opportunity. Peggy was happy as she was starting to miss being out front and singing and we fully understood. The Manor was ticking over nicely with our new manager getting quality students for the music and cooking schools and we had forward bookings for the stable complex two years ahead. I could see that the charity account was depleting from the operating costs but the income from equestrian bookings; plus the income from our share of the book and CD sales, meant that there would not need to be a top up from our accounts for some years yet. This really meant that we were all now free agents. We were very close to the end of our five year contract with Simon and I think it had been very lucrative for all concerned.

That afternoon we sat down and worked through a play list that included us all singing individually as well as in harmony. Joanne sorted out all of the music for the songs and we practised the first hours-worth before dinner. That evening, as we lay in bed, I asked Joanne if she had any thoughts about what we could do next. She said “What, after being pop stars, rock stars, members of a legendary band, writer of songs, writer and producer of TV spectaculars, writer and producer of a smash hit opera and now a night club singer. What else is there?”

I had to agree that we had certainly made our mark over the last few years and wondered if a bit of rest was in order, if only to recharge the batteries and, perhaps, falling into another career or even writing another opera. At least we could take a year or two with an opera and no-one complained about our output. “I know” I said “let’s take this night club singing as far as we can, if an opportunity arises. It is gentle, not too hard on the hearing, and we both like the material.” She agreed and we slept on it.

Wednesday and Thursday the three of us worked up a good four hours of material, starting with Joanne opening the set with a song while playing the piano and then each of us taking turns to sing a number, with some duets and harmony singing. We noted break times and settled the songs for the second half, which would add the band. They were all standards that everyone should know. On Thursday evening we did a rehearsal for Greg and the students of a music school who happened to be at the Manor and it went very well. Greg spoke to me after and told me he was happy that I had given Peggy a project as she was getting a bit bored. I asked him if he had seen the new production of the opera and he said he hadn’t. I promised to get him tickets for Sunday evening so he could come into London and see us at the night club on the Saturday and go to the opera on the Sunday. Friday morning, before we left, I arranged for his ticket to a box for the Sunday show. I was unsure about organising one for Peggy as I had the feeling that Saturday evening may only be a start.

At the night club we saw our faces on the posters outside the front entrance and were greeted warmly by John and Sydney and introduced to the five piece house band. I explained that we had put together a set of about four hours, with just the three of us for the first two, then, after a break, the three of us with the band behind us. Joanne showed them the play list that we had decided on and they were happy with all of the songs they would be involved in, seeing that they were staple material for night clubs. Before lunch the three of us went through our half on the small stage while Joanne got used to the house piano, then, after lunch, we did the second half with the band.

John and Sydney were very happy with the show we had put together. John said that he thought it odd that we had put so much work in and agreed to do the opening, all before any remuneration had been discussed. I told him we all just loved singing and that Saturday evening was like a homecoming for all of us but we would need to discuss money should he want more shows.

At that he smiled and told me I was a thought reader. He then turned to Peggy and asked her where she had last sung and he nearly fell off his chair when she told him it was at a night club, in Hanoi, called the ‘Burning Yankee’. We chatted some more and then the three of us went off to the shops to find something suitable to wear on Saturday night, seeing we were stars! After a tiring session of serious shopping we caught up with Greg at our hotel for dinner. He had spent the day catching up with some old friends and chatting about the past, or more to the point, those bits of the past he could remember. He said there were a few who would be joining him at the night club on Saturday to see his daughter sing. I told him I would alert the doorman that he may be arriving and to disregard any tattoos on his companions. He laughed and said that this was the one thing he had stayed away from, as, unlike the drink or drugs, they don’t wash off. He said that several of his friends have grown to dislike the look in their old age but removal is even more dangerous that the application and they all were now much more aware of their mortality.

Part 44

Saturday evening came around and we dressed for our performance and went to the night club by taxi. Greg was going to meet up with his friends and get there by eight. I warned the doorman that Sir Greg Goggins would be attending with several rock band members and he assured me that they would get the royal treatment. We made sure the stage was as we wanted and retired to a back office with a view of the club. John made sure we had plenty of soft drink on hand and sat with us to point out the various celebs as they came in. I saw that when Greg arrived he, and his friends were led to a prominent table. John said “Isn’t that Greg Goggins?” Peggy said that it was, in fact, one and the same and her father, which made him sit up. “I didn’t know that” he said “I really am in the company of rock royalty tonight.” At about a quarter to eight we made ready and went down to the back of the stage. The MC stepped up to the microphone and announced that the show was about to start and to welcome Joanne Swift, Patricia Meyers and Peggy Evans. There was polite applause and we started our set. There is an atmosphere that is different with different audiences. Tonight was classy and sophisticated and it was reflected in our performance. The applause gathered pace as the night wore on and when we finished the first half and announced a break; there were many people wanting us to join them at their table. We mingled generally for twenty minutes and then sat with Greg and his pals.

The band set up and we walked back to the stage and started the second half. It went very well with the songs a lot of people knew. With some repeat requests we finished at about one in the morning and stepped off the stage to much applause. I thought we had done well after not singing in public for so long. I was, however a little tired so, after a proper interval mingling with the punters, we made our excuses and went back to the hotel. Next morning the lass from reception brought a bunch of papers to our table and told us we may like to have a look. There, once again, there was a picture of the three of us on the stage with the club band behind us. The caption was ‘Is there anything these girls can’t do?’ The piece went on to say that after producing the smash hit opera that was now playing to full houses, we had been stars at the opening night of a new night club and had wowed the crowd with over four hours of masterful singing. There was also a picture of Peggy, sitting next to Greg, and captioned ‘Peggy Evans with her father, Sir Greg Goggins’.

That evening Greg and Peggy went to see the opera and, Monday morning, he told me that it made him realise that his own performance was third rate compared to the professionals. I told him it didn’t matter as we had enjoyed ourselves in America and that he was the lead in the CD of the ‘Original Cast’ which this cast could never be. John and Sydney also came to see us that morning and, while Joanne and I declined to perform at the night club any more, they did sign Peggy for a long season, followed by spots in their other clubs. This pleased her as it allowed her to live an independent life again with a reason to get up in the mornings. We all went back to the Manor that afternoon and, next day Joanne and I went into London and visited a jewellers shop for matching rings before we flew back to Nashville.

We were feeling like a long break so Joanne and I booked a round-the-world airfare each with open tickets and spent a good three months making the tour, being sure to see all the best sights that the world could offer. We stopped off in Sweden long enough to have a quiet wedding without any of the newshounds there. I know it had taken a bit longer than most but we had been busy and in the spotlight. We were now out of contract but had more than enough money to live the rest of our life without the need to work again. Mary and Bruce had put together a list of properties over the last year or so that had looked good so I had ended up as the landlord for a range of supermarkets, as well as the owner of a small chain of motels in the state around Nashville, so my income stream was assured.

Peter had negotiated with his supplier to allow him to open a small car showroom to sell the new Chinese vehicles that were making headway in the lower price range and we had found a small yard that was for sale and we opened that as three partners, with a completely new management team, so keeping his promise to his supplier. I must say, that after a short period of very little activity, it was selling a lot of cars. Mary was very busy now, looking after our portfolio, and had moved to an apartment in the city. It was actually over an office we had bought and converted to an office for Meyers Holdings and Patanne Investments with four staff to keep things in order. Joanne and I had slowly bought up six café/bakeries across the city to add to the one next to the music store and had done a deal with a top class baker to supply us at a good price. We were also looking at getting a deal done in Memphis which would give us a large property to house a new Meyers Music store with attached café. Between us we were serious employers.

Joanne and I went into Nashville one day and visited the new premises of K Beat. Sarah had retired to her own ranch and was running a stable and riding school, and Alice was now in charge. Carl and the old band had retired and Jake and the band was now the house band. Of course, we had not put an “Amazon’ album out for some time now but I knew that Riordan, Nina and Julia had put out an album with a nameless backing band called ‘Amazonian Melodies’ which was selling well. Lorraine had now put out two more movies, became Mrs Jackson and had been nominated for a couple of Oscars before announcing her pregnancy; she was very much the film star these days. Minh had put together a group of childrens’ entertainers and was now a regular on the TV in ‘Songs from Mouseland’. She had asked me a couple of times to do a guest spot but I still had to make an appearance. I did, however, email her songs that had come to mind so the Patmin team still operated. Justin had gone on to be a serious composer in his own right, with a couple of sonatas and one new opera on the way with another lyricist.

It seemed that everyone was now living a new life. It was all down to that fantastic world tour and I was very grateful that I had been given the opportunity to be on it and ensure my future. We sat with Alice for a while and had a chat about the water that had passed under our bridge and Alice asked me if I would have done the same as Patrick. I had to say that it was never a thing that crossed my mind. As Patrick I would never have had a chance for a life partner like Joanne and, as Patrick I was driven to write songs because of the boredom of my life and now I had so much to do it was no longer an itch I had to scratch. I still wrote songs and had developed quite a reputation as writer for a couple of our stars from the ‘Night in June’. Not all of them had stayed in the business. One had now become a full-time name in the operetta scene and two had married and settled down. I told her that becoming Patsy was the best thing that had happened to me and I thanked her for her insight and care in the early days. She assured me that I had repaid her in full as the K Beat business was doing very nicely these days, especially the new TV advertising side of it; something they would never have thought of before.

When we went to hand in our K Beat ID lanyards, Alice floored us by asking if we would like to buy into the studio. Sarah wanted to sell her share and had thought that Joanne and I would be the ideal new partners. She gave us a figure we needed to find; Joanne and I looked at each other and immediately told her to get the paperwork ready. We had a group hug and left her office to announce the news to the staff. And so my life moved on from there; still in the music business.

Marianne G 2020

Positively Patsy Part 45

I settled into a life of being a song writer and business woman. The partnership in K Beat meant that Joanne and I were in there on a regular basis, taking care of administration and even backing new singers with Jake and the boys. Alice looked after every day things very well.

The music store was doing well and we were working hard to fine tune our on-line sales. Unfortunately, the Memphis project did not pan out. One good thing was that I was offered a price for my motel chain by one of the majors in that business and sold them for a handsome profit. I used the money to buy out the tenants on three of the supermarkets that I was already the landlord for and rebranded them as ‘Patsymarts’, doing great deals with the suppliers. They took a few days to get repainted and spruced up and I made sure that we had the best computer control and point of sale that was on the market. They did so well that the tenants of the other three supermarkets, where I was the landlord, negotiated a deal to become ‘Patsymarts’ as well, as long as I paid for the upgrade. Part of the deal was that I became a minority partner in their businesses as well.

With all of this happening it wasn’t long before we started to get invitations to municipal events and also some put on by the other business organisations. I usually chatted with Peter and his wife at those and resisted being drawn into the inner circles. I was, however, asked by the councilman from my district to accompany him in his official party when he took part in the opening of the State Fair in September. He made sure that we were seen together and that the reporters got some pictures. I was a bit intrigued about his intentions. He also took this opportunity to cajole me into becoming a registered voter. This, as far as everyone else was concerned, put me into the circles of power and I was also asked to have a stall, with our bakeries, at the Cultural Festival in October where the Mayoral party dropped by for cakes and a chat, getting our photo in the paper again.

Also in October, Roger asked us to sit with him at the annual Festival of Books where he had a stall selling his books on the various bands. Joanne and I signed a lot, under his signature, especially the ‘Amazon’ ones with the DVD. The year came to a head in November with the Country Music Association Awards. K Beat won an award for contribution to the Nashville Industry and Alice, Joanne and I were again photographed with the mayor and other dignitaries. In the Christmas period we joined the choir in singing at various homes and hospitals and so 2019 came to an end. Joanne and I had a very quiet holiday at home and toasted each other to bring in 2020. Little did we know what was in store!

It started out well as Shantel won an award at the Grammies with an album of mainly my songs and she gave me a good mention in her acceptance speech. Also, early in January, my district councilman asked if he could ‘pop in for a chat’. Well, that turned out to be a delegation that included his campaign manager and our local congressman. The pitch was that he needed to retire due to health problems and they made a good argument for me to run as his replacement. I had the image and the proven managerial background from my shows. The fact that I was a Grammy winner as well as having an OBE was sure to get the voters out. After consulting Joanne I agreed and he announced his resignation the next day with the election in late February.

It really was not much a contest, with my being able to get some Nashville stars to open my campaign rallies it was a certainty and I won in a landslide. The politicians were very happy but became less so when they found out I was not some bimbo who followed party orders. I stood up for my district at the Metro-Nashville meetings and was able to win more arguments than I lost. However, it all went up in the air come the middle of March.

As the virus was spreading around the world I could see that we were not going to be bypassed and so sat down with Alice, Joanne and Minh to nut out some plans. We decided that we would work towards closing the studios for as long as it took and made sure that all our artists knew that live shows were likely to be banned. Minh moved out to the ranch and I got Chris in to set us up with camera and audio feed to the web so that Minh could continue to run her ‘Songs from Mouseland’ TV show. I suppose that Joanne and I would need to be in the cast now. Jake was caught in the UK working with Greg on a new blues album. That would be interesting as he and Peggy had been circling each other for a couple of years.

I also organised the best screen protection I could for the Patsymarts and made sure they had lots of sanitiser. I organised a daily delivery of essentials for us which they could leave at the gate. We got two of our security guys to move in to bedrooms in the house so we had 24 hour coverage and, lastly, we got Mary to come back from her apartment in the city and we put one of the other girls in charge of the office. I was sure that we would need someone there every day to ensure that the Patsymart and Meyer Music Store bills got paid, at least. As things got worse we needed to move all of the café/bakeries over to take-away only and close the music store, keeping the whole crew on the books to handle the on-line orders and enquiries.

The car yards went to a minimum staff and I suspended any lease payments to allow them to operate. In England I made sure that Jake, Greg and Peggy were all right and that the charity continued to pay the school manager, even though we were unlikely to have any students for some time. I spent a lot of time on the computer, discussing city business with my people and getting the latest news. We were able to get a link with the other TV show members and the ‘Songs From Mouseland’ continued seamlessly with the station getting a recording every week.

I had to go out at times to carry out city business and they always sent a limo for me that smelled of recent disinfectant. It was sad to see the streets so empty. This changed when the White House fermented revolution with the ‘Free the States’ tweets. We all had to pull strings for our police and fire crews to have proper personal protection but we did manage to keep things under control, unlike a couple of other states. By the middle of May we had a bit under a quarter of the cases in the state but only fifteen percent of the deaths, due, in part, in our having one of the highest concentration of health companies in the country. When I heard about covid parties where people got together to try and get infected I almost broke down. There was certainly no vaccination against stupidity.

The papers were now full of the presidential election. I thought it didn’t matter which old man won as they had no idea of how to run the new world they lived in and would find themselves side-lined by the events. All in all, it was not the finest hours in the history of the country.

Eventually it all played out and things got back to something like normal. Well, if you consider normal to be having memorial services for a lot of people once we could get back to having crowds. Big concerts, political rallies and even big congregations were still out but most of the shops opened up, if a bit leaner and meaner. We were able to get the Patsymarts working as usual and there were still two girls available for our office. Mary moved back into her apartment and Minh went back to the house, but not before getting Chris to duplicate the video feed system in the studio there.

The car yards were mainly open for repairs and servicing but we did sell a few cars. Neither yard had the full crew back as some had been victim of the virus and we didn’t move to replace those we had lost. We opened up K Beat and spent a lot of time recording new songs that our artists had written while they were at home. Our record sales were huge in the second quarter of 2021 so we managed to offset a lot our losses. I was sorry that I just did not have the spare time or the impetus to write much myself, and what I did write I destroyed as being too dark.

I did have some very dark feelings at a memorial service for ten members of our ‘support crew’ from the nursing home. Fortunately Roger and Jim were still there but some of the staff, including Kay, had been very ill but recovered. Jake and Peggy finally tied the knot in England with a small and intimate ceremony which we watched on the computer feed, Joanne and I both cried with happiness for them.

Part 46

My own second half of the year had been taken up in city business and I don’t know how I would have coped without Joannes’ help. We had a city to get back into order and there were many meetings and visits to large companies to ensure that they continued to stay with us. One of the highlights of this period was that, while I was in talks with the Nissan Company, I was asked if I wanted to take on a dealership where the owner had been a virus victim. They offered a very good deal and it was too good to pass up so we became the owner of yet another car yard. One positive, or so the boys thought, was that we now had a company box at the Nissan Stadium and they would take every chance they could to see the Titans once they got back playing. I can’t say that I was interested but was able to use it to further my political end.

The politics was getting interesting as I was invited to sit on several committees and learned a lot about the machinations of government. The more I learned, the more I became aware of the good that I could do if I had the right moves. I made sure that I kept in the good books of our higher level politicians, attending several parties with Joanne. By now I was being taken more seriously with my suggestions and I made sure I allowed those above me to get the credit they needed, so building up an impressive bank of favours.

I had made sure that Joanne had been included in all things that she could be, and this came to a head in 2022. There was a meeting of the main players in the state and I was asked to run as Vice-mayor at the upcoming election and they offered Joanne my council seat. I think that the innocent concept of the band name died that day as we both took the carrot being offered. It was, yet again, pretty much a non-contest as we were inundated by offers from the industry to open our small rallies. It helped that the Rock and Roll Marathon race took place in April and we could put together a team of Patsy Pacers in very garish colours that did quite well, with Joanne and I welcoming them at the finish.

Another festival that restarted that April was the Rites of Spring Music Festival. This was mainly towards the more classical music but we were able to put together a cast to perform one of the acts from my ‘Drake and Reece’ opera and I did several shows singing cabaret with Joanne on piano. Lots of column inches and photos in the news were good results. We both won the election and so I became the Vice-Mayor with Joanne as a district council-woman. The one thing that came out of this was that the Vice-Mayor chairs the council meetings and the usual rowdy antics became serious and productive meetings under my guidance.

One of the meetings I had with the upper levels of the party was with our Senator and the party leader who told me that I should set myself to run for president in 2028 or 2032, when I would be a better age and we would be a long way from the ridiculous events of 2020. I pointed out that I did not have that kind of money but was assured that, should I run, there would be a big team behind me. It certainly gave us food for thought but it was only just a thought as my own history would not stand up to proper scrutiny. Still, “Patsy for President” does have a nice ring to it!

But first, now we can travel freely again, there’s a christening to attend in the Cotswolds.

The end of Book 3.

I have started to write Book 4, Potent Patsy, but it is a bit of a grind and will probably not see light of day until later in 2021.

Marianne G 2020