Bands of Time. A Summer of Music

By Paul Stansby

Youngsters who are aspiring rock musicians play covers together and together with with some college leavers make it over to LA and meet up with Harry Rockwell who's there, the Harry Rockwell who is the lead character in the fictional series of mine.
The planet is a passion with the youngsters and Harry along with help of the other bands in the same series as just mentioned set up a rock & pop festival to promote green issues to which all new young bands from around the world are invited to rehearse and play culminating in the best groups to play at the grand concert end of the festival and hopefully end up with record deals The festival is held on the island of Corfu, Greece.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paul Stansby
• Release date: Mar 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005698706

Book preview

© Paul Stansby

          Dec 2018, Falmouth Uk,

          Written in Grenada

          & Medoc. France

Bands of Time 

        A  Summer of Music

            n Six parts

          Set in             

      The Uk, LA & Corfu, Greece.                             

Part One

  UK & LA

Chapter One Gillingham Kent

‘It’s early Jimmy’

‘Oh it needs to be, two to six pm is our practice time Ziggy’

‘At least your gran is deaf’

‘Kinda of, just takes out her hearing aid and gets to see us every day’

‘A big old house’

‘As I as I can remember she’s been here so she’ll never move now’

‘Certainly has large wardrobes full of old girls clothes from way back’

‘Antique Ziggy’

‘More historique

‘Totally they span three eras, her mothers as well, all coming in useful, we can get away in black and white, as have creatures like the penguins before the planet had colours’

‘Here’s Skippy coming along in our now three dimensional world, you think our names work Jimmy’

‘We’re sixty years on from the music we’re trying emulate, so at least we have a modern outlook playing all the old classic oldies, so the girls being Slinky, Blinky and Clinky work, thin, wide eyed and jewelled up, suits them’

‘Maybe to near to the teletubbies names’

‘Certainly don’t look like them, one hundred per cent hot girls, but I see the connection, connect them towards super heroes image instead that’s all the rage, ravishing, radiant and rattler’

‘They could work, what do you think Skippy’

‘I’m too Kangaroo, Whipper could be good with those other ideas for names. Lets get to practice some more before the girls over rule us with their ideas’

  The three go down into Jimmy’s grandmothers basement plug up and start a session, after ten minutes three girls in shorts, sporting leggings all the way up their legs T shirts and jackets go down to join them, they join in on the next song, then take a break and start to discuss the band’s identity.

Image is the key, Slinky would have worked for me and the other names for Gillian and Lizzy, but they do lend themselves to a younger age group, the Magic Roundabout was cool for our mothers at five years old then of course the Teletubbies arrived on the scene.’ Annabelle reiterates.

‘We’re doing sixties beat music based around the all time greats, Annabelle’

‘We know that Jimmy, so the Beat Band, nice and simple, we’re the beat girls and you are the beat boys, so this time around a unisex band as opposed to a boy band or a girl band, double our appeal’

‘Yeah a drummer, at present it’s electronic’

‘It’s on a volume control which is so convenient and more controllable than having a real life person for percussion’

‘We need authenticity though so two drummers maybe Annabelle, a girl and a boy, female and male’

‘Yeah I can work out the gender no problem, so add more percussion, plenty of additional percussion to use, its only really Genesis that exploited that area besides the serious orchestral composers’

‘Kettle or timpani drums could be interesting, they wouldn’t fit down here though’

‘Drums were the first basic instruments Jimmy, good to exploit that area’

‘Back to the Jungle’ Annabelle, a good title for an Album, Tree Swinging Ape as opposed to Street Fighting Man, hit the present day green issues’

‘Great costumes’

‘They would be Gillian’  Lizzy adds ‘Get into some zany stage acts, Gorillas on drums and percussion, there’s bound to some leopard skin dresses in Jimmy’s Gran voluminous wardrobes, adorned with some Ostrich feathers, I could play my saxophone and get into some real early sixties music, on the cusp before the beat arrived big style’

‘Yes Les Beats, aptly inverted by John Lennon, no shortage of acts, styles, music and fashion to follow the seventies and eighties generations created their own identity to distinguish themselves from the sixties then after that I’m not sure what happened’

‘In the nineties computer games arrived Jimmy, followed by portable phones and internet resulting in our techno phobia era which merged all medias together so all genres, fashions and music were readily available for everybody explore without a trip to the record store and later the Dvd store which arrived fast and disappeared just as fast, you’ve your appeal on tap with little effort so being special is the key’

‘Very apt Lizzy, just tap the key on computer board to instant satisfaction’  Jimmy says, then sits down on an old crate and surmises, the rest pull up some more crates, the girls get out their phones check their recent messages, Skippy and Ziggy practice some  chords while Jimmy makes some notes. Skippy, whose real name is Simon states

‘How about Key Notes or Beat-Keys, hyphenated’

  Ziggy a name he preferred to Zippy, which came around at school as he collected Zippo lighters, but his actual name was Harpo, his brothers were Chico and Marco, his grandmother and mother being ardent Marx brothers fans so much so that they thought they were distantly related, so the boys were named thus, comes up with

‘Poppinates, or Rockinates, we’ve have the composers who kept their names for the orchestral symphonies though’ 

‘They had distinct names and we’re a band, not solo. You’ve got Rockettes from the US, Ziggy, Dylan had The Band, very egotistical to me, Mozart never had The Orchestra, I think The Key-Beats hyphenated would be better’

‘How about Qwerty-Beats instead Jimmy, or just the Qwerties as were in this techno world now, or even Qwerty keys’

‘Could be Gillian or even Ainsi, Rockanainsi has a certain mystic ring to it’

‘Russian to me Jimmy, es on the end for the plural so Rockanainsies, kind of kitsch, good to me, better than the Ippies & Inkies Band from last month but I do like that, but to be taken seriously and not as a teen band, yes the  Rockanainsies is far better, but of course if were dropping that we’ve all got fourteen and fifteen year old brothers and sisters who could be pulled away from there gaming consoles and do some techno guitar and drum they know for they already plug in guitar and drums into their consoles, not forgetting a number of instruments they know well   

‘That could make for some interesting covers Annabelle, the Telly Teens or the Ippie and Pinkie band’

‘Yep that could be done easily with their consoles and an addition of a 

musical keyboards Jimmy’

‘Oh yes, we’re all around twenty years old Annabelle, so no problem for them with having parents around as they’re not sixteen, it could work well. We can document and record all our discussions and practices for our website and do online concerts with only the need for a couple of hundred audience in a small hall’ 

‘A large party hopefully an even larger one on the internet creating an around the world interactive pop concert party Jimmy’

‘A possibility Gillian, bring in one of the large online companies with there huge servers for streaming it online or you tube could work just fine’

‘You tube is an easy one, I’m just checking these proposed names online as we’re having a spontaneous afternoon, we approximately know fifty odd covers 

‘Good idea Lizzy, any conflicts?’

‘Doesn’t appear to be but I’ve come across this dude in US that my sister and her mates, she’s fourteen, are raving about and he has set up a reality show with twenty four girls who are based around three shops which are set up In LA with merchandise and eco ideas like getting everybody to carry around their own travel mug for drinks for coffee and soda drinks’

‘Binkiis, anagram of Bikinis, my sister is into them as well, so quick to be popular nowadays and were in Gillingham, Kent’

‘Eco straws as well, making Eco trendy so the ideas have instant appeal Lizzy so maybe we could hook up with them and attain instant appeal’

‘That makes sense Annabelle what do you reckon lads’

‘In the old days, which don’t appear to be that much ‘the good old days’ as people often refer them but then it was good to be heard and people expected new sounds, this dude behind the Banks is a serious writer, serious in terms of what he gets down and out’

‘Successful Ziggy’

‘Oh no Lizzy, more than that, inventive and very creative, its rumoured he knocks out a couple of new songs a week, who to, if anybody, nobody knows’

‘LA is half around the world Ziggy’

‘We’ve all got Grans who seem to have money to get there with, we could drag our brothers and sisters along as the holidays are looming, so make it more a vacation as an exploration to fame and success’

‘I think that would sell the expedition Gillian, depends how affable the dude is’

‘He’s English Lizzy’

‘There’s a few of those Gillian’

‘Not like this one, he’s credited writer to around forty films and five series Lizzy, if the online info is accurate’

‘I think we should do a demo of some songs and also get your brother and sisters to do one, some of your sisters are good singers I’ve heard them on their Karaoke machine and the boys are invigorated Axe slayers, as you say the dreaded holidays for respective parents are looming next week in fact, not to mention the future with us for at the moment living at home 24/7’

‘No space for the oldies to chill, we’ve got a lot bigger and have friends that are big so take up a lot of space in a house that was intended for two adults and two or three children Jimmy’

‘Certainly no room to party Ziggy’

  Chapter Two A few days later

‘That suggestion was met enthusiastically, so LA for teens and the us Jimmy,

my brother Marco is excited, I didn’t expect our respective parents to be so excited’

‘Some intimate time together for them after 21 years Ziggy and of course we can rough it, no trolling is around to the usual restaurants and them being hit for huge bills, so that’s sixteen of us now, unknowingly for us my Gran knew this LA guy who instigated the Binkiis, in her youth, all that …… Dot dot dot stuff’

‘You mean they shagged, you may even be related’

‘Yeah well that one is going to elude me, he’s already got 22 youngsters there, mostly teenagers, who are related, he’s not going to want anymore, so Gran has hired two caravans to be put on this Guy’s place and there’s an enormous swimming pool and the place is a mile from the beach’

‘Anything else, these dudes have all sorts’

‘No helicopter, but an indoor cinema, studio, squash court and outdoor tennis court which the girls enthused about’

‘A lot of travel bonus points for someone’

‘Enormous with BA, sixteen seats to LA, Gran and your Gran and the other Grans sent dad the money so he got the rewards’

‘So we need to take much’

‘I think the guy has most things we need, well LA has everything, so bar a hold bag and a handbag for the cabin everything else is sixty pounds extra’

‘Yeah so instruments are out, at least we’ve all got passports and we did the visas online, all so fast and we go on Tuesday, I’m surprised your Gran isn’t coming Jimmy’

‘If she is, it’s a surprise for she’s not letting on’

‘To check out an old flame’

‘I expect he has a few of those Ziggy’

‘Maybe, here’s Simon, strike up some David Bowie tunes for Gran, she likes those more her era the seventies, she wasn’t a teenager for the swinging sixties, just missed all that fun’

‘We know three of his’

‘She’s got her friends around this afternoon, so we may have a small audience, hi Simon you are good?’

‘Oh yes, Skippy is, I’ve definitely has extra bounce, all this is too good, the Gillingham basketball team are having sending off party for me, you’re welcome’

‘Oh yes, they’ll miss you in their team, no doubt they’re assuming you don’t come back’

‘It’s California Ziggy we’re going to, so a strong possibility, long stretches of beaches, sunshine, surf, drop dead gorgeous girls, not forgetting basket ball of course, that’s big over there’

‘You’re good at that, a back up plan for you if you want to stay and hang out there, looks preferable to here but the movies gloss it up, so Jimmy we’re good you’ve been hanging around at top the stairs next to the door’

‘My Gran is coming down with her friends, so we’re good now’

‘Cool an over sixties audience Jimmy, two generations out on us, I suppose sixties would make it three, or rather sixties squared with the age and era’ 

‘It must have been so different back then Skippy, not so many cars and even then they were small’

‘We caught up with the US now everything is going small again as it is with them what do you reckon Ziggy’

‘I reckon Simon everybody thought space travel was around the corner in the Seventies, outer space was a possibility to a lot of people on a Rocket after we’d had the first Rocket in 1830’s which was train, since the moon landing it’s been decades of disillusionment, ELO, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Bowie all did futuristic songs in anticipation’ 

‘One step for mankind didn’t lead to anymore, ah here’s the ladies hello Gran and friends I see you all dressed up’

‘Oh yes take some pictures of us on your phone Jimmy then we can email them to our dude friend in LA and see who he can recognise, he knows us all’

‘I expect he did, what did you all do back then?’

‘Party, go to the hairdressers, dress up, chase rock stars and sleep with them, often go to the night clubs if no bands were playing, not forgetting to look as hot as we could be’

‘Work?’

‘Not as far as I remember, but we never had a moment spare to do that anyway, lets come into the basement and here you boys play, my friends all know you’re off to California, we all wished we could have gone at your age’

‘Lets get some photographs on the steps down Gran’

‘Oh yes in a line down the steps so I can name us easily in case he’s forgotten, which after nearly forty years he most likely has, 22 known grandchildren is impressive and they had eight different grandmothers who never married, now five though, your younger brothers and sisters are in for a dream of a time I would think, here we go all in a line for some pictures’

‘An achiever’

‘No Jimmy, on the girl front he had it, they just wanted to jump in the sack with him so some results happened because of this’

Chapter Three Later in the evening

‘That was a fun afternoon, the ladies still like to party Jimmy’

‘They don’t seem to have stopped since there late teens Ziggy, what do you reckon Simon’

‘A fun bunch, they adore the sixties and seventies music, it lives on strong and has stood the test of time as people have never become weary of it, so lots of scope for us, this dude in LA seems well cool Jimmy’

‘I think so Simon, I’m not surprised he has a lot of stories, everyday must had several experiences adding themselves to the cocktail of life which needed no shaking or stirring for it was happening all around’

‘You spoke to the girls Jimmy’

‘Sort of, you Ziggy?’

‘Exactly the same ‘sort of’, too excited just a lot of screams and giggling, there leaving Gillingham and going to stay in some rich dudes house in LA, which also has enormous jacuzzis in the bedrooms and there’s a load of celebs who are his neighbours’

‘How about the teens Ziggy?’

‘As good as gold I’ve heard, Marco is on his best behaviour and has been practising table manners with my mum cause these grandchildren of this dude all go to Toff’s schools’

‘Yep there’s fourteen year old girls there which are his age so he’ll want to make an impression, this is all online?’

‘Sure is, look’

‘Ah I see, here Simon, what do you think’

‘Princesses to me, good lookers all of the girls only two boys in the group, this is at a party for the launch of a new series, wow some pool and there are the Binkii Girls, there’s pages of this party, ah there’s two parties, on different days, Adult then a youngsters free of alcohol, I suppose you’d have to do that with a free bar, wow a load of celebs’

‘One thing we’ll soon find out if we’re any good or not Simon, stand out or be squashed like flies, I think we’ll crack it’

‘Like wise, Ziggy here is positive on the outcome of this, no doubt your Gran Jimmy has sent him some of our recordings, she’s got the keys for the basement where we do our songs and covers like this afternoon, she knows the basics of a computer and how to download files onto a USB memory stick’

‘She most likely has sent some and this is a busy guy so maybe he thinks we’ve got something’

‘We must get the two drummers practising along with us Jimmy, they know a lot of tunes well, ones a girl so a little different, a close friend of Annabelle and Gillian’

‘We’ve got four days for that, the teens Ziggy?’

‘Girls can do some work with them, get them synced up, there at an age where most of are at a peak of learning and discovery so everything new intrigues the hell out of them, Marco is very inventive, no doubt this dude in LA has access or knows voice and music coaches’

‘There’s a lot on him online you two, he’s linked up with all sorts in California including that film that our mums adore about down and outs, a real weepy one. Ah he owns a nightclub, I wonder if the girls know that, It looks really exclusive’

‘Lets take a look Simon, oh yes keep quiet about that, otherwise they’ll be repacking their bags every hour making up their minds what to take, keep them busy with Teens, so this is the Hollywood Reporter sight your on I see, there’s a recent rescue of some down and out youngsters in a suicide pact by him followed on the next day by an attempted drug plant at his place to discredit him but that was uncovered on a tip from one his informers’

‘There’s pages and pages of reports on this’

‘Make sure you clear the searches off the laptop Simon in case the girls start lapping it all up and get into a frenzy as I said they’re already excited and don’t need more’

‘I will do Jimmy, America appear to be an envious place’

‘Most people are, everybody is really envious of our visit to LA, a different sort of envy though, with this dude he’ll have competition around that wants to get in on the action,

Online companies will be pissed about these Binkii stores for one’

‘Lets get on and lock the basement otherwise we’ll be invited up for supper and tales will ensue from your Gran and no doubt the others as there’s been nobody leaving’

‘Oh yes Ziggy, we can hear the wooden uncarpeted staircase down here easily, lets go, one thing I forget all about Ziggy Stardust, at least your nickname resulted from you collecting Zippo’s’

‘I forget too, Harpo which is my real name is musical as well though, I’m sticking with Ziggy’

‘Bob