Part 8

On Sunday, we were visited by Sandra and her parents. They wanted to know just what they were letting themselves in for. They had signed the contract after hearing the two songs, and were now having second thoughts.

Our parents assured them that their daughter was in safe hands, and that her schooling would not be messed around. One thing her parents wanted to know was how come Sandra left home her normal quiet self yet came back a determined young lady. All we could offer was it was knowing that you can create something for the enjoyment of others, that lets you move on. Dad told her father where he could get a reasonably priced keyboard.

Mum wasn’t worried about the shirt problem, she was already talking to Jan about creating four outfits, so that she could take a picture and design a new shirt. She had been very strong with her praises when we had played them the two tracks, last night. Dad thought the anthem might be too heavy for our image but they both liked ‘Mirror’.

During that week, we re-visited the doctor. He told us that the blood work matched his expectations. I was just starting puberty, while Jan had a low testosterone count. He suggested that we make a booking for early in the new year, now we had a baseline to work from. We had a serious talk with Mum and Dad, with Jan saying that she thought that she would like to move forward with being more of a girl. I wasn’t so sure.

At my guitar lessons, I kept quiet about our recording session. I had learned my lesson about bragging last time. The other students were all friendly now, with us all trying hard to hone our skills.

As we moved towards Christmas, Angelica had her sixteenth birthday and found a small but nice little Renault outside. Dad had borrowed a dozer and had scraped a track around the property, with crossovers, for her to learn to drive on. Sandra was spending a bit of time at our house now, and Mum had picked up a cheap keyboard at the op-shop. We would sit for hours in the hut, messing around, some of the time with songs and making the odd recording. We had a store of half-finished songs that we would get flashes of inspiration and come back to. By Christmas, we had put together eight new songs, which we put onto a cassette. When we played them to the others, they were amazed at what we had produced.

In the run-up to Christmas, we all attended the Community Centre for a meal, where we had Angelica present the President with our cheque. They said that it would fund a Christmas dinner for sick kiddies and other disadvantaged people in Chard. We were invited to that, putting on a small show, with Sandra on their piano and the three of us singing carols. That was the last time we saw Archie for a while. He told us that a friend of Albert’s had asked him if he knew of a likely young record producer to help out at a studio in Manchester. He was dropping out of school to work full-time in the New Year. We all wished him well and Angelica had a tear in her eye as he left us.

We had a lovely Christmas, with our family and our Uncle’s family getting together at the farm. Everything we ate had been sourced from our properties, some frozen after picking, and some still running around the week before. We had a family tradition to only give cards at that event. We had a small gift-giving session on Christmas morning. I had given Sandra a wrapped gift to put under her own tree, and she had given me a nice pair of earrings.

During the holidays, we were picked up and taken into Bournemouth to the studio. There we met the reason that Steve had been a bit quiet during the last couple of months. Jake was there and introduced us to a group of young lads, not that much older than ourselves, who had been put together to be our backing band. They had been working with the older guys, through the songs we had already put down, so the business of the day was to re-record everything with them. It sounded a little different, perhaps a bit less smooth, but it did come across as an honest sound that we could all live with. By the time we went home, we had an eight-piece ‘Gaining Traction’ band with the start of a song-list. I left them with a cassette of our new songs to work out.

The band was Josh, on drums. Oddly, his surname was Burrell, so Steve had used a picture of our Showman to be painted on the drumskin with our name around it. Kieran was on bass; Andy on rhythm and Jock playing lead. By the middle of January, we had mastered the eight new songs, so we could now do ten without needing to lean on the Cleopatra ones. We had developed a long version of ‘Traction’ by working through a medley of ‘Not Fade Away’ and ‘Mona’, giving us a solid ten minutes of pure dance music.

Steve set us up with a show to launch our careers. He had booked us in to a dance hall, in Bournemouth, as the opening act. He had also made a batch of tees and posters of the eight of us. The single, ‘Mirror / Traction’ was to be sold as a collectors pre-production issue. He had five hundred pressed by a small manufacturer, who had been promised the work should it take off. He also had a collectors issue of a ‘Gaining Traction’ CD, basically our show, with the drumskin artwork on the cover.

I have to say that the whole experience was tiring, sometimes frustrating, but overall wonderful. We melded with the guys, becoming good friends. By the time the show came around, Jan and Mum had produced our stage outfits and the boys had been instructed what to buy for themselves. We opened the show and got the crowd going. I can’t say that we sucked all the air from the following bands, but we did put on a good show, and everyone was happy, especially Steve, who had nothing left in stock by the time we had changed.

Steve had organised a meal afterwards, where we joined our parents, Sandra’s parents, and Brenda; along with the four sets of parents of our band, all having watched our full show for the first time. It was a jolly time; I think that the release of getting our first show out of the way led to us all sleeping on the way home. I was about to doze off, in the car going home, when ‘Mirror’ was played on the radio, waking us all up.

That night was, effectively, the true launch of the band. Between then and the end of the school year, we rehearsed and learned new songs one week, and played at dances the next. The long version of ‘Traction’ was a favourite with the dancers, and we often stopped singing to let them carry the tune. ‘Mirror’ was listed inside the top one hundred, probably on local sales alone.

At school, we had been working on the dance routine, after hours, and it had come together well. We did the routine to ‘Mirror’, with Sandra on piano and Angelica standing in the center of the square, miked up to sing the words. It was a slower version than the recording. She had a streamer in each hand and when she twirled one, the rest of us would be twirling in unison. Lucy and I were the right-hand, while Jan and Janine were the left, mirroring our actions. We didn’t have strong movements, just a few leaps and rolls while tossing the streamers and catching them. The catching bit took a lot of work.

Miss Harris had worked us into an interschools competition, as something to show during the break between sessions. It was a lot of work for very little time, but we had promised to do it. The competition was in a venue in the west of London. We didn’t need much setting up, just Sandra getting plugged into the sound system, along with Angelica. I don’t know what the organisers had expected; not the roar of several hundred schoolgirls as Sandra played the first few notes. We hadn’t realised just how far-reaching our songs had become. They quietened down after a few seconds, Sandra doodling a bit until she hit the riff that started our dance. We had stood still, with Angelica in the middle, until we moved away and went into our routine. At the end of it, we were back together, on one knee with the other stretched forward with the streamer leading.

There was hush as the sound of the last notes faded away, and then the place erupted. It was almost louder than our loudest show. Several hundred schoolgirls had just witnessed one of the bands they were listening to, dancing to a song still in the charts. What we didn’t know, was that the organisers had arranged for a film crew to record the competition, two days later we saw ourselves on the television. From an elevated view, the dance was even better than I had imagined it. Steve rang up the next day, to express his amazement at what he had seen, not being part of what was just a school project.

After that, the song sales went wild, and the production of the single was ramped up. We did one show that was properly recorded, becoming our genuine ‘live’ CD. We went to the school dance at the end of the term; as a four-piece doing our own songs, much to the delight of our fellow students. I played guitar and Sandra provided the bulk of the music on the school piano, with just the two singers. When the school year ended, we had a solid summer of shows booked, one being to close the Saturday evening at the Steam Rally that had kicked it all off.

Over the summer we worked along the south coast, sometimes opening a show, sometimes closing one. It was a lot of hard work, and we all became fitter, ate better, and did a lot of walking to build up our muscles. Jan was now on hormones and blockers, determined to be total girl. She would often walk in for breakfast looking like she was going on a date. Angelica usually got around in jeans but was forced to upgrade her dressing to prove that she was the real girl in the family. She had done well enough in the fifth year to think about taking the sixth year and look for a university after that. With the money she now had in her account she would be able to do that independently, though Mum assured her that there was enough to pay for it.

As for me, I had put on a growth spurt and was now a good three inches taller than Jan. I had also experienced, after a nice afternoon with Sandra, a wet dream, now realising what Mum had been talking about. I went to see our doctor and he took more bloods, the result being that I was a genuine male, and puberty had started to take over my body.

This led to a heart-to-heart talk with Sandra, one afternoon in the hut.

“Sandy, I think that I won’t be able to be your girlfriend for very much longer.”

“I was wondering about that. Sometimes your voice drops, and you have grown up a lot.”

“I’m scared that you will stop liking me when I go back to being Tom.”

“You have to know, by now, that whether you’re Lucinda or Tom, you are still the one I care about. Why don’t you go off and change, put your hair in a ponytail, take off the make-up, and come back to see if we still click.”

When I came back, in trousers that were clearly too short for me, she giggled and then held me close. We kissed, and it was slightly different now that she was the only one wearing lipstick. We kissed some more, and it developed into a more intimate session than any we had done before. Released from the gaff, I expected her to back away when she felt my penis against her. Her breathing got a bit ragged, and she held me even closer.

“Tom, darling. I’m so glad that you want me as a girlfriend. I’m ready to have you as my boyfriend, as the one I trust and the one I think I love. You’re going to have to let everyone else know what you are doing, and you’re going to have to go and buy new trousers.”

I went and put on some girl jeans so that I didn’t look a total idiot. We then went into the house and told my parents what I was planning. The next day, Mum took me to Exeter to get some new clothes to fit me. Luckily, the old school blazer I had used still fitted.

At the next rehearsal, I told the others in the band what was happening. It wasn’t such a shock to them, as we had revealed how we arrived on a stage the previous year. That’s when we had another little shock. Andy declared that he had been scared to tell us before, but he had passed his exams to go to university and would be leaving the band when the next school year started. That created an answer to my problem. Andy and I spent hours with him teaching me the rhythm chords of our songs, so that I could step into his shoes with the next show. We did some rehearsals with me on guitar, and it worked well.

That just left a place up front. After our demonstration dance, Lucy and Janine had been keeping close, and we asked them if either would like to join the singing group. Janine told us that she had been offered a job, so would be leaving school to work full-time. Lucy would be joining Angelica in sixth year and said that she would be happy to be part of ‘Traction’. In between shows we did some rehearsals with her, Janine made her some matching stage outfits, and the band did a couple of shows with her on stage and me looking on. That was a surreal experience, being forced to stop myself going up there and joining in. It did allow me to make sure that I could fill Andy’s spot when the time came.

By the time that the Steam Rally came around, Lucy was a permanent part of the show, and I was dressing as a guy. I had my hair cut short and donated most of my girl things to Janet and Sandra. I did keep wearing cotton panties and soft socks, as well as the less girly tee shirts. I gave Sandy all of the earrings, except the pair she had given me, and just wore small studs. I had acted as the roadie for a couple of weeks and helped with the instruments. I had bought an electric guitar, the same as the one Andy played, and made sure I was happy with it. I had stopped going to the guitar school because I had enough to see me right with the things I was going to play.

On some of our free days, I would take Sandra to the pictures, taking the bus to Exeter for afternoon sessions. We became more of a couple, being alone together. She had lost her fear of men, now being an equal to four guys in the band, and felt safe with me, even though I was starting to sprout a wispy beard. My birthday request, this year, was to get an electric razor.

The dynamics of the band altered, slowly, over that summer. Angelica and Josh had become more than friends, while Lucy had started seeing more of Jock. Janet still kept her eye out for ‘mister right’, but tended to sit with Kieran whenever we ate together or took a coach to a show. So, by the time we arrived at Blandford Forum, that year, we looked, for all the world, like a band of four couples. This time, however, it was our picture from last year that was on the hoardings, flanked by traction engines.

Dad had decided to take just the one Burrell and the Prancing Horses ride, so making it easier all around. We went on the Wednesday, in a smaller convoy; one tank transporter, the truck for the ride, with the caravan behind, and the two Cruisers with our caravans. Steve had organised a van and caravan for the instruments and somewhere for the guys to sleep. I was sleeping in with the drivers, while Sandra and Lucy would share the girls accommodation with Angelica.

We had agreed, between Steve, Stuart, and ourselves, to do the Thursday evening, when the crowd was smaller, and close the Saturday night. For the boys in the band, it was a new experience. None of them had been to a big steam rally, although the classic cars held more interest. It didn’t take long for the smell of hot copper and steam to hook them in.

We all spent most of Thursday walking around, being greeted warmly by those who had met us the year before. Some were a little put off, not realising that when they had met me before, I had been Lucy. The time to get ready for the show came around all too quickly. After a light meal, with us still full of hot dogs and ice creams, we got ready to go on stage. Andy had decided that it was time for me to be on stage, so I had changed into the band outfit, while the girls were in fringed chamois dresses. The first time I had been on this stage I was a girl singer in a cover band, tonight I was a rhythm guitarist in a live band, playing all original songs, most of them written by Sandra and me.

Stuart welcomed everyone to the rally, then reminded them of the debut performance that had blown them away this time last year, before getting the crowd to welcome back ‘Gaining Traction!’ We launched into the set to a big roar. We did the whole show with big smiles. The girls strutted and posed, we guys acted like guitar gods and Josh let loose on the supplied drums. At the end of the set, we finished with our signature number, keeping it going with the additional medley, then the girls stood aside for us to finish the number with a crescendo. This time, when we came off, there was no way we would be falling asleep, the past year of playing had given us a lot more stamina.

We went back to the caravans to freshen up and get a drink, besieged by fans and old friends. Garth and Molly were there, and both congratulated us on our rise in the pop world. Garth said that what we had just performed was much more than he had expected, seeing how young some of us still were. When we had the chance, we went and watched the bands that came on after, until Mum reminded us that we were still school age, so needed our beauty sleep.

Sandra and I helped out on the Prancing Horses ride during Friday. Dad was really happy and didn’t worry if we got caught up with talking to fans. Garth turned up, again, to let us know that the songwriters would be sending us a bunch of original songs, via Steve, to see if we liked them. He had also negotiated, with Steve, for us to receive payments for our part in the four songs that had been released last year.

On Friday evening, we all just listened to the bands, still surrounded by our own fans. Saturday was a repeat with Jan and Kieren working with Dad, and Sandra and I wandering the site. There were three bands before us in the evening, and we just relaxed and grooved until it was our time. Tonight, the crowd in front of us was about three times bigger than Thursday, and the excitement brought out the best in us.

This was the anniversary of our biggest show, and we made it a genuine party. The crowd was heaving and singing along; Jock and I played until our fingers were sore, and the girls did their thing magnificently. When we finished, the crowd didn’t want us to go, so we recycled the best of the four songs that we had sung with Cleopatra, the one that had done the best in the charts. When we came off the stage, there was no way I could stay awake, and it didn’t take long before I was in bed and asleep.

Sunday was strange, in a way. We all dressed casually and spent the breakfast time in the tent surrounded by fans, signing our autographs on CDs and posters. The guys left before lunchtime in the van with their instruments. The rest of us helped out with Dad and just relaxed. It had been so different to last year; we had closed the Saturday show as a pop group in our own right. Everyone we spoke to had smiles on their faces and, once again, the remark was made that it was unusual to have the Saturday band on site during Sunday. With just the one Showman, we closed the ride in the late afternoon, as the crowds abated, and the other small displays were packing up. We dismantled the ride and loaded it, then put the Burrell on the transporter. Monday morning, we would be leaving early.

Sunday evening, we watched the bands on stage and just settled. It had been a good weekend, our part going well, and being able to actually see the other bands was a bonus. The next morning, we were joined by Stuart as we were having breakfast. He told us that the crowd, this year, was a good ten percent bigger than the previous year, and that we would be getting a bonus along with our performance payment. I had to wonder at what we may look like if we come back.

In the last week or so of the summer holidays, I had to go into the school to tell the headmaster that I was coming back as Tom, once again. He hoped that my experience as a girl would make me a better man. I knew that I now had more of a chance of being bullied as I would be spending more time with the other boys. I didn’t have to worry, as the group of boys who had shielded me as Lucinda were happy to have Tom, a genuine pop star, as a friend.

My birthday, that year, did include an electric razor, along with some good sporting clothes, seeing that I was now spending my time with the boys, instead of in the gym with the girls. The dance demonstration had set up a whole new atmosphere among the girls, and Miss Harris was extra busy with lots of new dance aerobics students. During that winter, I found that my dance skills had given me an edge with soccer, able to weave around the defence as if they were statues.

We did about two shows a month up to Christmas, and Sandy and I would spend our times together making out, then working on songs, before making out again. Like last year, we had nine new songs to play when we got together for the first rehearsal of the new year. Sandy and I had put a lot into these, and with four new songs that we had received from Henderson, Watson, and Merriweather, we had almost a totally new show. As we learned and perfected each number, we recorded them. They became our next CD, called ‘Plough Time’.

Marianne Gregory © 2024