This is an April fools day contest entry, so generous votes would be greatly appreciated. Please enjoy: BB1212
9.06 am Monday, April first, 2019.
"In an exclusive for Radio KRIF 100.7" Sally V, the excited DJ announced, "we have the world premiere of 'Gone Bust' one of the tracks from the long-lost final studio album from Argon Grange. This is huge, and I'm putting on nooooooow..."
The now familiar opening riff boomed out as Dawn and I nervously held hands and wondered how the next few hours would play out.
To put this event into context I probably need to explain a few things and to look back a bit.
Firstly, unless you have been living under a rock you will know Argon Grange. For fifteen years they were the biggest band in the world bar none. Twelve multi-platinum albums, twenty-eight number one hits and the worldwide mega tours that are still the benchmark against which big tours are measured.
Second, Argon Grange had been in the studio recording their thirteenth album for three months when the band spectacularly disintegrated. There were all sorts of accusations and rumours about what happened, and who was to blame, but I certainly wasn't there, so I shouldn't talk about that. Either way, the recordings were never found after the AG Production Studio burned down and it had long been assumed that the tapes were lost forever.
Third, the rebuilt AG Production Studio, and all the royalties for 'Silky' Watts, the Argon Grange writer, lead singer and lead guitarist were firmly in the grasp of Eva Watts-Joiner, Silky's very materialistic second wife and then widow. All except for one song, 'And All The Benefits It May Bring' which had been Argon Grange's first number one and was written for, and dedicated to, Lance Watts, Silky's only child by his first wife. Lance Watts had been given the rights for that song.
And finally, I am Lance Forbes, son of Catie Forbes, Silky's first wife, and I was formerly and am sometimes still known as Lance Watts.
7.14 pm Tuesday, March fifth, 2019.
I'd had a long day at work, and had just sat down to relax when the radio I had going in the background played 'Benefits' (my name for 'And All The Benefits It May Bring'). It still happens occasionally, and if I am alone at home and the song comes on, I take my father's old and beaten up acoustic down off the wall and I play along. The guitar is the only physical thing I got from my fathers will, and is the original instrument that he used when he wrote the song. It sounds nothing at all like his wailing Strat on the recording, but I don't care.
It was those times when I was playing along with my father that I thought of him. I wondered what his life was like with so much success, so quickly and I tried hard not to hate him too much.
Dad was taken away from Mum by Eva, who used a vicious but effective combination of lies, drugs and debauchery. Mum had been Dad's high school sweetheart, and she was way too innocent to see what was going on until it was far too late. She was overwhelmed quickly and then hung out to dry. Mum got a small divorce settlement of forty-seven thousand dollars (from a number one rock star) and a nominal child support payment of fifty dollars per week until I turned eighteen. Not indexed at all, just a straight fixed sum. Something was really dirty in that deal and I often think that if money can't actually buy the justice system then it sure can help to make it look the other way.
You might have worked out by now that I don't sound American, and that is because Mum moved us to Australia immediately after the divorce when I was less than two years old. I was given Mum's maiden name and brought up in anonymity as an Aussie. Dad died when I was seventeen, and from the time we left America until then we never heard anything from him. It was like he had forgotten that we existed.
My inheritance in Dad's will came as a shock to me. Mum, of course, got nothing and Eva did her best to try to ensure that I finished up with the same. When the will was read, she claimed the guitar was lost and then she tied my royalties up for three years with legal claims and court cases that I had no resources to defend properly. I guess it all would still be dragging out endlessly if it hadn't been for Dawn.
Dawn was pretty much in the same boat as me. She was the daughter of Lonnie 'Sticks' Walsh the drummer of Argon Grange. After Dawn was born Lonnie had moved on to wife two and then three in very quick succession, and finally on to husband one. Dawn and her mother, wife one, had been pretty much lost in the passage of time. Unlike me, who had gone to university and become an electrical engineer, Dawn had followed her father into the music business and she had a small record store with an attached studio and also a very small independent record label. She was finding it very hard to compete with the likes of the AG Production Studio in their home town, but she still managed to get by.
Dawn was in a local guitar shop when Eva came in, wanting to sell Dad's acoustic guitar. Dawn was no dummy, and she knew from the industry gossip that it was supposed to be lost and that Silky Watts' first son was supposed to have inherited it. Dawn unobtrusively used the video on her phone to record the entire deal going down, and then she went to the police and reported what she had seen.
Of course, Eva first claimed that it was a different guitar but that was immediately disproved by the claims she made in Dawn's video. Her next excuse was that she was confused and just made a genuine mistake, and when that story was going south as well, she finally 'confessed' that it was actually just supposed to be an April Fools prank and she was never going to really sell it. Despite the video clearly showing the sale Eva still had plenty of money and status, so she somehow got away with it and was just cautioned. Much to Eva's frustration though, the guitar was seized, authenticated and then sent to me. A part of the deal the cops cut with her was for her delays over the payment of my royalties to cease. I got the guitar and a healthy lump sum (think new luxury car, not new house).
I rang Dawn to thank her personally and found that we clicked, so we started a regular correspondence that has lasted ever since.
But anyway, there I was, strumming along to 'Benefits' and reminiscing about the stories that Mum told me of a father that I never knew, and whose memories she still cherished.
Sometimes I play along to the lead break, but often I just tap the body of the guitar and listen to my father play. He was a shit hot guitarist, and was acknowledged as one of the best of all time, but I can copy him very closely when playing his music. Tapping on the guitar this time I noticed that the sound changed in a particular spot and I became curious as to why.
9.10 am Monday, April first, 2019.
"That was 'Gone Bust' a new song from Argon Grange," Sally V announced, "and I can't believe that for the first time in the history of Radio KRIF our switchboard and web page have crashed. Please be patient and keep trying, we really want to know what you think about our world exclusive."
Dawn and I smiled. We knew it was good and the reaction only confirmed it. I looked at the official Argon Grange web site and social sites and there was no acknowledgement of what had just gone down. So far so good.
7.49 pm Tuesday, March fifth, 2019.
I looked at the small parcel in my hand, wondering if I had found one of my father's secret drug stashes. Because I was curious about the noise, I had removed the strings from the acoustic and when I had reached inside, I found what felt like a wooden box attached to the face on the front. I couldn't prise it loose and it seemed to be glued in place. On further investigation I realised that one end was a heavy cloth, sort of like canvas, and I eventually reached in with a small pocket knife and carefully cut that away. When I had tilted the guitar a tightly sealed package slipped into my hand.
I nervously watched the package as I re-strung the guitar, tuned it and then played one of my own songs to clear my head. I may not be a professional musician, but you can't deny what is in the blood.
The package was wrapped in foil with a waterproof plastic outer wrap. I carefully opened it and to my great relief I didn't find drugs. What I did find was a studio tape and a handwritten note from my father. According to the note the tape was the master of the long-lost Argon Grange album.
My first thought was 'is this real or is this just another trick from Eva?' I still recalled far too clearly the April Fool's joke that Eva had claimed that she tried with the guitar, and I wondered if this was just another part of some elaborate hoax. I pondered the possibilities for an hour or so and then did my calculations.
6.00 am Wednesday, March sixth, 2019. (11.00 am Tuesday March fifth 2019 in California).
"Dawn."
"Uh, hi Dawn, this is Lance."
"Hey Lance, good to hear from you. What's up, you don't normally call?"
Dawn, as usual was straight to the point. Yes, I would normally chat on Facebook if I wanted to catch up.
"Yeah, um... it is important. Do you recon you'd be up for a visit?"
"You're finally coming to the states, fantastic! I'd love to finally meet you in person. When are you coming?"
"Thursday?"
"This week?"
"Yes, if it works for you..."
"Are you staying in the city?"
"Um... not sure yet."
"Lance, why are you coming? Is it a work thing?"
"No, I'm coming to see you. It is important, but I'd rather explain when I see you."
