DANNY Chapter 58 by Roberta J. Cabot This is a story about Daniel, a guy with a unique talent and an even more unique problem: A great singing voice and the looks of his gorgeous sister. And how he and his family deal with his having breasts. And how he ends up as the female lead singer for a high-school cover band as well as a radio DJ and the country's newest fashion icon and idol. And Danny found out that he was big in Japan: apparently, Danni-Ota and Danni Otaku were actual things. Never a dull moment with Batch Fourteen, and Dan & his gang. Note to the reader: This is a continuation of the still-unfinished story, Danny, so I’m sure you’ll need some background info to make heads or tails of this. Therefore, feel free to read the story. The link is https://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/14774/danny . Thanks! THIS IS A JUKEBOX CHAPTER!

 

A note from the Author about Danny's Jukebox:

Chapter 58 is reviving Danny’s Jukebox. Ever since the time the first installment of the story came out in Crystal's Storysite, there have been people who have commented that I should take out the lyrics of the songs I insist on putting in as it affects the readability of the story. But, for me, the songs provide much-needed atmosphere - people can better see what I see in my mind's eye only if they hear the songs.

This is how the Jukebox works:

From time to time, you will see cartoony numbers in the text. When you see them, it means that song lyrics follow, and if the reader feels frustrated because she doesn't know the song, she can refer to the Jukebox Text File.

This file ("jukebox.pdf") contains links to YouTube files on the net, which are listed by number. If, for example, you see a cartoony number , you can copy-and-paste the link for song number 726 from the Jukebox Text File, into your browser. By doing so, you will run the YouTube video for the original song the story is referring to. This will allow you to listen to it as you read, thereby adding a new dimension to the story.

It would probably have been more convenient to put a hotlink in the story text itself, but I prefer it this way 'coz it avoids having too many links and callouts, and it's easier for me to code my text. Besides, I remember a PM years and years ago where the BCTS admin folk strongly lectured me about minimizing hotlinks to external files.

If the Jukebox is too much trouble, you can opt not to use it at all and just read the story in the conventional way. But I suspect you'll want to use it: If there are songs in a chapter, the link to the Jukebox - a small picture of a Wurlitzer jukebox     - will be at the beginning:

 
just click it and the Jukebox Text File will be downloaded to your computer.)

About songs:

In terms of copyright and fair use, quoting song lyrics is a dodgy thing, even with the application of Fair Use practices. But know three things - (1) this is a not-for-profit work of fiction, and there is no intention of profiting from the works of others; (2) song lyrics and other peoples' works are attributed, one way or another, through the mention of the singer, the author, the source of the song, or the title, but written in a way that makes the attribution part of the story's text, so this writer is able to acknowledge them and make no claims of ownership of these quoted works, and; (3) normally, this would be more than enough of a notice, but if some owners of these works ask, this writer will be will remove them immediately.

In any case, when this work is published commercially, the commercial version will strictly comply with Fair Use practices, limiting the amount of quoted text to the prescribed amount only.

 
 
Chapter Fifty-Eight: Big In Japan

***** (Danny) *****

It was over a month now since my photoshoots, and Blumenfeld House’s new fashion catalogues had been out several weeks already, as well as many Blumenfeld print and social media ads in magazines and in the net. According to Sarah Michelle Rhodes’ assistant, Mindy, she said it was still too early to see any effect on sales, but she also said Blumenfeld has had a lot of advance orders from their buyers and partners since the catalogues came out. Her boss, as well as Mr. Ed Blumenfeld himself - the fashion line’s owner, president, chief creative fashion designer and director, this year was a virtual lock already, thanks to me… lol.

Danielle, in her capacity as “Daniel,” my manager, had been getting lots and lots of offers and invitations for meetings.

As the offers rolled in, Danielle and I made the decision to buy laptops, tablets, cellphones, a couple of AT&T mobile hotspot routers (or what I call mobile wifi) and unlimited data & call plans. I also threw in a couple of VPN subscriptions (I paid for them under Dannie’s, Daniel’s and Robin’s names, and paid the subscriptions for an entire year, just to be safe).

The idea behind this was that Danielle and I, when we were being Dannie, Daniel or Robin, and we made or answered calls & texts, sent or received emails, or attended virtual meetings, nothing would be traceable to us, even if they backtrack via our devices’ MAC IDs, IMEI numbers or internet accounts: they won’t be able to track our location, and even if they identify our cellphone numbers, smartphone units or laptops, they’ll just find them registered to, or owned by, either Danielle Louise Fairchild, Daniel Lewis Fairchild or Robin Emmanuelle Tibbles. This meant that we could freely surf the net, or call, text, email or chat with anyone without worrying about giving ourselves away.

It was a big financial hit on me, but with my Robin and Dannie salaries, I could afford it, and besides, I had gotten my first paychecks from Blumenfeld, and my salary as Robin from KRPQ. I was feeling a little cocky with all the cash in my bank accounts. Still, I decided to do some belt tightening, at least for the next couple of months. Although I resigned myself to treating the guys out for a while…

- - - - -

There were no new photo shoots or indeed any events scheduled for a while. Mindy said that there were surely going to be a lot of them in a few months, once the effect of the new catalogues started to be felt in the market and the industry. But nothing at the moment. I didn’t mind because I got paid regardless. Heehee…

Anyway, Danielle was after me to look at some of the offers we’ve been getting.

As for Robin, Tracey had also similarly been fending off a lot of requests for meetings, but she wanted to talk to Danielle and me first to discuss it.

There was one email, however, that stood out from the rest.

The producers of an evening Japanese TV talk show on FujiNet TV called “Chōshoku No Bonbon” (in English - “Bonbons for Breakfast,” or “Breakfast Bonbons”) had emailed to ask if Dannie could meet with them to discuss an appearance on their show (the show was actually better known as just “Bonbon”). The appearance fee quoted was ¥4,480,000, or $30,000.00, for a three-hour interview. They also said that Dannie would be interviewed in English by their very popular fluent-English-speaking host, Aisa Sato.

Danielle, Nikki and I looked at each other disbelievingly.

“Do you think they would consent to us getting a japanese translator as part of the agreement?” Nikki asked.

“Why?” Danielle asked.

“Well, I think it would be best to know what the people around us were speaking. And it would keep us, and them, on an equal footing. If you know what I mean…”

Later, after school at Betsy’s, Danielle emailed them back and asked about the possibility of the cost of hiring a translator to be part of the package. She made it clear, though, that we weren’t saying yes to the offer. They responded promptly fifteen minutes later, and agreed, and also upped the fee to ¥5,980,000, or $40,000.00, and that, if we prefer, they will shoot the interview stateside, in any city/town/whatever of our choosing. The three of us looked at each other again, not quite believing it… But then, we found that there was a caveat – that Dannie wouldn’t grant any other interviews to other Japanese production companies, networks, or shows for at least three months…

“Ahhh!” Betsy said, reading the email over our shoulder. “I thought so!”

“I did some research, by the way,” Jerry said, “and I think I know why they want to interview you.” And he showed us his laptop’s screen. He had used Google to search for “Dannie,” “Dannie Fairchild” and “Japan,” and there were hundreds and hundreds of search results…

“You’re big in Japan, Danny-Boy!” he said. “… or should I say girl?”

And everyone laughed.

 
***** (Jerry) *****

From my research, Bonbon was actually one of the highest-rated evening TV talk shows in Japan. Also, I found that the music of Unlimited Bandwidth was becoming very popular among the younger generations. It seemed counter-intuitive since Dannie and UB was essentially a cover band, but because it was a cover band: the songs they sang were already well-known, and there were fans of these songs already. But with UB’s and Dannie’s own twist or style or flavor (I myself would have used the word “aura”), they just added to the songs’ popularity, and that was the thing.

Bootleg copies of UB’s concerts were circulating in Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya and so many other places in Japan. Enterprising individuals were able to get copies of the first Evolution Concert, the simulcast coverage of KRPQ and KRPX, the kick-off concert of KRPQ-FM, and copies of the band’s gigs at Mario’s. Also, fans were able to get their hands on the tarot-card-sized pictures of the posters from KRPQ’s Official Partners marketing campaign, and copies of the cards had been illegally mass produced and shared among UB and Dannie fans almost like baseball cards. And with the release of the Blumenfeld catalogues, especially Blumenfled’s YA catalogue, some inventive fans clipped or scanned the pictures and made cards of them, similar to the KRPQ tarot picture cards.

Among the girls, they copied Dannie’s signature red hair, with the hair combed back except for bangs hanging (barely) over one eye, and the bangles with the scarves. And all of the outfits of the girls in the band became instant hits in Japanese fashion, especially among Dannie fans. As for the outfits of the two guys in the band, they were equally as popular and lots of men copied them. In fact, there was currently a resurgence in tie-dyed shirts in Tokyo, and it was spreading to the other big cities.

As Japanese teens were apt to do, Dannie’s and the band’s fans became quite obsessed, and a new kind of Otaku was born, called Danni-Ota or Danni Otaku.

I told all of this to the others, especially to Danny, and it was like a lightbulb went off above her head, and she understood the offer from that Japanese TV program. Of course, they’d want to interview Dannie.

 
***** (Tracey) *****

I met with Danny and Danielle in our favorite Italian restaurant after school, this time my treat (care of my mom). Joanne and (surprisingly) Dale prevailed on our friends not to join us, saying that a forty-thousand dollar payday was a big deal, and they couldn’t mess it up for Danny. Nikki also made her excuses - she didn’t insist that she join us in the meeting. Confidentially, Danny told us she wanted her to join us, but she understood Nikki’s position – if she joined us, the rest of the group would resent her for it.

Anyway, as usual, we got the important part of the meeting done – the food, heehee. With these two, food’s always important. As usual, the twins ordered their usual large double-order of whatever, but for me, I ordered my usual half-order of angel hair spaghetti with meatballs, a sugar-free Italian soda, and a small sugar-free strawberry gelato: now that I had a boyfriend, I’ve become careful of my weight since people transitioning who are on hormones tend to gain weight. I’ve even joined Jerry and Mel on their Sunday morning runs to get more healthy.

As usual, the by-play between the twins was fun to watch. These two gave as good as they got, but they never took things personally. Clearly, these two loved each other.

As usual, even with my relatively small meal, these two finished in a photo-finish with me.

I ordered another Italian soda, and the twins ordered Italian sodas as well, and we started our discussion.

I brought out my laptop while Danny and Danielle brought out their new tablets: Danny’s had several stickers on the back as well as a big “Dannie” emblazoned it, while Danielle’s was plain in its original chrome. I also know Danny had another one with a black color wrap – the tablet meant for Robin.

They also had new smartphones and laptops in similar colors, and Danielle was the one who selected them: for her “Daniel” devices, Danielle selected a high-end Samsung Android phone and a big HP laptop in their original colors and casings (in keeping with Danny’s nerd vibe), Danny’s “Dannie” devices were an iPhone in a pink case and a tiny Lenovo “2-in-1” laptop in similar colors, and his “Robin” devices being a no-nonsense black iPhone and a black mid-sized “traveler” laptop. They also had brand-new AT&T cellphone numbers with unlimited monthly call and data plans, in what are called “vanity” numbers. Apparently, you could pay extra and select your own numbers, so, naturally, they picked New York numbers (for business purposes). “Danielle’s” number was +1-646-326-4353 (or 646-DANIELE) while “Dannie’s” was +1-646-326-6433 (or 646-DannieF), while “Robin’s” was +1-646-762-4600 (or 646-ROBIN00). Naturally, Danny had “Dannie’s” and “Robin’s” devices while Danielle had “Daniel’s.”

I was also told that Danny also got them two AT&T “mifis” (mobile hotspot routers) plus VPN accounts just in case they need to log into apps and etcetera.

It wasn’t completely foolproof, Danny said, but it was better than nothing, and was good enough to obfuscate their identities for most situations.

- - - - -

So, anyway, Danielle shared the email from Bonbon with Danny and I (I couldn’t stop from giggling every time Danielle said “bonbon”), and we thought that the offer was more than good, although Danny and I brought up the idea that some questions should be off the table in the interview, like Dannie’s full name and her hometown, or to bring up Daniel (the story being Daniel’s effectivity as her manager would be affected), and Robin (as their “feud” might affect Robin’s & Dannie’s work and career). Other than that, Dannie should have the option of not answering questions that she’s not comfortable with.

I was trying to find some synergies that could be brought up and get some good exposure for KRPQ, and Danny thought of a simulcast. She jumped onto her “Dannie tablet” and did some computations. Dammit, “his!”

“I just checked,” Danny said, “and ‘Choshoku No Bonbon’” (Danielle and I giggled) “airs eight PM in Tokyo Mondays to Saturdays, so, if you arrange it so that the interview is aired on their Saturday program, then that means KRPQ can simulcast it on Robin’s timeslot.”

“Hmmm…” I said, as if I was thinking it over, although I was practically jumping up and down inside.

Danny gave me a smirking look. “You don’t fool me, girl,” she said. I gave her a razzberry.

So Danielle emailed them back as “Daniel,” and we were surprised they sent a reply in fifteen minutes. They said they were agreeable to our new conditions and raised the fee to ¥7,470,000, or $50,000.00. They also gave us a phone number we could call back on and said we could call them on that number anytime. They did say they needed to have a definite answer by next week since they needed to make arrangements…

Clearly, they thought these were negotiation ploys and were behaving as if we were haggling. So we decided to think of any other issues we might have, bring them up now and get this over with, and after twenty minutes more of discussion, Danielle called the number, putting the call on speaker phone. She also switched on the recording app (“just in case,” she said).

“Ohayogozaimasu, Fujinet Terebidesu,” someone answered. Dono yo ni otetsudai sa sete itadakemasu ka?”

“Ahhh, good evening,” Danielle said hesitantly in her best Daniel voice. “This is Daniel Fairchild. I would like to speak to Masahiro Ikuhara, please.”

“Oh! Ikuhara Masahiro-san? Denwa o tenso shimasunode omachi kudasa.”

“Domo arigato,” Danielle said awkwardly.

“What did he say?” I whispered.

“I don’t know,” Danielle said, “but who cares what he said?”

“FujiNet TV, good morning,” someone said in a very accented but perfectly understandable English. “This is the office of Mr. Masahiro Ikuhara. How may I help you?”

“Good evening. My name is Daniel Fairchild and I am calling with regards an email I received from Mr. Ikuhura, regarding Ms Dannie Fairchild and the program, ummm, ‘Choshoku No Bonbon.’”

“Oh! I see. Please hold.”

After a moment, a girl picked up, this one with a better accent.

“Good evening, Mr. Fairchild,” she said. “My name is Kanai. I am Mr. Ikuhura’s English translator. Ikuhura-san is on the line at the moment, please consider that you are speaking to him directly.”

“Thank you, Ms Kanai. Please greet Mr. Ikuhura for us, and please extend to him our apologies for calling so early.”

Kanai clearly relayed our message, and Mr. Ikuhura replied in Japanese, with Kanai translating almost simultaneously, like one sees on TV.

“Ikuhura-san says it’s not a problem, and he is very pleased that you got back to us so promptly. Is Dannie-san there as well?”

“Yes, Ms Kanai,” Danny responded in her best Dannie voice, “I am here. Good evening to you and Ikuhura-san.”

Kanai relayed that and Mr. Ikuhura responded, care of Kanai.

“Hello, Ms Dannie! I am so pleased to speak with you and Daniel-san. I am a big fan. How may I be of service?”

“Sir,” Danielle said as Daniel, “we are calling with regards your email about Dannie being interviewed by your Ms Aisa Sato on your program, Choshoku No Bonbon. Please know that Dannie is inclined to agree with your proposal, under the conditions that we discussed via email.”

“That is wonderful news!” Mr. Ikuhura said, care of Kanai. “May we send a contract for your signature then, and we can coordinate the details for the interview later?”

“That’s fine, sir. May we ask that the contract be in English so that we will not have any misunderstandings about the particulars of the contract?”

“That will not be an issue.”

“We’re also saying that our father needs to sign the contract as well, since neither Dannie nor I am old enough to sign a legally binding contract yet.”

There was a pause.

“Pardon me, Daniel-san?”

“Yes, sir. Dannie and I are not old enough to sign contracts on our own yet. So our father needs to sign the contract as well to make it a legally binding contract. You can verify that, sir. We can wait for an email from you later as you verify things…”

“Wait, wait! Hold on.”

“Okay, sir.”

In the background, we hear a boisterous discussion between Ikuhura-san, Kania, and several others. But in a few minutes, they were back.

“Well, that seems to be a fine arrangement, Daniel-san,” Ikuhura-san said, care of Kanai. “May we send you a draft contact then? My people will probably take half an hour to prepare it and email it to you. Would that be acceptable?”

“Perfectly so, sir, but I doubt we can respond as promptly. We have to review it, along with our father. Our father takes a while with these things. He’s a lawyer, and you know how lawyers can be…”

We heard Ikuhura-san laugh uproariously in the background.

“Ummm… I hope I didn’t say anything to offend…” Danielle said.

“Not at all, Daniel-san,” Ikuhunra said. “I am currently with my lawyers that are managing Choshoku No Bonbon. And they are all looking chagrined.”

“Oh.” We all laughed.

“Please tell your staff we sincerely apologize, sir.”

“Not at all, watashi no musuko! My people have a good sense of humor. In any case, you will get the draft, and I hope you, Dannie-san and your father are all well, and we will speak later. You have made my morning, shin'ainaru musuko yo. Goodbye!”

“Thank you, sir. And good night to you and Kanai.”

And then they hung up.

“Well,” I said, “I think that went well!”

 
***** (Danny) *****

After we had reviewed it and Dad had approved it, we sent it back with Dad’s and my signatures. In a few days, a signed and notarized copy was sent back, although the notary was a Japanese one, but Dad said that was totally fine.

So It was agreed that the interview would be in a month, on a Saturday. It would be live and therefore it’ll be around 5:45AM, and would air around 6AM, or 8PM in Japan. They specified a studio somewhere in New York and we wondered why New York, and I remembered our new cellphone numbers… which were New York numbers… Dammit! Why did we have to pick New York numbers?

Tracey was grateful for the one month, though, and it would allow her to lobby FujiNet TV to allow them to simulcast the interview on KRPQ. Mrs. P insisted that one of her VPs take care of it, though, since if it were her negotiating, she’d be at a disadvantage because she wasn’t a man. It would be even worse if Tracey would be the one since, besides being female, she was too young, and if it became known that she was transgender, too, it would be disastrous…

In any case, her VP got the deal at no cost at all, although, they insisted on one of their producer-directors to do the production, so all we really needed to do was to air it. We had to give them pre-recorded voice clips to use before and after commercials, thought, and the theme music tracks and the intro and extro. They gave us exact lengths for everything and Tracey provided them. She asked me to make the voice-over clips in my best Robin announcer voice, and we had to redo them over and over again so that it’d fit the timing Bonbon specified. We did, however, have a contract that insured all materials provided them will be destroyed and not used after the production, and that KRPQ would have full rights to the show that was produced, with FujiNet TV having the option of first refusal, and the right to use the show or parts of it, with KRPQ’s full veto authority. And so on and so forth…

Truth was, Mrs. P said it was totally to KRPQ’s advantage, because FujiNet really wanted the simulcast to happen, but they didn’t want us to mess it up, so just like typical Japanese, they “offered” to do it all for us. On our side, Tracey worked on pre-recording the commercials we had to broadcast, and we had to fill the breaks according to the lengths they wanted, so Tracey followed their specifications: Tracey provided several commercial clips according to the specifications they specified, in the order our advertisers preferred, with Danny as Robin filling in any voice-overs.

So, in the end, we were all set, and we just had to wait for them to come. The one thing we needed to do was to keep it completely confidential. It was Tracey’s idea that no one should know about it at all, except for Mrs. P, of course, and the guys. No one else in the station will know. The main reason was, we wanted to keep Janet in the dark, and stop her from messing things up. In fact, no one knew where the venue was – even the gang. The only ones who knew were the ones who needed to know.

 
***** (Tracey) *****

On the day of the simulcast, I arrived at the station very early, like 5AM. Danny, Nikki and Danielle told me they were already at the studio, and were hobnobbing with the Japanese and having a quick snack, and then Danny will be having her makeup done in a while.

As for me, at around five-thirty, I signalled through the booth’s window, and caught Lou Jefferson’s eye. He was playing a song at the moment, so it was safe for me to go in the booth. He unlocked the door.

“What’s up Trace?” Lou said.

“Hey, Lou,” I said. “On your next commercial break, Instead of the scheduled commercials, I need you to read this on-air. It’s real, and Mom’s approved it. If it’s not, you can blame me.” I handed over the sheet I had in my hand.

“Nahh,” he said, “I trust you.” He took the sheet and read it. He looked at me. “This is for real?”

“For real.”

He shrugged. “Okay.”

I went to the facing booth, the so-called production booth, and got ready. Nothing to it, really. At exactly five-thirty AM, I used the computer desktop in the booth and logged onto the app that they specified. I then plugged in the computer’s audio output into my board, and at exactly six AM, I was to zero out the audio from the booth, and then put the output from the computer’s audio to the maximum. And then I just stick around and make sure nothing happens. I told the FujiNet people that the computer was grounded and there was definitely no static in the computer’s audio output as well as in the patch cord. So I was confident.

“Okay, folks,” Lou said on his last commercial break, “Robin’s producer, Tracey, handed me a late announcement. I’m sorry, guys, but Robin’s show is pre-empted. In its place is a simulcast of FujiNet TV’s interview of Dannie from the up-and-coming band, Unlimited Bandwidth. The TV show, Bonbons for Breakfast, a very popular TV interview show in Japan, and they will be dedicating their Saturday evening show – Saturday morning for us – to an interview of Dannie of Unlimited Bandwidth. Their English-speaking host, Aisa Sato, will be interviewing Dannie, and it’ll be simulcast here on KRPQ radio. So, with that, I will be signing off, and, after this next song, stand by for Robin, and Ms Aisa Sato and her interview of Unlimited Bandwidth’s Dannie!”

A classic song from Journey started to play, and Lou started getting ready to leave. I went into his booth and thanked him, acknowledging that he had turned over the booth to me.

For me, I just waited for Six AM, and though there was a little bit left of the song, I faded it to zero, locked Lou’s board down, and then locked his booth’s door open. I then rushed back to my booth, locked the door and turned on the speakers in the booth to KRPQ’s broadcast.

I then brought out the snack I brought, and settled down to listen.

 
***** (Nikki) *****

We arrived at The Apollo Sounstage at the Apollo Theater on West 125th Street in New York for the interview. The venue was rented out, often to TV productions and crews from time to time. So FujiNet was able to rent a broadcast-quality studio-style venue.

As we arrived, they were taking out all the visible signages from the stage, and they had started to change the color lighting scheme from generic dinner-style lighting to Choshoku No Bonbon’s standard blue theme. They then put up props and other things, including a board with Bonbon’s logo just at the back and to the right of the stage.

We had about thirty minutes for a quick chit-chat with Bonbon’s very pretty host, Aisa Sato. She was in a very beautiful kimono, and was fully in-character as Bonbon’s bubbly host. Danny had changed into his sexy new Blumenfeld dress, and deliberately avoided the bangs-over-one-eye and the bangles at the wrists. The director was a bit disappointed by that, but he let it pass. They asked who I was and I explained that I was Dannie’s dresser. They nodded in acceptance, and just asked that I remain quiet and stay out of the way during the three-hour interview. I wasn’t offended – Danielle was told the same thing.

The venue’s seating was arranged theater-style, and dozens and dozens and dozens of people came in, what we supposed were going to be our “studio audience.” They saw Aisa and Danny, and they waved enthusiastically.

Aisa and Dannie sat down to have their makeups done, and both were given very restrained but very pretty styles. Aisa and Danny waved at the audience.

As they stood, Aisa was handed a prop microphone - the overhead boom mics were more than enough, but Aisa was known to use a handheld mic hence the prop. She and Dannie stood on their marks and Aisa chatted with Danny a little bit to put him at ease.

And then, in the overhead speakers, we heard Choshoku No Bonbon’s peppy theme song, and the audience applauded. Aisa started her spiel.

 
***** (Aisa) *****

Apparently, it was not exaggeration – Dannie was indeed a gorgeous girl, even more than any American celebrity I had ever met. And you can tell she was all natural – no surgery, I mean. It seemed to me, many Americans have had surgery, but Dannie doesn’t feel like she’d had any. If she did, she had a very good surgeon and avoided the pitfall of overdoing things… But, like I said, I don’t think she had any done. I’ve seen enough celebrities to know, I think.

When I saw my director gesture, I knew it was time to start.

“Minasan, konbanwa!” I said. “The program for tonight’s Saturday show will be a little different. It's in English!” (There was some canned booing.)

I made a patting gesture. “But, wait, wait!” I pointed up to some imaginary overhead speakers. “As you can hear, the program is being dubbed! That means, everyone will not have any problems.

“There is a reason for this – actually, two: the first reason is that tonight’s program is being simulcast on American radio, specifically on radio station KRPQ - both on their AM talk station and their FM music station. Everyone say ‘hi’ to our American friends!” There was canned cheering, and the audience cheered as well.

“Just to let you know, the famous radio host, Ms. Robin Tibbles, has given up her radio program for tonight, or this morning for her. ‘Gomen'nasai, Robin-san, anata no rajio bangumi o sakidori shite shimaimashita.’” I bowed low towards the camera, in thanks to Robin.

“The second reason is because of our special guest, which I know everyone is waiting for. Just to let you know, tonight is a special three-hour live show! So sit back and enjoy my interview with the famous American singer and fashion model, Ms Dannie Fairchild!”

The lovely Dannie Fairchild stepped into the shot, waving at the camera and Bonbon’s viewers, and then to our studio audience, and then to our studio audience.

I bowed to Dannie, but, instead of Dannie bowing as well, she waited a beat for me to straighten up again, and she reached out and hugged me!

Needless to say, I was a little shocked and a bit scandalized, but she was American, after all. Also, somehow, her hug was not an ordinary hug, and I didn’t feel any kind of awkwardness about it. I actually liked it. I liked it a lot - for some reason, a kind of electricity shot through me, almost like an orgasm! Yabai! But I’m sure that was just my imagination…

Seeing my somewhat shocked expression, she stopped. “Oh, no! Hontoni gomen'nasai, Aisa-san! I didn’t…”

I shook my head and reached for her hand. “Oh, you have nothing to apologize for, Dannie-san. I am flattered. Thank you.” I reached forward and gave her a hug as well. I shivered a little bit as another, though much milder, electric thrill went through me again. Yabai!

I cleared my throat, shook myself a little bit, and continued on with the interview.

“Welcome to Choshoku No Bonbon,” Dannie-san. I am so pleased to welcome you.”

“Thank you, Aisa-san,” Dannie said. “Good evening, everyone! … or I should I say, good morning!” She giggled. “Do you know, it’s just past Six AM Saturday morning?”

“Yes, indeed,” I replied. “You must have woken up so early!”

“Yes, but that’s fine. I hope I look all right.”

“You look very pretty.” And she blushed. Heehee.

“Thank you so much…”

“Did you know that you have a lot of fans?”

“In Japan? Well, no, I’m afraid not…”

“Yes! There are what are called Danni Otaku, most of them in Tokyo.”

“What does… ’otaku?’ - what does that mean?”

“I believe it translates to, ummm, an enthusiast or a big fan. A fanatic, actually.”

Dannie gave me a look. “Ahhh…”

“Maybe we can show you some of your fans?”

“Yes, please, thank you.”

“Can we roll the clip?” I asked, and my director waved to someone off-stage. We looked at the big monitor-slash-screen right behind us on stage.

After that countdown timer thing that one sees at the beginning of a video, what followed was about a ten-minute clip (maybe longer) of various Dannie fans in what was probably somewhere near Akihabara Station. Although most otaku that hung out in Akihabara were anime otaku searching for rare anime figurines and such, lots of “idol otaku” also hang around in the Akihabara district, or what most just call Akiba. And Dannie Otaku qualify as Idol Otaku, I guess.

In the clip, we saw several girls who were obviously fans of Dannie. They were dressed in various versions of Dannie’s outfits during the KRPQ launch concert and the Evolution concert, plus the outfits that Dannie wore during her band’s gigs at Mario’s – that restaurant-club that UB sang at on Friday evenings. Most of these girls also wore bangles with silk scarves tied to them, plus most of them sported hair dyed orange, with bangs hanging over one eye, and the other side clipped back or combed back. Many of them carried guitars in colors similar to the ones that Dannie had, with other fans dressed as the other girls from the band. They also wore the outfits of the other girls in the band, and they carried guitars as well, except for a few that were more like fans of Betsy Haley, and therefore carried violins instead.

There were also a few male fans, and these mostly wore outfits that the two male members of UB wore – the most popular being the tie-dyed t-shirts that they wore that one time. One of the bigger groups of male fans were those of the drummer, Mongo. In fact, there were more fans of Mongo than the other members of the band. Except for Dannie, of course.

Truth be told, I was also a fan of Dannie’s, but I wasn’t too extreme a fan to qualify as an Otaku.

As we watched the clip, I couldn’t help but notice Dannie’s reaction. I wouldn’t say “shocked” but she clearly couldn’t believe the impact she had in Japan.

When some of the fans in the film saw our crew filming them, they started aping Dannie and the other band members, singing (mostly off-key, I’m afraid), or making believe they were playing guitars or violins or portable pianos, or air-drumming. Most of them were more into the outfits, although the more popular otaku were the ones that could actually play the guitar. I did a continuous monologue describing the video clip, in behalf of the audience of KRPQ who weren’t seeing the video.

“My goodness,” Dannie said, in awed tones. “Mongo and Dale and the girls need to see this…” she said to herself.

I giggled. “Yes, they do. And, this, Dannie-san are some of them.” I gestured to the audience, and all of them stood and cheered.

 
***** (Tracey) *****

Like everyone, I was glued to the radio, listening to Danny expertly handle herself in the interview on Japanese TV. My mom’s VP had already called Japan FujiNet TV, and made a bid to air the Bonbon episode on KRPX simulcast on KRPQ, but the one with the English voice-over. And the producers had readily agreed, asking for 40% of the advertising revenue. 40% was pretty steep, but then it was their program. The details were still to be ironed out, but it had to be fairly soon. Perhaps two Saturdays from now at the latest, otherwise we’d lose the impact of the show.

As I was listening, the security guard from the lobby called.

“Good morning, Ms Piper, this is the lobby guard. I just want to let you know that girl you warned us about - she got passed us here at the security desk.”

“Was it the girl in the picture that I gave…”

“Yes, ma’am. It’s the same girl.” Ohmigod… Janet… “I’ve called the police already and they’re on their way now, and some of my guys are on their way up. Please let your security people there know, and I suggest you lock your doors. My people will be upstairs in about five minutes.”

“Thank you. Please hurry.” I hung up and locked the lobby doors – actually, all the doors. I locked the announcer’s booth, while I locked myself in the production booth. Janet’s back… Oh, no… I couldn’t pay attention to the program anymore as I waited for Janet’s arrival. And I was all alone, too. It was a Saturday morning, after all.

In a minute or so, I heard someone pounding on the glass lobby door.

“Goddammit, open the door!” Janet yelled. “Tracey Piper, I can see you! Open the fucking door!”

I shook my head no in fear, but she continued to pound on the door. I could see her through the glass. She was disheveled and it was like she hadn’t slept in days – black circles under her eyes, a wild expression on her face, and her hair was stringy and oily and dirty, like she hadn’t had a shower in weeks.

In frustration, she yelled a berserker yell. She picked up the fire extinguisher in the hallway and heaved it through the glass door. The glass broke into a hundred shards, and she stepped into the office.

Our security guard, Goodwin, came out, baton raised, and was about to give Janet the business, but she threw the fire extinguisher at him and knocked him out completely.

She then walked to the production booth and tried to do the same thing to the booth’s window: she picked up another fire extinguisher and she tried to heave it through the window, but it was extra strong. Sure, it cracked, and it broke into spiderwebs in places, but it remained intact.

“Dammit!” she screamed.

“What do you want?” I said.

“Tell me where Danny is!” She pounded on the glass with her fist. “Tell me!” The glass started to get stained with her knuckles’ blood, but she continued pounding on it.

I shook in fear and grabbed the Taser from the control table’s drawer.

“Stay away, Janet!”

“Tell me where Danny is!” she yelled again.

“No!”

Two guards from downstairs busted in, and the lead one fired his Taser. Janet shook in electric shock, screaming, and then fell down. The guard yelled through the glass. “Are you okay, miss?”

I sighed. “Yeah, I’m okay. But you guys should take a look at Goodwin.”

“Who’s Goodwin?”

“He’s one of our guards. He’s over by the lobby door, unconscious.”

As they were talking to me, Janet, incredibly, got up. She punched one of the guys in the face, knocking him down, and she escaped back into the lobby.

“Dammit!” the remaining guard said. He checked his partner. “Out cold, but he’s okay,” he said, and ran after Janet in pursuit…

 
***** (Aisa) *****

“So, let’s talk about the rest of the band,” I said. “There’s Dale, your lead male vocal and bass guitar player, Mongo on drums, and your second male vocalist – well, everyone on the band’s a vocalist, right?”

“Yes.”

“There’s Janet on rhythm guitar, June on the keyboard, Betsy, your violinist, and your newest member, Fallon, also on rhythm guitar, while you are lead vocals and rhythm.”

“That’s correct, Aisa.”

“We don’t see Janet around anymore. Has she quit the band?”

“Ah, no. Janet has taken a leave from the band for personal reasons.”

“I hope she’s all right?”

“Before she left, she was taking some business classes and some acting lessons. I guess she’s thinking of becoming an actress.”

“She’ll do well.”

Dannie crossed her fingers. “Let’s hope.”

“Tell us how the band got together.”

“Well, I wasn’t part of the original band. The original band got it’s start with Janet and June. They were friends and classmates in high school, getting together with ideas of becoming the new hit girl band, like the Bangles or the Go-Gos of the eighties. They needed more members so they got Mongo to play the drums, and recruited Dale, Mongo’s friend to do bass.

“After graduating high school, they decided to take a year off to try and make it as a band. They thought they were missing something, and they decided to recruit a new member to be second rhythm and vocals. Which was me...”

“I hear that they actually held auditions at Mario’s?” I faced the camera. “Mario’s is a restaurant where the band plays one night a week,” I said to the invisible audience, “and it’s become a very popular place, thanks to the band.”

Dannie giggled prettily. “Yes, they did. My friends and I saw their flyers pinned to the bulletin board in school, and because of my friend Mike, I got egged on to audition.”

“Yes?”

“Yeah. I got to meet the band, and, wonder of wonders, they decided to pick me!”

“And the rest is history?”

Dannie shrugged and giggled again.

“Were you into guitars and singing before joining the band?”

“I knew how to play the guitar, but I learned on my own. And I thought I sounded good when I sang. But I didn’t really think I could be good enough to be part of a band. But it turned out the guys liked me enough that they got me. Later, I found out that I had ‘perfect pitch,’ which was pretty good for the band since tuning up was always a problem before. With me around, it was a lot easier. Heheheh.”

“That really is a wonderful thing.”

“Thank you very much,” she giggled.

“A lot of fans have questions about Janet.”

She sighed. “I understand that. Truth be told, we were all surprised. She didn’t give us any warning at all when she decided to leave the band. Before she did, though, like I said, Janet had been taking acting and business lessons. So we can only assume she’s pushing on with that.”

“You are keeping touch with her?”

“Unfortunately, we’ve lost touch with her. Not for any lack of trying. But Janet has kept away.”

“That’s too bad. Have you had a falling out?”

“I won’t hide it. We’ve had arguments, which is inevitable when you have strong personalities in the group, and Janet has her own ideas about what the band should be doing. As do many of the other members. But that’s the way it often is in life. I hope that if Janet’s having problems, though - I hope she knows we’re here for her.”

I nodded. “That’s wonderful to hear.”

“You have to be there for your friends,” Dannie said.

“Indeed,” I agreed. “Well, how about your newer band mates, Betsy and Fallon? How did they become members?”

“Betsy was a classmate of mine. She was also a violin player, and Janet had the idea of including her in the band because of her skills, and the fact that we didn’t know many good musicians that were girls. Betsy came ready-made to be part of Unlimited Bandwidth. As for Fallon, well she’s someone I knew from school as well, and since we needed a pinch-hitter to sub for Janet after her sudden departure, I asked the band if they’d consider Fallon. Fallon actually auditioned to be part of the band!”

“Auditioned?”

“Well… maybe not - it was an informal thing, where she played in front of the band during one of our get-togethers. Unlike me, where I formally auditioned. I’m sure everyone knows that already…”

“Please tell us anyway.”

“Well, my friends and I were just screw… I mean playing around in school, like I said, and my friend Mike was questioning my guitar skills. He dared me to audition for the band. He actually bet me, that I won’t pass the auditions, and of course, you can’t let that pass, so I called him on it. I mean he called me fumble fingers and a chicken!”

I laughed.

“The auditions were held over at Mario’s,” she continued - “the restaurant where the band had a weekly gig. The auditions, were tough, so I had to find a gimmick to stand out from all the others!” She giggled.

“So what did you do?”

“Well all the others auditioning were in typical audition outfits, from grunge to glam rock, to straight-up black leather heavy-metal. The few girls that auditioned were in nineties-style girl pop. So I tried my, ummm, brother’s advice: I wore a plaid shirt, but not baggy - more snug. Underneath was just a plain white t-shirt, tucked into a pair of old faded straight-cut denim jeans with torn knees and construction boots.” Dannie was very animated when she was talking, and she made her stories very interesting.

“I told Daniel I looked like a nerd,” she said, “but he explained that was the whole point – the attention will be on my singing and playing and not on how I looked.”

“Well, I don’t know – I think you’d look cute in an outfit like that.”

She looked at me, and then leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the cheek!

“Thank you Aisa,” she said. It made me blush.

I shook myself a little bit, and tried to keep my mind on the show.

“What did you end up singing?”

“I let the band pick the songs, and ended up singing ‘Mother, We Just Can’t Get Enough’ by The New Radicals, and 'Everywhere,' by Michelle Branch. That got me through the audition. But the band also got me to sing an old eighties song - 'Love Touch,' by Rod Stewart. Excuse me! I mean Sir Rod Stewart." She giggled. “Apparently, Dale, our bass player, was a big Rod Stewart fan.”

“I really wish you can sing those songs tonight, but we can’t. Still,” I turned to the camera. “My friends, Dannie and I have a surprise for you tonight – Dannie will be singing later. It would be nice if we could have the rest of the band here as well, but that’s not possible, so we did the next best thing. But we’ll reserve our surprise for later. So please stay tuned!”

 
***** (Nikki) *****

The idea of Danny singing in the show was brought up in the exchange of emails with FujiNet, and the band offered to play, but the FujiNet people said that wasn’t possible as they didn’t have a budget for the band. Danielle explained that the band was offering to do it for free, but Ikuhura-san said that was not the Japanese way. Also, they contacted the Evolution Concert people and if the band were to play in Bonbon, they said that Unlimited Bandwidth could be disqualified from the Evolution contest. However, if only Dannie played and sang live, and the rest were pre-recorded, then the Evolution people would give the band a pass – that was what Aisa said was their “surprise” – Danny singing live, but her band being in the background, in a pre-recorded video.

I felt my phone vibrate – it was in silent mode, and Danielle and I were in the area marked safe (marked by a striped black-and-yellow line) and any calls or texts that came in won’t affect the program’s recording-slash-transmission.

“Hello?” I whispered, and it was Betsy on the line. Apparently, Betsy said, someone visited the station, and caused a lot of havoc – that someone was named “Janet…”

I listened, and I was glad no one was hurt, but Tracey was pretty traumatized. It was good that Mike was there, and he took it upon himself to get Tracey calmed down. Her mom heard that Janet caused some trouble, but she was in Seattle at the moment doing some work for PiperCorp. The guys, including Tracey, decided to downplay the whole thing to her mom for the moment, and wait for us to come back, and then we can decide how to tell Mrs. P. Because if we told her without any filter, she was liable to fly off the handle.

Betsy will also be telling Danielle, but we were not to tell Danny anything until after the show, otherwise it might ruin his interview. She asked me to pass the phone to Danielle, which I did, and went back to the edge of the marker and continued watching the interview. Janet, I thought…

 
***** (Danny) *****

I liked Aisa a lot. She was smart, professional, and knew just how to get her subjects talking. Plus, she was very cute (of course, I won’t tell Nikki that heehee). She was wearing a very beautiful flowered kimono while I was wearing one of my new Blumenfeld outfits. It was a showcase of East versus West kind of thing, and I think it made the show double-nice. Aisa was very complimentary about me, and I have to be honest, I was very flattered by the nice words and the attention.

She asked again me how Betsy became part of the band, and I told her it was the band’s idea.

“The band was looking for a kind of gimmick for our gigs at Mario’s and someone – I can’t remember who – thought to include Betsy and her violin - if she agreed to do it, of course. And Betsy’s sound, and Betsy herself, gelled with the band very well, indeed. So the gimmick became something integral to the band. Truth was, we were all set to have Betsy as part of our number at the Evolution concert, but Betsy had a family thing that she couldn’t get out of, so we struggled along in the concert without her.”

“Well, you still won without Betsy and her violin.”

I shrugged. “Well, yes,” I said, “but can you imagine it if Betsy was with us?”

Aisa nodded.

“All right,” she said. “Tell us about Fallon. How did she become a part of the band.”

“Well… when Janet suddenly left, the band was affected. Janet was one of our lead vocals and was the other rhythm guitar, so there was a big hole in the band’s lineup. We were desperate to fill it quickly, but was also conscious that our new bandmate should have the chops, and that she should gel with the band, just like Betsy. I suggested a friend of mine who I knew to be a friendly girl who sings great and could read music. It was great when we found out that she was also trained in classical guitar. The problem was we were getting overfilled with redheads!”

Aisa laughed.

“But as you see, Fallon more than earned her place in the band. We also cleared it up with the Evolution people and Fallon’s becoming part of the band was not going to affect our standing in the contest.”

“What about Janet?”

“Well… if Janet should want to come back, she is most welcome, which was also okay with the Evolution people, but the band needed to go on, and this was the only way.”

“I understand. Are you still friends with Janet?”

“Well, of course! But we haven’t really had much contact with her for a while now…”

“We’re sorry to hear that.”

I shrugged.

“Well!” she said. “We also heard that you have just become one of Blumenfeld Fashions’ newest models.”

I laughed. “I was wondering when you’d bring that up.” I shrugged. “It’s a new thing.”

“Why did Blumenfeld make you one of its models?”

“According to them, they saw my picture in KRPQ’s Partners Program advertisements, and they said they wanted me in their fashion catalogues for this year. They thought I had the right look for their YA fashion line.”

“YA?”

“Young Adult line – you know, their fashion line for older teens and young adults. Well, girls, actually: Blumenfeld only makes clothes for girls and women.”

“I understand your friend, Ms Robin Tibbles, the DJ from KRPQ, was also selected by Blumenfeld as well?”

Oh, no… There it is… What to I do now?

“Dannie?”

“Well… Robin is my friend. She did a couple of programs on the radio about the band, and we were both drafted for that KRPQ Partners Program. My understanding was that Blumenfeld actually saw her first there, and she was offered a job as a model for their young professionals fashion line first, and it was her that recommended me to Blumenfeld.”

“Well… isn’t that a good thing?”

“She and I have had a falling out. You know how it is. I don’t blame her, and she doesn’t blame me, either. But it’s irreconcilable at the moment.”

“Would it be all right if…”

“I can’t really say what it was about. Robin is a good person, and I like her a lot, but many of our points of view are opposites of each other.”

Is it really bad?”

“Like I said, it’s irreconcilable at the moment. In fact, we can’t be on photo shoots and fashion events at the same time. It’s our way of keeping the peace.”

“That’s so sad.”

I shrugged. “It’s all right, Aisa. We’ll get over it eventually. In the meantime, I’d like everyone to keep on listening to her Saturday shows on the radio. They’re pretty good. Trust me.”

She looked at me with dawning respect.

“You know, when my producer had a meeting with Miss Tibbles, she told him much the same thing. She said that you and your band were pretty great, and that she said she was a great fan. You seem to be friends.”

“Robin and I are pretty close, in fact.” I smiled.

“Well, then, I hope that your troubles are resolved soon.”

“Thank you.”

She reached my hand. “No, Dannie – I am sincere. I can see how you feel about this. I sincerely wish that you get your friend back.”

I was touched. I leaned forward and hugged her. I know hugging was not a Japanese thing, but I’m not Japanese. Lol.

- - - - -

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Aisa said, “this was a wonderful evening. Please join me in thanking the beautiful, charming and talented Ms Dannie Fairchild. But before we say goodbye, Dannie-san will be singing a few songs for all of us, accompanied by her friends from her band, Unlimited Bandwidth. We have talked with the people from the Evolution Concert, and they said that the band can’t appear in our show because of the rules of their contest. However, according to the rules, the band can actually appear, but not live - just pre-recorded. So, here is Ms Dannie Fairchild, as she sings, almost live, with her friends via videotape.”

I looked down and saw the mark I was told to stand on and faced the audience. In front of me was a small monitor, and that showed a shot of me on-stage but mirrored or reversed: that is, I would see my left arm on the right, and my right on the left. I've seen this before - it was how weather reporters saw their images on monitors so they wouldn't be too confused when they make gestures at their weather maps. Aisa went to me and handed me a wired mic.

I saw on the monitor that a video of June Bright, our keyboardist was projected to the screen on the back of the stage. She sat in what looked like a shiny-black baby piano. She was wearing a long, black formal cocktail-style dress, and she was projected to the right of me (or the left of my monitor). Our violinist, Betsy Haley, also appeared, similarly projected, but to my left (or on the rignt in the monitor). She was also wearing a formal dress, but white this time. She had her violin with her.

The effect on TV was that I was flanked by June to my right and Betsy to my left. The people in the studio cheered upon seeing June and Betsy, and they quieted down as they prepared to listen to our song.

We agreed on playing “Somewhere Only We Know” the 2004 hit by the Sussex band, Keane, but the cover we were singing was Lily Allen’s 1013 version from the ad from John Lewis.

Betsy began with a plaintive note from her violin. And then I sang, accompanying June’s ethereal piano playing. “I walked across an empty land,” I sang, “I knew the pathway like the back of my hand. I felt the earth beneath my feet, sat by the river and it made me complete. Oh, simple thing, where have you gone? I’m getting tired and I need someone to rely on.”

I paused a tiny, tiny bit, punctuated by Betsy’s violin, and continued on. “I came across a fallen tree. I felt the branches of it looking at me. Is this the place we used to love. Is this the place that I’ve been dreaming of? Oh, simple thing, where have you gone? I’m getting old and I need something to rely on.”

In the distant background, I could hear Mongo do a muted crescendo on his drums, and I sang the lonely refrain.

“And if you have a minute, why don’t we go… Talk about it, somewhere only we know… This could be the end of everything so why don’t we go somewhere only we know… somewhere only we know…”

I looked to the audience and I could see many of the crying silently. With a kind of ending denouement on the piano, courtesy of June, it sounded like the end of the song, but June continued her playing, and Betsy accompanied her.

“Ahhhh…” I sang in accompaniment. “Ahhhh…

“Oh, simple thing, where have you gone?,” I sang. “I’m getting old and I need someone to rely on. So tell me when you’re gonna let me in. I’m getting tired and I need somewhere to begin…”

And Mongo, unseen, again did a quiet crescendo. “And if you have a minute, why don’t we go… Talk about it, somewhere only we know… ‘cause this could be the end of everything. S o why don’t we go somewhere only we know… somewhere only we know…”

And as the final notes faded away, the applause rained down on me and the pre-recorded June and Betsy. The two faded away, leaving me to take the applause.

I looked into the audience, and though they were all Japanese, the sentiment of the song was universal it didn’t matter that they were Japanese. Music was truly universal.

I decided to change it up, and decided to play a brighter and more upbeat song, this time from Australia. I knew something like this might be needed, and signalled the director, as per agreement, that I wanted to play the fourth song that we had prepared – a song called “Play That, Keith” (in reference to the Australian pop icon, Keith Urban), composed and sung the New Zealand country pop singer Kaylee Bell.

Aisa saw the director’s signal and handed me my guitar. And the entire band this time magically appeared in the screen behind me.

As Mongo counted us in with a regular beat, and Dale played bass and June accompanied us on the keyboards, I sang.

“I remember we were somewhere in your car,” I sang with a country western drawl. “Yeah, I fell fast when you stole my heart… That long, hot summer that I can’t forget - I was hanging of every single word you said.”

I sang the refrain. “Had summer on the speakers out on the road - a little KU on the radio; hands out the window, sun sinking low, singing raise ‘em up, baby woah!

“I know those days go by, it wasn’t wasted time. Had a little bit of everything, making memories of you and me. Yeah, back when we were us, once in a lifetime love - can’t help but think of you; hope you think of me when you play that Keith... when you play that, Keith…

“Every kiss the perfect melody,” I sang, again to the main melody, “we went zero to crazy, baby, on repeat. Stuck in my head like my favorite song - yeah, never knew something so good could last so long…”

And then the refrain again: “I know those days go by, it wasn’t wasted time. Had a little bit of everything, making memories of you and me. Yeah, back when we were us, once in a lifetime love - can’t help but think of you; hope you think of me when you play that, Keith…

In the background, Dale and Fallon sang: “Turn it up, turn it up now; Turn it up, turn it up loud…”

And then me again – “hope you think of me like I think of you when you play that, Keith…”

I then played an an extended little bridge on my guitar, and then I had to sing again.

“… had summer on the speakers out on the road, a little KU on the radio, hands out the window, sun sinking low, singing raise ‘em up, baby woah!”

And then another refrain: “I know those days go by, it wasn’t wasted time. Had a little bit of everything, and you said that I look good in your shirt. Yeah, back when we were us, once in a lifetime love - can’t help but think of you; hope you think of me when you play that, Keith…

“Turn it up, turn it up now; Turn it up, turn it up loud; hope you think of me like I think of you when you play that, Keith. When somebody like you loved somebody like me - yeah, it sure feels good, baby, to play that, Keith.” We ended the song abruptly and the audience went delirious.

We would have taken bows as we usually did, but it was just me this time, and I made do with waving at the camera and at the studio audience.

I let the applause die down and smiled again. “In behalf of Unlimited Bandwidth, Domo arigato.” And I bowed and my Japanese audience went wild.

“Our last song for this morning is a song that I am dedicating my Mhamo from Ireland. Her name’s Rosemary, and she is the matriarch of Clan O’Caiside, our family in Belfast. I love you, Mhamo.”

Again, the entire band was on the screen again. And Mongo played us in again, and we started playing the first notes of the song “Who I am,” by Danielle Bradberry.

“If I live to be a hundred,” I sang, “and never see the seven wonders, that’ll be all right…

“If I don’t make it to the big leagues; if I never win a Grammy, I’m gonna be just fine… ‘cause I know exactly who I am…”

I then raised my singing voice. “I am Rosemary’s granddaughter, the spitting image of my father, and when the day is done, my mama’s still my biggest fan…

“Sometimes I’m clueless and I’m clumsy but I’ve got friends that love me, and they know just where I stand - it’s all a part of me - that’s who I am…”

I sang the second refrain. “So when I make a big mistake - when I fall flat on my face, I know I’ll be all right…

“Should my tender heart be broken, I will cry those teardrops knowing I will be just fine… ‘cause nothing changes who I am.”

I raised my voice again. “I am Rosemary’s granddaughter, the spitting image of my father, and when the day is done, my mama’s still my biggest fan…

“Sometimes I’m clueless and I’m clumsy but I’ve got friends that love me, and they know just where I stand - It’s all a part of me - that’s who I am…”

And it was the big finish. “I’m a singer, I’m a sinner! I’m a loser, I’m a winner! I’m steady and unstable…
I’m young but I am able…”

And I did the refrain again in a slight, hushed downbeat… “I am Rosemary’s granddaughter, the spitting image of my father, and when the day is done, my mama’s still my biggest fan…

“Sometimes I’m clueless and I’m clumsy but I’ve got friends that love me, and they know just where I stand, It’s all a part of me - that’s who I am - that’s who I am!”

And we ended on a high.

I waved to everyone, and waited for the music and the emotion and the excitement to fade.

to be continued...

 

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