6 #3
‘Yeah, that’s right,’ Monica said. ‘They never did shake her off, did they? Now why didn’t they .
. . ?’ She paused, obviously thinking back, and sighed.
‘Let’s see – after the first hit, they had another hit the same year, “Lying Lips” – which got to number three, I think, which was a few places higher than the first one, but still didn’t manage to get to that all-important number one spot.
Perhaps they just thought they needed to keep her and her money around a little while longer, just to be safe. ’
‘But by then they had their manager, didn’t they?’
‘Luke Raines – that’s right,’ Monica said.
And snapped her fingers. ‘And, of course, Raines was Monty’s find, wasn’t he?
So maybe that’s why they couldn’t shake her off?
Raines must have been grateful to her for bringing him and the Cuckoos together and so he supported her whenever the band took against her. ’
It sounded a little weak and unlikely to Lyssa, but she was wise enough not to say so.
‘I understand he did a good job for them,’ Lyssa said instead, wondering if the glowing accounts she’d read of the Lucky Cuckoos’ and their manager’s good working relationship was all so much pie in the sky, and Monica was about to come out with yet more proof that not all was as it seemed.
But she was quickly disappointed.
‘Oh, yeah, he did,’ Monica agreed at once.
‘He was one of the good guys – even Racey had to admit that. He got good deals for them and didn’t take the lion’s share for himself, like so many of the buggers did back then.
Ripped off bands left and right, they did.
Not Luke. And he battled the record companies when he had to, really argued the band’s corner and threatened legal action if the companies didn’t come across with the contracts he wanted.
And he always got the boys good gigs and better television coverage and what have you.
But he and Monty were tight, all right, and agreed on almost everything.
Monty was good at things like choosing the Cuckoos’ costumes and creating their look, pleasing their fans, running the fan club and promotional stuff and all that sort of thing.
Racey said between them, they had the Cuckoos all sewn up. ’
‘It sounds as if Monty was a major asset, and yet still couldn’t do anything right.’
‘Yeah – I did warn you, Racey’s views on Monty were a bit cockeyed.
I think he just really felt cheated, you know?
Sure, the Cuckoos were riding high, and he had the money and the fame and screaming teenage girls chasing after him, and all that.
But like I said, when he and Glen started out, they were on a level footing, and yet by the time they made it really big, it was Glen who was the one standing in front of the mike and in the spotlight, whilst Racey was just one of the lads, doing harmonies and playing guitar. You can’t blame him for resenting it.’
‘I promise you I’m not. But . . . forgive me if this sounds rather hard-hearted and a little bit ugly .
. . I don’t mean to but . . . didn’t Glen’s death, well .
. . I mean, his sudden absence . . .’ Lyssa struggled to find a way to put things diplomatically, but luckily for her, Monica was happy to help her out.
‘What you’re trying to say is, wasn’t Glen’s death Racey’s opportunity to finally take over as leader of the band?’
‘Well, yes.’
Monica nodded. ‘Yeah – you’d have thought so, wouldn’t you? But it wasn’t that simple, was it?’
‘Why not?’
‘Because Monty had other ideas.’
For a moment, Lyssa said nothing; she was too busy trying to sort out her thoughts. Seeing her confusion, Monica gave a rather wan smile.
‘Want me to explain?’ she asked, sounding once again rather tired and dispirited.
‘If you wouldn’t mind,’ Lyssa said, humbly.
‘OK. You have to know a bit about the times back then. The music trends were always morphing. In the USA they went from Bill Haley and the Comets to more hard-rock bands, and then along came the Summer of Love and Woodstock and all the hippy-dippy stuff, right? So you had the likes of Bob Dylan rubbing shoulders with Jimi Hendrix. Talk about diverse.’
‘Yes, I’m with you on that. The range of music in that decade is mind-blowing.’
‘Exactly! And back here in the UK it was no different. We had the Beatles and “Love Me Do” which morphed into more hard-rock bands like The Who and what have you. Now the Cuckoos sort of started off in the Beatles mode – catchy rock songs, but hardly edgy, like the Stones, say. But by the time Glen died, times were getting “softer” if you like. The Moody Blues weren’t far off producing “Nights in White Satin” and Simon and Garfunkel in the USA would later come up with “Mrs Robinson” so it’s not surprising that the fans were starting to get tired of the Cuckoos’ “old” sound and wanted something new and fresh.
Or at least, that’s what Monty was saying.
And she was the one who always seemed to have her finger firmly on the pulse of what the fans wanted. Even Racey had to admit to that.’
‘And she was right,’ Lyssa mused pensively, thinking back to how the music from the mid-to-late 1960s was so different from that of the earlier years.
‘Oh yeah, turns out she was right. As ever – good ol’ Monty,’ Monica said with a bitter twist of her lips, reminding Lyssa that her ex-husband wasn’t the only one who was hardly Monty’s biggest fan.
‘But back then, the Cuckoos just didn’t want to hear it.
Well, Racey certainly didn’t, and neither I think did Micky.
Artie might have been more on the fence though. ’
‘And Glen?’
Monica shrugged. ‘Who knows? Maybe he agreed with her, maybe he didn’t.
But from what Racey told me, Monty was already trying to change their sound.
Less “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and into something far more lyrical and gentle.
She said that Glen’s deep-timbred voice could easily make that transition – just think of the Walker Brothers or the Righteous Brothers.
They had great, big voices, but they weren’t necessarily belting out catchy pop tunes, preferring to mix them with ballads as well. ’
‘All right. It sounds like she had a valid point,’ Lyssa said, careful to keep her tone neutral.
‘Yeah – but Racey didn’t agree. He said the band had a loyal following already, and that they were happy with their songs.
Even though their only number one hit, “The Frightened Heart”, was the least catchy pop tune of them all.
And their second biggest, “Going Nowhere”, which got to number two, had a similar set-up. ’
‘He still wanted to carry on with the old vibe?’ Lyssa clarified, then added casually, ‘I take it that that sound played to his particular strengths as a singer? After Glen died, he would want to sing songs that he could handle well?’
Monica’s lips twisted in a wry smile, and she cocked a finger at Lyssa and crooked her thumb, like someone pointing an imaginary gun at her and pulling the trigger. ‘Spot on.’
‘No wonder he and Monty didn’t get on.’
‘Yeah. No wonder,’ Monica agreed flatly.
‘So after Glen died . . . I still don’t see why Racey didn’t take over,’ Lyssa said, puzzled.
Something here just wasn’t adding up. ‘He was the obvious choice. The other band members knew him, the fans knew him, he was a known quantity, and you just said he sung those kinds of tunes well enough to take over. So what was the problem?’
‘Monty was, just like always,’ Monica said scornfully.
‘According to Racey, she wanted to bring in a total outsider to replace Glen. A new singer, with the kind of voice that would be right for this new sound that she and Luke Raines wanted to press on with. Some good-looking blond-haired kid. There were huge fights and arguments about it, I can tell you. Luke Raines went so far as to have a demo made of the kid’s voice .
. . I can’t remember his name now. Anyway, it never happened, because then Monty died, and Racey got the group behind him and they persuaded Luke to go on with Racey taking the lead and them bringing in some other green kid to take over his guitar spot and .
. . Well, the rest, as they say, is history. The band never had a major hit again.’
Lyssa leaned back a little and digested all of this.
‘And Monty was trying to do all this right after losing the love of her life? And whilst fighting Glen’s parents over his Will, and all the drama that was causing?
Not to mention the press being after her blood?
Some of the articles I read stopped only a millimetre short of accusing her of being responsible for Glen’s death by introducing him to drugs in the first place!
Although, from what you say, none of them were really into drugs big time. ’
‘Yeah,’ Monica said sadly. ‘She said that she was doing it for Glen’s sake.
That he’d have wanted her to help the band continue to grow and prosper and would expect her to make sure that it happened.
But it must have been beyond even her to cope with, mustn’t it?
It’s no wonder she drowned herself in the pond, is it? ’