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Our series about a girl band called the chiX and their brainy little sister Gladys arrives at its final episode. The chiX have come second in the Eurovision Song Contest. They think that perhaps their dream is at an end. But Arny their manager is convinced that success lies ahead.

Read by Natasha. Story by Bertie. Duration 11.47

It was Monday morning: the first after the chiX returned from Istanbul and the Eurovision Song Contest where they had taken second place. The girls were waiting for the bus to take them to school. An old lady who was sitting on the bench by the stop looked them up and down warily, as if she thought they were going to mug her. Then she commented:

“You look like them girls what was singing on the telly on Saturday evening.”

“Yeah, lots of people have said that,” replied Laura.

“I thought the boy what won it was nice, but our lot looked like they’d never seen a hair brush, “ continued the old lady. “It’s surprising anyone voted for them really. “

When the bus arrived, they went upstairs and sat at the front of the top deck. The bus followed the river on one side, and a row of suburban houses on the other. The girls sat silently, each of them wondering how Monday mornings would have changed if they had won.

They didn’t know that a reporter from Breakfast TV was waiting for them at the school gate. Various school girls were pulling faces and waving at the camera and saying “Film me, I’m Laura” or “I’m Gladys. Ask me a clever question,” or “Listen to me sing, Life is a Circus, Tra la la!”

When the real chiX walked past, the reporter asked if they would mind telling her what it felt like to be going back to school. Laura looked annoyed and said, “What do you think it feels like? Is this a wind up or what?” Fortunately the camera wasn’t filming. In the interview that went out live on TV, Gladys said that they were all looking forward to going back to school and that nothing would have been different if they had won.

“And what about those who are predicting a glittering future ahead of you?” asked the reporter.

“Yeah, that’s what our manager keeps on saying,” said Mandy. “But we’ll see.”

But they didn’t have to wait long to find out. Their manager, Arny, left six messages on Gladys’s mobile phone that day, each with an offer for the chiX to perform on TV or at a special concert or to go to a party. And for the rest of the week, Gladys’s phone kept on ringing. It seemed that the public and the music business loved the chiX, and didn’t care at all that they had come second.

On Saturday morning, Laura went into the convenience store for some biscuits and as she was waiting to pay, she cast her eye over the magazine rack. She noticed that a picture of the chiX was on the cover of weekly rag about celebrity gossip. The headline read:

“The Un-Glamour Girls.”

Laura felt annoyed that she had to pay £2 just to read about herself and her sisters. And she felt even more angry when she saw that the article was about how the chiX were the first chart-topping girl band not to care about how they looked in public. It had snap shots of the girls in jogging pants and old trainers as well as in school uniform with laddered tights.

The article concluded : “scruffy is the new smart.”

When she showed it to the other girls they were all seething with rage. “How they write that? ” Sam demanded …”Gladys, can’t you get Arny to stop them saying things like that about us?”

Gladys looked at the article and thought out aloud, “Well, I don’t know. It’s not trying to be nasty about us. It’s sort of saying that we are setting the trend.”

But the chiX spent all afternoon shopping and getting ready for the evening when they were invited out to a swish nightclub for the birthday party of Nigel Newcastle, the lead singer of the Joywheelers. Laura and Mandy went to the hair dressers. As they trooped down the stairs on their way out, Dad took a double-take:

“Who are those gorgeous ladies? Are they my daughters?”

“They’ve done themselves up,” said Gladys, who wasn’t going to the party because she was too young to spend all night in a club.

The following Saturday, Laura came back from the convenience store beside herself with rage. She was clutching a copy of “Hi There! “ magazine. On page 22 there was a picture of her walking out of the party on the arm of Nigel Newcastle:

“Nigel Picks a Chic” it said, adding that he was “romancing” the scruffy sixteen year old singer of the school-girl band sensation, the Chix.

“If there’s any romance, Nigel’s not told me about it,” claimed Laura, “They just make this stuff up. And why do they keep on calling me scruffy?”

Gladys told the girls to ignore what the media was saying, and just to make the best music that they could. She continued to write songs, and the chiX went to regular rehearsals, as well as dancing and singing classes. They were preforming on TV shows and giving interviews on radio about once a week now. Their songs were topping the download charts on the internet and they were getting used to seeing their pictures in the papers.

The next Saturday, Gladys went out to the convenience store with Laura because she wanted to buy a new notebook. As they were standing in the queue for the till, a girl who was about the same age as Gladys came up to them and said:

“I really like your songs. Can I take your photograph on my mobile phone please?”

Before Gladys could answer, Laura snapped: “No buzz off. Can’t you see we just got out of bed?”

When they were outside the shop, Gladys said: “That wasn’t very nice. Now we’ve lost a fan.”

“Plenty more where she came from.”

“We’ve got to be nice to the public” insisted Gladys. “It’s part of the deal.”

“I don’t remember signing no deal like that,” said Laura.

“Well it’s an unwritten one. It’s like this: we owe everything to the fans, so we’ve got to give something back to them. Or the word will get round that we’re a bunch of spoilt brats.”

And sure enough, the following week, Hi There Magazine had a grainy picture of Laura snarling and pointing at the girl in the shop. Her mum had taken the photo and sent it to the magazine. This time Laura didn’t even bother to complain.

The bad publicity didn’t hurt the chiX’s popularity. The newspapers were never exactly polite about them, but they also admitted that the girls were the “Real Deal” and it was refreshing to see their youthful faces, unadorned by bright lipstick and false eyelashes. They were a new type of Girl Band, that didn’t seem to have been invented by the Music Industry, but who sung their own music straight from the heart while continuing to go to school, dress badly, and live normal lives.

But Gladys was no longer achieving straight “As” at school on a regular basis. At parents ‘ evening, her teacher told her Dad that Gladys had to choose between music and work. In a few years time the chiX fame might have faded, and Gladys would have lost her chance of going to University.

Dad told this to Gladys, and she felt really bad and decided to spend less time going with her sisters to performances and TV shows.

“After all,” she said to herself, “I’m not in the band, and I’m not old enough to have a boyfriend. The newspapers have nothing to gossip about me, anyway.”

Gladys spent more time on her homework, but she was often up late answering emails from Arny or their Public Relations manager, and most often of all from their fans. Quite often she was tired at school, and struggled to pay attention. Her report said:

“A disappointing term for Gladys.”

A week later after school broke up for the holidays, Gladys joined her sisters for a big night at the Music Industry’s annual awards ceremony. Their song “Life is a Circus” had been nominated for Best Debut Single.

“I don’t care if we win or not,” said Sam.

“I’m rooting for the The Throbinsons,” said Mandy. “That way I won’t be too disappointed whatever the result is.”

But in truth, all the girls were sitting with tensed up stomach muscles as Nigel Newcastle stood on stage and opened the envelope for their category.

“And this year’s winner for the Best Debut Single is “Life is a Circus by the chiX.” Their song started to play through the loud speakers and the three girls walked through the dining tables and up onto the stage to accept their trophy.

“Yay, For once we won something ! “ said Sam into the microphone.

“But where did Gladys get too?” asked Laura.

Gladys had stayed behind at the dining table, because she wasn’t in the band. She only wrote the songs and managed things behind the scenes.

“Come on Gladdy !” called Mandy. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”

And Gladys saw that her three sisters were beconning to her. She shook her head, but they kept on insisting, and Nigel Newcastle said into the microphone “Gladys come and get your award darling,” so she had no choice but to climb up the steps onto the stage. Nigel handed her the trophy and her sisters lifted her up onto their shoulders. The audience clapped, whooped and cheered.

In the taxi on the way back home, Gladys sat silently.

“Hey Gladdy, are you feeling sad or just tired?” asked Mandy.

“Both,” said Gladdy. “Because you see, I can’t go on like this. I mean, I don’t have time to do all the work for the chiX and revise for my exams at school. It’s just too much for me. It’s not just writing the songs, there’s the emails and the phone calls, the accounts and the contracts to keep an eye on. It all takes much more time than you seem to think. I mean, anyone can sing and go to parties, but if you want to succeed you’ve got to be smart and stay on top of everything. ”

And Mandy said:

“You’re right Gladdy. We never understood how important all that sort of stuff was. We don’t do enough to help you.”

“But we will…” said Laura. “From now on we’ll all share the boring work…. because Gladdy’s got brains, and it would be unfair if she didn’t do well at school because she spent all her time helping us make it big.”

“Promises, promises….” said Gladys.

But over the past year, the girls had learned far more than Gladys had realised. They did now understand that he boring stuff was as important as all the exciting part of being famous. Mandy started to take more of the phone calls and answer the emails. To begin with, she often lost things, and wasn’t quite as efficient as Gladys, but she soon started to learn. And Laura learned to appreciate the fans and be nice to them. And Sam worked harder at school, though not quite so hard as Gladys. And Gladys continued to write the songs and to read the important contracts, but she had time to do her homework and get a good night’s sleep.

At in the Summer exams Gladys got straight As in every subject. Her end of term report said:

“Gladys has worked hard and deserves her success”

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Here we have a double first. It’s the first “Single” by our fictional girl band the chiX… and it’s the first song by us at Storynory.

In the story (Gladys and the Eurovision Song Contest) this song is written by Gladys, the chiX younger sister, and sung by Laura with backing vocals by Mandy and Sam.

Save the song on your iPod – send it to all your friends !

Real life credits:

Music (and musical direction): Gabriella Brunel
Lead Vocals (and creative input): Eiriona Jackson
Backing vocals: Natasha and Gabriella
Band: Andre, Eric and David
Engineer: Joe Davison
Lyrics: Bertie

You taught me to fly and to swoop to your arms;
And though I soared high I came to no harm;

You sawed me in half and you pulled me apart
And though I really laughed, you had broken my heart,

You stood me quite still and you threw straight your knives
And though you didn’t kill, you used eight of my lives,

You rattled my cage and you cracked your whip
And though I really raged, I only bit my lip.

Chorus x 2

Our dream is
A circus
Run away
Live for the day

Our life’s
A circus
Ups and downs
round and round

You set up a hoop, and I jumped through the fire,
And though you were cool, you lit up my desire

You stretched a high wire, and you made me walk the walk,
And though said you were a flyer, It was only ticks and talk.

Chorus x 2

Our dream is
A circus
Run away
Live for the day

Our life is
A circus
Ups and downs
round and round

Bridge—

We made a pact
We’re a double act
A high wire flier
with a belly full of fire

A big attraction
with plenty of action
A spectacular show
With no net below

[Guitar Solo]

Our dream
is a a circus
Run away,
live for the day

Our life,
is a circus
ups and downs
round and round

Our dream
is a a circus
Run away,
live for the day

Our life,
is a circus
ups and downs
round and round

Our way is a circus
Thrills and spills,
looks that kill

Our love
is a circus
yes we fight, but it’s right on the night

Our way is a circus
Thrills and spills,
looks that kill

Our love a is
A circus
yes we fight
But it’s alright on the night

Copyright: Storynory.com (Blog Relations Ltd) 2009 – but please feel free to spread the mp3 of the song around the internet and to all your friends so long as all rights to the music, lyrics and story remain with us at Storynory !

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The chiX reach the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul, and we approach the climax of our story about a girl band and their young sister, Gladys, who isn’t in the band, but who IS the brains behind it.

We’ve specially recorded the chiX song, “Life is a Circus” for this story – and if you want an mp3 of The Single without the story around it, then you can find it here.

Catch up with earlier episodes of Gladys and the chiX.

Read by Natasha. Story by Bertie (with lots of inspiration from Natasha). Duration 26.40 min. Picture of Gladys and the chiX preforming “Life is a Circus” for Storynory by Tania Fernandes

TV Presenter’s voice :

“Good evening and welcome to Istanbul, gateway to the East, or gateway to the West if you are coming from the other direction. if like me you are a fool for drum machines, wind-machines, clawing, pawing, glitz and glitter,
crazy costumes and bizarre behaviour you’ve come to the right place, for this is the 76th run along that well worn race track, the Eurovision Song Contest !”

——

As is the long tradition in Britain, the television commentary for the final of the Eurovision song contest did not take the proceedings 100% seriously. But that didn’t mean to say that the millions of viewers at home weren’t rooting in their hearts for their country’s entry, Life is A Circus, sung by a young girl band called the chiX. The papers were saying it was the UK’s best shot at the Eurovision for for years, a song with real sincerity, or as one commentator put it, “Too Good to win the Eurovision.”

The chiX had arrived in Istanbul almost a week beforehand. Their hotel overlooked a wide, grimy waterway, busy with boats and barges.

“Istanbul’s not exactly what I expected, ” said Laura.

“What did you expect?” asked her younger sister Gladys.

“Well, more like, you know, Ibitha. But that doesn’t meant to say that it isn’t cool. Coz it’s amazing to be here.”

Gladys explained the name of the straight was the Bosporus, and it divided Europe from Asia. But geography did not impress three older girls nearly so much as their hotel’s fat tapped bathrooms ands and field-sized beds.

“I could live here, and never go out the front door again,” said Mandy as they ate ice cream and sipped soft drinks in a cafe on the 16th floor of the hotel.

But there was work to do. A film crew followed the chiX around the great sites of Istanbul. They posed outside the Topkapi Palace, and the Blue Mosque with its six minarets. And then they went inside the ancient Basilica of Hagia Sophia, or holy wisdom. 1,500 years ago it had served as a cathedral of the Byzantine Empire, and then later as a mosque. Now it was a museum. The girls looked up into the enormous dome, radiant with gold mosaics and natural light, and at the black shields in the corners, bearing unfamiliar oriental letters

“You know what, ” said Laura, “I really feel something in here. Something like, a mystical power. I would never have come here on my own, But thank you Gladdy for bringing us here. This is really cool. ”

They wandered through the alleys the Grand Bazaar, the largest covered market in the world. The store holders charmed them into buying stuff they never knew they needed, including leather jackets, copper pots, fake designer shoes, strange lamps, and even a Turkish rug or two. But the girls always got good prices. As they bargained with the store holders they sang and danced and won the best discounts in the whole market.

And of course there were rehearsals too. They sang their number on a vast stage set up in the middle of a sports stadium. The thousands of empty seats were kind of ghostly, more scary than if they were full of people. They felt tiny as they preformed their song in such a vast vacuum. Afterwards they went up to the control room while the TV producers from London played back video of their performance , and discussed camera angles with their Turkish colleagues. Some of the cameras, mounted on cranes, were swooping over the top of the stage while others were zooming in close up and focusing on their faces. Arny, their manager, was pressing for them to use the close ups.

“Do you think we’ve got, like, enough stuff going off ?” asked Laura, “I mean, like the other acts have fireworks and lasers and armies of dancers. We’ve got, you know, just little old us.”

“Yeah I do think we’ve got enough ‘ stuff going off’,” said Arny with a touch of tetchyness. “Our entry is about you lovely galls and the song, not about all that other razzmatazz.’

And Gladys thought she understood what Arny was doing. If the girls had lots of singers and performers all around them, they could sort of hide. This way, they were the frame, and they had to give it their all.

And then there was a press conference. It was held in a meeting room of their hotel. Four chairs were set up for the chiX behind a table with lot of microphones on it. At first, Gladys assumed that the fourth place was for Arny, but then she noticed that there was a name card on the table saying, ‘Gladys’. Perhaps it was a mistake. There were only three sisters in the band. She was always working behind the scenes. But Mandy ushered Gladys to her place. She put her legs under the table, and blinked at the rows of journalists with notebooks on their laps, and the video cameras mounted on tripods.

The first question from a journalist was:

“Is it true that Gladys, aged 12, wrote this circus song all on her own?”

“Absolutely,” said Mandy, and the other girls all nodded. “She’s ten times smarter than the rest of us put together,” agreed Laura.

And the next question was:

“Gladys. Can you tell us a little bit about how you write your songs?”

And Gladys realised that for the first time she, and not just her sisters, was in the spotlight. Nobody had actually asked her before how she wrote her songs. She stumbled a bit: “Er well I think of a theme, like say a Circus, and then I think about some words that are about the circus but are really about, you know, relationships and that sort of stuff, because that’s what all pop songs are about really. You know, I have three older sisters so I kind of get ideas off them….”

She felt herself going bright red. She wasn’t sure why really. But afterwards everyone said that she had answered all the questions brilliantly.

“It’s a great story,” said Arny. “12 year old girl writes winning song in Eurovision….”

And now, at last, after a week of hard work and living the high life, it was Saturday night and the start of the show. The next day they would be on the flights back to London Heathrow Airport. These few hours could be the chiX last taste of fame and success.

In three and half hours time the winner or winners would sing their entry one more time, and there would be tears of joy and disappointment.

The chiX sat at a table in the area cordoned off for all the singers and their entourages.

They were wearing their circus costumes, ready for their performance. Sam was a clown, Mandy a ring master, and Laura a glitzy acrobat. Round their table with them sat their backing musicians, – four cool young boys who didn’t say that much – their manager, Arny, their mum and dad, and of course, Gladys.

Arny was swapping statistics with Dad. Both of them seemed to know exactly which years the UK had won the contest, or come second, and which countries generally voted for their friends. In fact, Gladys was amazed that their Dad was such an expert.

’1974, that was the year, I remember it well, when Abba won…” said Dad.

‘But my favourite was 1967 when Sandie Shaw topped it with Puppet on a String,” chipped in Arny.

“Oh, I’m way too young to remember that,” claimed Dad.

The girls were more fascinated by their fellow contestants. “It’s a freeking freek show,” said Mandy.

“Yeah, have you seen the tooth fairy?” said Laura. And she was staring at a woman from iceland in an extremely flouncy dress.

“Hey check out Eric the Viking, ” said Sam. She meant one of the contestants from Bosnia Hetzogovnia.

Gladys knew that sneering at all the continental contestants wasn’t in the best of taste, and given the girls were wering circus costumes, perhaps they weren’t entirely immune from criticism themselves. But gentle sniping was their way of controlling their nerves.

The show opened with Whirling Dervishes to set the Turkish context of the final. The hosts on stage were a young man and woman, one speaking French, the other English. When the contest proper started, the crowd whooped and cheered every performance, and seemed quite non-plussed by the grandiose over-the toppness of many of the acts: stomping glam-rockers, John Travolta-sytle disco-dancers, women with 1980s big hair dos, various types of gypsies and folk dancers, half dressed gladiators, men in white cat suits, numerous navels, Napoleonic soldiers playing electric guitars, leaping cossacks, accompanied by plenty of pyrotechnics, and gales of confetti and CO2 blown by wind machines.

Only a few acts were quite restrained. The entry from France was tres francais, but sounded just like the song they did the previous year, and the year before that. A boy from Denmark strummed a guitar a sang a bouncing happy-go-lucky folk song. And and homely girl sung a pretty ballad in Serbo-Croat.

According to the draw, the United Kingdom was due on stage third from the end, just after Azerbaijan. Several songs beforehand, a producer came to fetch them. Gladys stayed seated at the table while her sisters were given their last brush of face powder and the radio microphones were clipped to their costumes, before they worked out onto the stage in the arena packed with 30,000 spectators and the cameras broadcasting their images to 100 million or more viewers around the world.

[ play in sound of applause]

[PLAY IN SONG]

End with applause

Even the other acts were clapping wildly.

“You were fantastic, ” said Arny as the girls came back to the table, positively glowing with excitement. “You were easily the best act, ” he added. And the girls were hopping up and down and kissing each other.

“But don’t get exited. my bet is that you’ll come second. Denmark’s the only one with the exact Eurovision formula.

Gladys could see the taken aback look on her sister’s faces.

“Well I think the chiX will win,” she said,” Because the chiX were the best. ”

“Well maybe you are right, and maybe you aren’t” said Arny. “At any rate, we’ll soon find out.”

But it didn’t seem at all soon. After the last act had played out its umpa, umpa tune, there was a long wait while the various juries around Europe and a bit beyond deliberated and voted. The audience was treated to more folk dancing during the interval. Eventually the hosts appeared back on stage, and the giant screen projected the score board. Each country in turn presented its results. Latvia gave the maximum 12 points to Estonia. Russia gave 12 points to Ukraine. Ukraine returned the compliment. Cyprus voted for Greece and vice versa. But not all the voting was quite so neighbourly and predictable, and by half way through, the UK and Denmark were neck and neck in the lead. Sometimes the chiX slipped ahead, and sometime Denmark held first place.

The camera crews were collecting around the chiX table. When Romania gave 12 points to the United Kingdom, the TV viewers saw the chiX hugging and kissing each other, when Belgium gave them “null points”, you could see them shrugging their shoulders and looking like, hey, whatever. Towards the end, when it became clear that it was going to be a cliff hanger, the chiX were biting their nails and looking white and serious. The last country to vote was Slovakia. There were only two points between Britain and Denmark. This was the last and deciding vote.

“Hello Bratislava” called the Eurovision-presenters on stage.

“Good Evening Istanbul !” responded the Slovakian lady who held the results in her hand. She spoke quite mater of fact-ly.

” Here are the decisions of the Slovakian jury.

“Our eight points go to, United Kingdom… ”

The presenter on stage translated this result into French. It could have been worse , but it could have been better. Eight points meant that the chiX were still in the running. – just. Gladys was not sure whether to be relieved or nervous.

“Our ten points go to Holland”

This result made no difference. Holland was no longer in the running to win the contest.

And now, this was the deciding moment. If Slovakia gave its 12 points to Denmark then its happy go lucky folk song would win the whole contest, but if it gave its 12 points to any other country, then the chiX song would be the winner. Gladys felt her heart sink. She knew it was highly unlikely that Denmark would not get any points at all from Slovakia. The odds were that Denmark was about to take the last 12 points and win the contest outright.

“And finally,” said the Slavakian lady, before pausing to savour the suspense, our 12 points go to……. DENMARK!

The audience erupted into cheers and applause. Denmark had won the Eurovision. The chiX entry for the United Kingdom had come second.

The girls were trying to smile for the cameras, but there were tears in their eyes.

Mum hugged each of her daughters in turn.

The cameras were only interested the runners up for a minute or two. Soon the girls were able to sit down and have a little more private commiseration. Sam was crying quite inconsolably. Laura was looking suddenly tiered and quite drained. She put her all into her performance.

Dad said mournfully: “Now I know what it feels like to lose in the final of Wimbledon.”

“But at least with tennis you get another chance next year,” said Gladys. “the chiX will never get another shot at the Eurovision”.

“Yeah, sorry Arny,” said Mandy, “You backed a losing horse.” But Arny didn’t look at all disappointed.

“Ah never mind all that,” he said. Everyone knows the Eurovision is a load of old cods-wallop anyway. You didn’t win, but, actually you did win. Your story has caught the public’s imagination. The press loves you, especially the angle about the school girl genius who writes the songs. I’ve got some little presents for you girls.” And he he took out some papers from his brief case.

“This, he said, “is a draft recording contract with a top record company. They want you to do two albums. And this is a contract from another top record company. They want to sign you up for four. We’ll have to decide which one WE want to go with. Now this is from an American promoter who wants you to tour the USA. This is an invitation to appear on the Top talk show state side. This is from a publishing company that wants to ghost write your biography. And this is from a hollywood studio that wants an option on your life story. Oh, and this is lady wants a job as your twitter secretary, and to send out your tweets on the internet.

Girls, forget Eurovision. the chiX are the biggest thing since slice bread, and you Gladys, have a massive career ahead of you in the music biz. ”

And although Gladys was pleased with to hear Arny’s flattering prediction, she began to wonder if a career in the music business was really want she wanted form her life.

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Our girl band, the chiX, perform live on TV in the first round of the Eurovision song contest. At the end, they find out if they are going to be representing Great Britain in the final in Istanbul.

And a little chiX news – we are recording their Circus Song, but you’ll have to wait for the next episode to hear it with the full music.

Read by Natasha. Story by Bertie (with lots of inspiration from Natasha). Duration 15.20 min. Picture of Gladys and the chiX arriving by limo for Storynory by Tania Fernandes

The chiX walked out onto the darkened stage. They took their places, and the music began to play – a sort of circus beat. Still in the semi-darkness, Laura began to sing the first few words into her radio microphone that was clipped to her costume. She was looking almost straight into a TV camera.

You taught me to fly and to swoop to your arms;
And though I soared high I came to no harm;

Then the full backing music kicked in and the lights went up at the same time.

You sawed me in half and you pulled me apart
And though I really laughed, you had broken my heart,

The girls started to do their moves -all based on a circus act. Mandy lashed her ring-master’s whip and Sam, who was quite athletic, did some impressive tumbles and turns, as well as a funny clown walk in time to the music. Laura acted out the words while she sang. She walked an imaginary tight rope, rattled the bars bars of an invisible cage, and she pretended to eat fire.

The studio audience whooped and cheered, but Gladys knew that what really counted as the votes of the viewers with the red buttons on their remotes.

For now the girls had to stand on stage and face the verdict of the three studio judges. The first to speak was a woman who had produced West End Musicals. She must have been quite mature in years, but she had blond hair and make-up that would have suited a much younger woman.

“I liked the words,’ she said. ‘And there’s no denying, it’s a catchy tune.’

Gladys closed her eyes and savored the first impartial praise she had received for her composition.

“And Laura my girl – you’ve got a great voice” she said.

The audience cheered. Then the woman through her hands up in the air melodramatically.

“But oh my, the costumes, and the dance ! Sorry girls. A circus act doesn’t cut it for me. It’s just too corny. ”

This was a bit of a let down.

The second to speak was man who was known for being gentlemanly in his views. He wore a silk neck scarf and looked like an arty type.

“I liked it,” he said. “And I think it will go down well in Europe. There’s a big tradition of the circus all over the continent. It’s a clever idea.”

“Yes”, thought Gladys, “He gets it. That was just what I was calculating when I wrote the song.”

The third to speak was a multi-millionaire record producer who reveled in being Mr. Mean. All the contestants feared his cruel tongue, but Gladys had told the girls that they shouldn’t care what he said, because they had to learn to take criticism, and anyway, it was what people at home thought that really counted.

Mr. Mean paused before he spoke. It was a deliberate trick to build up tension. Somebody in the audience coughed.

“Well the circus is a good idea, ” he said, “But hey, come on girls. Stop clowning around ! You want to represent your country ? By jumping around on stage like a troop of performing flees. Worse, if you dance like that in the final, they’ll think you’ve got flees in your pants. Sorry girls.”

There were tears in Sam’s painted clown eyes as the girls walked off stage. Gladys met them and they all hugged her and said how everyone agreed that her song was brilliant – though actually only two of the three judges had praised it.

The girls went back to their dressing room .

Laura said: “We’ll never live this down. I mean, to come last in the first round of the Eurovision – how painful is that?

“The dream is over,” said Mandy.

“Hold on, hold on,” said Gladys. “You said it was cool to get no points, didn’t you Laura?”

Laura shook her head.

“I meant in the real thing. Like on the Big Eurovision when everyone knows that Ireland and France never vote for the UK because they hate our guts. It’s cool to come nowhere then. Everyone expects it to happen – like everyone knows that the English football time always go down on penalties in the World Cup. To get no points in this tiddlywinks contest is just like – gruesome. I mean, if you can’t win this, you’re nowhere. Mandy’s right, It’s all over. Perhaps that’s a good thing. We can all get on with our lives now . It’s been nice while it lasted. Now welcome to reality girls.”

And Mandy, who hadn’t said anything yet, asked:

“Did you see any of our mates in the audience?”

The three sisters had been performing with the studio lights in their eyes, but Gladys said she had spotted two whole rows of supporters from their school.

“Oh Pooh !” said Sam. “They’ll be laughing at us tomorrow.”

They washed their faces and got changed in a glum silence. Then a knock on the door, was followed by the producer saying :

“Mum and dad are here girls.”

Mum and Dad. Gladys could’t actually remember a time when she had heard those words. If any parent ever got a mention in the girls lives, it was Dad, and even he was only semi on this planet. Mum lived on the other side of the river now, and if they were lucky they got a card from her at Christmas and birthdays.

But in came both parents. Like a normal couple. Mum had been crying, and her mascara was all smudged. Did she too think that they were rubbish?

“I’m so proud of my girls !” she said, overcome with emotion. And she was hugging and kissing them.

Dad just hung there, as he normally did, not quite sure what to do.

“But didn’t you hear what they said, ” protested Sam, “The judges were so mean.’

“Who cares about those old has-beens,” said Dad. “It’s the people at home who count.”

And Gladys was quite surprised that he was so switched on about the situation. But Mum. It was amazing to see her. She was all glammed up in a low cut black evening dress and pearls around her neck and loads and loads of bangles on her wrists. Laura said:

“Well fancy you turning up.” Mum took no notice and kissed her all the same.

Mandy was shaking her head. But Gladys. She was happy. If nothing else, the chiX few minutes of fame had brought the family back together again. It was good to be, well, sort of normal – even if it was just for such a short time.

“And Gladdy. Aren’t you proud of how well your sisters have done?” said Mum.

“Yes, I’m very proud,” said Gladys.

“And how are you getting on at school? Straight As. I know. Well, You have turned to be the brainy one. We can’t all be musical.”

“I’m doing fine thank you mum.”

And then Arny the producer joined them and said:

“Come on girls. Get yourselves into the Green room. We can watch the results on the monitor there…. hey you can’t go like that. You’ve got to look your most gorgeous because you’re going to be back on stage to accept the big prize.

The girls had to change again into their best clothes before they trooped, a little more hopeful now, back into the green room where all the other acts – some with friends and family – were waiting to hear the results too. You could smell the tension.

The main programme was over, and the viewers had an hour to vote from home. After the news , the live coverage returned to the TV studio for the results.

Everyone in the green room was looking up at the monitors as the Eurovision fanfare played. The smooth TV presenter was on stage delaying the big moment with some half funny jokes, like pretending his fingers were trembling with too much excitement to open the envelope. People were laughing, but only because of the excitement. Some of the kids from the chiX school were shouting

“Chix, chix chix chix,’

“hush now please,” said the compere, “ooh, the excitement is killing me. Now, in reverse order, in the last, but honourable place, with 11,000 votes is….”

“Please, don’t let it be the chiX” thought Gladys

“…. the Hopping Jays….”

In the green room two girls and two boys were patting each other’s backs in commiseration. They must be the Hopping Jays. Their song played briefly over the programme – a last taste of a tune that would be instantly forgot for all eternity.

“And in 9th place, with 15,202 votes, but also with honor – Jimmy Jam! ” Gladys looked around the Green room. Jimmy Jam it seemed, was not a band, but a tall young man who was smiling sheepishly as the recording of his song played back again for a few moments.

“8th with just over 130,000 votes, is The Woopies ! – The Woopies were a boy band wearing kilts and tartan scarves – presumably from Scotland – who just shrugged the shoulders. Gladys heard one of them say, clearly in an London Accent, “Let’s get out’a here,’ just as the bagpipe chorus of their tune started to play.

Among the crowd of Eurovision hopefuls in the greenroom there was only one act that Gladys recognised: they were the Throbinsons, a boy band who had played at the chiX first gig. Mandy was exchanging a few words with their lead singer. She was saying … “I know it’s going to be us who are out next…”

But it wasn’t. It was a slightly older, but rather glamorous female singer called Shelly Simpson. She had over 500,000 votes.

And the next band to go out had almost a million. And still neither the chiX nor the Throbinson’s name had been called.

And then during the next few minutes some more acts were eliminated, but with respectable quantities of votes well over a million each.

“I can’t believe this, we’re still in,” said Sam.

“Oh my daughters. I’m so proud of you,” said Mum.

Even Dad looked gripped by the tension. He was starting at the monitor with his mouth open.

“I’m sure we’re out next,” said Laura.

But it was the Throbinsons whose name was called – with over 2 million votes. Their lead singer kissed Laura on the cheek as their song played for the last time, and they walked out into obscurity.

“And now,” said the compere, “We have two tip-top-class acts left. Both are lovely girl bands. But sadly, only one of them can go to Istanbul to represent GB in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. So who is it going to be? Will it be the lovely Dragonesses from Wales…. or will it be the gorgeous chiX from London. Which band did you bless at home viewers…. ? And the runner up, is…… The Drangonesses…….”

Even Gladys shrieked with delight. Laura was jumping up and down, but she didn’t forget to commiserate with the Drogoness girls for coming second. Mum was kissing her daughters. Dad kissed Mum.

And in the excitement, that was what pleased Gladys most – seeing Dad with mum. The producer came into break up the family celebration and hurried the girls out to the stage door.

The lights dipped, and then came up again, and they sang the encore of their circus song. Gladys knew that the would be singing this tune over and over and over again during the coming weeks. The chiX were on their way to final of the Eurovision Song Contest – in Istanbul.

Text Copyright Hugh Fraser 2009

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Gladys has been the brains and the driving force behind the girl band, the chiX which features her three older sisters. Laura, the lead singer, has walked out, but she’s finding that her solo career is not going well. The chiX have entered for the first round of the Eurovision Song Contest, to see if they can be chosen to represent Britain. But can Gladys persuade Laura to rejoin the band?

Catch up with earlier episodes.

1. Gladys and the chiX
2. Gladys the Music Maker
3. Gladys and the Ghost Girl
4. Gladys and the Big Gig
5. The chiX Split
6. Gladys and the Solo Sister

Read by Natasha. Story by Bertie (with lots of inspiration from Natasha). Duration 13.53 min. Picture of Arny, the manager of the chiX for Storynory by Tania Fernandes

Gladys and the chiX Reunited
It was the physical education lesson at school. Gladys was jogging around the football pitch. She wasn’t a very fast runner, and as she went she thought about what sort of song would have the best chance of winning the Eurovision song contest. “People from all over Europe have got to like it,” she thought to herself. “Including all these countries in the Eastern part, like Latvia, Estonia, Albania, Romania…. there are loads of theme ..and all of them vote for the winner. .. I wonder what they will like…. I need some ideas for some words.”

After school finished, Gladys stayed late for a piano lesson. Her teacher was from Estonia. She was extremely beautiful and rather serious. Gladys and she got on well together. When it was time to go home, Gladys asked her:

“Maria, what do you miss most about Estonia?”

And Maria put her music sheets in her bag and said:

“I miss the sound of music students practicing their scales. I miss running and hiding from the rain in the door of the conservatory. I miss the smell of the lilac trees in spring. ”

And although Gladys thought that Maria’s answer was very romantic and poetic, she didn’t give her an idea for a pop song. So she said:

“But in general, what do people in Eastern Europe really like ?”

“Ah, well everybody is different, but in general we like like music, we like art, we likes science, we like laughter, we like cry a bit, we like the theatre, we like the Circus”.

“Thank you,” said Gladys, “That really helps me with something I’m doing.” Because now she had her idea for a song. “Yes, she thought,” everybody likes the Circus….the Russian circus comes to London every year so it’s a real east european thing – and the chiX can have some great circus costumes and dance moves – that’s it, we’ll do a circus song.”

An so when she got home she went up to her room and started to think of all her favourite circus acts and to work them into the words of a song.

You taught me to fly and to swoop to your arms;
And though I soared high I came to no harm;

You sawed me in half and you pulled me apart
And though I really laughed, you had broken my heart,

You stood me quite still and you threw straight your knives
And though you didn’t kill, you used eight of my lives,

You rattled my cage and you cracked your whip
And though I really raged, I only bit my lip.

You set up a hoop, and I jumped through fire,
And though you were cool, you lit up my desire

You stretched a high wire, and you made me walk,
And though said you were a flyer, It was only talk.

You threw custard pies, and you made funny sounds,
And though I loved your lies, you were only clowning around

Her song was coming along nicely. But she still had to persuade her sister Laura to rejoin the chiX. Laura was into indie music these days, and Gladys wondered if she would be too proud to take part in the Eurovision which after all, everyone knows is a bit naff.
And to tell you the truth, Laura was still in quite a strange mood. She spent a lot of time on her own, and wasn’t talking to her sisters very much at all. Gladys went to see her in her room. She found her lying on her bed reading a magazine about celebrities.

“Laura,” she said, “Have you ever heard of anything so naff that it’s cool?”

And Laura said:

“I suppose like a TV programme that we all watched when we were kids 10 years ago. When you see it now it’s kind of naff cos it’s so out of date, but it’s kind of cool at the same time… or come to think of it Gladys, sensible shoes and glasses can be a bit naff, but cool at the same time because it’s a look that you’ve made your own.”

And Gladys thought that was an interesting answer, because up until then, nobody had ever suggested that her shoes and glasses might be cool. She thought she might just have a chance of winning Laura over, so she came to the point:

“What about taking part in the Eurovision. Is that so naff that it’s cool?’

“Well,” said Laura,” sitting up now and looking more interested, “I suppose winning anything is cool. And getting no points is kind of cool. But on the other hand, coming fourteenth just behind Belgium is pretty naff.”

“But is it a risk worth taking? I mean, if the chiX were in the Eurovision, would you like to sing for us? ”

And Laura said something that surprised Gladys very much. And what she said was this:

“Gladdy, if you were organising it, I would go for it, because you’re a smart girl Gladdy. I meant it. If I’ve learned anything recently, it’s that you got the brains not just for homework and that kind of school stuff, but for life.”

And Gladys felt wonderful. Because not only were the chiX back in business, but her sister really appreciated her.

The chiX worked hard to get their act into shape. Their aim was to get on the national TV show, and then to be picked as the British entry in the competition.
Just three weeks later they took part in an audition to see if they were good enough to go on the the show.

The auditions were held in a fringe theatre space in Islington. The chiX travelled across London by train and Underground, and then spent twenty minutes wandering around in the rain trying to find the venue. They were a bit bedraggled by the time they arrived, but none of the sisters complained to Gladys.

Four judges sat in the front row of the darkened theatre. The chix performed their song with just a pianist for backing. . They sang their words and did their circus moves but as Gladys watched from the side wings, she could see that the routine was still a bit ragged. At the end of the song, Laura and Mandy bowed and Sam curtsied. They smiled because that’s what Gladys had told them to do – but she could see it was a bit forced.

One of the judge’s was the TV programme’s producer. She asked the only questions:

“So why do you want to represent Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest?”

Mandy and Sam carried on smiling, but clearly could not think of an answer. “Because the chiX the best,” said Laura.

“Thank you,” said the producer, “We’ll let your manager know.”

And that was it. The audition was over.

In the changing room, Sam aid: “That was easily the scariest thing we ever did.”

“Wasn’t it just?” said Mandy. “Just four people staring at you. I mean, I felt like I was walking naked down the street.”

“But hey,” said Laura, “Performing in front of 50 million people wont be scary at all.”

Gladys wasn’t at all sure that they girls had passed the audition, but their manager, Arny, told her not to worry. It was just a formality, he said.

And so the girls kept on practicing their act. Arny brought in new backing musicians. They tried out different costumes. The choreographer worked on their routine. A special effect man came in to work on stage smoke, and fiery hoops.

And when they did get the invitation to take part on the TV show, they were feeling ready to go.

Gladys called Arny and said:

“I want the chiX to arrive at the television centre felling like they are on top of the world. I hope you don’t think this is a bit cheeky, but do you think you could get a taxi?”

And Arny said:

“Right-oh Gladdy. The sisters have been good girls recently. Working really hard. It’s time for the red carpet.”

And on the day of the show, the chix travelled to the TV centre in Arny’s stretch limo.

They were met in reception by a young TV producer who led them through security and along the corridors past the doors to the big TV studios. They went into stage Five which was a big room with lights and TV cameras, and technicians plugging in cables, and she led them round the side and to the back and down another corridor to their changing room.

Text Copyright Hugh Fraser 2009-

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If you have been following our stories about Gladys, you’ll know that her three sisters are in a girl band – but although Gladys is younger, and not a performing member, she is the brains behind the band. In the last episode, Laura, who is the lead singer, has walked out. Gladys has promised their manger, Arny, that she will persuade her to return soon so that they can continue working hard to get to the top.

Read by Natasha. Story by Bertie (with lots of inspiration from Natasha). Picture of Laura the Solo Sister for Storynory by Tania Fernandes

After Laura walked out of the band, it was almost as if she had left the family too. She still lived with her sisters and their dad in the same house, but she came in out very quickly and spent a lot of time on her own in her room. Music that was louder and stranger than before blared out from under her door. Ever since she had met Ming, her new boyfriend, her taste had changed a good deal. She listened to what she called “real” music. Many of bands she liked were “unsigned”, which meant they didn’t yet have contracts with recording companies and you could download their music off the web for free. Often they sounded like they were playing in an echoing garage, and in some cases, they probably were. Her favourite came from Newcastle and was called The Droopies. Their lead singer was a girl, and Gladys had to admit that she had a beautiful voice that soared over the thrashing guitar cords – but she couldn’t catch more than an odd word from the lyrics.

Laura was plugged into her iPod while she ate her breakfast standing up by the toaster. Although she still traveled to school with the others, she didn’t join in their conversations. Often she would strut out in front of her sisters as they walked along the pavement. She wore a look of strong concentration on her face. Gladys thought she looked to old and too beautiful to be wearing school uniform, and no doubt Laura thought so too.

In a way, it was a relief for Gladys to put the chiX’s ambitions on hold. She no longer felt tired, because they didn’t have to to get up at 6 Am for rehearsals. She had time to catch up on her school project. She started reading books again. Her sisters were less weary and less grumpy too. Even Sam started being quite nice to her.

But it also seemed that everything was a little bit, well, hanging in the air. The chiX had split, but Gladys had promised Arny their manager that they would soon be back together again. Whenever she thought about Arny, she felt guilty, because he had believed in Gladys and the chiX and she didn’t want to let him down.

One Friday evening she went to see Laura in her room to talk to her about it:

“Look Laura, don’t you see? we owe it to Arny to get back together.”

Laura was busy looking in the mirror and applying her smudgy eye shadow before going out with Ming. She said:

“Don’t bother about Arny. He’s a businessman. He was planning to rip us off one day anyway.”

Gladys thought that was unfair, because Arny had only helped them. But she knew her sister, and understood that there was no point in trying to persuade her to do anything. She thought that she ought to ring Arny and say that she was sorry, there was no chance of the chiX getting back together – but some how she couldn’t quite bring herself to make the call.

On Saturday evening, Gladys, Mandy and Sam watched a talent contest on Television. It seemed like the biggest show on TV at the moment – but the girls thought that most of the acts weren’t bad – they were just boring. When a singer came on, Sam commented:

“Core, she hasn’t even shaved her armpits”.

and Mandy said:

“I really think the chiX could have made it.”

“Sure” said Sam, “We were much better than anyone on this show.”

“No we weren’t,” said Gladys. “Because we didn’t stick at it.”

And they turned off the television because it was all too depressing. Gladys and Sam went to bed early. Only Mandy stayed up until Laura got home.

On Sunday morning, when Gladys was doing her homework, Mandy knocked on her door softly and came in.

“Guess what,” she whispered. “Laura came home in a right temper last night. She was banging around the kitchen. I think she’s split up with Ming.’

And Gladys said:

“Well he lasted longer than most. They’ve been going out for almost five weeks.”

And although Laura didn’t say anything about it, they could tell from her mood than Ming hand dumped her, because when she dumped her boyfriends she was usually in the best of tempers, but now she looked not sad, but furious, and she even shouted at Dad, which nobody ever did, because Dad was one of easiest-going Dads that you could imagine.

The next weekend Laura went out on her own, and when she came back she plugged her iPod onto Dad’s stereo in the living room so that her sisters could hear it play. This was quite unusual, because normally she listened to music on her own.

It was a very thin sound: mostly drums and base with the occasional guitar cord. Then a girl’s voice sang:

“I’m me, I got to be, oh so free, because you see, I’m only me, so don’t go telling nothing to me.

Occasionally her voice was turned into a chorus so it sounded like several people singing at once, but the lyrics repeated over and over again.

The girls recognised the voice. It was Laura’s. When the track finished the girls were silent. Eventually Laura said:

“Alright, I know it’s pants. Don’t tell me what I know. I’m not stupid.”

And she went up to her room.

On Monday, when Gladys came out of School, Arnold Lane was waiting for her in his limousine. He opened the door and said,

“Hop in Gladdy. I’ll give you a lift home:

Gladys asked him to wait. She rang her Dad to say that Arnie was giving her a lift – only her dad didn’t answer, so she called Mandy instead because she understood that was really important that somebody always knew what she was doing and who she was with.

When she had told Mandy that she was getting a lift with Arny, she got into his car.
It was huge in the back – almost like a living room. He had a opened a little fridge and said,

“Well girl, what can I offer you ? Something Fizzy? Cola? Tropical Smoothie more your style?

“Yes please,” said Gladys.

“How’s Sister Solo getting on?” he asked. Gladys was used to his strange way of talking. She understood that he meant Laura.

“Terrible,” she said.

“Thought so. Well see if this gets her running and skipping back. I’ve entered the chiX for the first round of the Eurovision song contest. You girls are going to be on TV in six week’s time. So you’d better get practicing.”

“Oh dear,” said Gladys. “I don’t think Laura will like that. She’s into indie music these days.”

Arny chuckled. “No body’s acutely into Euro pop. Well perhaps they are in Bratislava, I don’t know because I’ve not been there. But no body’s into it here. But everyone loves it all the same. Tell her it’s all in the spirit of Post Modern Irony.”

“Post what did you ma call it?”

“Ok. Well don’t tell her that. Tell her it’s so un-cool that it’s super, ultra cool. She’ll get it. ”

And Gladys thought that Laura probably wouldn’t get it, but she promised Arny that she would tell her that all the same.”

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We continue our story about a girl called Gladys and her three older sisters who are in a girl band called the chiX. You can catch up with the earlier stories here.

The chiX have to get up at 6 am every morning to practice. They are becoming tired and grumpy, and Laura has a new influence in her life. It’s becoming hard to hold the band together .

Read by Natasha. Written by Bertie. Duration 11.13. Picture by Tania.

The day after their first concert, the girls were in a much better mood. As they were going on the bus to the shopping centre, Laura commented:

“I think we were alright really.’

“Not bad for our first gig,” agreed Sam.

Gladys felt cross, because the girls hadn’t been saying that the night before. Then they had claimed that it had been a disaster and it was all her fault. Mandy saw her frown:

“Cheer up Gladdy. We’re sorry we gave you the grots yesterday. You did a great job.”

“Yeah, we were just stressed out with ourselves really,” added Laura, “Because we set such high standards for the chiX. We only want to give the public our best.’

And Gladys felt better because she wanted the chiX to give their best too. In fact, when they arrived at the shopping centre, the girls were feeling much happier, as if they already had a light sprinkling of star-dust. They treated themselves to posh ice creams in tubs. They sat on a bench to eat them, and a couple of guys came along with ice creams too, and sat near by. They both wore mod hair cuts with long sideboards.

Mandy whispered, “Hey, didn’t we meet those dudes at Em’s Party last week?” and Laura nodded, because they had.

One of them came over and said, “Hello again. Remember us? I know this is a bit sudden like, but I’ve got two tickets to see The Snouts tonight. My friend here is otherwise engaged. I wondered if one of you girls would do me the honour?”

Sam said, “Sure I’ll come with you,” but his eyes were looking out from under his fringe straight at Laura. She checked her mobile phone, as if she hadn’t heard him, before saying, “Alright. But I’m only coming for the music. We’re a musicians you see. I’ve got a professional interest.”

“Alright,” he said. And they agreed to meet that evening.

The next day Laura said the concert was “great” and that the chiX could learn a lot from The Snouts.

On Monday, the chiX manager, Arny, called up Gladys and said that the girls had made a good start, but the hard work was only beginning. They needed to build up an act with more songs in it, and to do as many gigs as possible to get “broken in.” As the chiX were back at school, they had to get up at six in the morning for rehearsals. The last time they had seen such an early hour was when they were flying to Ibitha – and then they had got to the airport late and missed the plane.

Gladys sat up late writing songs, and then woke up early to get the girls out of bed. It was a very tired and grumpy girl band that met the backing musicians at 7.30 in the rehearsal room.

By the end of the week they were able to dance and sing to two new songs almost without thinking. But their mood was terrible.

On Saturday Laura went shopping on her own. When she came back she showed the girls her new outfit. She had bought new skinny jeans and an off the shoulder t-shirt with a large hipster belt.

“Core, check out the indie chick,” said Sam.

“Well if the chiX are serious we can’t go around looking like a bunch of chavs, ” said Laura. “We need style.” And that night she went out to another concert with the same guy as before. His name was Ming.

The following Monday, when Gladys tried to wake up the girls, they went on strike and refused to get up. Gladys had to ring Arny and apologise.

“I think we’re pushing them too hard,” she said. And Arny agreed to give them Tuesday off as well. But he told her that they had to make to the rehearsal on Wednesday because a journalist was coming to see them.

Gladys felt tiered and bit low too. She began to wonder, even if the chiX did make it, would it be worth while. She sat down and began to write a song.

Hoow were we supposed to know

Our dreams were made of silver lining?

Finding out, was meant to be

That this is where are sun is shining

Holding on and living strong

This is where we belong

On Wednesday Gladys felt much better but Laura still looked tiered at the rehearsal. Then Gladys realised that she had changed her make-up and had a dark smokey eyeliner look. And she had also tasseled her hair. The girls read Gladdy’s new song. Normally they didn’t comment much, but this time Laura said:

“I don’t think we should be doing this girly kind of stuff Gladdy.”

And Gladys asked her what she meant.

“Well I mean, this girl band thing is a kind of naff. Can’t you come up with something original and different?”

“You mean to impress Ming?” asked Gladys.

“What’s Ming got to do with anything? I mean like, we want people to take us seriously don’t we? We don’t want to be another fizzy pop and bubble gum group do we? Like, the chiX are better than that aren’t they?”

Gladys felt totally frustrated. She looked around the room at the empty tea mugs, the electric cables strewn all over the floor, and the bored looking backing musicians. She thought that she should be just getting up out of bed and cleaning her teeth at this time. She recalled that she was behind with her school project. She hadn’t had time to read a book for weeks. She wondered if it was all worth while.

Mandy said, “Come on. It’s a bit early for a heavy discussion.”

And Sam said, “I thought we were a girl band”

And Gladys said: “Exactly. Don’t try to be something you’re not.”

“Well you’re not a true artist,” said Laura. And she picked up her bag and stomped towards the door of the rehearsal room. Before going out she turned round and said: “In case you have’t realised yet, I quit” and she slammed the door.

The girls were stunned. The backing musicians were smirking. Eventually Gladys said, “We’ll talk her round. Come on, let’s go through the song. ” And they did their best. But it wasn’t the same without Laura.

They forgot all about the journalist. They didn’t know that he had met Laura in the corridor. They only knew about the article the following Monday when Arny rang Gladys and asked, “What’s all this nonsense about the chiX splitting?” And he read out the article to Gladys.

chiX Split

Newbie Girlband the chiX has split almost before starting. Heavily touted by top manger Arnold Layne, the chiX seemed set to for a mega-bucks record signing. Lead singer Laura Cooper said, “I have left the chiX after creative differences with my younger sister Gladys. It was fun while it lasted. Now I just want to get on with my solo career.”

“Are you cross?” asked Gladys.

“Not really” said Arnie. “All publicity is good publicity. A short piece at the bottom of Page 25 is not bad for a band that’s only done one gig. Now get Laura back in the band, and we’ll start all over next week.”

And Gladys thought that might work well in the tabloids, but even in reality, would Laura come back? And did she want her to?

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Our girl band, the chiX have a new manager – and he starts to work them hard. They have to get up early and rehearse every day for a week to get ready for their first big concert. Gladys, the youngest sister, and the brains of the family is always in touch with Arny the Manager and making things happen – but when the chiX aren’t happy, they blame Gladys.

You can catch the earlier episodes of the chiX here (latest stories at the top, earliest down the page).

Read by Natasha. Story by Bertie (with lots of inspiration from Natasha). Duration 14.45 min. Picture of Gladys and the chiX on stage for Storynory by Tania Fernandes

The chiX new manager was called Arny Layne and he liked to chomp cigars and talk about all the singers who had become “monster rich” just because of him. He started to ring their house quite often. The first time he called, Sam picked up the phone:

“Yeah,” she said.

“Arnold Lane here. Get me the Song Sister will you darling.”

“Which sis would that be bro?” asked Sam. “We’re all song sisters here.”

“What’s her name. Gladdy, the girl with the golden brain. That’s the one. Give Sister Glad a shout for me will you now my love?”

Sam couldn’t think for the life of her why the manager would want to speak to her younger sister, but he did talk to her for quite a while. She could hear Gladys saying, “Yes, that would probably be fine…. . Right…. We’ll be on for that. Cool. Thanks Arny.”

And when the elder sisters demanded to know exactly what they would be “on for” Gladdys replied, “The chiX are going to start gigging.” And she was surprised about how suprised her sisters looked. Sam said: “You mean like singing… live… in front of an audience”.

Gladys said yes, that’s what being in a band was all about. For the first time, she was relieved that she wasn’t actually a performing member of the band. She could see that Sam had stage fright, and she realised that it would be quite scary to perform in front of a real audience.

“Well cheers for telling us about it,” said Laura. “When you and Arny have finished planning our futures just let us know, because I might be washing my hair that .”

“Well it’s sing or die,” said Gladys. “Because if you can’t do this you might as well give up now.”

And the girls knew that she was right.

For the next few weeks, Arny was often on the phone asking for Gladys. In fact, after a while he sent her a mobile phone so that he could catch her during playtime at school. It was against the school rules to use a phone, and Gladys had to go into the bike sheds so as not to get caught.

Arny said that normally a new band would “play the circuit” which meant pubs and clubs in London. But as the girls were so young, the circuit might not do for them. So Arny booked the girls into a big charity event were bands would be playing to raise money for good causes. It was going to be in a posh hotel in London, and the girls would have to do just one song, and make it a good one.

It was half term at school. Arny booked a rehearsal room. On Monday, the chiX had to be there at 9AM because the room was cheaper in the mornings. Gladys was up at quarter to seven. She tried to get her sisters out of bed, but it wasn’t easy. They got to the rehearsal at 11.15.

When they came into the room, they saw their backing musicians sitting around drinking mugs of tea.

“Core, they really made an effort,” said Laura. She meant that only one of four men had bothered to get shaved.

Gladys handed out song sheets to the musicians. They picked up their instruments, and they got the tune almost right away. They were playing together right on the beat. They were professionals you see.

But the sisters found it really hard to sing in tune.

“Core, my voice is a bit croaky this morning,” said Laura.

“I can’t hear myself,” complained Mandy – because it really wasn’t that easy singing along to a live band.

After a while they weren’t sounding too bad, but when they tried dancing they went completely out of tune again.

“Well what are you smirking at?” said Laura to the Drummer, “If you think it’s so easy, you come up hear and try to sing and dance at the same time.”

The drummer didn’t reply. He just did a little role on his drums, and Laura felt better because she had told somebody off.

At 12.00 they had to pack up and leave the rehearsal room because it had been booked by brass band. That evening Arny rang to give Gladys a big ticking off for not getting the girls there on time. She promised to try harder the next day.

On Tuesday, they managed to get there by ten past ten, but most of the morning was taken up trying on costumes. The designer decided to dress them in shimmering silver to contrast with their sun tans.

On Wednesday the choreographer showed them a new dance routine.

On Thursday they had to practice singing and dancing at the same time again.

And on Friday they tried dancing and singing while wearing high platform shoes. Arny came to see them. His verdict was :

“Lovely Jubly.”

On Saturday afternoon they took the train up to London to get ready for that evening’s Big Gig. The girls were cross with Gladys because she hadn’t arranged a stretch limo for them.

Sam said: “Look at the state of this carriage. How are we supposed to work up star quality when have to sit ankle deep in yesterday’s newspapers, half-eaten sandwiches, and coffee cups?”

Gladys replied that artists have to stay in touch with The People no matter how big stars they become.

The four girls squeezed into a black cab at Waterloo station. On the way to the hotel, Arny called on Gladys’s mobile: “Where are you?” he asked crossly. “Almost there,” replied Gladys.

The journey to the hotel cost £12 which Gladys paid out of her pocket money.

When the girls arrived in the banqueting room, a boy band was practicing its act. The lead singer had shiny blond hair and big blue eyes with long lashes. Laura said: “Core he’s so pretty he should be in the chiX.”

“Yeah, they’re so useless they’ll make us look good,” added Sam.

Arny was looking at his watch. “Well glad you made it girls,” he said. “Cos a top talent spotter from the recording company is going to be here to night, and he’s on the look out for young acts.”

“Great,” said Gladys.

But the girls weren’t at all pleased. In the dressing room Mandy said to Gladys: “Don’t you think it’s a little early for the recording companies to be watching us? This is our first time in public.”

“Yeah Glady,” said Laura. “I feel really stressed out now.”

Gladys tried to explain that she hadn’t arranged for the record company to come and see them, but because she was the one who was in touch with Arny, the girls thought it was all her fault.

“Thanks Gladdy,” said Sam, “You’ve probably ruined our big chance.”

It was time for the chiX and to do a sound test, when they ran through their song on stage and the sound engineer made sure that the microphones and amplifiers were all set at the right levels. Laura complained that she couldn’t hear herself, Sam said that the drummer was being too fancy with his rolls, and Mandy accused the lead guitarist of showing off. Gladys knew that they were being difficult because they were nervous.

Then they got changed into their silver costumes and platform shoes. And the make-up artist came round and did their faces. And the stylist arranged their hair. And for the first time the girls began to feel just a little bit like stars. Then they waited. And they waited. And then the guests start to arrive, and the evening was under way.

The boy band was due on just before them. They were called “The Throbinsons”, which all the girls thought was a really naff name. Mandy knocked on their dressing room door and wished them luck. The lead singer kissed her on the cheek, but she was too embarrassed to tell the other girls about that. When she got back she said that they didn’t look quite so perfect close up, and that they were clammy and had spots just like ordinary boys.

But the audience liked them. They could hear people whooping while they were singing their song about their broken hearted love for a brown-eyed girl. At the end of the song the cheering and applause was so loud thatthe boys went back for a brief encore of their chorus.

The boys success just felt the girls feel more nervous.

“I bet the record label signs them and not us,”said Sam. “And it’s all your fault Gladys. You should have made sure that the band on before us was really, really bad.”

Gladys watched the chiX from the side of the stage while they performed. She thought they were pretty good. If you knew their act really well, you might have noticed one or two tiny little slips with the dance steps, but on the whole they were great. The audience gave them lots of applause, though perhaps not quite so much as they had given the boys. Arny texted her to say “Nice One” and Gladys felt really proud of her sisters.

But when the chiX came back of the stage they were in a terrible mood.

“We were awful,” said Laura

“Totally stank,” said Mandy.

“Pants,” said Sam

“No you weren’t you were great,” said Gladys.

But the girls were furious with her. It was all her fault. She should have got them a limo to the hotel. She should have given them more time to rehearse on the day. She should have got them better backing musicians. She should have made sure they were on after a really bad act. And she should have made sure that there wasn’t a talent scout from the record label within a million miles of their very first performance because they might only ever get one chance to show him what they could really do.

Gladys fought back the tears. She knew they were being unfair, but she was too upset to answer back. She went out into the corridor. By the stage door she met Arny. He was talking to a man she didn’t know.

“Gladdy, Meet Josh from Big Records,” said Arny. “And Josh, meet Gladys, my right hand girl, and the brains behind the chiX.

“You look like you’ve been crying,” said Josh. “I hope they were tears of joy.”

But Gladys said that the girls were blaming her because they messed up their act.

“Well I’ve seen worse,” said Josh.

“And what about the Boy Band?” asked Gladys

“Oh, don’t make me puke” said Josh. “Come off it. The Throbinsons. Don’t they realise how naff that name is. Now the chiX. That kind of suits you. Cool name.”

“I thought of it,” said Gladys. And she felt more cheerful. Then Josh gave her his card and said to call him next time the chiX were doing a gig. He wanted to follow their progress.

Arny called a mini-cab to take the girls all the way back home to Teddington. It wasn’t a stretch limo, but it did have leather seats. When they came through the door to their house, Dad met them and asked how the Big Gig had gone.

“Great,” said Mandy.

“That’s my girls,” said Dad.

And they all went to straight to bed, because although they had only been on stage for three and half minutes, they all felt incredibly tiered.

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This is the third part of our story about girl called Gladys and her three older sisters who are in a girl-band called the chiX. If you heard Part One and Part Two you’ll know that Gladys isn’t in the band because she’s too young, but actually she’s the brainy sister, and she writes the songs.

In this episode, Gladys has some a important things to say – but nobody is listening – and she starts to wonder if she might as well be a ghost-girl.

Read by Natasha. Story by Bertie (with lots of inspiration from Natasha). Duration 16.14 min. Picture of the chiX at the bus stop for Storynory by Tania Fernandes

It was Saturday afternoon, and Gladys’s three older sisters were just finishing their breakfast.

“What shall we do for the rest of the day?” asked Sam in a half-asleep voice.

“You mean what’s left of it,” said Gladys who had been up for hours, but her sisters didn’t seem to hear her.

An hour later, when they had finished getting dressed and putting on their make-up, the girls went out of the front door and started to shamble along the pavement towards the bus stop. Gladys came too, not because she dying to go with them, but because she was too young to be left in the house alone. Well that’s what their Dad said anyway. They hadn’t decided where to go, but they took the bus into the shopping centre just out of habit. There, they wondered along looking through windows at designer gear, and making comments about some of the other shoppers like: ‘Core, he thinks he’s a dude,” and “She looks she just got out of bed,” which Gladys thought was a bit rich, considering how long her sisters had been awake.

They ended up in a new store called The Place. It was a sort of warehouse with cheep copies of expensive designer clothes. Mandy, Laura and Sam were in fashion heaven.
Gladys thought that one top with a hoodie looked much like another. She was listening to the piped music and wondering if she could write better songs than the ones they were playing. The shop had its own in-house radio station with its own DJ, and Gladys thought she recognised his voice. Yes, she was sure of it. It was Kevin, the engineer who had recorded their first demo song in the studio.

“Hey girls, do you know who that is?” she asked, but none of her sisters took any notice of her.

Then the shop DJ said, “And don’t forget, The Place is where you heard them first. They’re cute, they’re hot, they’re all shiny and new – they are The chiX !!!. And he began to play in the song which he had recorded for them.

[We play in the chiX song]

Gladys started to jump up and down. “Hey, Listen, Listen”….. she said. But the girls were engrossed in t-shirts and trousers. Then suddenly Mandy came out of her fashion dream and said:

“Hey whad-do-ya-know, that’s us.”

and Laura said :

“We’ve made it.”

And Sam said

“Yeaaaah !!!!!”

And Gladys said, “I was trying to tell you, It’s Kevin. He’s working as the DJ for the shop.”

But the girls weren’t interested in what Gladys said. They were too busy grooving around and lip-sinking the words. Some of the other shoppers were staring at them – but that only made the girls go for it even more – because this was their first live performance before an audience.

“You see, that’s our song,” said Gladys to the bemused shop assistant, a young girl on her Saturday job: ” I wrote it and they sung it.” But the girl just carried on folding the jeans that the shoppers had taken off the hangers, and then left strewn all over the place.

The girls tripped out of the shops still singing, and they danced all the way back to the bus stop, and kept on dancing until the Number 11 arrived. People thought that they were well, just a bit bonkers, but the girls didn’t care because they were so happy. And their good mood lasted all weekend.

On Monday during school lunch, Gladys told her best friends Ethel and Judith all about what had happened. And when she had finished, Ethel said: “So your sisters really think they’re famous? I know. Let’s play a joke on them. We’ll start sending them fan mail. ”

And although Gladys didn’t think the idea was that funny, Judith thought it was hilarious, and she and Ethel spent the rest of the lunch break writing letters like.

“Dear ChiX we were out shopping for our undies in The Place and we heard your song. Now we really love you and will always buy all your records. ” They wrote 20 of them, and Ethel said that her mum had loads of second class stamps left over from Christmas, and she would post one a day for the next 20 days.

The next day, the first letter arrived. Sam opened it and she screamed,

“Oh Yeah, A-hu. .. We got fan mail !”

And Laura said, “Ged off it…. Hey it’s true.”

And Mandy said, “Now things are getting serious.”

And Gladys said,

“It’s just some kids playing a silly joke on you,” but nobody seemed to hear her. So she thought to herself, “Well let them think they’ve got fans if that makes them happy.” But she did begin to wonder if anyone ever heard a word she said.

The next day, as she was leaving school, she found herself walking down the corridor next to Peter Peterson. She began to tell him the story about her sisters making a record and how they heard played in the shop and now they were convinced that they were big stars. Peter Peterson nodded as she spoke. His blue eyes kept pointing forward and he didn’t turn to look at her. He was quite tall for his age, and very good looking. In fact, he could have been a star himself. Just after they had gone through the door of the school he caught site of Jemma James, and said, “Hey Jemma, are you coming to my birthday party?” And Gladys realised that he hadn’t been listening to a word she had said.

That evening, after she had done her homework, she stayed sitting at her desk and started to write the words to a song. They went:

Always, when I’m near you
You don’t see me
Because I’m a ghost girl
See-through !

Sometimes, when I hear you,
You don’t hear me
Because I’m a ghost girl
It’s true!

Often, when I touch you,
you don’t feel me
because I’m a ghost girl
For you !

That’s as far as she got with the lyrics that evening, but she thought they might make a full song one day, and she put them back into her drawer.

The fan mail continued to arrive, and her sisters weren’t quite so excited any more when the post arrived. Some post got left on the side table for days. One evening dad opened a large buff envelope, took out the letter and said,

“You better take a look at this Mandy. It’s a long boring letter addressed to you.”

And Mandy looked at the contents and saw that the document inside was entitled : “Draft Contract.’ And then she began to read the letter, and when she had finished she said very calmly :

“A tip top manager heard our demo. He things we’re the bee’s knees and he wants to sign us up pronto.”

And Laura said,

“Like, you mean he wants to be the chiX manager and everything.’

and Mandy said

“Yeah. Like he’s best mates with all the recording companies. He thinks he can get us a record deal and take us to number one!”

And the three older sisters started hugging and kissing each other and jumping up and down and crying with joy. But Gladys picked up the contract and said to Dad: “Don’t you think we ought to get a lawyer to read this?” and Dad said, “You’re not in trouble with the law are you Gladdy?” And Gladys thought that she had better take the contract to her room and read it because nobody else was going to. It took her a long time to understand it properly because there were lots of long and unusual words that she had to look up in dictionary and on the internet, but when she got to the end she had found several things that she thought were more than a bit dodgy like:

“This agreement is binding for a term of 99 years” which she thought was an awfully long time, and “90 per cent of all the royalties shall retained by the manager.” Gladys looked up “royalties” and saw that it mean the money that the chiX might make from their records. She thought that 90 per cent – or 90 out of ever 100 pounds – was rather a lot for the manager to keep.

She went down stairs and said. “This contract is all a con.”   She didn’t really expect anybody to hear her, but Sam did, and she said : “You’re just saying that because your jealous and you want to spoil the  only good thing that ever happened to this family.”  And Gladys sighed and went to bed.

The chiX went to see the manager a week later.  At his office, the walls to the reception room were covered in gold disks.   On the side table there was a gold bust of the man himself smoking a big fat cigar.   Gladys had to wait in this room while the girls went into the meeting room to see him.

The manager told them how his friend Kevin the sound engineer did some talent spotting for him.  He had sent him the chiX demo and their photograph and he thought that they had a chance of making it – so long as they had the right manager.

“Now I’m not saying that the manager has to be me, but I am saying it could be me,  and I don’t want to sound like I’m boasting, but there’s nobody better than me, so girls here’s where you sign.”

And they all signed.

And the manager took a magnifying glass out of his drawer and inspected their signatures.

“And where’s the song writer?” he asked.

“The who writer?” asked Laura?

“The song sister,” he said.  “What’s her name?   Gladys.  Here it’s on the the lyrics.”   And he show her a scrap of paper that Kevin had sent him.  It was the Lyrics to their song and at the bottom it was signed with Gladys’s name.

The girls were a bit embarrassed to show their little sister to the big swanky manager.  After all, not only was she practically a baby, but she wore glasses and had braces on her teeth.  But they had no choice but to call her in.   Gladys climbed up onto a swivel chair.  The manager said, “Now love, sign here.”  And Gladys said:

“Shan’t.”

And Sam said,

“You’d better, or we’ll kill you.”

and Laura said

“Sign or we’ll never forgive you for the rest of our lives”

And Gladys began to cry.  The manager’s assistant had to shoo the girls back out into the waiting room.   While they were outside, the manager called Kevin  and asked him about the little girl with braces and a pony tales.

“Yes, she’s the brains,”  said Kevin.   “The others are the lookers, but they don’t know much about singing or music or anything much really.  They just look = well fantastic – but the little one with the braces and the pony tales – don’t be fooled by her looks – she’s the real talent.”

In the waiting room, Laura and Sam were saying that they  didn’t need Gladys because they could easily find another song writer.

“Yes, you’re out, ” said Sam.  “You were never in the band anyway, but now you’re even more out than before. ”

And Mandy said:

“Well if Gladys is out, I’m out.  Because after all, she is our sister and we’re family.  We’d better stop fighting and stick together or we’ll get nowhere.”

And at first Gladys didn’t actually hear what Mandy had said.  It was only when Mandy sat down next to her and asked her to show her what was wrong with the contract that she began to understand that somebody was actually listening to her.

And when the girls went back into the room Mandy said to the Manager.

“Gladys will sign, but only if we keep 90 per cent and you keep 10.”

And the manager said:  “How about about 80-20?”

And Gladys said:

“Done. But we won’t sign until our lawyer has read the small print.”

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If you heard the first part of our Girl Band story, Gladys and the chix, you’ll know that Gladys has three sisters who have formed a band and want to be famous. Gladys isn’t in the band because they say that she’s too young and too Geeky. But she thinks that her sisters need her, because she’s the brainiest.

Read by Natasha. Story by Bertie (with lots of inspiration from Natasha). Duration 12 min. Picture of Laura for Storynory by Tania Fernandes

This is a very special story because Natasha not only tells it, but sings too !

One Saturday morning, Mandy and Laura were sitting around the kitchen table drinking coffee and having an argument. Mandy thought that she ought to be the leader of the chiX, because she was the oldest, and more importantly, she was best at getting things organised. Laura thought that she should be the leader because she had friends in the music business.

“Kevin isn’t in the music business,’ said Mandy. “He’s just a loser who sweeps up in a recording studio.”

“That’s just like you,” said Laura, “You won’t give anybody any credit unless it’s yourself. Kevin’s a studio producer and a musical whiz-kid.”

“Well just because you met the guy at a bus-stop doesn’t mean that you’re a musical genius too,” said Mandy

“Yeah, but I’ve got contacts. Besides, Kev said I’ve got a great voice,”

“Yeah, but Kev says that to all the girls. Besides, what this band needs is somebody to call the right shots and make the right decisions.”

“Exactly, that’s why I should be leader, ” said Laura, “Because I know more about the music business than you do.”

Mandy pointed out that she was the one who had set up their web page on MySpace, and that Laura had been promising to ask her friend Kev for a recording session at his studio for two weeks now, and she still hadn’t fixed it.

Laura said that was because Kev was super-busy recording lots of big starts, and he was fitting them in for free as a special favour for her. Still, she decided to give him a prompt. She took out her mobile phone and sent him a text message:

“Hey whiz-kid. Got time yet to give three gals a helping hand?”

And Kev texted back

“Sure, next week’s looking good. Come over Tues.”

So the chiX had their first recording session set up for three day’s time. When Gladdy heard. she pointed out that they didn’t have a tune for their song, let alone any backing music.

“That’s kev’s job,” said Laura. “He just presses some buttons on his recording desk and pulls some levers. He’s a genius at that sort of thing. He even made the diamond-girls sound half decent.”

Gladys tried to imagine the chiX turning up at the recording studio and asking Kevin to do everything for them. She thought it sounded a bit unlikely that he would just say, “sure girls, here’s a number one hit single that I just wrote yesterday especially for you.”

“If it was that easy,” she said, “Everyone would be stars,”

“Yeah, but not everyone is mates with Kevin,” said Laura. “Besides, not everyone’s got star quality like the chiX. ‘

After school on Tuesday evening, the girls took the train up to London. Gladys came too, because although she wasn’t in the band, somebody had to look after her as she was still too young to be on her own at home. In fact, Gladys knew that she could look after herself better than the sisters, but that was how things were. When they got to London, they took the underground train to the station called Goodge Street which Laura said was in the swanky part of town. In fact, when they got out it looked pretty grotty to Gladys. Keven’s studio was on the fifth floor of a tall office building. It was about the size of the their bathroom at home. Gladys watched how he kissed all three of her older sisters on both cheeks. He didn’t seem to notice her at all.

‘Well what have you got girls?” asked Kevin. And Laura showed him the words that Gladdy had written.

“Nice,” he said when he had read them. “And what’ the music?”

“A right, ” said Laura, “We were kind of hoping that you’d help us out with that bit. See as you’re such a whiz-kid.”

Kevin blinked. Gladys could see that he was trying not to look too surprised. After a pause he said.

“Right girls. Go behind the sound-proof glass and put some headphones on. I’ll play you some loops, and we’ll see if we can build up a sound just for you.”

Gladys knew that loops were some drum beats and other bits of music that were already recorded on the computer. They were called loops because they went round and round, and when you got to the end of say 30 seconds, they music started at the beginning again.

She had been experimenting with some loops at home , and she had also been recording some music of her own using an electronic keyboard. After she had put the notes onto the computer, she could make them sound like almost any instrument.

Kevin pressed a drum beat.

(music plays)

‘Too grungy,” said Laura through the microphone. “The chiX are kind of a bit funkier than that.”

So Kevin let them here something a bit more polished”

(music plays)

“Not Really” said Mandy. “The chiX are kind of a mix of different musical styles and influences, if you see what I mean.”

“Yeah find us something that’s just right.” said Sam.

And so Kevin looked at the computer and scrolled through a few more tracks till he found one thing thought they might like.

“How about this one girls” he asked?

(music plays)

“Yikes ! Are you sure your mate knows what he’s doing?” asked Mandy to Laura. She didn’t realise that the microphone was switched on and Kevin could hear her. Gladys thought she could see hot steam coming out of his ears.

She said:

“Ah-hum. Kevin. The girls were just shy about saying they’ve got some music. I brought it here on this disk.” And she handed him a CD with the music she had made at home. Of course, the other sisters hadn’t heard it.

Kevin put the CD on the player

(music plays)

The sisters heard the music through their headphones and started to groove around.

“Yeah, that’s more like, it Kev,|” said Laura. “We could do something with that.”

And Gladys smiled to herself. She decided it would be better not to tell them yet that it was her music that they liked.

She started to help Kevin mix in some more music into the track.

“Hey Gladdy, leave Kevin alone and let him get on with his job,” said Mandy. But Kevin replied that he was alright about showing Gladys how his mixing desk worked.

Much later that evening, after quite a few tries, the chiX made the first song of their career. And though they didn’t know it yet, the music was written by Gladys with only a little help from Kevin.

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Introducing Mandy, Laura and Sam – the three members of the latest chart topping girl band – the chiX. This is the story of how it all began, before they were famous.

Oh, but we should not forget the other sister, Gladys. You might not have heard of her before. She’s not in the band because she’s too young and she’s too geeky. But she is the brainiest. And although they others don’t always admit it, they couldn’t have got anywhere without her.

Read by Natasha. Story by Bertie (with lots of inspiration from Natasha). Duration 14 min. Picture of Gladys for Storynory by Tania Fernandes

Have you ever wanted to be lead singer in a band? I mean, have you ever picked up an old cardboard toilet roll, held it to your mouth, and pretended that it was a microphone ?

Or have you ever found yourself tapping out a beat on the kitchen table with a couple of felt tip pens? Or come up with a great new dance in front of the mirror?

I bet you have because almost everyone has. Everyone except Gladys. She had never done anything like that. She was much too clever to mistake a toilet roll for a microphone. But her three older sisters had all done it. Their names were Mandy, Laura and Sam. And all three of them loved dancing. And while they were dancing, they secretly imagined that they were on TV and everyone was watching them. They also dreamed what it would be like to be really, really famous. When they went to school, the kids on the bus would say “Hey girls, you were great on TV last night.” Only they probably wouldn’t go on the bus to school any more. The record company would give them a black stretch limo as long as the street and with dark windows. That’s how they would go around once they were famous.

One Saturday night, all four sisters were squashed together on the couch watching the Eurovision Song contest. If you don’t know what the Eurovision Song Contest is, that’ s probably because you live in Mexico or somewhere twenty time zones away from Europe. In fact Gladys remarked:

“I wish we lived somewhere like Mexico or Alaska, and then we wouldn’t be able to watch this trash.”

But Laura said, “I expect all the Mexicans watch it on the Internet.” And Gladys had to admit that she hadn’t thought of that, because although she was the brainiest, she couldn’t always think of everything.

Just in case you are lucky enough never to have seen the Eurovision Song Contest, I had better tell you about it. It’s when all the worst bands in Europe get together and see who can come up with the corniest, cheesiest, naffest, most annoying tune, and who can dress up in the most ridiculous costume and look the silliest dancing and prancing around on stage. Only the bands taking part don’t always understand it that way. They probably think that they are really it ! And do you know what? 100s of millions of people watch it every year. I’m not kidding. It’s that popular.

It’s true that quite a cool band called Abba once won it. But that was like, 7 zillion years ago. In fact, it was so long ago that Dad was still at school. And nobody cool has ever won it since.

Well Mandy,Laura and Sam liked watching it – There was a Danish Man dressed up as woman, a Norwegian Flamenco dancer. and a rugged Moldovian with blond hair extensions. They were just funny. The only band really worth seeing was from Ukraine. The singers were three beautiful but mean looking girls with straight black hair falling over their white faces..

“You know what?” said Mandy. “I bet we could do that. We could be just as good as them, and be on the Eurovision Song contest. In fact, I bet we could win it.”

“Only the UK never gets any points,” said Gladys.

“So ! We say we’re from Montengro. But what I’m point out, is that they are on telly, and like billions of people are watching them, and we are just as good-looking as they are and can dance just as well as they can.”

“But we can’t sing,” said Gladys.

“Well neither can they,” said Mandy. “Besides, Laura has a great voice. Everyone says so.”

Gladys still thought it was a silly idea so she said:

“But Laura wears a tracksuit and gold bangles, even when she’s going out with her boyfriend. You can’t dress like that if you’re on TV.”

“Well, said Mandy, “When we’re famous, all the top designers will send us free gear, so Laura won’t have to wear a tracksuit unless she feels like it, like when she wants to go shopping and not get noticed by all the fans. Beside, you aren’t in this band, because you’re too young.”

“And too Geeky..” added Laura.

Gladys hadn’t really thought about being in the band, but when they said that she wasn’t in it, she felt well, a bit left out. It wasn’t fair. She could play the piano. If anyone was going to form a band, it ought to be her.

“Well at least I know how to read music, which is more than any of you lot,” she said. “So you’ll have to have me in your band because you won’t know what tune to sing.”

Laura scoffed:

“Ah come off it who’s ever heard of a band that knows how to read music ? We’re not the church choir ! Now go and play computer games like a good little geek while we get ready to be famous.”

“Yeah go on G-laddy,” said Sam, “Stop annoying your older and better sisters. You aren’t in the band anyway, and it’s time to tuck your dollies up in bed.”

It was particularly annoying when Sam spoke like that, because she was born only a year and a half before Gladys, but she looked a lot older, especially when she put on make-up, so somehow people took her more seriously.

“I haven’t got any dollies,” said Gladys as she left the room – “Unlike you darling Samantha – you’ve still got six ! Besides, your band hasn’t even to a name – so it’s not a band at all. Good night.”

On Sunday afternoon, Gladys spent a lot of time on her homework, because she was working on a big project about Ancient Egypt and she had to research the pyramids on the Internet. But her three older sisters watched the music channel on TV and tried to copy some of the dance routines.”

Later that evening, they were still talking about what to call their girl band – because it wasn’t easy to come up with cool name.

“How about The Smith Sisters?” said Mandy. You see, their name was Smith.

“Boring ! ” said Laura.

‘Or The Teddy Girls?” suggested Sam. Because they lived in a place called Teddington.

“Too babyish” said Mandy.

Dad was there for a while. He had go wind of this idea about forming a band – though nobody had actually told him about it. He said : “How about the Rich Girls?” because he was hoping that they would pay for his retirement. But the girls took no notice of him – they never did – so he went out to the front drive to fix his motor bike, which was how he usually spent Sunday Evenings.

While they were talking, Gladys had been trying to imagine a name that both sounded good, and looked good when it was written down – like on a poster or an album cover. When the others went quiet, she said:

“I think “chiX spelt with a small c and a big X because it’s a Chick Band and X looks like a kiss.”

“Yeah, or like “Leave me alone” which is cool,” said Laura, “But I bet there’s already a girl band called the chiX because it’s too good.”

Mandy searched iTunes and YouTube and she couldn’t find any other band with that name. They couldn’t think of anything else, so their name just sort of became “chiX. But somehow they didn’t quite remember that it was Gladys who had come up with it. It was just like they had always been the chiX ever since they were born.

Now all they needed was a song – but of course they didn’t have one. A week went by and the chiX almost got forgotten. Then next Saturday, when Dad came home from the football match, he said :

“Hey girls, how’s your band going. Have you got a gig fixed up yet?”

“Of course they haven’t go a gig,” said Gladys. “They haven’t even got a song.”

Dad was disappointed. You could could see from his face that in his mind, his darling daughters were already rich and famous and had bought their beloved daddy a new bike, a cottage by the sea, and a subscription to the sports channel.

Mandy said: “I’m working on it.”

“Oh go on Mandy, do sing it to me, pretty please, I”m sure it’s such a lovely song,” said Gladys.
And Mandy looked annoyed.

“Well don’t cry. I’ll write you some words.”

“How could you write the lyrics for a song?” asked Laura. “You don’t know anything about relationships. You’re too young.”

“Not all songs are about relationships,” replied Gladys. “Some people think about other things apart from boys.”

And Mandy said: “Besides, before we start on any songs, we need to decide what sort of musical genre we’re going to do. I mean, are we going to be more like the Spice Girls or the SugarBabes?”

“Can anyone really tell the difference?” asked Gladys. But that gave her an idea to work on. So she went up to her room, sat down at her desk and scribbled down a few ideas. Later she came to the living room and switched off the television. Her sisters started to say “Ah come on Glad, what was that for?’ But she took no notice. She stood in front of TV and read out her words:

You’ve had your sugar
You’ve had your spice
Now you’re looking
For something nice.
Not too sweet
and not too sharp
The chiX are here
to take your heart.

“Not bad, ” said Laura,” but “sharp doesn’t rhyme with heart.”

“Well what do you want it to rhyme with – Harp? Besides it’s an internal rhyme. And i’ve got a chorus.

But don’t you think
We’re an easy catch
don’t count your chix
Before they hatch !

Well at least that rhymes – said Mandy. Here, that’s not too bad. Did you really write those words yourself Gladdy?

“Of course”, she said, and before she handed over her words she signed her name on the bottom and wrote Copyright Gladys Smith so that they others wouldn’t forget that she composed them.

Now the chiX had some words, all the needed was some music. And I’ll tell you about how they made that another time soon.

And don’t forget – there are loads more stories on Storynory.com. So drop by soon, and listen to a few. For now, from me, Natasha, Bye Bye !