Before all of this, there was "These Girls Can Play," a very well known, high quality rock band featuring four young women and a guy. The band was formed by their bass player, who had nothing to do after his last band had disintegrated. It was after an excruciating 350-show tour, which had broken the back of the band. By the end, they weren't even speaking to each other, and sadly, their last months of stage performances showed the conflicts.
Bob Donahue had started as a 14-year-old phenom, but he had been burned to the ground by the road after only ten years. He was twenty-four years old and already burned out. Bob didn't even do drugs. The last three years had done all of them in. The greedy promoters and band managers had scheduled them to do two back-to-back tours, which totaled over 500 shows in just three years. Of course, the band was going to burn out; it was inevitable.
The greedheads that managed the band tried to get them immediately back out on the road because there was a lot of hot money in it. They didn't give a rat's ass about the band or its members because they were nothing but a commodity to be used, abused, then tossed aside. Since they had no talent, the only thing they cared about was the money the band could make for them.
Bob inherently knew that if they went right back out, some of them would not return alive. How much money is your sanity or health worth? Another tour with this bunch was not worth the time, effort, or mounds of money to be had. He turned his back and walked away, leaving probably $300 million or more on the table.
Bob already had more money than he could ever spend and didn't worry or care about his cut of another $300 million.
With that said, he wasn't too anxious to return to the music business because of those experiences. Then he heard a crappy tape recording of an all-girls garage band he'd worked with three years before. When he played the tape, he couldn't believe his ears.
They were raw talent, only needing practice and direction to move them onward and upward. Hell, the girls were only fifteen at the time. Well, Heather was seventeen, but they were high school kids still wet behind the ears.
He'd spent a couple of days with them, listening, talking, and giving them some advice and direction. He had leaned on Heather because, being the oldest, she was the de-facto leader of the gang. Michelle's mother had made the tape during one of their latest garage sessions. The quality of the recording sucked, but Bob could tell the music was there. What he wanted was a good quality tape.
What he heard on that piece of Mylar and oxide changed his life forever.
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Bob had to go to LA to see these girls again.
He'd worked with them previously while working in the studio on what turned out to be the band's final album. He took a break and went to visit one of his close friend's sisters and two daughters. It was to be a life changing trip but in a good way.
Maybe, just maybe...
The oldest, at seventeen, seemed to hold things together. She kept the others on track and as noted before, was the leader of the pack. Not only that, the tall blond girl could flat play the guitar.
Heather was already able to duplicate some of the best. She did Clapton, Page, Gilmore, Beck, and even Hendrix, to absolute perfection. What he'd heard on the tape was that she was even better after three additional years of practice.
What he couldn't hear was her grieving heart. She was grieving over the loss of her parents shortly after her high school graduation. Coping with that grief, she turned to more music. That was two years prior, and she still had not dealt with it.
While driving home from a movie one evening, a drunk driver had run a red light at high speed and literally cut their car in half. Never knowing what hit them, they were killed instantly. The drunk, of course, survived, but that's another story.
The girls were all extremely good at what they were doing, but they were just hanging out like most young high school garage bands. In Bob's mind, the real difference was that these four had some incredible talent that needed to be unleashed.
He gave them meaningful words of encouragement, praising what he heard as young talent that needed to be channeled and developed. They had taken those words very seriously and today were four of the best musicians Bob Donahue had ever heard, bar none, and he'd heard them all.
Now, three years down the road, he showed up at Judy's house on a Friday evening, and he was towing a trailer chock full of brand new band equipment. Bob included a mixing board and a new-fangled digital recorder so that he could find a baseline from which to work. He also had a large format, 24-channel tape machine to back up the digital - just in case. He was used to tape, so it gave him a sense of security. Digital was up and coming, but this new-fangled stuff just hadn't proven itself yet.
On that crappy tape, he could hear the equipment the girls were using was typical garage band quality. Of course, it was garage band quality, Bob, they couldn't afford professional grade instruments. He wanted to hear them play on some of the top-notch professional instruments he knew were available on the market at the time.
What he'd brought with him were not the kind of instruments you were going to find stocked at Guitar Center for $600 or $700. One of the guitars he gave to Heather was in the neighborhood of $5500, but in Bob's mind, worth every penny.
The difference? Mostly the electronics, but professional quality instruments are manufactured to a much higher standard than the assembly line material you find in the typical music store. Remember the old adage, "You get what you pay for."
He had signed for a whole lot of money to fill that trailer, but he always said, "It's only money."
For him, the total of a few hundred thousand dollars was less than petty cash ... Mere pocket change in the overall scheme of things.
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After recovering from the total shock at the quality of equipment Bob had brought, the girls got everything set up for the next day's session. They decided that after setting everything up, it was so late they would all stay at Michelle's that night so that they could start first thing in the morning.
Bob was very serious about his music and found the girls to be birds of a feather, although, in some ways, he found that they were far too serious. Once the music started, that's all there was ... period. They had a playlist, and Janell just clicked them off with no bullshit in between tracks. Every four or five, they'd stop and analyze what they had done, then moved on sharply.
They played a typical Saturday jam session, except Bob joined them playing the bass, so Maryanne could work with all of the other things she was so good at.
Bob's opinion then and still today is that Maryanne is one of the most talented musicians he ever met. Maryanne's background is as a classically trained concert violinist, but she had incredible talents in multiple disciplines.
Eventually, she could learn to play any instrument you put into her hands. Her pile of toys on the stage included, but wasn't limited to, violins, guitars, bass guitars, keyboards and synthesizers of various flavors, saxophones, flutes, including an Armenian doudouk, brass horns, drums, congas, and the list could go on. Bob eventually added a Mellotron to her repertoire, and Maryanne played everything at a master's level.
He recorded the Saturday jam and gave the recording to a close friend, who just happened to be one of the best sound engineers in the music industry at the time. Bill Thomas couldn't believe what he was hearing, similar to how Bob had first heard them, except Bill had the professional quality recording Bob made of that day's session.
All of the instruments Bob had provided to the girls actually belonged to Bill at the time. When Bob decided to shoot down to LA and hear the girls play, he'd decided he wanted them to have the best he could provide them on a day's notice, so he called his old partner in crime, Bill Thomas.
After that session, Bob presented them with an offer they really couldn't refuse. He wanted to form them into a working, professional rock band to record in the studio and play concerts on the road. He had his own opinions of touring based on his experiences, so he'd be testing some of those beliefs with this bunch. As it turned out, it was genius.
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The girls had been looking for a place to live ... a place where they could all be together and had a garage large enough that they didn't need to take down their equipment after every weekend's session. They'd been looking, but there were no places available they could afford.
Bob had a large flat, recording studio, and gorgeous piece of property in northern California, which was perfect for their needs. His place was made to order for a rock and roll band, so all of them ended up moving to his Lincoln log style castle in Willits, California. It was rural ... I mean, it was way out in the boonies, so they could play any time of day or night. The studio was there on the property, but it was mostly bare when he took off to rediscover the girls.
He wasn't real sure that he wanted to do the music business anymore. It was so cutthroat that it left a nasty taste in his mouth, but he had thoughts on improving things, and with the girl's help, he and Bill did just that.
So far, the studio contained the bass guitars and the concert amps he hadn't taken to LA, but that was about the extent of it, so as studios go, it was pretty naked. It wasn't going to be that way much longer.
The cabin and its surroundings, which the girls immediately named "The Ranch," was over 12,500 square feet of living space, 3500 square feet of studio space, and with 675 acres, they would have extreme privacy. The house itself was over a quarter-mile from the front gate, which was at the end of a mile long driveway.
The amenities were everywhere, making life very comfortable. Nine bedrooms, six full bathrooms, it was designed so that nearly everything was linked together by at least one door, but it was easy to find privacy by just closing a door.
In their forest studio, they continually practiced, recorded, and prepared for their first tour. Bill was able to master enough music to do a double debut album with an added bonus, so by the time the band hit the road, they were already known for their sound and had already banked a small fortune from record sales. It was more than any of them had ever dreamed of.
The music the "Girls" played was everybody else's. What drew Bob's ear was the way they played all of the top hits from the last 30 years. They played it exactly the way it had originally been released to the public. Not even the original bands could do that.
The music you hear on the market has had mixing, engineering, and production magic done. That's why it sounds so perfect on your stereo system, and it sounds so crappy when a band does their material live.
Studio magic was something that Bill is one of the best at, but he found he had to do minimal fine tuning to the "Girl's" base recordings. It was already near perfection and only required some balancing, more for the recording than the play of the instruments, and occasionally he needed a few short fill sessions to polish it off.
When Heather played Stairway to Heaven, even Jimmy Page wondered if it was his recording or Heather. Heather played Clapton, Townsend, Beck, Page, Gilmore, or any other classic rock guitarist, to the note. The whole band played it that way.
They learned it by listening to their music collection. Then they played it exactly the way it sounded on the released version. If they found a lousy studio recording, and there are plenty of examples of that, they wouldn't even bother to learn the track.
They would become very well known for their sound quality. The bonus for their first release was a twenty-five-minute medley of old Beach Boys surf music. By popular demand, they had to play some of it at almost every show.
Being a southern California surfer girl, Janell loved all of the retro surf music. Apparently, so did many other people.
Bob had surfed Northern California beaches since he was a youngster, and there were always lively discussions on who had the better surf. Bob would usually win in the end by asking, "What beach in Southern California comes close to Mavericks?"
Jan always knew it was coming and never had an answer because there is no beach on the entire West Coast with surf similar to Mavericks. Sometimes the waves were so big the professional big-wave surfers wouldn't go out because it was too dangerous. The only thing that could even be considered close, at least in the US, was Pe'ahi or Jaws, as it was referred to, located on Maui's north shore.
In addition, Santa Cruz has Steamer Lane, which is much better surf most of the time than you can find in Southern California, but they like to talk themselves up ... it's the Hollywood image they think they have to have, but real surfers know.
It's not to say SoCal doesn't have good surf. There is no question many Southern California beaches have excellent surf, but there really is no comparison.
Beach Boys surf music leads us astray.
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Their first tour was indicative of the way Bob and Bill were going to manage the band. It was short, five venues with two shows per venue except for San Francisco. They started and finished the first tour in the same house, doing a video of the last show. Bob was not going to allow them to burn out the way he had, so all of the girl's tours were going to be short.
They averaged five to eight short tours per year, so after twelve or fifteen shows in four or five weeks, they went back home to Willits for some R&R. The breaks in between were what they needed to recharge the batteries and be ready for the next short run.
The "Girls" actually ended up touring for over six years straight, including the fourteen-month final tour they did after deciding to stop. The schedule included an around the world tour of international venues and numerous North America tours that included Canada and Mexico.
These women loved their work and made a ton of money doing it, but they were getting tired after over five straight years. Their last year of touring was a farewell tour, which they dedicated to all of their fans. Bob had wanted them to do one colossal show as a sendoff, but the "Girls" wouldn't hear of it. That final tour had nearly killed them.
They were still young when they decided to take their leave from the road and concentrate their efforts on the studio recording. Chelly (pronounced Shelly – for Michelle) and Jan became very well known producers under Bill's tutelage, so the two of them ended up being as much in demand as Bill and his cohort Jilly. Jilly also had a group she was managing, along with Bob and Bill. That group was kept to short tours and good rest periods between the road trips, same as the "Girls."
Bob built an extensive recording facility down the hill from the house to accommodate recording many different bands. He had put the new facility just inside the front gate, so there was no reason for anyone to come up the hill to the house. Then he installed another gate just in case.
Their terms were always very musician/band friendly, so when a band's contract with one of the so-called majors was finished, they would talk to Bill about contracting with the "Girls" recording company. They had to turn down work before they got the new studio built, but musicians weren't deterred. They waited for the new facility and then talked to Bill again.
Along the way, they found a couple of new friends who were so talented that "The Girls Playground Records, Inc." signed them to a contract for recording. The discovery in Perth was predicated on the band being thrown out of a little bistro where they were relaxing before a show.
To this day, he can't tell you why he did what he did, but Bob just had a gut feeling. He gave the proprietor a backstage ticket, which eventually caused all of the right cards to fall into place. It was a fortuitous move all the way around and forged solid friendships, which were to last a lifetime.
After signing the contracts, these two young ladies made a boatload of money but made the "Girls" record company a lot of money as well. They were the company's first venture into recording someone other than the "Girls," which was the beginning of the studio's impact on the entire music industry.
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When that final tour was finally over and the last show finished, they all retreated to Maui to rest for six months. That's when they found the surprise Bob and Bill had built for them.
At "The Ranch," they called their personal studio facility "The Girls Playground." While on their farewell tour, Bob and Bill surprised the "Girls" by having a copy built at their property on Maui. They couldn't efficiently record other bands in the new facility, primarily due to the cost of shipping all of the band equipment by air. However, they did start doing some of their recording in the Maui Playground. Maui was their R&R escape, but most of the time, they wanted to play their music while they were supposed to be resting, so the new facility fit that bill perfectly
When they first arrived after the farewell tour, the "Girls" took a cursory walk through to acknowledge the thoughtfulness but were not ready to face the music.
They did travel back and forth during those six months, but they essentially rested. Little by little, they began to wander into their new Playground to pick up their instruments. Their newfound friends had a lot to do with their eventual mellowing. It was hard not to be caught up in their enthusiastic, energetic love of life.
Before much time had passed, the long and grueling tour was far behind them, and the love of their music had returned. They also knew there were no tours to contemplate, so work would all be in the Playground.
They could deal with that, and the realization had an immeasurable effect on their psyches.
With all of the studio equipment duplicated on the island, Bill could re-master their offering, "Around the World with These Girls Can Play." It was becoming a digital world, and the CD chronicled their experiences traveling entirely around the world, playing to raucous crowds everywhere they went. Bill and Bob kicked themselves for not having camera crews along for the international tour, but that was spilled milk, long past the bridge.
Over their retirement years, they had continued to put out an album at least every 18 months, but it was usually more frequently. More and more, their offerings featured their music or some written by their friends. As would be expected, their studio work was always exceptional.
On occasion, they'd come out to do a benefit concert for charity. They had formed their own charitable foundation, which amongst many other things had helped many young musicians over the years. Later, they would rally around a band member to form another more specialized foundation to deal with specific conditions. They scheduled at least four charity performances per year after they set up that foundation.
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As always, personal things were just that, personal. They guarded their personal lives better than the government guard's secrets. There were no leaks, and nobody knew anything about the band's personal dealings until long after retiring. By then, it didn't matter, except to the tabloid media. They would try to make an issue of anything, whether true or otherwise.
Nobody outside the band knew any of the band's relationships, which was probably a good thing since it was very non-conventional. As they like to call themselves, the entertainment press would have had a field day with the truth, and the band would have been hounded incessantly. The music would have no longer mattered because there were personal fish to fry. To the "Girls," nothing mattered except the music. Everything else was just peripheral static ... a side order of bullshit.
A perfect example was Gabriella and Daphne Stockton. They started to have their babies without being married, and the press hounded them out of the country. They got back at the paparazzi, but it took time, and they had to leave to get any peace. Finally, the public shut the media down, but you can read about their exploits in Robert Lubrican's "Fiddling Around With Uncle Bob." A cautionary note - that book contains adult material.
As it was, Bob was always fair game, and he messed with the press constantly. They described him as an alien a few times, which the women were quick to confirm. When the tabloids dared to accuse him of really being a woman, he put on a dress and some lipstick and then went out to see them, beard and all. Bob loved a good game of "mind fuck" and he always played at a master's level. It drove the paparazzi and their editors to drink.
Almost immediately after their retirement, the band's drummer, Janell Miller, became pregnant and gave birth to Samantha, a beautiful baby girl. It was an interesting happening that she was first because Janell is a gay woman. It's a long, beautiful love story that's told elsewhere.
Bill and Maryanne had married a couple of years before they finally stopped touring, but for their sanity, they kept it to themselves. The band knew, but nobody else was privy. It was just another example of the band keeping personal things personal.
Due to numerous circumstances, both Heather and Michelle were attached to Bob. It wasn't planned that way in the beginning. It just happened.
Heather was in desperate need of something to help her get over the grief she held after the sudden loss of her parents. As mentioned previously, they had both been killed by a drunk driver shortly after Hey graduated from high school.
A significant part of her coping was the music, so she obsessed, resulting in her developing into one of the finest guitar players anywhere in the world. She could play anyone's music without any problem or hesitation, but her heart felt empty.
Michelle had a huge crush on Bob from past family excursions. Because she was so emotionally in tune with Heather, especially after the death of her parents, Chelly had attached herself to Heather, giving whatever support she could. It was a very rocky road, but both young women became extremely close throughout the ordeal.
Chelly knew the true loving feelings she sensed between Heather and Bob should not be denied. She had perceived the chemistry between the two immediately, and though it was an extremely difficult decision on her part, it wasn't, and Michelle did the right thing.
In the end, it worked out for all of them.
In a very selfless act, Michelle gave a pass to her lust, which allowed Bob and Heather to form a warm and loving relationship. Heather didn't forget her friend's sacrifice and vowed to share her love with Chelly.
Over the years, both had shared his love without any issues. Now, long after retirement and children, their love for each other has never wavered. It's a complex study in open relationships, but it works for them, and that's all that truly matters. Throw the gay woman into the mix, and it can be even more confusing for someone on the outside.
Suffice it to say, once they retired, all of the "Girls" started having babies. It was something all had wanted to do but rightly knew it was not compatible with a touring rock and roll band.
Jan was the first to get pregnant and had given birth to Samantha. Michelle had a boy then a girl, while Heather eventually had two girls. All five were Bob's, but it didn't matter to the children at The Ranch or the adults for that matter. It didn't cause any raised eyebrows with the neighbors either, but that's a different story.
Maryanne and Bill had a boy and a girl making the band's total of seven children.
All were homeschooled and were far better educated than their peers outside of The Ranch. In combination with the neighbor's children and their parents, all of them received an incredibly diverse, strong, and in-depth education.
That was to become somewhat significant as they got older and began to play music of their own. All of the children were encouraged to learn music, but it was never something that was to be an end all. If one or more of the kids didn't want to make music, it was fine. As it turned out, it wouldn't be an issue.
The kids' wanting to make music wasn't a real issue. The problem was slowing them down. Their musical abilities surpassed that of their parents before they finished high school. Trying to keep them away from the music industry until they finished school was very challenging at times. The kids understood what their parents were saying but still wanted to venture forward. Like their parents, they had been inspired to share their gift with others.
As it is with most youngsters, there was a certain naiveté involved in the dreams being expressed. They didn't see it as a big money making proposition, only a way to have fun and share their love of music.
A boy and girl from just down the hill joined them at The Ranch nearly every day. All of the kids accepted the neighbors with open arms, even if they did talk a little funny most of the time.
It was never a problem, and most of the Ranch's residents were learning the other language anyway. They picked up on the vernacular and ran with it providing their oldies with a constant source of entertainment. All of the elders had been speaking those funny phrases for all of the kid's lives, so it wasn't something that made anyone stand up and take notice.
At The Ranch, everything had settled into a standard routine with frequent trips to Maui, where they would stay for months at a time. Many times, when their mothers were on tour, the two from down the hill would travel with them.
All of the kids practiced constantly, much like their mothers had done when they first started. They were honing their skills to a very fine edge, and it was nearly time to" cut 'em loose to have a go," as close friends would say.
The time was rapidly approaching, and holding things back was no longer a viable option.
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It was something they had all wanted from the very beginning.
They waited patiently for things to wind down so they could begin the next phase of their lives. The final tour had nearly done them in, but the six months on Maui recharged their batteries, and they were ready to move on. Onward and upward, as some would say, it was time to get on with their new life and enjoy their time in the studio.
But that was twenty years ago... It was time to unleash a new era ... tonight.