“What do you mean you sold them off?” Jimmy said with credulence in his voice.
“Hey, what can I say, that Japannese billionaire just made too good of offer on them. And let’s face it, they were at the end of their shelf life anyway.” David replied with a shrug.
Jimmy let out a sigh and let his shoulders slump a little, it wasn’t like David was wrong, six albums in and the group was on a downward swing for sure. The girls had peaked on their second and third albums, but now tastes were changing and they were old news.
“Oh, yeah, maybe… but who am I supposed to produce then? We have an album due in three months!” Jimmy retorted.
“True, true, but it’s not like I’ve been just sitting around and not planning for this day… let me show you what I have available to put together a new band with.” David said and then walked over to the console full of computers and monitors that Jimmy was sitting at and pulled up a browser. A few clicks later and an image popped up on screen.
“This is Terra, I found her at a fine arts program that an old friend of mine runs.” David said.
Jimmy nodded, “We’re not doing much in the way of fine arts here David, it’s pop music.”
“I know, I know, but you should hear her signing voice… it’s amazing. She’s also fluent in three languages, plays piano, violin, and the flute.”
“And she’s available on short notice?” Jimmy asked.
“Oh yeah, I’ve got her doing a lounge act in Vegas. Well a lounge act and the VIP clients I send her way of course.”
Jimmy rolled his eyes and nodded in understanding.
Then he frowned a little and pointed at her hands covering her breasts, “What’s with the cover up? I can’t do much with a performer that doesn’t want to be seen…” he asked.
“Ah, yeah, well she was a little nervous in the beginning. This photo was taken about half way through her conditioning, it’s no problem now.”
“Ok, well, what else do you have?”
David smiled and clicked on to the next image.
“This is Miko, she came to one of the concerts in Japan we did last year and nearly knocked down three security guards to get me her audition tape.”
Jimmy raised an eyebrow knowing exactly how hard it was getting through security these days.
“Is she any good?”
“She can shred that guitar with the best of them… though she can’t sing worth shit.” David replied.
Jimmy nodded, “Not a problem if she’s not a lead, though having a backup vocalist would be nice. Where do you have her stashed away?”
“She’s in Tokyo backing up a dive band specializing in covers of american rock songs. The rest of the band is hopeless, but the patreon’s don’t seem to mind.” David replied with a shrug and then moved to the next image.
“Who’s this?” Jimmy asked
“This is Roxy, I found her in a little bar in Jersey playing covers of dinosaur rock groups.”
“And now?”
“She’s in Ney York City doing studio work for me. She’s got a pretty good voice, very technical in her playing, and an encyclopedic knowledge of music, so she’s a good fit there. She’s requested quite a bit by some of the labels biggest groups. Though I suspect that’s because she’s got the best set of hips to grab hold of while fucking her that I’ve ever encountered more than her musical talent.” David replied with a smirk.
Jimmy chuckled and motioned David to move on.
“Oh, I almost forgot about Tammy…” David said and a smile came to his lips.
A moment passed as he seemed lost in thought and then he came back to the conversation.
“Sorry about that, Tammy was a huge fan of the band growing up and as soon as she turned eighteen she hit the road to follow them. It wasn’t an issue until she figured out what was really going on so we had to act fast. Fortunately she’d left home on bad terms and so there wasn’t anyone looking for her so her conditioning was easy enough to do.”
“Ok, so why is she on the list?” Jimmy asked.
“Oh, well, after we’d done her conditioning we put her through the standard set of tests to see what kinds of talents she might have and would you beleive it she has perfect pitch?”
“Really? That’s impressive.” Jimmy replied.
“I know right? So we put her back with the band as a backup singer. She’s been on tour with them for the last year or so. She also makes for a great way to keep some of the b tier VIP’s happy without taking up the main group’s time.”
Jimmy nodded and smiled, “You think she’s ready to step up to a lead?”
“She might be, at worst she’ll make a great stage performer and backup singer again.”
Jimmy flicked his finger to move on and David did.
“This is Casey, she sent us a link to her YouTube channel.” David said.
“Don’t you usually avoid those that have social media presences?” Jimmy asked.
“Usually yes, too much trouble scrubbing the Internet of their old social media to be worth it, but in this case that wasn’t a big deal.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, because not only did she have a YouTube channel, she had an OnlyFans site as well. She was already 90% of where we wanted her to be anyway… hahaha.”
Jimmy chuckled along, “What do you have her doing now?”
“Oh she’s doing OnlyFans now 100% of the time. One of the advantages she brings is her built in fan base, though if you want to keep it a bit cleaner she’s not any good for you.”
Jimmy nodded, “Yeah, might be a bit too much baggage with her.”
David moved on to the next image.
“Well someone is trying to be all artistic…” Jimmy said with a grin as the next image appeared in black and white.
“Oh you don’t know the half of it…” David said with a obvious story behind it.
“This is Alexandria, the daughter of the managing partner.” David continued.
“You’re kidding right?” Jimmy asked in disbelief.
“Nope, he spent hundreds of thousands on the best private schools, the best tutors, the best music instructors, you name it, all to give his little girl the best shot at being a big name music star. In the end she threw it all way to be a groupie to some up and coming rapper that wasn’t going anywhere.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, apparently the last straw was three months ago when she came home, pregnant, not knowing who the baby daddy was, and demanding he ‘fix’ the problem.”
“Ouch… wrong choice of words for sure.”
“Yeah, to say the least. Anyway, after a quick out of state termination, as well as some conditioning, she was put on list.”
Jimmy frowned and stared at the image for several moments.
“Yeah, I know what you’re contemplating. Does that means you have to use her? Or does it mean you should stay a thousand miles away from her. All I can tell you is that there are no limitations noted on her file, so if you do use her, you can do whatever you want with her.”
Jimmy sighed and nodded. It would be a risk either way, so he’d have to see how the new group came together and if she fit in.
“Alright, I get it, what else do you have?”
“Oh, I saved the best for last…” David said.
“This is Kimberly.” David said with a triumphant flourish of his hand.
“And what’s so great about Kimberly?” Jimmy asked.
“Oh she’s got it all. A voice of an angle, mad skills on the guitar, can play drums and keyboard, and is a song writer too.”
“You dog, always holding out to the end on me. What’s her story?” Jimmy said with a laugh.
“I found her in Nashville, making the rounds with her little beat up six string acoustic, a litany of sob story country songs, and on the fast track to go nowhere.”
Jimmy looked at the image again and then looked at David, “Doesn’t seem much of a country girl to me…”
David chuckled and nodded, “Not any more… she’d been a personal project of mine for the last nine months. A complete makeover, got rid of that terrible country twang she had in her voice, threw out her entire wardrobe and pretty much every last personal belonging she had.”
“And I presume she’s available on short notice?” Jimmy asked.
A wicked little smile crossed David’s face and then he turned towards the door, “Hey Kimmy, can you come in here please?” he called out and then stood up.
As he did so the door opened and Kimmy stepped into the control booth, a broad smile on her face, and few clothes on her body.
David turned back to Jimmy and put his hand on his shoulder, then leaned down and half whispered to him, “Make sure you ask her to show you her ‘country thang’.”
Then David stood back up and clapped Jimmy’s should before walking out of the control room leaving Kimmy and Jimmy alone.
