‹ Prequel: Changes
Making the Album
Schmooze.
"Alright. Basically, go out there, smile, nod, answer the questions honestly, but don't say anything too honest."
"So basically, Barry, you're telling us to schmooze?" Tony asked, with a sparkle in her eye.
"Yes. Your album drops tomorrow. We need that audience to love us."
"They already do. Did you hear them scream?" Robert grinned cheekily.
"Yeah. One chick asked me to sign her boob." Tom said with a grin.
Barry sighed, but he was smiling.
"Look, just go out there and kill for me, alright?"
The Dolls looked at him. Barry was absolutely serious. Then Blondie laughed.
"Of course, Barry. Just for you."
***
"And here they are, fresh out of the studio, the Dolls!"
Walking into that studio was a rush. Tony just thrived under the scrutiny of a thousand eyes, relished the screams and applause. She was born for this, she thought as she took her place on the stage and grabbed a microphone.
"So. You guys got any news to share with us?" The VJ asked. Robert thought his name was Damien.
"Actually, I had sex last night." Robert said, with a cheeky wink.
Tony elbowed him in the ribs.
"With yourself, jerk." The crowd hooted. "Actually, our album drops tomorrow, so we're here to schmooze."
"At least they're honest." Damien said, laughing. Then he started with the routine questions.
"So, Tony, the tabloids have several shots of you with Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day. Anything going on there?"
"Billie and I are really good friends. We spend a lot of time together. But Tom and Tre are really good friends, but no one prints pictures of them walking aroudn the plaza and asks if they're screwing." Tony chuckled good naturedly and turned to the crowd. "It's a conspiracy. They're just jealous of my bootylicious bottom."
Robert cracked up and slapped her ass.
"I'm the only one who gets away with that."
"Bullshit!" Tom leapt onto Robert, lightly pummeling his bandmate.
Blondie glanced around the studio, and noticed that the crowd had dissolved into laughter. They were killing, they were selling the album. Barry would be proud.
The Dollls reassembled, giggling quietly. Damien sighed, and asked the next question, unaware of what he was about to start.
"Alot of people have been accusing you guys of riding Green Day's coattails. It's been said that without their support, you guys wouldn't have gotten a record deal in the first place."
Tony's face darkened, and snatched the microphone back from one of the sound guys. Robert looked quietly furious, and put a warning hand on Tony's shoulder. The gesture said, 'I'll handle this.'
"There are absolute assholes in the world, and no matter how much talent an artist has, they can still be written off for stupid shit, like who a band associates with. Yeah, Billie Joe put us in touch with a few labels, and the band took us on tour before it got cancelled. And yeah, we are friends."
Robert looked around the studio. The kids were dead silent.
"But when it comes down to it, Billie doesn't go into the studio and sing the songs for me. He doesn't play the guitar for Tony, and Mike Dirnt doesn't play the bass for Tom, and Tre Cool definately doesn't play the drums for Tom. We do it ourselves and we wouldn't have it any other way. We arrange the songs, we perform the songs, we record the songs. This album is 100 percent the Dolls, and the only involvement Green Day has is that we're covering two of their songs."
"A person could argue that you've been riding coattails this whole time. You guys are a covers band, right? It's not your own material."
This time, Robert wasn't quick enough.
"Excuse me. I've said it in articles, Tom's said it in articles, Blondie's said it on national television, and Robert said it twice backstage. The reason we are a covers band isn't because we can't do our own material. We have songs that we wrote. But we want to do these songs to remind people of where music came from. Kids don't know anything about what went on back in the 70's and the 80's. Our band is a reminder, it's us saying, 'hey, remember Led Zeppelin? Remember Def Leppard? Remember Queen, and Aerosmith, and Nirvana, and the Rolling Stones?'."
"We're trying to give credit to these people that don't really get credit anymore as rap and pop groups take over." Blondie cut in. "We're trying to give back to the artists that made us pick up instruments and play. I know the first song Robert ever sang was 'Dream On' by Aerosmith. The first drum solo that I sat down and made myself learn was from a Green Day song."
"We all have this love for music, and we want to share it with everyone." Tom said, trying to head off the coming arguement. The crowd clapped entusiastically.
Damien looked pissed, but forced a smile. Blondie knew Tony wanted to smack him and positioned himself between her and her target.
"Just stay calm. You can hit him all you want backstage." Blondie whispered into her ear.
"Well, I guess you guys wouldn't mind giving us a performance?"
"Course not." Tom pulled a pick out of his pocket and grinned at the crowd.
"Let's have an audience vote. What do you guys want to hear?"
The girls started shrieking while guys bellowed their choice as they jumped to their feet. Damien smiled and walked over to a kid wearing a Green Day shirt. Tre suddenly realized that this couldn't be a good thing.
";What do you wanna hear?" Damien asked the kid, who was smiling like a Cheshire cat.
"King for a Day! Man, I was pissed you guys took that off your album!"
Damien looked smug as he turned around to the band. Robert's face went white. Tony looked furious. The producer started gesturing madly.
"And we'll have that performance coming up along with the Dolls' new video, after this commercial break."
Ear-splitting screams filled the studio, while Tom and Tony mugged for the camera. Then the producer motioned them offstage.
***
"Can you do it?" Tony asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Robert had come off the set and collapsed into a chair. Then he'd covered his face with his hands and started cursing.
"We've got five minutes, you guys. We need an answer."
"They'll be onstage in five minutes. And they'll be playing either King for a Day or Kick Love into Motion." Billie's voice was firm. The producer shrugged and walked out of the room. Then he poked his head back in.
"Damien'll be backstage after the show. Feel free to kick his ass."
Barry chuckled.
"I like that man."
"Yeah..." Blondie said absently. The drummer was sitting on the couch with his drumsticks, playing air drums with precision. Tre gave him an admiring glance.
"Look, you lot get out of here. I'm gonna work with Robert for a few minutes."
"But-" Barry began but Tom grabbed him.
"Just let them. They know what they're doing."
***
It was quiet. Robert glared at Billie, who watched him quietly from across the room.
"What the hell do you think you're gonna work with me on?" Robert spat.
"You have no sense of the song. And where better to get that than from me?"
"I'm not going to do that fucking song."
Billie sighed.
"Robert, you can't go out there and not do that song. That asshole VJ just challenged you to do it. He knows that you had trouble recording it, and he picked a kid who would request it. If you go out there and sing anything else, you're letting him win."
"Bastard's not winning anything."
"Actually, he's winning everything. Everytime you come on this show, he'll give you that smug little grin, because he beat you. And you won't be able to change that."
Robert took his head out of his hands and looked at Billie.
"God...I really regret learning how to sing."
"Me too. Now sing first verse and keep time with me."
"So basically, Barry, you're telling us to schmooze?" Tony asked, with a sparkle in her eye.
"Yes. Your album drops tomorrow. We need that audience to love us."
"They already do. Did you hear them scream?" Robert grinned cheekily.
"Yeah. One chick asked me to sign her boob." Tom said with a grin.
Barry sighed, but he was smiling.
"Look, just go out there and kill for me, alright?"
The Dolls looked at him. Barry was absolutely serious. Then Blondie laughed.
"Of course, Barry. Just for you."
***
"And here they are, fresh out of the studio, the Dolls!"
Walking into that studio was a rush. Tony just thrived under the scrutiny of a thousand eyes, relished the screams and applause. She was born for this, she thought as she took her place on the stage and grabbed a microphone.
"So. You guys got any news to share with us?" The VJ asked. Robert thought his name was Damien.
"Actually, I had sex last night." Robert said, with a cheeky wink.
Tony elbowed him in the ribs.
"With yourself, jerk." The crowd hooted. "Actually, our album drops tomorrow, so we're here to schmooze."
"At least they're honest." Damien said, laughing. Then he started with the routine questions.
"So, Tony, the tabloids have several shots of you with Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day. Anything going on there?"
"Billie and I are really good friends. We spend a lot of time together. But Tom and Tre are really good friends, but no one prints pictures of them walking aroudn the plaza and asks if they're screwing." Tony chuckled good naturedly and turned to the crowd. "It's a conspiracy. They're just jealous of my bootylicious bottom."
Robert cracked up and slapped her ass.
"I'm the only one who gets away with that."
"Bullshit!" Tom leapt onto Robert, lightly pummeling his bandmate.
Blondie glanced around the studio, and noticed that the crowd had dissolved into laughter. They were killing, they were selling the album. Barry would be proud.
The Dollls reassembled, giggling quietly. Damien sighed, and asked the next question, unaware of what he was about to start.
"Alot of people have been accusing you guys of riding Green Day's coattails. It's been said that without their support, you guys wouldn't have gotten a record deal in the first place."
Tony's face darkened, and snatched the microphone back from one of the sound guys. Robert looked quietly furious, and put a warning hand on Tony's shoulder. The gesture said, 'I'll handle this.'
"There are absolute assholes in the world, and no matter how much talent an artist has, they can still be written off for stupid shit, like who a band associates with. Yeah, Billie Joe put us in touch with a few labels, and the band took us on tour before it got cancelled. And yeah, we are friends."
Robert looked around the studio. The kids were dead silent.
"But when it comes down to it, Billie doesn't go into the studio and sing the songs for me. He doesn't play the guitar for Tony, and Mike Dirnt doesn't play the bass for Tom, and Tre Cool definately doesn't play the drums for Tom. We do it ourselves and we wouldn't have it any other way. We arrange the songs, we perform the songs, we record the songs. This album is 100 percent the Dolls, and the only involvement Green Day has is that we're covering two of their songs."
"A person could argue that you've been riding coattails this whole time. You guys are a covers band, right? It's not your own material."
This time, Robert wasn't quick enough.
"Excuse me. I've said it in articles, Tom's said it in articles, Blondie's said it on national television, and Robert said it twice backstage. The reason we are a covers band isn't because we can't do our own material. We have songs that we wrote. But we want to do these songs to remind people of where music came from. Kids don't know anything about what went on back in the 70's and the 80's. Our band is a reminder, it's us saying, 'hey, remember Led Zeppelin? Remember Def Leppard? Remember Queen, and Aerosmith, and Nirvana, and the Rolling Stones?'."
"We're trying to give credit to these people that don't really get credit anymore as rap and pop groups take over." Blondie cut in. "We're trying to give back to the artists that made us pick up instruments and play. I know the first song Robert ever sang was 'Dream On' by Aerosmith. The first drum solo that I sat down and made myself learn was from a Green Day song."
"We all have this love for music, and we want to share it with everyone." Tom said, trying to head off the coming arguement. The crowd clapped entusiastically.
Damien looked pissed, but forced a smile. Blondie knew Tony wanted to smack him and positioned himself between her and her target.
"Just stay calm. You can hit him all you want backstage." Blondie whispered into her ear.
"Well, I guess you guys wouldn't mind giving us a performance?"
"Course not." Tom pulled a pick out of his pocket and grinned at the crowd.
"Let's have an audience vote. What do you guys want to hear?"
The girls started shrieking while guys bellowed their choice as they jumped to their feet. Damien smiled and walked over to a kid wearing a Green Day shirt. Tre suddenly realized that this couldn't be a good thing.
";What do you wanna hear?" Damien asked the kid, who was smiling like a Cheshire cat.
"King for a Day! Man, I was pissed you guys took that off your album!"
Damien looked smug as he turned around to the band. Robert's face went white. Tony looked furious. The producer started gesturing madly.
"And we'll have that performance coming up along with the Dolls' new video, after this commercial break."
Ear-splitting screams filled the studio, while Tom and Tony mugged for the camera. Then the producer motioned them offstage.
***
"Can you do it?" Tony asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Robert had come off the set and collapsed into a chair. Then he'd covered his face with his hands and started cursing.
"We've got five minutes, you guys. We need an answer."
"They'll be onstage in five minutes. And they'll be playing either King for a Day or Kick Love into Motion." Billie's voice was firm. The producer shrugged and walked out of the room. Then he poked his head back in.
"Damien'll be backstage after the show. Feel free to kick his ass."
Barry chuckled.
"I like that man."
"Yeah..." Blondie said absently. The drummer was sitting on the couch with his drumsticks, playing air drums with precision. Tre gave him an admiring glance.
"Look, you lot get out of here. I'm gonna work with Robert for a few minutes."
"But-" Barry began but Tom grabbed him.
"Just let them. They know what they're doing."
***
It was quiet. Robert glared at Billie, who watched him quietly from across the room.
"What the hell do you think you're gonna work with me on?" Robert spat.
"You have no sense of the song. And where better to get that than from me?"
"I'm not going to do that fucking song."
Billie sighed.
"Robert, you can't go out there and not do that song. That asshole VJ just challenged you to do it. He knows that you had trouble recording it, and he picked a kid who would request it. If you go out there and sing anything else, you're letting him win."
"Bastard's not winning anything."
"Actually, he's winning everything. Everytime you come on this show, he'll give you that smug little grin, because he beat you. And you won't be able to change that."
Robert took his head out of his hands and looked at Billie.
"God...I really regret learning how to sing."
"Me too. Now sing first verse and keep time with me."