"Full-bodied babe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Novak Lane)

CHAPTER TWO

A week later, while having coffee together in an all-night diner after the final show, Babe and Suzy discussed the band's next move up the ladder of success.

"That gig at the Club Cato was a real shot in the arm," Suzy remarked, "but where did it get us? No club dates, no recording contracts… we still don't even have a manager "

"First of all," said Babe, "that gig got us an audience. Call it a cult following. Secondly, we don't need a manager. At least not at this point. All a manager would do is lock us into onenight stands and sponge off ten percent. Leave thepromotional work to me. Our next step is media exposure to broaden our appeal, make everybody think they've discovered something special."

"And how do you propose to do that?" wondered Suzy.

"Radio."

Suzy looked skeptical. "You aren't still trying to get that demo we did played on the air, are you?"

"WXLV, the Jay Reno Show, prime time."

"Come on, Babe," Suzy scoffed. "Reno won't play it. It's too hot for radio, AM or FM.

Every other station in the state turned us down because the lyrics were considered suggestive.

Besides, everybody's locked into Top Forty."

"Reno will play it," Babe staunchly predicted. "I can almost guarantee it."

Suzy narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Do you know something the rest of us don't know?"

"Just trust me, Suzy," said Babe with a mysterious smile, patting her friend on the hand.

"And tell the girls to tune in Reno's show tomorrow night."

The man in the glass booth took one last drag on his cigarette, crushed it in an ashtray and flipped a switch just as the record on the turntable faded out. "Hey, I like that," he told his listeners in his deepest, mellowest broadcasting voice, a cloud of smoke billowing from his mouth. "That was Deep Six with their latest smash, `Show Me No Mercy.' This is your bedroom companion, Jay Reno, gettin' cozy with ya' on WXLV, 93.3 on your FM dial. Comin' up, I've got a music marthon featuring The Tribe, J.C. Tripper, Fly By Night and, by popular demand, the new single from The Boys. But first… a word from our sponsor…"

While the commercial ran on tape, Reno leaned back in his swivel chair, away from the console, and reached into his shirt pocket for another cigarette. He paused when he suddenly noticed the foxy-looking lady smiling at him through the plate glass window. He motioned her to come inside the broadcast booth and when she opened the door, he put his finger to his lips to caution silence.

The commercial over, Reno cued up his first record. "Okay," he announced into the mouthpiece of his headset, "it's nine, seventeen. Let's get into a half an hour of nonstop music right here at your number one radio station, WX…L…V…"

As soon as the song began, Reno switched off his microphone, removed his headset and turned his attention to his attractive visitor. She was dressed in a sheer, pink see-through blouse sans bra, a long black skirt that buttoned up the side, and black leather, high-heeled boots. "Well," Reno grinned, eyeing her thinly-veiled breasts. "Nice to see you again, ah… what was your name?"

"Babe," she replied. "Babe McKay." "Right, right. Babe… what an appropriate name."

"I hope I'm not disturbing you, Mr. Reno," said Babe innocently.

"Call me Jay," he insisted.

Babe flashed a friendly smile. "Tell me, Jay, did you get a chance to listen to the demo I gave you."

"The demo?"

" `I Want It And I Want It Now.' "

Reno stared at her with dull surprise. "I beg your pardon?"

"The name of the song," Babe elaborated. "Oh! Oh, yeah! Yeah, I listened to it." "Well?

What did you think of it?" asked

Babe.

"Great song. The best thing I've heard in ages."

"Then you'll play it on the air?"

"Ah-h… I'm afraid not," said Reno.

"Why not?"

"It's a little too… passionate for radio," Reno explained.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, the lyrics are pretty explicit."

"Explicit?"

"I've got the FCC, the PMRC and all the sponsors to worry about," he claimed. "They'd throw a fit if I played something that raw on the air."

"Oh, come on," Babe scoffed. "The lyrics are well within the boundaries of local standards. It's just a matter of interpretation. Sure, there are plenty of double entendres, but all the great rock songs have them."

"Yeah, well… I'm afraid I left your demo at home," said Reno, grasping for excuses.

"That's okay," Babe replied, reaching into her handbag. "I have another copy right here."

"You're certainly a determined young woman, aren't you?" Reno remarked, accepting the record.

"Very. "

"Look, I wish I could bend the rules for you, but…"

"I'll make it worth your while," Babe offered.

Reno raised his hands. "Hey… I don't take payola."

"Of course you don't. I was thinking of something of a more… intimate nature."

Her proposition piqued Reno's interest. "Oh? Where and when?"

"Here and now," she boldly suggested. "In the booth?"

"Off mike. While you play the record. We are alone, aren't we?"

"Yes, but…"

"You only have to play it once." "Only once?"

"Unless, of course, you're flooded with requests for an encore."

"Which is unlikely."

Babe shrugged. "You never know. What do you say? Is it a deal?"

Reno scrutinized her breasts through the sheer blouse. "You won't breathe a word of it, will you?"

"Not a single soul," Babe promised, crossing her heart.

Reno swallowed hard. The record on the air was fading out. He clicked on his mike. "We interrupt this music marathon," he announced,

"to bring you a special recording we just got our hands on. It's a single by a local band that calls itself Babe. I think you're going to enjoy this. It's called, `I Want It And I Want It Now.' A world premiere, right here, on the place to be..