Force West - When The Sun Comes Out/ Gotta Tell Somebody

Second blog appearance for sixties Bristol pop group

Label: Columbia

Year of Release: 1966

Back in February, when we were mostly only dimly aware of something called a Coronavirus occurring in another country which felt too far away to be of any real significance - do you remember those days, readers? And do you wish you had done more with the time you had available then? - I uploaded Force West's final single to this blog and gave a detailed history of their lengthy activities. Changing their name more frequently than Spinal Tap (from Force West to the Oscar Bicycle to Shakane) and having a lengthy local gig history, they are the kind of group the slightly disagreeable and ugly word "stalwarts" was invented for.

"When The Sun Comes Out" was their third single, issued in July 1966 presumably in the hopes of a summer smash. The song does everything right to secure this - those close vocal harmonies, parping horns, and airy strings accompany lyrics filled with the kind of seasonal hope the British are bizarrely obsessed with every year. Obviously, it failed to change the group's fortunes or you wouldn't be reading about them on here.

The flip, on the other hand, is a bit of a beat groover, filled with thundering piano sounds and impossibly chirpy vocals. This feels like the sound of British Pirate Radio in 1966 to my ears. Apologies for the slightly scratchy sound quality, though.


For a complete history of Force West, go back to my previous blog entry - you'll find everything you need there. No, I'm not copying and pasting here, what would be the point of that, exactly?