The Whales - Come Down Little Bird/ Beachcomber

Label: CBS

Year of Release: 1968

Televised talent shows are unforgiving affairs - they enable club acts or even aspiring bedroom singers to give a mass audience their best shot, but if they lose (and especially if they lose ignobly) they are likely to forever be considered damaged goods. A performer who didn't impress either a panel of judges or a television audience of several million people may even never work professionally again. 

And the winners? Well, the preferred narrative is that they will become new superstars, but even in today's market that's usually only the case for a brief period of time. The victors in talent contests usually sell well in the media aisle to supermarket shoppers for the first six months after receiving their gong, and are regarded as a safe booking by live venues and cruise ship events organisers, but only in rare cases do they really shake Britain or the world with their abilities. 

Barnsley's The Whales, for example, were Opportunity Knocks winners in 1968 and were given a fantastic opportunity to break through afterwards; a contract with CBS was duly inked, and the group were paired with the brilliant Mark Wirtz to produce a debut single. "Come Down Little Bird" was the outcome, and while it has since been compiled on "Piccadilly Sunshine", making it well known amongst the popsike cognoscenti, it was perhaps a bit too lacking in pizazz for the mass market. Wirtz clearly offered them a solid enough tune, but not one which sounded like a hit - the chorus is gently lilting rather than forceful, while the verses are too childlike and gentle to compensate. It's not bad, it's just clearly no "Teenage Opera".

The flipside "Beachcomber", on the other hand, has remained uncompiled but perhaps might have shown a little bit more promise if released during a sympathetic summer month. Swooping Macca styled bass lines meet perfectly blended vocal harmonies, gentle back beats and the lonesome sound of a British beach holiday gone loveless. There was a reason this lot won "Opportunity Knocks", obviously - they could convincingly and intricately deliver a very strong contemporary pop melody.

After this false start, the band tried again in 1969 with a cover of The Four Seasons "Tell It To The Rain", then finally moved to Pye in 1970 for the uncharacteristically reggae tinged "Papa's Gonna Kiss It Better". Neither of these records sold either, and the group disappeared from recording studios thereafter, spending the next 16 years as a live act in clubs before finally packing their gear away for good. 

The website "Roll Back The Years" has a fantastic array of information on the group and is worth wading through. 

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