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British Whale
Origin	England
Genres	Synthpop
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Atlantic Records
Associated acts	The Darkness, Hot Leg
Members
Justin Hawkins

British Whale is the solo alias of the singer/guitarist/keyboardist Justin Hawkins.

Contents 1 History 2 Peripheral project 3 Discography 3.1 Singles 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History

To date British Whale has released two singles. The first, in 2005, was a cover of Sparks' 1974 UK hit, "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us". British Whale's version reached #6 in the UK Singles Chart.^[1] The single featured an original B-side, called "America".

In May 2006, British Whale released a second single, an unofficial World Cup anthem entitled "England" on download only. It features a chorus of 'England's to the tune of the German national anthem as well as lyrical references to World War II Prime Minister Winston Churchill's wartime speeches. Some saw this deliberate mentioning of the war to be controversial.^[2] Hawkins told The Sun:

"The whole point of an England World Cup song is to assert our national identity and talk about the achievements of a great nation. Why can't we commemorate all those men who gave their lives in the name of freedom in the war? And, of course, in this case — to bash The Hun? It’s a national sport."^[3]

Plans were afoot to release an album in 2006, with working titles including Pretentious, Moi? or Wurst Case Scenario. Hawkins later revealed in an interview with MTV Germany^[4] that he intended to call the album Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory. It has yet to be released.

[edit] Peripheral project

In 2006 The Darkness released a DVD-Single, "Girlfriend" (Atlantic Records serial number 5051011 421822 DARK06DVD), which included three audio-only bonus tracks. Amongst these was "Girlfriend" (British Whale remix), which was subsequently made available as a downloadable single. However, a number of the websites offering the download had it confused with "Freelance Hellraiser Screaming" (J Hawkins remix).^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

• "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both Of Us" #6 (UK^[1]) (2005)
• "England" (2006) (Download only - did not chart in the UK)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• FlamingWhopper.com, UK based fan site for The Darkness, Stone Gods, Hot Leg and British Whale (established 2005)
• JustinHawkinsRocks.co.uk, UK based fan site for Justin Hawkins and Hot Leg (established 2008)