The Banberries

A musical journey

by SUZIE DALKIN

Sam Simpson was a bit of a nonentity. Nowhere near top of the class or the bottom. Not the life and soul of the party – not that he ever got invited. Not a sportsman and not tall, short, fat or ginger, he was just inconspicuous, and terribly shy. And, while his classmates at his all-boys school were growing up and out, he seemed to be lagging behind. Inconspicuously.

But Sam did have something that made him stand out. He could sing. Boy, could he sing. In his school's music lessons his voice rang out, not louder, but clearer and purer than anyone else. He was obviously the star of his school choir, but he was so good that the music teacher had a problem, in that his voice just stood out above everyone else's. And not just because he was still a boy soprano, one of the few remaining in his year.

Mr Williams had tried everything. Asking him to sing more quietly worked to some extent, but he still stood out, which was unfair on the rest of the choir and could lead to antagonism against Sam. So Mr Williams then tried a different tack – taking Sam out of the choir and making him a soloist, with the choir backing him. To Mr Williams that seemed the ideal solution. In this case the sum of the parts would be greater than the whole.

But the normally placid Sam was not at all happy with the idea when it was broached. Sam liked singing, but he especially liked being hidden away in the choir without the spotlight being on him. So, driven by his shyness, he was adamant that he wouldn't do it.

Mr Williams brought in the big guns. The headmaster was no more successful. They tried enlisting Sam's parents, by phoning them, and they were all for the idea, but they couldn't persuade him either.

Everyone involved in this could see that Sam had a wonderful gift and possibly a wonderful future which was being spoiled by his shyness.

Then, at the annual parents evening, Sam's parents met up with Mr Williams and the headmaster and discussed the scenario again. Everyone agreed that Sam's opinions were paramount but various ideas were offered.

One idea from Sam's mum was that he could be sent to stay during the summer holidays with her sister Emma, who was an actress, one you might recognise as having been on TV a lot but probably wouldn't remember her name. The crux of the idea being that she might be able to give Sam some confidence.

The headmaster thought it was an excellent idea and Mr Williams agreed.

So, at the beginning of August, Sam's went with his parents, Paul and Hannah, to visit her sister in London for a few hours, leaving Sam with Emma for the next four weeks.

Now Emma, like most actors, was currently "resting" so had time for Sam, but equally importantly had time for her twin daughters, Mabel and Erin, who were more-or-less the same age as Sam. Luckily for Sam, he wasn't a loud, boisterous, girl-hating lad so wasn't particularly bothered by being stuck with soppy girls for a month, although he might miss some of the tech stuff he hadn't been allowed to bring.

Sam would usually meet Emma and the twins about once a year, or more often if there was a family gathering like a wedding, and he'd stayed here a few times before, so he settled in quite quickly and they did their best to make him feel at home.

So, with a year to catch up on with his aunt and his cousins (whose dad was a famous actor, now into his fourth or fifth marriage, and whom they never saw), they spent a happy evening just chatting about what they'd been up to.

And it transpired that the youngsters now all had a common interest – the girls were in their school choir too, and their mother was, without wanting to sing their praises too much, obviously impressed with them.

And that piqued Sam's interest so the three agreed it might be nice to run through some songs together sometime, before he went back home.

The next morning, Aunt Emma dropped the girls off at their friend Nadia's very large house, where both would be spending an afternoon in and around her very rich parents' pool. Sam was brought along for the ride and Emma then drove back to her house the pretty way, pointing out some local sights before arriving in time for a late lunch and the chance to have a chat with Sam.

Emma had already apologised for the girls not being around but explained that this had been arranged weeks before, and he'd see a lot more of his cousins for the rest of the week.

Of course nobody had said anything to Sam or the girls about the real reason for his visit, but just that it would be good for him to experience the city.

So, over a rather nice lunch, Emma quizzed Sam about his singing – as any aunt with singing daughters might. She let on that his mum had told her that he was a good singer who didn't want to stand out from the crowd. Emma told him she had been the same when she was his age.

"But you became a well-known actress, so how did you manage that?" asked Sam.

"Well, I learned that any form of public performance is acting. Actors can pretend to be any number of different people: lovers, murderers, comedians, singers. The trick is to recognise that it's a character you're playing, who may not necessarily be anything like you. So for example I once played an opera singer. I'm not an opera singer but for the singing scenes I acted the singing. It's surprising what you can achieve when you do that."

“And that always works, does it?”

Well, it needs a modicum of talent to start with but mostly the acting helps to cover any weaknesses. I wasn’t an opera singer but being a competent singer meant it wasn’t a great stretch.”

“But I expect you were a very confident person, which is how you made your name.”

“Don’t you believe it. I loved acting and the applause but would get wound up about the performing that you need to do to get that applause, so I acted as a performer and found I could do it. And once you find out you can do something, you’re confident.”

Now she had his attention and she said "Stand on that chair and sing me your favourite song.”

"But I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I might fall off."

"Ah, so it's not about the singing, it's about something else."

"I suppose so."

"OK then, sing your favourite song but just standing on the floor."

Sam realised he'd been stitched up. But he sang it. Beautifully.

Emma complimented him on his singing and asked him to sing another. And another. And another.

And then she said "You obviously like singing solo, so what's so wrong with it at school?"

"Well, this isn't school and you're not an audience of hundreds. You're not even an audience of two."

"Fair point."

And soon they were interrupted as the girls arrived back with Nadia and her mother, and the twins introduced Sam to the visitors.

"Sam sings really well and has been singing for me for much of the afternoon" Emma said, and the cousins asked him to give a repeat performance – but he wouldn't.

The girls tried to persuade him but he still refused, so Emma said "He doesn't have to sing if he doesn't want to, and since he obviously doesn't, let's just accept the situation and not embarrass our visitors ...and I especially include Sam amongst our visitors."

The twins grumbled but left Sam alone as they said goodbye to Nadia and her mum.

But as soon as the front door had closed they were back on Sam's case and sterner words were needed to again take the pressure off him.

That evening's visit to a fast food outlet (or "restaurant" as they'd prefer us to call it) soon cooled the situation but Emma was wondering if she'd done the right thing in offering to take Sam for a whole month.

The following day everyone was up early and reasonably happy while Emma was asking what Sam would like to do today. He said "Dunno, what would you suggest?"

But before Emma had a chance to reply, suggestions were coming thick and fast from the twins, who were being careful about avoiding the previous evening's unpleasantness. "Let's meet up with Nadia and go round the shops in town," certainly didn't light up Sam's eyes, and neither did an afternoon at the civic swimming pool, or the dolls museum, or a visit to the local stately home.

Emma could see that anything the girls came up with would be unlikely to work. So she tried a different tack.

"How about I take Sam to somewhere that he'd like to go this morning while you two practise singing your song and then you can sing it for him when we get back. Would you like that, Sam?"

This at last got a bit of enthusiasm, but not in the way she expected.

"Yes I would," but, turning to the twins he then said "Tell me what your song is then. And what are you practising for?"

"It's Only You, an old a capella song that was a hit forty years ago for the Flying Pickets. Our school choir sings it but it's also Grandma's favourite song so we thought we'd sing it for her at her birthday party in a few weeks' time."

"Great choice! Our school choir sings it too. But surely that needs more than just the two of you?"

"Well, we've had to simplify it a bit but we think it will still work, and mum will be joining us anyway."

"Well, go on then, let me hear it! Strike while the iron's hot!"

The girls and their mother took little persuading. And they did a pretty decent rendering, so now it was Sam dishing out the compliments.

Then Sam asked them to do it again, but this time he added some of the omitted parts, which did enhance it, and the girls were amazed at the difference, and at Sam's voice, as was their mother.

"My gran says it's her favourite song too," said Sam.

"Well I suppose she would, since she's our gran too!" said Mabel.

"Oh, I assumed you meant your dad's mother since my gran lives near us!" Then a penny dropped. "So are you going up to see her then?"

Emma then butted in "Yes, we're all going for that weekend. Didn't your mother tell you that she's organising a party for your gran?"

"Yes, but I had assumed it would be after my month with you, not in the middle."

Well, we'll all be going, but some of us may be sleeping on a sofa-bed for a couple of nights."

Emma then added "And, having heard you singing, I think the best idea for the song would be for you to replace me, Sam, and for all three of your gran's grandchildren to perform it for her. You three would be awesome. But while we're at it, are there any other songs you could do to go with it? Have a think about it."

So now the three youngsters disappeared for a couple of hours to practice and to search for some songs which they could add to produce a 3-song set, as well as the obvious "Happy Birthday" song.

And that left Emma thinking Sam's visit might work out after all.

The kids soon had Only You knocked into shape and then started thinking about two more songs.

Sam remembered that one day his gran, his mother and himself had spent an hour thinking of which music recordings they'd like to have with them were they to be marooned on a desert island, like on that radio programme* which Gran always listened to, and that's how he knew about Gran's fondness for Only You.

But he also remembered her choice of The Rose, recorded by some boy band from before they were born, and he thought that their arrangement would work well for the twins and him. It would also be one from his mother's and Emma's youth too, so might appeal to them.

Then the girls thought a Taylor Swift song from their own era might be appropriate, although they'd have to do some arranging. Sam said that their gran wouldn't recognise a single Taylor Swift song, but she liked folk music and a sea shanty, The Wellerman, had recently taken the internet by storm. And there were lots of harmony versions online and it could be fun to do.

The twins liked his ideas so they spent time downloading and printing the lyrics and were all getting excited about the project. And downstairs, so was Emma, to be honest. Her girls were good singers but perhaps not as good as Sam. This would make him a large fish in a small sea so he'd be part of such a small choir that everyone in it was effectively a soloist.

Over the next week the three worked up their arrangements, learned their lyrics, practised and practised, and accepted presentational advice from Emma. They'd decided on their clothing, and would all dress the same, in glittery shirts, black trousers and flat shoes, with their long dark hair in ponytails. And to make them more symmetrical, the twins would stand either side of Sam.

They had a practice run-through in front of Emma every day for a week and then on the Wednesday they had a dress rehearsal and she was over the moon with them, although she did suggest that if the girls brought their ponytails down a bit and Sam took his up, that may give an even more symmetrical appearance. Yet, had his mother suggested that, he'd have hit the roof but, coming from a professional, well, that was different – so that's what they did.

And, following Emma's advice during the week, they'd also practised an encore, should one be needed.

On the Thursday they went over to Nadia's for what actors call a preview, in front of her and her mother ...and her grandmother. Emma deliberately stayed at the back of the room to leave it all to the kids.

Sam and the twins set the scene by explaining why they were doing their set and then sang the birthday song. That was followed by The Rose, then a bit of light relief with The Wellerman, and ended with Only You.

Each song was enthusiastically received so there was never any doubt that an encore would be requested, so they did the ancient song by Abba which had launched their mega-career: Waterloo – complete with Abba stage moves by the girls. And the kids were delighted with the response.

Emma also was delighted. The whole performance had been a test of the trio with an audience who hadn't known what to expect and they had passed with flying colours. And the effusive response of Nadia's grandmother had been especially gratifying since she was closest in age to the weekend's intended target audience.

So the three went back to her house with Emma, brimming with pride and confidence, and looking forward to their weekend in Banbury. However Sam did say that he'd felt a bit like a spare part when they sang Waterloo as, while the girls were doing their choreography, he was just motionless in between, while singing the backing vocal. So they agreed they'd have to give that some thought. Then Sam said "Do you have an acoustic guitar?"

"No, but Mum has one. Why? What are you thinking?"

"Well, I could use it to practise a strummed backing, though I'd use my own guitar in Banbury. The other songs can all be done a capella but that one really needs some instrumental backing, and it'll give me something to do. After all, the men in Abba would have looked like spare parts if they hadn't been playing their instruments."

They arrived the next afternoon at Sam's house where he and his parents were glad to see each other after two weeks apart, their longest separation of his life. And by this time Emma's ears had had enough of Abba and the Flying Pickets emanating from the back seat, where the three had been seated in their performing positions.

Soon they were all off to Gran's to visit her on her actual birthday and hand over presents before taking her out for a meal at her favourite restaurant. The kids had been warned not to mention their little concert as it was intended to be a surprise.

So by the time they had returned Gran to her house, all three were quite tired and went to bed while their parents chatted, mostly about the birthday arrangements, but frequent mentions of Thursday's performance would creep in, and they were all looking forward to seeing it the next day.

After breakfast, everyone was mobilised to decorate the small village hall they had hired for the party with all the balloons and other stuff that Hannah had either bought or made in Sam's absence.

About 50 guests were expected, mainly Gran's sister and her family, friends, neighbours and former work colleagues so, as they were leaving for a late lunch at Hannah's, they looked back proudly on their morning's work.

Back at the Simpsons' they all spent the afternoon getting ready but three of them were taking any chance they could to practise their songs yet again. Emma and Hannah went direct to the hall to do the final preparations, taking Sam and his guitar, and to welcome the early guests while the twins went later with Sam's dad to collect the chief guest.

So when they arrived at the hall, they found that most of the guests were already there. There was applause as Gran entered the room, and many of them rushed over to make a fuss of her.

Gran had assumed the twins were dressed alike because it was just a twin thing, and when she saw one of them up near the stage she thought "She's quick."

But soon the twins had joined Sam, who was dressed the same, so she knew something was up. And similar thoughts were intriguing most of the guests.

The party progressed as most such events do, and then Emma made a wonderful speech about her and Hannah's wonderful mother. Sam and his cousins then presented a huge bouquet to Gran, and then Emma announced that Gran's grandchildren would like to sing some songs they'd been practising for a couple of weeks, especially for their gran's big day.

"So let's hear it for Mabel, for Sam, and for Erin."

And there was enthusiastic applause as they climbed the steps and lined up in the middle of the small stage.

Emma had previously arranged for her cousin to record the entertainment that she would be introducing.

The performance went even better than Thursday's, with a much larger audience willing them to be brilliant ...and they were!

Firstly the birthday song had the whole room joining in and their three-song unaccompanied set went down really well, earning them a standing ovation, so there was no doubt that Waterloo would be needed.

Sam left his position in the middle, walked offstage and returned with the guitar he had earlier hidden behind a curtain, and moved back between the girls but slightly behind them, so the twins could mirror each other's moves while they sang, and he started strumming.

The girls came in on cue and the whole song was tumultuously received, acquired another standing ovation, leaving Gran and both of her daughters in tears and the three performers with the biggest smiles anyone could ever hope to see.

So once everyone was safely back home, with Sam's parents and Emma being in dire need of an early night – even though it was too late for that – there were no such problems for the youngsters, They were still high on their success and might be wanting to talk about it for hours yet, so the oldies just left them to it and went to bed. And by the time the trio did likewise, they were wondering if they'd be able to find something similar to do during Sam's final two weeks in London.

So everyone had a lie-in followed by brunch. Emma received her cousin's video and forwarded it to her mother and everyone around the kitchen table before she, Mabel, Erin and Sam set off back to the capital.

And they'd barely left Banbury before Mabel had forwarded the video to Nadia. This time there was no singing but Emma was enjoying hearing their conversation in the back because it was reminding her of the buzz all performers get from a good audience, and the buzz audiences get from a good performer. And when both are good at the same time it's just magical.

Emma had also noticed that none of the three had thought of sitting in the empty front seat – they were, as before, in their stage positions. Interesting!

By the time they got back, Nadia had seen and been impressed by the video and had thought of an idea for keeping their act going. She said she needed to run it by her mother before she revealed it, and would get back to them in the morning.

And, having had little sleep the night before, the kids needed no persuasion to have an early night.

Nadia's mother dropped her off the next morning and she announced that her parents had agreed to host a party in their house on Sam's final Saturday in London. And she thought that if she could invite all the members of hers and the twins' school choir to form musical acts for the party, they'd have nearly two weeks to prepare for it.

"It wouldn't be a competition though, as you'd probably win. I've... er... already sent the video to the whole choir, so it might have meant that nobody else would enter. This way, your video is an encouragement rather than a discouragement.

"So, what do you think?" said Nadia.

Erin and Mabel both liked it but Sam said "Is your choir all girls or mixed?"

"Mixed!" was the answer, in stereo (or in triplicate!)

"Oh!"

"What's wrong?" said Mabel.

"Nothing, it's just that with my voice not having broken I'd be having the same problem I have at school."

"You mean ...that the real reason you didn't want to be a soloist is that you're embarrassed about your voice," said Erin.

"Well... I suppose so."

"...And ...after what you've experienced over the last two weeks, you're wondering if ...if performing as a girl might be less embarrassing than as a boy?" said Nadia.

"Well... yes!"

"That's no problem!" In fact it's a doddle. A bra, some falsies and a bit of makeup and you'll be the twins' cousin Samantha, who likes to be called Sam. End of!"

"But do you think it would work?"

"You've seen the video. Did it look like three girls or two and a boy?"

"Well, it's only since I've seen the video that I've realised that I may have looked like a girl."

"Of course it'll work, and I've not told anybody your gender."

"And we haven't either," said the twins.

"So shall we go for it? If so, I suggest we'll need to get all your parents to OK it."

"And I'd suggest we get our mum on board first," said Erin, "and leave Sam's parents to her."

I think she's doing some gardening; I'll fetch her," said Mabel.

Emma thought the party idea was good, but was less happy about the gender swap although she agreed to speak to her sister about it. However she didn't see a need to call a halt to the plan before a gender decision was made as he could repeat last Saturday's show as a boy or a girl. She then went off to call Hannah and asked Sam to be prepared for his mother to call him shortly.

That put a dampener on the meeting until Emma came back to say Aunt Hannah would ring him in 5 minutes for a private chat, which he could take in his temporary bedroom.

So after he went upstairs, Mabel asked how her call had gone, but she wouldn't say and advised them all to leave the subject to Sam and his parents.

When he returned, he didn't look too happy and just said "Right, should we do some new songs then, or repeat the ones we did?"

But the mood had changed and none of them really wanted to go on until the issue had been resolved one way or another, so Emma took all four of them for a burger lunch before dropping Nadia off at her house. Then she took the other three to the cinema to see whatever film Sam wanted, as no decision would be made before his dad returned from work. He in fact passed over the film choice to his cousins, and they decided, after some facial communication between the females indicating what would be the correct choice in the circumstances, to go for a cartoon rather than the superhero or rom-com options.

The film was ok but didn't do much to lift the gloom. Neither did the visit to the ice-cream bar afterwards, and it was still a very quiet back seat on the way home too. That was until they were pulling onto Emma's drive and Sam's phone rang. He answered it, saying "Give me two minutes, Dad, while I get out of the car and up to my bedroom."

And off he dashed as soon as he could.

Fifteen minutes later he came downstairs with a big grin and everyone was happy for him. He said "Both of my parents had been wondering if the voice thing was part of the problem. And since no drugs or surgery will be involved, it will just be a bit of dressing up, and they trust Emma to make sure it works out without me coming to any harm, so I can carry on."

That brought a cheer from the twins and kisses for Sam.

So after a miserable day, it was now 'all systems go' again.

The following day, the girls asked their mother if that decision meant that rather than all dressing the same in a sort of genderless way, they could now all dress as girls.

"I suppose it does."

"So if we each donate a bra and I give Sam my old enhancers, can we see what he'll look like in some of our clothes?"

"Ok, but that's only if he wants to do it."

"Yes I do", Sam said.

"And can he have his ears pierced?"

"Only if he and his parents agree to it."

"So I'll leave you in their tender care but don't let them do anything you're not happy about. It's about you, not them!"

And a herd of elephants climbed the stairs in double-quick time!

When they came back down little more than an hour later they were all fully made up and wearing party dresses and fairly low heels which is all Emma would allow her girls – and now Sam – to wear. And they all wore high ponytails and nail varnish. To Emma they didn't look too bad and Sam definitely didn't stand out as being a boy. She took a picture and sent it to her sister, who approved, so Emma said they'd be going shopping in the morning.

Now, to cut a long story short, they went shopping and found an inexpensive store where they were able to find three matching mini-dresses in their sizes and three pairs of mid-height heels (after a bit of negotiation – "We've grown a lot since you made that rule about heels." etc.), plus some panties and a makeup set for Sam.

They learned two more songs and honed them every day until they were almost perfect.

Meanwhile Nadia had been signing up acts for the party and allowing friends to take part as long as one person in each act was in the choir (which was the only way Sam would qualify anyway!) And with two days to go she had 12 acts, including Chiara Thompson who would be singing with her twin brothers, and Nadia herself who would sing solo to backing tracks.

And Nadia announced that most acts other than solo ones were tending to use band names, so Sam and the twins spent a few hours dreaming up a name for themselves and the one they finally settled on was the Banberries, since they all had roots in Banbury.

So the Banberries spent Saturday helping out with the party venue before going back with Emma to glam up, and properly this time, complete with makeup and matching dangly earrings (the ear piercings having been approved by Sam's parents.)

And the party was another great success. All the acts had put a lot of work into it, some more successfully than others and everyone had a great time, and even if the Banberries were probably the best act it was great that nobody had to officially be the worst.

With the show over, the twins, with Sam in tow, quickly gravitated towards Chiara Thompson and her brothers, resulting in Sam and Chiara playing gooseberry. And politeness, and the fact that Sam knew only his cousins and their best friend, meant he needed to introduce himself. And soon they were so engrossed that they didn't notice that it was time to go until the four twins came to separate them.

Again, the Banberries had had an amazing night musically but this time also socially, and after Emma had again gone to bed leaving them, on another high, to talk. The chat got around to the twins and ...the twins. And it seemed that the four had all got on so well that they were hoping to meet up the next afternoon.

But they had forgotten that Sam's parents would be coming to pick him up that afternoon, and when he pointed that out, Erin and Mabel were mortified.

"I'm so sorry, Sam, we just weren't thinking. I suppose we can delay it until after you leave, although, judging by the way you and Chiara were getting on, you two might have wanted to join us."

"Oh no! She thinks I'm really a girl anyway."

"Why do you think that?"

"Duh! Because I was in a dress and we even talked about how we bought our dresses ...and I never told her about the real me as there didn't seem much point since I'll be gone tomorrow."

"I see," said Erin. "...Would it interest you to know that she already knew? Because Nadia had accidentally told her."

"Oh."

"So here's a suggestion," said Mabel. "If you get your packing done in the morning and we have an early lunch, we could all meet up with the Thompsons and be back for late afternoon, in time for your lift. And it'll be up to you how you're dressed."

So the next morning at breakfast, that suggestion was put to Emma and agreed. Phonecalls were made to Banbury and to the Thompson twins and then, with Mabel and Erin making sure he didn't back out, Sam phoned Chiara. And he was on the phone for an hour. And again he came down from his bedroom with a big smile on his face.

Sam decided that this wouldn't be a performance, so he would just be himself, and it would be three boys meeting three girls for an afternoon together.

But while the kids were out on their group date, Sam's parents arrived and drove Emma over to Nadia's house while Nadia was out with her own boyfriend. They had been invited for tea by Ingrid as she'd heard so much about the Simpsons and thought she'd like to meet them.

"Well, ladies, Paul and I would like to thank both of you for your efforts this summer," Hannah said to Emma and Ingrid. So, we'll be forever grateful to you and all of your daughters for making this 'project' more successful than I could ever have imagined. We obviously need to find out if Sam's late puberty is a medical issue or not, but he has overcome the shyness he's always had, to not only perform in the spotlight, but also to ask a girl out."

"It was wonderful seeing what could be achieved in such a short time," said Ingrid, "and Nadia was brilliant at organising her choir for last night. I never knew she could be that persuasive."

"And I never imagined that Sam would come so far out of his shell, or that he and my girls would be such great performers," said Emma.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the town, the Banberries had arrived much too early at their meeting place, and were discussing what songs they could do together next summer ...and wondering if six-inch heels would be too dangerous for dancing on stage.

* The BBC's "Desert Island Discs" is a weekly radio programme in which a celebrity guest (who can be highbrow or lowbrow) is interviewed about their life and has to nominate their eight favourite pieces of music, and say why. The programme has been broadcast thousands of times during its more than 80 year history.

The Banberries ©2025 Suzie Dalkin