"The HeeBeeGeeBees", as pictured in
the Radio Active Times, 1986

The Hee Bee Gee Bees were a pop group formed initially to parody the Bee Gees towards the close of their sequence of high-pitched, disco-style hits. The 'band' consisted of three brothers; Dobbin, Garry and Norris Cribb (an obvious parody of Robin, Barry and Maurice Gibb), performed by Angus Deayton (Garry), Michael Fenton Stevens (Norris), and Philip Pope (Dobbin).

Their big hit "Meaningless Songs (in Very High Voices)" was released by Original Records in 1980 and is regarded as one of the best produced and keenly observed musical parodies. It reached number two in the Australian singles chart.

They did not confine themselves to Bee Gees parodies, however. They subsequently released two albums, now quite hard to find, which include parodies of Supertramp ("Scatological Song" as Supertrash), Michael Jackson ("Up the Wall" as Jack Michaelson), Status Quo ("Boring Song" as Status Quid), The Police ("Too Depressed to Commit Suicide" as The PeeCees), David Bowie ("Quite Ahead of My Time" as David Bowwow), Gary Numan ("Are Trains Electric?" as Gary Inhuman) and others. The albums were recorded in the famed Strawberry Studios in Stockport, and featured 10cc studio musicians as their band, although 10cc themselves do not appear on this album.

The Hee Bee Gee Bees also made regular "guest" appearances on Radio Active, since all three of the comedians were already cast members. Fenton-Stevens was also a cast member on Spitting Image and later sang lead on their UK number one hit, "The Chicken Song".

Singles

• "Meaningless Songs (in Very High Voices)" / "Posing in the Moonlight" (1980) #1 Australia
• "Too Depressed to Commit Suicide" - The PeeCees / "Up the Wall" - Jack Michaelson / "Meaningless Songs" Triple A-Side (1981)
• "Boring Song" - Status Quid / "Dead Cicada" - The Beagles (1981)
• "When Two Songs (Sound the Same)" - Frankie Goes to the Bank / "Purple Pants" - Ponce (1989)

Albums

• 439 Golden Greats - Never Mind the Original's Here's the Hee Bee Gee Bees (1981)
• The Hee Bee Gee Bees Present - 20 Big No. 2’s

External links

• Michael Fenton Stevens web site
• Radio Active web site