The Honeycombs were an English Beat/pop group
of the 1960s.
Their most distinguishing mark was their female drummer, Honey
Lantree.
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Contents
- 1 Discovery
- 2 Success
- 3 Personnel
- 4 Discography
- 5 References
- 6 External
links
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Discovery
One night the group, known then as The Sheratons, was playing
in a London pub, The Mildmay Tavern in the Balls
Pond Road. In the audience were Ken Howard and Alan
Blaikley, a very prolific British songwriting team, who later wrote
hits for such artists as Lulu, Elvis
Presley, Dave Dee, Dozy,
Beaky, Mick and Tich and Petula Clark. Howard and
Blaikley, then working in production for BBC
Television, liked what they saw and suggested the band might like to
hear some of their material. The band had an upcoming audition with indie record
producer Joe
Meek, whom most notably had produced The
Tornados, and composed their number
one hit ("Telstar") in 1962, and were eager
for some new material. At the audition in Meek's studio in Holloway
Road, they played Howard and Blaikley's "Have
I the Right?" which Meek immediately recorded.
The group's founder Martin Murray had worked as a hairdresser,
Honey Lantree being his assistant. They decided to combine his
profession with the name of the drummer, and changed their name to The
Honeycombs. They were signed to the Pye record label. After proving a 'sleeper'
for seven weeks the record took off in the summer of 1964
reaching the number one spot around the world and selling over 2 million records. It
was Meek's final hit in the United States, where it was issued on
the Interphon label. The Honeycombs were managed by
Howard and Blaikley who went on to write more successes for them.
Success
"Have I The Right?", the Honeycombs' first recording, took off
- going to number one in the UK and number five in the U.S.
in the Autumn/Fall of 1964, shortly
after the start of the British Invasion in pop music.
They were especially successful in Sweden (four consecutive number ones) and in Japan ("Love in
Tokyo" went to number one and they issued a Japan only released live
album). Honey Lantree was an accomplished drummer and the star
attraction of the group, as she was one of very few female drummers at
the time. The unique and heavily compressed bass drum sound on "Have I
The Right?", which many other drummers of the period tried to
replicate, was augmented by the group stamping on the stairs of Meek's
studio. Meek achieved this by placing four microphones under the
stairs, attached with bicycle clips. The Honeycombs also recorded the
song in German.
They made many appearances on music-television-shows such as Top
of the Pops, Ready Steady Go! (UK) and Beat-Club
(Germany). They also recorded their
second album entitled All Systems - Go! in 1965. A
fine dubbed performance appears in the 1965 British
film Pop
Gear, (U.S. title: Go Go Mania!).
The Honeycombs line up changed in 1966 and the group became
known as the New Honeycombs. The New Honeycombs were re-formed at that
time by the original drummer and vocalist Anne (Honey) Lantree and
bassist John Lantree. Included in the new line up were Rod Butler, lead
guitar and vocals, Colin Boyd, vocals and guitar, and Eddie Spence,
keyboards and vocals. Further singles were recorded at the studio of
Joe Meek which were released on the Pye label. The New Honeycombs went
on to tour extensively in the UK and Europe.
Personnel
The group consisted of:-
- Dennis D'Ell - (born Denis James
Dalziel, 14
October 1943,
in Whitechapel,
East London — died 6 July 2005) - Lead singer and harmonica
player
- Martin Murray - (born 7 October 1939, in The
City of London) - Lead guitar
- Alan Ward - (born 12
December 1945,
in Nottingham)
- Rhythm guitar
- John Lantree - (born John David Lantree,
20
August 1940,
in Newbury, Berkshire) - Bass
guitar
- Honey Lantree - (born Ann Margot
Lantree, 28
August 1943,
in Hayes, Middlesex) -
Drums.
- Peter Pye (born 12 July 1946, in Walthamstow,
London), who was brought into the band by Murray, and eventually
replaced him.
- Colin Boyd (born Colin Nicholas Nicol, 4 June 1946, in Combe,
outside Bath, Somerset) who was a singer and songwriter
for The Honeycombs ca. 1966; he went on to form Honeybus,
and was from then on was known as Colin Hare.
- Rod Butler (born Rodney Butler, 27 May 1944, in London),
played lead guitar with the band from 1966 until 1968 and went on to
play with the Lemmings
and subsequenty The College Boys formed by ex Honeycomb Martin
Murray. Rod later joined forces with Dennis D'Ell and formed Zarabanda,
and later played in Violinski with Mick Kaminski of
the ELO.
Discography
Singles
- "Have I The Right?" b/w "Please
Don't Pretend Again" (June 1964)
- "Is It Because" b/w "I'll Cry Tomorrow" (October 1964)
- "Eyes" b/w "If You've Got To Pick A Baby" (November 1964)
- "Something Better Beginning" b/w "I'll See You Tomorrow"
(April 1965)
- "That's the Way" b/w "Can't Get Through To You" (August
1965)
- "This Year Next Year" b/w "Not Sleeping Too Well Lately"
(November 1965)
- "Who Is Sylvia" b/w "How Will I Know" (February 1966)
- "It's So Hard" b/w "I Fell In Love" (July 1966)
- "That Loving Feeling" b/w "Should A Man Cry" (September
1966)
Albums
- The Honeycombs
(Pye NPL 18097, 1964)
Colour Slide/Once You Know/Without You It Is Night/That's The
Way/I Want To Be Free/How The Mighty Have Fallen/Have I The Right?/Just
A Face In The Crowd/Nice While It Lasted/Leslie Anne/She's Too Way
Out/It Ain't Necessarily So/This Too Shall Pass Away
- All Systems - Go!
(Pye NPL 18132, 17 December 1965)
I Can't Stop/Don't Love Her No More/All Systems Go/Totem
Pole/Emptiness/Ooee Train/She Ain't Coming Back/Something I Gotta Tell
You/Our Day Will Come/Nobody But Me/There's Always Me/Love In Tokyo/If
You Should/My Prayer
- In Tokyo (Live-recording, Japan only)
References
- Guinness Book
of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN
0-85112-190-X
- The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits - ISBN 0-85112-250-7
- Guinness Book of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7
External links
