The Honeycombs were an English beat group, founded in 1963 in North London, best known for their chart-topping, million-selling 1964 hit, "Have I the Right?" The band featured Honey Lantree on drums, one of the few high-profile female drummers at that time. They were unable to replicate the success of their first single and disbanded by 1967.

Personnel

The original group members were:

Career

The group was founded as an amateur band by Martin Murray in November 1963. Its members were Murray (a hairdresser), his salon assistant Anne "Honey" Lantree, her brother John, and two friends. Originally, they called themselves the Sheratons. The group played dates in the West End of London, and at the Mildmay Tavern, a North London pub. Among those attending a February 1964 performance by the band were aspiring songwriters Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley. Howard and Blaikley would become a prolific British songwriting team, but in 1964, they had just started their career. They got into conversation with the group, who appeared interested in a few songs the duo had just written. The group had already arranged an audition with indie record producer Joe Meek, which resulted in a recording of Howard and Blaikley's "Have I the Right?" Meek himself provided the B-side, "Please Don't Pretend Again". Meek used his apartment, at 304 Holloway Road, Islington, as a recording studio. Three UK No. 1 hits were produced there: "Johnny Remember Me" by John Leyton, "Telstar" by The Tornados, and "Have I the Right?" Conspicuous in "Have I the Right?" is the prominence of the drums, whose effect was enhanced by members of the group stamping their feet on the wooden stairs to the studio. Meek recorded the effect with five microphones fixed to the banisters with bicycle clips. For the finishing touch, someone beat a tambourine directly onto a microphone. The recording was also somewhat sped up. "Have I the Right?" was released on 26 June 1964 on the Pye record label. Louis Benjamin, later Pye's chairman, renamed the group as "The Honeycombs", a pun on the drummer's name and her job as a hairdresser's assistant. The sales started slowly, but by the end of July, the record started to climb the UK Singles Chart. Honey Lantree's status as a female drummer in a top band was as unusual then as it is now, and some questioned whether she was just a visual novelty, despite her genuine drumming ability. At the end of August, the record reached No. 1. "Have I the Right?" was also a big success outside the UK, hitting No. 1 in Australia and Canada, No. 3 in Ireland, No. 5 in the US, and No. 2 in the Netherlands. Overall sales of the record reached a million. The Honeycombs also recorded a German version of the song: "Hab ich das Recht?" Both the English and the German versions reached No. 21 in the German charts: the English one in October, the German one in November 1964. From then on, Howard and Blaikley acted as the group's managers and also wrote their next singles, "Is It Because" and "Eyes", which did not sell well. This also applied to their fourth single, "Something Better Beginning", written by Ray Davies from the Kinks. Soon after their first record had become a hit, the Honeycombs went on tour to the Far East and Australia, and were not able to promote their new records at home. The tour gained them a long-lasting popularity in Japan, however. Especially for the Japanese market, the group produced a live album and a single, "Love in Tokyo". The group also made a lasting impression in Sweden, where they scored two No. 1 singles. The Honeycombs made many appearances on music television shows such as Top of the Pops, Ready Steady Go! (UK), Shindig! (US), and Beat-Club (Germany). The group also appeared in the 1965 film Pop Gear, miming "Have I the Right?" and "Eyes". In July 1965, British music magazine NME reported that it had been agreed in the London High Court that "Have I the Right?" was the work of Howard and Blaikley. Composer Geoff Goddard agreed to drop allegations that he, not they, had written the song. In August 1965, the group released "That's the Way", with Honey Lantree sharing vocals with D'Ell (when on tour, Viv Prince of The Pretty Things took over the drumming). This record became their fourth British hit and reached No. 12. Its successor, "This Year Next Year", again with Lantree and D'Ell sharing vocals, did not reach the UK chart. D'Ell sang on all but the last single the group recorded. "Who Is Sylvia?" was an adaptation of Franz Schubert's song "An Sylvia". "It's So Hard" was also recorded by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich as "Hard to Love You". In April 1966, Denis D'Ell, Alan Ward, and Peter Pye left the group. In 1999, the original lineup (except Martin Murray) reformed to work with cult record producer Russell C. Brennan, who they likened to Joe Meek. He produced a new version of "Live and Let Die" for the band, which featured on the Future Legend Records release Cult Themes From the 70s Vol. 2 album. To promote the song, they did their first live gig together in 30 years at Madame Jo Jo's in London before disbanding once more. This stands as the original lineup's last recording. The track was also featured on a special James Bond compilation, The Themes Bond... James Bond (The Alternative James Bond Themes).

The (new) Honeycombs and afterwards

The group went on, with a new lead singer, guitarist and keyboardist: This line-up released the group's last single, "That Loving Feeling", a group original penned by new lead singer Colin Boyd. It failed to chart. Late in the year, the Honeycombs toured Japan and recorded a live LP in Tokyo. The original vinyl LP is hard to locate these days, as is the 1990s CD re-issue by Repertoire Records (Rep 4180-WZ). The full tracklist is: A few of these tracks have made their way onto video streaming sites, including an extremely rare Japanese-only Christmas single recorded during their tour of that country, coupling "Santa Claus Is Back in Town" with "Silent Night". On 3 February 1967, Joe Meek committed suicide at his recording studio/flat on Holloway Road, after an altercation with his landlady, who also died. After this, the Honeycombs had no more records issued and the band broke up. In 1972, Peter Pye, using an alteration of his middle name Frank, started a brief solo career as Peter Franc, with a single for Blue Mountain label, though both compositions were credited to Peter F. Pye. It was followed by two albums and three singles for the Dawn label, the latest being a 1975 non-album single. In the 1990s, founding member Martin Murray toured the cabaret circuit with a group called Martin Murray's Honeycombs. Another line-up, including Honey Lantree, Peter Pye, and Denis D'Ell, also successfully toured from 1991 onwards; John Lantree later rejoined this line-up. In 1999, record producer Russell C. Brennan asked D'Ell, the Lantrees, and Pye to record "Live and Let Die", on the Future Legend Records compilation, Cult Themes from the '70s Vol. 2. This compilation also featured Glenda Collins, another Joe Meek artist. Singer Dennis D'Ell died on 6 July 2005, at the age of 61. The drummer, Honey Lantree, died on 23 December 2018, aged 75.

Discography

Singles

Albums

In Germany, all three Honeycombs albums have been reissued on compact disc, two of which had bonus tracks:

Compilation albums

References and notes