The Honeycombs

The original group members were:

• Denis D'Ell (born Denis James Dalziel, 10 October 1943,[3] Whitechapel, East London; died of cancer 6 July 2005[4]) – lead singer and harmonica player
• Martin Murray (born 7 October 1941, the East End of London) – rhythm guitar. He was replaced by Peter Pye (born 12 July 1946, Walthamstow, London) in November 1964[1]
• Allan Ward (born 12 December 1945, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire[2]) – lead guitar
• John Lantree (born John David Lantree, 20 August 1940, Newbury, Berkshire[2]) – bass guitar
• Honey Lantree (born Anne Margot Lantree,[5][6] 28 August 1943, Hayes, Middlesex,[2] died 23 December 2018[7]) – drums and singer

The group was founded in November 1963 as an amateur band founded by Martin Murray.[1][2] Its members were Murray (a hairdresser), his salon assistant Honey Lantree,[8] her brother John, and two friends.[1] Originally they called themselves the Sheratons.[9]

The group played dates in the West End of London, and at the Mildmay Tavern,[10] a North London pub.[2] Among those attending an appearance of the band in February 1964 were aspiring songwriters Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley.[1] Howard and Blaikley would become a prolific British songwriting team, but in 1964 they had just started their career.[11] They got into conversation with the group, which appeared interested in a few songs the duo had just written.[1] The group had already arranged an audition with indie record producer Joe Meek.[1] The audition resulted in a recording of Howard and Blaikley's "Have I the Right?"[12] 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?"[12]

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 he had fixed to the banisters with bicycle clips.[1] For the finishing touch someone beat a tambourine directly onto a microphone. The recording was also somewhat sped up.[13]

"Have I the Right?" was released on 26 June 1964 on the Pye record label. Louis Benjamin, Pye's later chairman,[14] renamed the group as "The Honeycombs", a pun on the drummer's name and her job as a hairdresser's assistant.[15] The sales started slowly, but by the end of July the record started to climb the UK Singles Chart.[1] 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.[16] At the end of August the record reached No. 1.[17] "Have I the Right?" was also a big success outside the UK, hitting No. 1 in Australia and Canada,[18] No. 3 in Ireland, No. 5 in the US,[19] and No. 2 in the Netherlands.[20] Overall sales of the record reached a million.[2] 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.[21]

From then on Howard and Blaikley acted as the group's managers and also wrote their next singles, "Is It Because" and "Eyes". These records 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.[8] The tour gained them a long-lasting popularity in Japan, however.[1] Especially for the Japanese market the group produced a live album and a single, "Love in Tokyo".[1] The group also made a lasting impression in Sweden, where they scored two No. 1 singles.[22]

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).[23] The group also appeared in the 1965 film Pop Gear, miming "Have I the Right?" and "Eyes".[24]

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.[25]

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).[26] 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".[27] "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, Allan Ward and Peter Pye left the group.[28]

The group went on, with new lead singer, guitarist and keyboardist:

• Colin Boyd (born Colin Nicholas Nicol, 4 June 1946, Combe, near Bath, Somerset) – Guitar and vocals. Later he formed Honeybus and changed his name to Colin Hare.
• Rod Butler (born Rodney Butler, 27 May 1944, Mill Hill, London) – Lead guitar and vocals. Later he played with the Lemmings and subsequently the College Boys, formed by ex-Honeycomb Martin Murray. Butler later joined forces with D'Ell and formed Zarabanda and later still played in Violinski, with Mik Kaminski of the ELO
• Eddy Spence – Keyboards and vocals
• John Lantree – Bass guitar
• Honey Lantree – Drums and vocals

This line-up released the group's last single, "That Loving Feeling", a group original penned by the new lead singer Colin Boyd. It failed to chart.

Late in the year the Honeycombs toured Japan where a live LP was recorded in Tokyo. The original vinyl LP is hard to locate these days, as is the CD re-issue by Repertiore Records in the 1990s (Rep 4180-WZ).[28] The full tracklist is - 1. Colour Slide, 2. I'll Go Crazy, 3. She's About A Mover, 4. There's Always Me, 5. Wipe Out, 6. Lucille, 7. If You Should, 8. Have I The Right, 9. Goldfinger, 10. Kansas City, 11. My Prayer, 12. What'd I Say. 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 Clause Is Back In Town" with "Silent Night".

On 3 February 1967, the Honeycombs record producer Joe Meek committed suicide at his recording studios / flat on the 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.[1]

In 1972 Peter Pye, using a little alteration of his middlename Frank, started a brief solo career as Peter Franc with a single for Blue Mountain label, both compositions were actually credited to Peter F. Pye. It was followed by two albums and three singles for the Dawn label, the latest being a 1975 single not available on his albums.

In the 1990s founding member Martin Murray toured the cabaret circuit with a group called 'Martin Murray's Honeycombs'.[1] Another line-up including Honey Lantree, Peter Pye and Denis D'Ell also successfully toured from 1991 onwards.[1] John Lantree later rejoined this line-up. In 1999 record producer Russell C. Brennan asked D'Ell, Honey and John Lantree 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 and drummer Honey Lantree died on 23 December 2018, aged 75.

• List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
• List of 1960s one-hit wonders in the United States
• List of performers on Top of the Pops
• List of artists who reached number one on the Australian singles chart

• Chris May and Tim Phillips, British Beat, Sociopack Publications, London, [1974], p. 75.

• Biography of The Honeycombs at Allmusic.com
• http://rokpool.com/node/3400 Extensive discography
• The Honeycombs discography at Discogs
• The Honeycombs fan site
• About the producer Joe Meek