The Honeycombs were a pop rock group which formed in 1963 in London, Englan… Read Full Bio ↴The Honeycombs were a pop rock group which formed in 1963 in London, England. The band's original lineup consisted of Denis D'Ell (vocals, harmonica), Martin Murray (guitar), Alan Ward (guitar), John Lantree (bass) and Ann "Honey" Lantree (drums, vocals).
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 TV, liked what they saw and suggested the band might like to hear some of their material. The band had an upcoming audition with legendary indie producer Joe Meek who 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 Sheratons were renamed The Honeycombs and 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 America, 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.
"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 (although the band tried hard to play down the fact that she was female in the press). 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.
In November 1964, Peter Pye replaced guitarist Martin Murray.
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, (US-title: Go Go Mania!).
In April 1966, Pye, D'ell and Ward left the band. The Lantrees were joined by vocalist/guitarist Colin Boyd, guitarist Rod Butler and keyboardist Eddie Spence. This lineup lasted one single before the group disbanded in 1967.
In 1991, Honey Lantree, Peter Pye and Denis D'ell began touring as "The Honeycombs", with John Lantree later joining the lineup. The other founding member, Martin Murray formed a group called "Martin Murray's Honeycombs" around the same time. In 1999, the Lantrees/Pye/D'ell lineup recorded the song "Live and Let Die" for a compilation, after which, no further activity came from the band.
In 2004, Martin Murray secured the rights to the "Honeycombs" name and began touring with a new lineup. The new lineup consists of Martin Murray (guitar), Lee Howard (guitar), Sascha Flory (vocals), Olli Tooley (vocals), Chris Randall (bass) and Jim Green (drums).
The original group members were:
Denis D'Ell (born Denis James Dalziel, 10 October 1943, Whitechapel, East London; died of cancer 6 July 2005) – 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
Alan Ward (born 12 December 1945, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire) – lead guitar
John Lantree (born John David Lantree, 20 August 1940, Newbury, Berkshire) – bass guitar
Honey Lantree (born Ann Margot Lantree, 28 August 1943, Hayes, Middlesex; died 23th December 2018) – drums and singer
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 TV, liked what they saw and suggested the band might like to hear some of their material. The band had an upcoming audition with legendary indie producer Joe Meek who 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 Sheratons were renamed The Honeycombs and 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 America, 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.
"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 (although the band tried hard to play down the fact that she was female in the press). 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.
In November 1964, Peter Pye replaced guitarist Martin Murray.
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, (US-title: Go Go Mania!).
In April 1966, Pye, D'ell and Ward left the band. The Lantrees were joined by vocalist/guitarist Colin Boyd, guitarist Rod Butler and keyboardist Eddie Spence. This lineup lasted one single before the group disbanded in 1967.
In 1991, Honey Lantree, Peter Pye and Denis D'ell began touring as "The Honeycombs", with John Lantree later joining the lineup. The other founding member, Martin Murray formed a group called "Martin Murray's Honeycombs" around the same time. In 1999, the Lantrees/Pye/D'ell lineup recorded the song "Live and Let Die" for a compilation, after which, no further activity came from the band.
In 2004, Martin Murray secured the rights to the "Honeycombs" name and began touring with a new lineup. The new lineup consists of Martin Murray (guitar), Lee Howard (guitar), Sascha Flory (vocals), Olli Tooley (vocals), Chris Randall (bass) and Jim Green (drums).
The original group members were:
Denis D'Ell (born Denis James Dalziel, 10 October 1943, Whitechapel, East London; died of cancer 6 July 2005) – 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
Alan Ward (born 12 December 1945, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire) – lead guitar
John Lantree (born John David Lantree, 20 August 1940, Newbury, Berkshire) – bass guitar
Honey Lantree (born Ann Margot Lantree, 28 August 1943, Hayes, Middlesex; died 23th December 2018) – drums and singer
Something Better Beginning
The Honeycombs Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Something Better Beginning' by these artists:
The Kinks They said this was the last dance The lights went…
We have lyrics for these tracks by The Honeycombs:
Can't Get Through To You I tried to call you on the phone. Even started a-following…
Colour Slide I got you on my wall I got you ten foot…
Emptiness It's emptiness for me Since you stepped right out of my…
Have I the Right Have I the right to hold you You know I've always…
Have I the Right? Have I the right to hold you You know I've always…
I Have I the right to hold you You know I've always…
It Ain't Necessarily So It ain't necessarily so It ain't necessarily so The t'ings d…
It Ain't Nesessarily So Say it isn't so Say it isn't so, Everyone is saying You…
It's So Hard It ain't necessarily so It ain't necessarily so The t'ings d…
Our Day Will Come Our day will come And we'll have everything Think of the joy…
Something I Got To Tell You Something I got to tell you, baby Something′s giving me hell…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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elsariguella
Esta version anterior a los kinks tiene el mismo sentimiento tanto vocalmente como en lo musical, excelente la letra , te llega al alma!!!!
Rich Alderson
This sounds like it could have been a Dusty Springfield hit.
friendlier
Exactly. I've always thought that the Kinks sounded like they were doing a Dusty song.
Colin Brown
Ive just listened to the kinks version of this song and I like this version a lot more should have got higher in the charts I brought this record
capybara
It's not without its charm. But I'm partial to the Kinks cover version.
Dave Titterton
It was the Kinks originally…Ray Davies wrote it and the Kinks recorded it !!!!
cricketbat09
Sounds just like Gene Pitney, which is no bad thing.
JOHN PARISI
big Kinks fan here but don;t mind this at all.
Colin Brown
This was the honeycombs second minor hit number 39 after their number one hit have I the right the next single that's the way made the top twenty why number 12 so for them it was something better begining
Mr22thou
I need to listen to The Kinks version to wash the taint of this one off me.