The Honeycombs – THE HONEYCOMBS***

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/Me From You/Leslie Anne/ She’s Too Way Out

The Honeycombs were a short lived British pop group from the mid sixties that were distinctive for having a female drummer. Their self titled LP includes the single Have I The Right, the third and final UK chart topper from independent producer Joe Meek.

“The Honeycombs are remembered for two things, they had a woman drummer and their producer was Joe Meek. And of course they had also a couple of big hits, Have I The Right and That's The Way, which both happened to be very good. Well, what else? After listening to their debut album that is pretty much the whole story.”

“Joe Meek was certainly inventive producer, with his echo effects and space sounds. But after listening to The Honeycombs, I've had enough to last for awhile. It all sounds a bit too samey to hold interest, at least mine. Mostly mediocre songs but Honey Lantree wasn't that bad a drummer, was she?”

“If you enjoy sixties pop music, you are likely to enjoy the music here although (as you might expect) the outstanding track is Have I The Right. If you are fond of great, eerie mid-60s production (with a bit of schmaltz) - this is a fun one to have.”

“I bought this hoping it would be something similar to The Beatles or The Hollies. But it sounds a lot more old-fashioned and primitive. I only liked a few of the songs.”

“The Honeycombs had distinctive vocals, and a very distinctive drummer since a female drummer was almost unheard of back then.”

“Joe Meek used his avant-garde production techniques to record The Honeycombs. This LP from a much underrated group is a must have for 60s audiophiles.”

“Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley, a very prolific British songwriting team penned most of the tunes on this album. Singer Dennis O'Dell has been unfairly accused of being unable to hold notes, but there's no doubting his wobbling vocals were, along with drummer Honey, the distinguishing feature of The Honeycombs.”