Honeyz
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| Honeyz | ||
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 The Honeyz on their debut album Wonder No. 8
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| Background information | ||
| Origin |  London, England |
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| Genre(s) | R&B | |
| Label(s) | Mercury, Unsigned | |
| Members | ||
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| Former members | ||
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The Honeyz were a popular British based R&B girl group in the 1990s.
Contents |
[edit] Story So Far...
[edit] The early years
The line up was initially made up of Heavenli Abdi, Naima Belkhiati and Célena Cherry. They formed in 1997 and debut single, Finally Found was released in 1998 and peaked at number 4 in the British music charts, which remained their biggest hit. They were also nominated for the BRIT Awards in the categories, Best Newcomer and Best R&B Act.
It took less than two years for the Honeyz to sashay slinkily into the pop consciousness and become the Crown Princesses of R&B/Pop in the UK. Their debut single Finally Found, released in August 1998, introduced the angel-voiced trio to the British public and promptly went on to sell more than half a million copies. The follow-up, End of the line notched up similarly impressive sales figures, peaking at number 5. Their debut album Wonder No. 8 went gold in the UK with sales of well over 200,000 copies. Despite this initial success, the band remained modest. "We're still only on the first step of the ladder," says Celena, "but we're determined to keep on climbing."
Aside from their success in the United Kingdom, they performed with a full live orchestra in The Netherlands, to 8,000 people at Childline in Dublin, duetted with Lionel Richie in Italy, and saw their first two singles, Finally Found and End of the line, go double platinum in Australia. In the United States, they signed to Def Jam/Island, providing backing vocals to a Foxy Brown track and also worked with producer Stevie J (Toni Braxton, Deborah Cox, Puff Daddy).
[edit] The 1st member shift: Heavenli leaves, Mariama joins
It wasn't all plain sailing though. During their second promotional trip down under in March 1999, Naima and Celena heard that Heavenli had decided to quit the group for personal reasons, including spending more time with her boyfriend, Matthew Marsden. "Of course, it was a big shock," admitted Naima, "But we respect her decision, and we wish her a lot of luck in whatever she decides to do."
The gap left by Heavenli's departure opened a wonderful opportunity for former Solid HarmoniE vocalist Mariama Goodman. Her arrival was announced exclusively on BBC 1's Live & Kicking on 10 April 1999, just in time for the release of the group's third single "Love of a Lifetime", which reached number 9 later that month. The new line up continued their busy schedule over the Summer 1999, performing at London's Mardi Gras and Capital Radio's Party in the Park concert in Hyde Park in July. At the radio extravaganza, performing in front of 100,000 people, the Honeyz brought the proverbial house down with hits "Finally Found" and "End Of The Line", before duetting with Another Level on the Help A London Child single "Holding Back The Years". This was followed later in the month by a performance at the 'Wicked Women' concert in Hyde Park, in aid of Breast Cancer Research. In September, the Honeyz supported Five at London's Brixton Academy and Manchester Apollo, in special one-off events organised in conjunction with Cadburys and MTV.
October 1999 saw the release of their fourth single, "Never let you down", a brand new track recorded for inclusion on a repackaged version of the Honeyz debut album, Wonder No. 8, and the first single to feature the vocals of Mariama. The single entered straight into the UK Singles Chart at number 7, making it a fourth consecutive Top 10 hit for the R&B babes.
The Honeyz performed another newly recorded album track, "Won't take it lying down", at the prestigious MOBO Awards, held on 6 October 1999 in the Royal Albert Hall, where they had picked up two nominations in the 'Best Newcomer' and 'Best R&B Act' categories. "Won't take it lying down", an uptempo slice of street soul, went on to be released at the end of February 2000, reaching number 7. It became the last Top 10 single the Honeyz would achieve.
The repackaged and remastered version of Wonder No. 8 reads essentially like a greatest hits, featuring all five of their Top 10 singles. Released on 1st November 1999, the album also included the R&B Club Chart No.1 hit "In The Streets".
At the 2000, Maxim awards, they picked up the award for The Best British Girl Band, beating The Spice Girls, Hepburn, Thunderbugs and Eternal to the title.
[edit] The 2nd member shift: Mariama leaves, Heavenli returns
After nearly two years of success, including five consecutive Top 10 singles, and a nomination for a BRIT Award in the category Best Newcomer (as shortlisted by the listeners of BBC Radio 1), they were widely regarded as one of the premiere girl groups from the UK, next to likes of the Spice Girls and All Saints.
By Summer 2000, a brand new song had already been recorded, which was confirmed as not only the first single to be taken from a planned forthcoming new album, but also a chosen single from the Nutty Professor II: The Klumps original soundtrack, with the Honeyz featuring on the UK version alongside Sisqó and Janet Jackson. The single was called "Not even gonna trip" and was initially scheduled for release in late September 2000.
It was during the run up to the single release, in August, that Mariama Goodman announced her departure from the Honeyz. Célena and Naima were faced with an uncertain future, but as fortune would have it, a chance meeting with former member Heavenli Abdi proved that the original spark between the three friends was still there despite her sudden departue a year previously, and an invitation to rejoin the group was accepted. Heavenli's vocals for the new single "Not Even Gonna Trip" were recorded and the official announcement of the renewed line up was made on ITV's flagship children's programme SMTV/CD:UK, on Saturday 19 August 2000, along with a performance of "Finally Found", poignant in that it was the first ever performance by a band on CD:UK on its launch almost two years earlier to the day, on 20 August 1998.
Sadly Not even gonna trip failed to reach Top 20 by the time it was released in late October, peaking at #24. After this failure the Honeyz worked hard on their second album.
Almost a year after the return of Heavenli, the group released new single I Don't Know on the 5 August 2001, but with minimal exposure and promotion, the track did worse than their previous single, stalling at number 28.
It seemed despite the failure of their past two singles, the group with given one more chance, with a song titled "Talk to the Hand" in late 2001. A video was filmed and was got played on major channels such as MTV Hits. However Mercury Records suddenly made the decision that it would be best to simply drop the group, without giving the single the chance of a release. Plans for the release of the group's second album Harmony was therefore shelved.
With a quiet departure from the music scene, rumours flew about of what the future held for the Honeyz, after such a bright start just three years earlier. Would they continue and find a new label, or part ways?
[edit] The 3rd member shift: Naima and Heavenli leave. What does the future hold?
In June 2003 Célena released a single with her cousin Alani (former Kleshay singer) under the name Anotherside through V2 Records. The song, "This is your Night", reached the low position of #41 in the official UK Chart and their brief partnership as a group came to a close for the two cousins.
2005 saw the band quietly reform. In January 2005, The Honeyz contributed to an Asian tsunami relief charity single, titled "Grief Never Grows Old", collaborating with the likes of Boy George and Sir Cliff Richard. The same year they appeared on the ITV singing contest Hit Me Baby One More Time, performing their debut single Finally Found and a cover of Nickelback's hit "How You Remind Me". This was the last performance with founding member Naima Belkhiati. The space she left in the group was quickly filled by Célena's other cousin, Candii Cherry (also former member of Kleshay). Naima started to focus on acting. The first movie she features in is Alien Autopsy, a sci-fi comedy which was released in 2006.
Célena released in 2005 a selftitled solo album only available through her website. It included three Honeyz hits (re-arranged and re-recorded), three Christmas songs and four new songs. According to Célena Cherry's official website, they are currently recording a new album as a group, following her acting appearances on the soaps Hollyoaks and Doctors. According to Célena, if the Honeyz are unable to get a new record deal they will release their new album the same way as Célena's solo record: online. The album is due in 2006. Célena is at the same time recording new solo material. Three new songs have surfaced on her official MySpace.
In August 2006 another founding member, Heavenli Roberts, left the band which was quickly replaced, again, by former Solid Harmonie and Honeyz member, Mariama Goodman. "The girls are back in the studio working on some new material with some of the industry’s top producers."
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Date | Title | Chart (UK) | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Wonder No. 8 | #33 | Original release |
| 1999 | Wonder No. 8 | #46 | Re-release |
| 2001 | Harmony | n/a | Unreleased |
| 2006 | The Collection | - | Greatest hits |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Album | Chart (UK) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | "Finally Found" | Wonder No. 8 | 4 |
| 1998 | "End of the line" | Wonder No. 8 | 5 |
| 1999 | "Love Of A Lifetime" | Wonder No. 8 | 9 |
| 1999 | "Never Let You Down" | Wonder No. 8 | 7 |
| 2000 | "Won't Take It Lying Down" | Wonder No. 8 | 7 |
| 2000 | "Not Even Gonna Trip" | Nutty Professor II O.S.T., Harmony | 24 |
| 2001 | "I Don't Know" | Harmony | 28 |
| 2001 | "Talk To The Hand" | Harmony | -- |
[edit] B-Sides & other tracks
- 1998 "In The Street" (Finally Found B-Side/Wonder No. 8 album track)
- 1998 "Summertime" (Finally Found B-Side/Never Let You Down B-Side/Wonder No. 8 album track)
- 1998 "Keep Me Hanging On" (End Of The Line B-Side/Wonder No. 8 album track)
- 1998 "Don't Run Away" (End Of The Line B-Side)
- 1999 "Do Me Baby" (Love Of A Lifetime B-Side/Wonder No. 8 album track)
- 1999 "Way You Make Me Feel" (Never Let You Down B-Side)
- 1999 "What Does She Look Like?" (Won't Take It Lying Down B-Side/Wonder No. 8 album track)
- 1999 "Seems Like" (Not Even Gonna Trip B-Side/Wonder No. 8 album track)
- 1999 "Good Love" (Not Even Gonna Trip B-Side/Wonder No. 8 album track)
- 1999 "Why?" (Burger King promo single)
- 2000 "More Than One Night" Featuring Lemar (Harmony track)
- 2000 "Love To Love You Baby" (promo single)
- 2001 "In The Street (2001 Version)" (I Don't Know B-Side)
- 2001 "Why You Wanna Lie On Me?" (I Don't Know B-Side)
- 2006 "How You Remind Me" (Hit Me Baby One More Time performance)
