Honeybus

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Honeybus
Origin London, England
Genre(s) Pop music
Years active 1967-1973
Label(s) Deram Records
Members
Pete Dello
Ray Cane
Colin Hare
Pete Kircher
Jim Kelly

Honeybus were a 1960s pop group formed in April 1967, in London.

Contents

[edit] Line-up

The best known line-up consisted of:

[edit] Career

Material was written mainly by the band's main resident composers, Dello and Cane, although Hare and Kircher also contributed songs. The group's supporters and critics, amongst them Kenny Everett, compared the band's sound to that of the Rubber Soul era of Beatles. Honeybus, however, never achieved the commercial success of many other artists of time, only once in their history connecting with the public for a major hit with 1968's "I Can't Let Maggie Go", which was so popular that it earned the band a cover photo on the popular music magazine, "Disc and Music Echo", where they posed on a red London bus.

"I Can't Let Maggie Go" reached Number 8 in the UK Singles Chart, staying in the Top 40 for over two months, but any chance of future success was shattered when Dello resigned during the single's chart run. He had been willing to play live on radio and television appearances or a special concert showcase, but abhorred the live scene and the idea of touring America. Deprived of their key songwriter and performer, the band drafted in Jim Kelly to replace Dello on guitar and vocals, whilst Cane, whose talents and instincts were a close match for Dello's, took over most of the songwriting and a large share of the lead vocals. This lineup scored a minor success with "She Sold Blackpool Rock" and a follow-up single to "Maggie", "Girl Of Independent Means", but the group never really recovered and they disbanded late in 1969. The band's work is arguably best evaluated by listening to the 1970 album Story, which, without an active band to promote it, sank without a trace.

Dello, Hare and Kelly all went on to record critically-acclaimed solo material, which failed to achieve any significant commercial success, however the principal players Dello, Hare, Kelly and Kircher all worked extensively on each other's solo material, causing, in effect, a Honeybus reunion in all but name. The Dello line-up of the band reunited in 1971 to record a new body of songs for the Bell Records label and a complete LP, "Recital", for British Warner Bros. Records. This was never issued commercially, although some promotional copies were issued to music industry insiders and are now highly collectable.

Since their heyday, Honeybus have found themselves pigeonholed as one-hit wonders. Ex-member Pete Dello stated in an interview for Dutch TV's "Single Luck" (NPS for Nederland 2, 2003) that he believes this tag does not fairly represent the rich legacy of material left behind by the band.

[edit] Post Honeybus

  • Eventually, everybody except Kircher and Hare gave up music as a profession.
  • The Dello penned song "(Do I Figure) In Your Life", has been covered by the likes of Dave Berry, Joe Cocker, Ian Matthews, Dave Stewart, Paul Carrack and Dana. He now owns several motor car showrooms across Britain.
  • Kircher's drumming career saw him joining several bands, among them Compass with Billy Bremner, Roger Rettig and Brian Hodgson, Shanghai, John Scott Cree, Liverpool Express, The Original Mirrors, and most notably Status Quo. He retired from the music business after Status Quo's appearance at Live Aid.
  • Kelly released a solo single in 1969 entitled "Mary Mary", written by Ray Cane. The B-side which was also written by Cane was entitled "Rev. Richard Bailey". The single was released on Deram, but failed to chart. Kelly joined the Sleaz Band in the 1970s and they released a single entitled "All I Want Is You" on the Fontana label. An album was also recorded, but never released by the record company. He died on Boxing Day in 1995, after a long illness.
  • Honeybus were briefly reunited for a Dutch TV show in 2003.
  • After a number of years of musical inactivity, Colin Hare resurfaced in 2002 with new solo material; he now runs an official Honeybus website, where he announced in October 2007 that he is planning to go on the road with a completely new Honeybus line-up.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

  • 1970 Story
  • 1973 Recital (unreleased)
  • 1989 Honeybus At Their Best
  • 1993 Old Masters, Hidden Treasures
  • 1997 At Their Best
  • 1999 The Honeybus Story
  • 2002 She Flies Like A Bird : The Anthology (features previously unreleased songs such as "Big Ship")

[edit] Singles

  • 1967 "Delighted To See You" (Dello) b/w "The Breaking Up Scene" (Dello) - Deram Records
  • 1967 "(Do I Figure) In Your Life" (Dello) b/w "Throw My Love Away" (Cane) - Deram
  • 1968 "I Can't Let Maggie Go" (Dello) b/w "Tender Are The Ashes" (Dello) - Deram
  • 1968 "Girl Of Independent Means" (Cane) b/w "How Long" (Kircher-Cane-Hare) - Deram
  • 1969 "She Sold Blackpool Rock" (Cane) b/w "Would You Believe" (Hare) - Deram
  • 1969 "La Cigona" (Italian version of "She Sold Blackpool Rock") b/w "Chi Sei Tu" (Italian version of "Ceilings No 2") - Decca
  • 1972 "Story" (Cane) b/w "The Right To Choose" (Cane) - Deram (recorded in January 1970)
  • 1972 "She Is The Female To My Soul" (Dello) b/w "For Where Have You Been" (Hare) - Bell Records
  • 1973 "For You Baby" (Dello) b/w "Little Lovely One" (Dello) - WEA
  • 1976 "I Can't Let Maggie Go" (Dello) b/w "Julie In My Heart" (Dello) - Decca Records reissue
  • 1982 "I Can't Let Maggie Go" (Dello) / "Tender Are The Ashes" (Dello) - Further Decca reissue

[edit] References

[edit] External links