The “Golden Hits Of The 60s”
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HONEYCOMBS
“HAVE I THE RIGHT?”
(Howard Blaikley)
lnterphon 7707
No. 5 November 14, 1964
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Arnie “Honey”Lantree (b. Aug. 28, 1943, Hayes, Middlesell, England) was a hairdresser and a drummer.
In 1962, she worked at a small salon in Edgeware, North London, under the supervision of former
skiffle guitarist Martin Murray (b. Oct. 7, 1941, London). Marty still took a whack at his axe every now
and then, and despite the pleasure of doing numbers on heads full of hair, he still had an itch to form a
group and play beat music.
To that end, Marty ran an ad in a music paper, which was promptly answered by guitarist/keyboardist
Alan Ward (b. Dec. 12, 1945, Nottingham). Friends introduced Marty to lead vocalist/pianist/guitarist
Denis Dalziel (b. Denis Dalziel, Oct. 10, 1943, London), and Honey recommended her brother John (b.
Aug. 20, 1940, Newbury, Berkshire) for the slot of bass player. The line-up was set, and a name was
chosen: “The Sherabons.”
By mid-’63, the group was garnering favorable notices at the local pubs. Songwriters Alan Blaikley and
Ken Howard (collectively known under the psedonym “Howard Blaikley) offered to manage the band
and hooked them up with independent producer Joe Meek. For an independent record producer–a big
time rarity in the early yeasrs of rock’n’roll–Joe had worked wonders with Mike Berry, Lonnie Donegan,
Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, and especially THE TORNADOES, creators of “Telstar.” Soon the Honeycombs
(a monicker created by from Annies nickname plus Honey and Marty’s occupation as “combers”; others
claim Pye Records’ managing director Louis Benjamin had a thing for Jimmie Rodgers’ “Honeycomb”),
were stompin’ near the top of charts with their debut disk, Blaikley’s “Have I The Right?”
The only stateside LP (Here Are the Honeycombs, 1965) sold well, and follow-up 45s were quite appealing.
(Oddly enough, the album’s liner notes misidentified the Honeycombs as “The Sherations.”) However,
someone mistakenly and career damaging shipped the group off on a tour of France, Australia, and New
Zealand. Because they were away from their home turf for so long, the Combs failed to chart with their
next batch of singles. On the group’s return, Murray, having injured himself by falling off a stage,
dropped out and was replaced by Peter Pye (b. July 12, 1946, London).
On February 3, 1967, Joe Meek, the Honeycombs’ producer and guiding force, fatally shot himself in the
head. No further records were issued by the group. Denis Dalziel departed for a lackluster solo career.