Voice of the Beehive

Voice of the Beehive
Origin	London, United Kingdom
Genres	Alternative pop rock
Years active	1986 (1986)–1996 (1996) (reunions: 2003, 2017)
Labels	Food London East West Discovery
Past members	Tracey Bryn Melissa Brooke Belland Mike Jones Mark Bedford Daniel Woodgate Martin Brett Brad Nack Tom Fenner
Website	voiceofthebeehive.com

Voice of the Beehive were an Anglo-American alternative pop rock band formed in London in 1986.

The group featured Californian lead vocalist sisters Tracey Bryn and Melissa Brooke Belland (daughters of The Four Preps singer Bruce Belland). They teamed with British musicians Mike Jones, Martin Brett, and Daniel Woodgate – a former member of Madness. The band took their name from the Greek meaning of the name Melissa, meaning honey bee. ^[1]

Career

The band had five Top 40 singles from two albums in the UK. ^[2] Their biggest commercial success came with the singles "I Say Nothing", "Don't Call Me Baby", "Monsters and Angels" and "I Think I Love You", taken from albums Let It Bee and Honey Lingers . Sex & Misery , a third album, was released in 1996; ^[3] by this point sisters Tracey and Melissa were the sole group members. The band reformed in 2003 to play a two-week UK tour.

The members of Voice of the Beehive have continued to perform sporadically but still release albums, singles & merchandise. Tracey Bryn is a teacher in Laguna Beach, California. Melissa Belland runs her own company Made in Heaven, also in Laguna Beach. Martin Brett ran Brett Dempsey Music Productions in London and joined I, Ludicrous on bass guitar in 2008. In 2011, he released his first solo single "Lover's Lane" under his original punk name Brett Martini. He also trained to become a facial hair specialist for film, theatre, and television in 2010. Daniel "Woody" Woodgate still plays drums in Madness. Mike Jones lives in Norwich, England and still plays guitar.

In October 2017, Bryn and Belland reformed with the original line-up to play a pair of concert dates in London, including the '80s/'90s revival show Indie Daze 4. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

Band members

• Tracey Bryn – guitar and vocals – (born 17 May 1962, Encino, California)
• Melissa Brooke Belland or "Missy Beehive" – vocals – (born 17 February 1966, Los Angeles, California)
• Martin Brett (Brett Martini) – bass guitar
• Mike Jones – guitar
• Daniel "Woody" Woodgate – drums

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		UK [7]	AUS [8]	NZ [9]	SCO [7]
Let It Bee	Released: 20 June 1988 Label: London Formats: CD, LP, Cassette tape	13	53	40	52
Honey Lingers	Released: 12 August 1991 Label: London Formats: CD, LP, MC	17	68	—	26
Sex & Misery	Released: 12 February 1996 Label: East West, Discovery Formats: CD, MC	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Live albums

Title	Album details
Don't Call Me Baby	Released: July 2008 Label: Secret Formats: CD
Access All Areas	Released: 25 September 2015 Label: Edsel Formats: CD+DVD, digital download

Compilation albums

Title	Album details
A Portrait	Released: 1991 Label: London Formats: CD Canada-only release
The Best of Voice of the Beehive	Released: 1997 Label: London Formats: CD
Bee-Sides	Released: 2003 Label: Self-released Formats: CD Limited release only available through the band's website

Video albums

Title	Album details
Don't Call Me Baby – Live	Released: 2004 Label: Secret Films Formats: DVD

EPs

Title	EP details
The Radio 1 Sessions – The Evening Show	Released: January 1989 Label: Strange Fruit/Nighttracks Formats: 12", CD

Singles

Title	Year	Peak chart positions								Album
		UK [7]	UK Indie [10]	AUS [8]	CAN [11] [12]	IRE [13]	NZ [9]	US [14]	US Alt [15]
"Just a City"	1987	154	20	—	—	—	—	—	—	Let It Bee
"I Say Nothing"		45	—	73	—	—	—	—	—
"I Walk the Earth"	1988	42	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Don't Call Me Baby"		15	—	48	—	15	25	—	—
"I Say Nothing" (reissue)		22	—	—	—	—	—	—	11
"I Walk the Earth" (reissue)		46	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Man in the Moon"		93	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"Monsters and Angels"	1991	17	—	72	—	—	—	74	8	Honey Lingers
"I Think I Love You"		25	—	12	—	—	—	—	—
"Perfect Place"		37	—	31	—	—	—	—	—
"Angel Come Down"	1995	86	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Sex & Misery
"Scary Kisses"	1996	—	—	—	35	—	—	77	—
"Heavenly"		—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"So Hard"		—	—	—	66	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Other appearances

• Voice of the Beehive provided harmonies on Bill Drummond's album The Man (1986).
• An early version of "Beat of Love" was featured on the London Records compilation Giant (1987).
• Melissa and Tracey contributed a cover of "Five Feet High and Rising" to the Johnny Cash tribute album Til Things Are Brighter (1988), credited as Tracey & Melissa Beehive.
• In 1993, Voice of the Beehive contributed a cover version of "Gimme Shelter" with Jimmy Somerville to an EP released to raise funds for the Putting Our House in Order homeless initiative. The single, which contained different duet versions of the song on each format, peaked at No. 23 in the UK, ^[16] and No. 214 in Australia. ^[8]

References

1. "Stuff (from Number One magazine, 25 April 1987)". Shane Marais. p. 4. Archived from the original on 26 April 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
2. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 588. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
3. Colin Larkin, ed. (1997). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Concise ed.). Virgin Books. p. 1221. ISBN   1-85227-745-9.
4. "Five In Five with Tracey Belland of Anglo-American Pop Rock Band 'Voice Of The Beehive'". Flickofthefinger.co.uk. 31 August 2017.
5. "Indie Daze (@IndieDazeTM) | Twitter". twitter.com.
6. "Voice Of The Beehive (@VOTB_Official) | Twitter". Twitter.com.
7. "Official Charts > Voice of the Beehive". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
8. Australian chart peaks:
   • Top 100 (Kent Music Report) peaks to 19 June 1988: Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). Sydney: Australian Chart Book. p. 330. ISBN   0-646-11917-6. N.B. This chart was licensed by ARIA until they commenced producing the chart in-house from 13 June 1988.
   • Top 50 (ARIA) peaks: "australian-charts.com > Voice of the Beehive in Australian Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
   • Top 100 (ARIA) peaks from January 1990 to December 2010: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 295.
   • Let It Bee (ARIA) peak: "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 14 July 2015". Imgur.com. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
   • "Gimme Shelter" (ARIA) peak: "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 28 April 2017". Imgur.com. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
9. "charts.org.nz > Voice of the Beehive in New Zealand Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
10. Lazell, Barry (1997). Indie Hits 1980–1989. Cherry Red Books. ISBN   0-9517206-9-4.
11. "Image : RPM Weekly". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
12. "Image : RPM Weekly". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
13. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
14. "Billboard > Voice of the Beehive Chart History > Hot 100". Billboard. Archived from the original on 18 November 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
15. "Billboard > Voice of the Beehive Chart History > Alternative Songs". Billboard. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
16. "Official Charts > Gimme Shelter (EP)". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 November 2019.

External links

• The Beehive—Voice of the Beehive Online Archived from the original on 2 February 2011
• Voice of the Beehive at Myspace
• Voice of the Beehive at AllMusic
• Voice of the Beehive discography at Discogs
• Voice of the Beehive 1992 interview with Maynard (broadcaster)
• Melissa Belland Instagram