The Honeycombs biography

 

Mostly renowned for their 1964 Top Five hit "Have I the Right," the Honeycombs were pretty much a front for producer Joe Meek and the songwriting-management team of Ken Howard and Alan Blaikley. With bee-sting guitar leads and lead singer Dennis O'Dell's wobbling vocals, which sounded like a Gene Pitney unable to hold notes, "Have I the Right" was a single that one either loved or hated, but couldn't forget. The relatively faceless group afforded Meek perhaps his fullest artistic expression in the studio; all the Honeycombs' singles and albums feature variable-speed vocals, ghostly organ, unpredictable runs, majestically thudding drums, and super-compressed sonics. The group managed a couple more minor American hits -- "Is It Because" and "I Can't Stop," as well as another British Top 20 hit, "That's the Way" -- and cut quite a few singles and two albums before Meek’s death in early 1967 effectively finished the group as well.