Anglo-American band Voice of the Beehive were the perfect embodiment of their time and place.
Coming together in the UK at the height of the late-80s alternative boom but with their roots firmly based in sunny California, the group – sisters Tracey Bryn and Melissa Brooke Belland, flanked by British musicians Mike Jones, Martin Brett and Madness drummer Dan Woodgate – combined 60s melodicism with the indie pop sound prevalent at the time.
Bryn and Belland were no strangers to the music industry. Their father was the singer of acclaimed 50s/60s American vocal quartet The Four Preps, and making their name from a line in a Bette Davis film (All About Eve), they developed a staunch following for their magnetic and energising live shows.
Released their debut single, Just a City, in 1987, on Food Records, they signed to London Records, and their fourth single, Don’t Call Me Baby, reached number 15 in May 1988, paving the way for the top 20 success of their debut album, the cheekily-titled Let It Bee.
While Let it Bee boasted sparkling indie guitars, an energetic rhythm section and soaring harmonies it was juxtaposed by the bittersweet word play or Tracey’s lyrics.
The band’s second album, Honey Lingers, was a bold melodic patchwork of every emotion the band was going through as they toured and promoted relentlessly around the world. The melancholy lead single Monsters and Angels crossed over into US radio and chart success and I Think I Love You (a cover of The Partridge Family’s 1970 hit), was equally successful, peaking at number 17.
London Records revisited Let it Bee in 2022 with a greatly remastered and expanded edition, taking in early versions, B-sides and live tracks.
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