Voice of the Beehive
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. 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.
Career
The band had five Top 40 singles from two albums in the UK. 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; 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.
Band members
- Tracey Bryn – guitar and vocals –
- Melissa Brooke Belland or "Missy Beehive" – vocals –
- Martin Brett – bass guitar
- Mike Jones – guitar
- Daniel "Woody" Woodgate – drums
Discography
Other appearances
- Voice of the Beehive provided harmonies on Bill Drummond's album The Man.
- An early version of "Beat of Love" was featured on the London Records compilation Giant.
- Melissa and Tracey contributed a cover of "Five Feet High and Rising" to the Johnny Cash tribute album Til Things Are Brighter, 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, and No. 214 in Australia.