Honey & The Bees started their career as The Yum Yums, a trio consisting of Gwendolyn (Oliver) Wesley, Cassandra Ann Wooten and Jean Davis Sanders, and as such they released 'Gonna Be Big Thing'/'Looky Looky (What I Got)' on ABC Paramount in 1965. Jimmy Bishop was the founder of Arctic records, and also managed the group, and he added Nadine Felder White as lead singer and renamed the group Sugar & Spice, and then shortly after Honey & The Bees. With the new line up of Davis, Felder, Oliver and Wooten, they began their association with Arctic Records in 1966 and recorded a Kenny Gamble song, 'One Time is Forever'. It was two years before the follow-up appeared, with '(You Better) Go Now' being released in 1968, and this was followed by their busiest year yet, with 'Love Addict', 'Together Forever' and 'Baby, Do That Thing' all coming out in 1969. In 1970 their manager Jimmy Bishop moved them over to the Josie label, who issued their sole album 'Love', and the label also issued a few singles from it, closing the year with their Christmas single 'Jing Jing A Ling'/'Auld Lang Syne' on the Chess label. In 1971 they had a hit with 'It's Gonna Take A Miracle', but that was the last single for Josie, moving to Bell Records, where they recorded two more singles which were released on label, but they failed to make an impression, and the group disbanded. Wesley and Wooten later met Cheryl Mason Jacks and producer Richie Rome, who introduced them to Jacques Morali (creator of The Village People), and they formed The Ritchie Family. However, their first album 'Brazil' in 1975 did not included the trio, as the tracks had already been recorded before a group was formed, using session singers The Sweethearts and various musicians, but when the title track of the record album produced a hit single, Oliver, Wooten and Mason-Jacks were recruited to go on the road and promote it. This post collects together all their non-album singles for the Arctic, Josie and Bell labels, leading up to their later success as The Ritchie Family.
Track listing
01 Looky, Looky (What I Got) (single as The Yum Yums 1965)
02 Gonna Be A Big Thing (b-side of 'Looky Looky (What I Got)')
03 I'm Confessin' (single 1966)
04 One Time Is Forever (b-side of 'I'm Confessin')
05 (You Better) Go Now (single 1968)
06 Why Do You Hurt The One Who Loves You (b-side of '(You Better) Go Now')
07 Together Forever (single 1969)
08 Dynamite Exploded (b-side of 'Together Forever')
09 Love Addict (single 1969)
10 I'll Be There (b-side of 'Love Addict')
11 Sunday Kind Of Love (single 1969)
12 Baby, Do That Thing (b-side of 'Sunday Kind Of Love')
13 Music (Makes You Wanna Dance) (previously unreleased 1969)
14 People Need Each Other (single 1970)
15 Love Can Turn To Hate (single 1970)
16 Come Get It (b-side of 'Love Can Turn To Hate')
17 Jing Jing A Ling (single 1970)
18 Auld Lang Syne (b-side of 'Jing Jing A Ling')
19 That's What Boys Are Made For (single 1972)
20 Has Somebody Taken My Place (b-side of 'That's What Boys Are Made For')
21 Song For Jim (single 1972)
22 Leave Me Alone (b-side of 'Song For Jim')
