The group was founded as an amateur band by Martin Murray in November 1963. a north London
pub. They got into conversation with the group, who appeared interested in a few songs the duo had just written. "
Have I the Right?" was released on 26 June 1964 on the
Pye record label.
Louis Benjamin, later Pye's chairman, renamed the group as "The Honeycombs", a pun on the drummer's name and her job as a hairdresser's assistant. The sales started slowly, but by the end of July, the record started to climb the
UK Singles Chart. At the end of August, the record reached No. 1. "Have I the Right?" was also a big success outside the UK, hitting No. 1 in Australia and Canada, No. 3 in Ireland, No. 5 in the US, and No. 2 in the
Netherlands. Overall sales of the record reached a million. From then on, Howard and Blaikley acted as the group's managers and also wrote their next
singles, "Is It Because" and "Eyes", which did not sell well. This also applied to their fourth single, "
Something Better Beginning", written by
Ray Davies from
the Kinks. Soon after their first record had become a hit, the Honeycombs went on tour to the Far East and Australia, and were not able to promote their new records at home. The Honeycombs made many appearances on music television shows such as
Top of the Pops,
Ready Steady Go! (UK),
Shindig! (US), and
Beat-Club (Germany). The group also appeared in the 1965 film
Pop Gear,
miming "Have I the Right?" and "Eyes". In July 1965, British music magazine
NME reported that it had been agreed in the London High Court that "Have I the Right?" was the work of Howard and Blaikley. Composer
Geoff Goddard agreed to drop allegations that he, not they, had written the song. This record became their fourth British hit and reached No. 12. Its successor, "This Year Next Year", again with Lantree and D'Ell sharing vocals, did not reach the UK chart. D'Ell sang on all but the last single the group recorded. "Who Is Sylvia?" was an adaptation of
Franz Schubert's song "
An Sylvia". "It's So Hard" was also recorded by
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich as "
Hard to Love You". In April 1966, Denis D'Ell, Alan Ward, and Peter Pye left the group. In 1999, the original lineup (except Martin Murray) reformed to work with cult record producer Russell C. Brennan, who they likened to Joe Meek. He produced a new version of "
Live and Let Die" for the band, which featured on the Future Legend Records release
Cult Themes From the 70s Vol. 2 album. To promote the song, they did their first live gig together in 30 years at Madame Jo Jo's in London before disbanding once more. This stands as the original lineup's last recording. The track was also featured on a special
James Bond compilation,
The Themes Bond... James Bond (The Alternative James Bond Themes). ==The (new) Honeycombs and afterwards==