EDITORIAL Update August 28, 2009: NO MORE HONEY IN THE HIVE

Sorry for all the editing shenanigans on this site. Last night I removed my editorial of August 19th (see below), but the girls asked me to put it back up. I removed it originally because I wanted the girls' words to be what's important. On the 19th, they posted the following on the VOTB MySpace managed by Devin Tait:

Hey, Tracey Beehive here. Just so you know. Missy and I were asked if Mike and Martin could do a one off gig together in London and "Spirit of the Beehive" is the result with Tracey and Missy look alikes (kind of....we'd never wear zebra stripes). Our mom has stage four cancer and there is a new baby in the family so touring was out. It is very hurtful to know that Mike and Martin feel we could be so easily replaced and all to make a quick buck. We were never asked about this or told this kind of thing was in the works and we feel very hurt by people that we once considered family. We always prided ourselves on being close friends and respecting each other but Missy and I are heartbroken over this betrayal. End of an era. Heartbreaking end of a friendship. We never thought our story would end this way. Love, (The one and only) Tracey and Melissa Beehive
Heartbreaking, indeed. One of the other reasons I removed my editorial below was that I received an e-mail from a supporter of Mike's, saying that I was being unfair to him. I don't see it that way. I love Martin and Mike and wish them all the best in the world. They're a huge part of a band that meant the world to me, and as I said originally, I think they have every right to continue to be a part of Voice of the Beehive. But, by their actions, I'm afraid they've robbed fans like me of the chance of ever seeing the one true Voice of the Beehive onstage ever again. Do I think their actions were deliberately malicious? I don't know. I sincerely hope not. I haven't heard their side of things. As with Tracey & Melissa, they kept me completely out of the loop on this "tribute," which is kind of strange since you'd imagine they'd want me to help promote their endeavors. Had I known of what they were doing, I like to think I would have said, "Whoa, let's make sure everyone's signed off on this." Perhaps they knew that too, and that's why they didn't let me know anything. I don't want to overemphasize my importance here. I've preferred to be kind of hidden behind the curtain on the website. My job is simply to celebrate one of my favorite bands ever. I'll continue to do that, and I'll never slight Mike or Martin for their roles in that experience. Were we talking about some completely new band that Mike and Martin were fronting, with all new material, and maybe a Beehive song (or two or three) thrown in for fun at encore time, you wouldn't be seeing this post or the one below it. You'd be seeing an alert telling you to check out this awesome new band and support those guys 100%. Instead, I think I've lost the chance of ever seeing Voice of the Beehive again, and I'm trying to help two of my very best friends cope with very real and understandable feelings of hurt and betrayal. It's an ugly end to something that should have: 1) never ended ugly, and 2) never ended in the first place. By the way, to Shay and Gilda, I apologize for any bullets that may have hit you in all this crossfire. Neither of you deserve it, and I wish you both the best.

EDITORIAL August 19, 2009: SMELLS LIKE MEAN SPIRIT

So, I have absolutely no say in this, but today I found out that there’s an…umm, how to say it?…inauthentic Beehive out there. We’ve all seen this before. Something happens in the world of a band and someone really important (the frontperson, the star guitar player, whoever) is either unable or unwilling to reunite with the other band members for a tour and/or to record, and the other band members decide to forge on without them. It usually doesn’t work out well, or just feels kinda creepy. Well, I’m sorry to say that that has now happened with our beloved Beehive. A few months ago, due to some real life issues and circumstances, Tracey and Melissa had to decline a request from Martin and Mike to reunite for some gigs. As I understand it, the guys then suggested they’d like to do a one-off tribute show and the girls gave them their blessings. Fast forward to today, and there’s suddenly this new band called Spirit of the Beehive. They’re not a one-off tribute thing, they’re a fully functioning “offshoot” band, with an imitation Tracey and Missy (sorry, ladies, I’m sure you’re lovely girls – but there’s a blonde and a brunette, and you’re dressed in Tracey and Missy’s signature foufy frocks and style, and you’ll be singing Tracey and Missy’s words). They’re apparently recording a single as I write this, and they’re planning to tour in 2010. And they’ll be trading on the reputation of a truly beloved band, that admittedly Martin and Mike have every right to continue to be a part of. But Tracey and Missy had no idea that this was what the guys intended. The guys also say that the reason the new band was formed was because Tracey and Missy decided to “hang up their tutus forever.” Forever’s a really long time, and though I was not there to hear or see what was said or written, I don’t think the girls meant that they’d never get up on stage with Martin and Mike and sing those songs again. But I’m afraid that forever or never may have now been decided for them. The girls gave their blessing to one thing, and I don’t think Spirit of the Beehive was it. I doubt the guys intended to pull one over on the girls, and I absolutely don’t want to wish anyone ill. But I’m afraid we may now never see Voice of the Beehive onstage again. I sincerely hope I’m wrong. - Robert.

NEWS UPDATE June 25, 2007: and the WINNER is...

...Missy Beehive!!! With a lot of help from Bees all over the world, Missy won the Yahoo small business prize. Here's a word from the fairy princess herself:

Wow - you all did it!!!!
Talk about a grass roots movement - you all voted in mass and helped me win over two large and established companies! Lets hear it for fairy day and friends!!!!! I can't begin to tell you all how excited I am about my new life which you gave me by clicking on the "Vote" for Missy button. Thanks.
Love & Luck, Missy
If you missed out on voting and still want to check out Missy's video profile with the Yahoo contest, click here: Missy's video.

NEWS UPDATE June 14, 2007: VOTE FOR MISSY NOW AND OFTEN

Worker bees, unite! Everyone here in the hive is very excited for our beloved Melissa Belland, who was recently selected as a top five finalist by Yahoo! Search Marketing and Ivanka Trump for a contest honoring small businesses on the web. The grand prize winner picks up a $25,000 Yahoo Marketing prize, and Missy and her Made In Heaven By Missy fairy factory can use all the love & honey you can muster. Voters can place one vote per day, per Yahoo log-in, at the following Yahoo link: http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/ultimateconnection/index.php?finalist=3 . Be sure to watch the video there too. And please spread the word to your fellow bees, friends, family, MySpace friends, blog followers, and anywhere else you can think of. Voting wraps up June 24th, so vote now, and vote often. THANKS!!!

NEWS UPDATE December 3, 2005: iTunes AND MySpace

I just wanted to take this chance to tip folks off that all 3 Voice of the Beehive albums are now officially available on iTunes for download, either by individual song or full-length album. This is definitely good news, as all 3 albums have been out of print for quite some time, and "How can I get a copy of...?" questions are probably the most-often asked around here. So now iTunes is finally an option. Also, I wanted to officially provide a nod to the VOTB page on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/voiceofthebeehive. The page isn't maintained by the band, but it's run by Devin, a good friend of the band's, and he's very good about keeping us all updated on what folks are saying. So be sure to stop by, listen to a few Beehive tracks, and tell Devin hello.

NEWS UPDATE April 2, 2005: REUNION TOUR DVD & JOURNAL

My apologies go out to any fans who might have ordered the Reunion DVD and found that it wasn't playable on their machines. Jane, a good and longtime friend of the site, recently let us know that the DVD is encoded as Region 2-PAL, and likely won't play on machines outside of the U.K., unless they're coded to be region-free. I'm also not sure if we'll see another journal entry from Tracey. Tracey and I will be meeting up soon, so I'll see if I can nudge her into giving us a little more. Wish me luck!

NEW STUFF! August 17, 2004: REUNION TOUR DVD

Great news for those of you who missed the reunion tour last December, not to mention those who were lucky enough to catch it and just want a memento to remember the tour by. Secret Records is now accepting pre-orders (look under Forthcoming Releases in the right column) for a DVD that was shot while the tour was taking shape and in progress. The DVD will include candid backstage footage and interviews with the band, as well as the music they played onstage. The DVD's scheduled for release in November. Oh, and for those wondering where the hell Tracey's next tour diary entry is, I'm still waiting for her to send one. I'll get it up as soon as I hear from her. Until then, take care!

SITE UPDATE June 21, 2004: FINALLY! MORE TOUR DIARY

Yeah, so, a week or two turned into months. Sorry for the ridiculous lag between journal entries, but I'm finally posting PART 2 of Tracey's tour diary. I didn't want to post it until I got another one from Tracey, and Tracey just thought I'd lost interest and so stopped sending 'em. Maybe this'll get us up and running again. I've also updated a brief bit about the whereabouts of Mike after VOTB split up at the end of the third biography page.

SITE UPDATE February 22, 2004: TRACEY'S TOUR DIARY

My apologies to everyone who has been waiting for Tracey's TOUR DIARY. I've got the first entry up now, and hope to have a second one up within a week or two, and hopefully more will follow (depending on when Tracey sends them to me). Still, my thanks go to Tracey for keeping this.

SITE UPDATE December 13, 2003: TOUR PICS

Thanks to everybody out there who's written in to tell me about the reunion tour. The band's currently talking together about what the future holds, and if they decide on anything concrete, I'll definitely post that news here. Also, I'm planning on having a bit more to document the tour. Tracey kept a tour diary, and when I get my hands on that, I'll post it as soon as I can transcribe it. For now, we've received a load of great photos from the London Metro show and soundcheck from a good friend of the site, Simon Clapham, and you can find those HERE. Thanks, Simon! Also, Tracey has forwarded on a few killer photos of the band, at the bottom row. We hope you like 'em.

NEWS June 1, 2003: WWW.VOICEOFTHEBEEHIVE.COM

In case you didn't notice, we're now at a new home: www.voiceofthebeehive.com. The best part, no more pop-up ads. In the future we're hoping to add some more content. Not sure what yet. Just give us a while to get settled in. Stay tuned for more.

Welcome to the new home of my redesigned Voice of the Beehive website. This new revision has been a long time in coming, and I thank everybody for their patience (especially Martin, Tracey and Melissa, who I've been promising a major update to for nearly a year). I apologize to anyone who has e-mailed me who I didn't get back to. If you'd like to try again, e-mail me at robert@voiceofthebeehive.com and I'll do my best to send a prompt reply.

With this new version, the look and layout has obviously changed. Much of what was here before has been rescanned, so a lot of the pictures are cleaner and nicer looking. The discography has seen a few corrections, as have the biography pages. I've added a few new pictures to the gallery pages and I've updated the links list as well. I've also been given the go-ahead by Tracey and Melissa to call this the "Official" Voice Of The Beehive website. I'll try to keep up more with this page, updating here and there, but with a band that no longer exists there's not much more you can add.

For those who are wondering what the old gang is up to, Tracey and Melissa still live in Laguna Beach, where they're enjoying life to the fullest. And the guys are all enaged in their own musical pursuits back in London.

Enjoy the new pages.

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