The Hee Bee Gee Bees
The Hee Bee Gee Bees were a pop group formed initially to parody the Bee Gees towards the close of their sequence of high-pitched, disco-style hits. The 'band' consisted of the three Cribb (Gibb) brothers; Garry (Barry), Norris (Maurice) and Dobbin (Robin), performed respectively by Angus Deayton, Michael Fenton Stevens, and Philip Pope. The name of group was a reference to both the Bee Gees and the expression "heebie-jeebies".
Their first single "Meaningless Songs (in Very High Voices)", written by Pope and Richard Curtis, was released by Original Records in 1980 and reached number two in the Australian singles chart and made an appearance on the UK Indie Charts.
Two albums were subsequently released under the Hee Bee Gee Bees name, featuring parodies of various pop groups that had originally been featured in the Radio Active radio series, where all three of the comedians were cast members. Tracks included parodies of Supertramp ("Scatological Song" by Supertrash), Michael Jackson ("Up the Wall" by Jack Michaelson), Status Quo ("Boring Song" by Status Quid), The Police ("Too Depressed to Commit Suicide" by The PeeCees), David Bowie ("Quite Ahead of My Time" by David Bowwow), Gary Numan ("Are Trains Electric?" by Gary Inhuman) and others. The albums were recorded in the Strawberry Studios in Stockport, and featured 10cc and Sad Café studio musicians. The music was written by Pope, with lyrics by Deayton and other Radio Active scriptwriters.
Fenton Stevens was also a cast member on Spitting Image and later sang lead on their UK number one hit, "The Chicken Song", also co-written and produced by Pope.
Singles
- "Meaningless Songs (in Very High Voices)" / "Posing in the Moonlight" (1980) #2 Australia #21 UK Indie
- "Too Depressed to Commit Suicide" - The PeeCees / "Up the Wall" - Jack Michaelson / "Meaningless Songs" Triple A-Side (1981)
- "Boring Song" - Status Quid / "Dead Cicada" - The Beagles (1981)
- "When Two Songs (Sound the Same)" - Frankie Goes to the Bank / "Purple Pants" - Ponce (1984)
Albums
- 439 Golden Greats - Never Mind the Originals Here's the Hee Bee Gee Bees (1981)
- The Hee Bee Gee Bees Present - 20 Big No. 2’s (1984)