Rabbit. Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Sunday. How are you? It's October, kids, and that means it's Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I just want to remind you to have someone besides everyone on Facebook examine your breasts.
I'm gonna start off with a story today that pissed me off. People do awful, ugly things for money. And sadly, some of the most pernicious money-making tactics work, and often remain uncovered. As a part of a gross revelation to her followers, the popular wellness blogger Belle Gibson admitted she faked cancer in order to boost her brand in an interview with "The Australian Weekly." "None of it’s true. I don't want forgiveness. I just think [speaking out] was the responsible thing to do. Above anything, I would like people to say, 'Okay, she's human,'" Gibson told reporters. Now, two years after the original scandal, she's refused to show up in court and take responsibility. Starting in 2013, Gibson garnered a following largely through her claims that she cured herself of blood, spleen, brain, uterus, and liver cancer through a strict diet and exercise regime. Throughout her career she's chased in on these claims via her 200k Instagram followers. She's also claimed to have donated upwards of $300,000 to charities that support cancer patients, and yet no receipts or proof of this has been shared. Gibson is now facing a total of $410,000 in fines for defrauding her followers both through her cancer lies and her donation claims. The fines she's facing include a $150,000 fee for lying about donating week's worth of app sales to the family of a boy with a brain tumor. She's making the rounds again this week after a report from "The Guardian" revealed she bailed on yet another court date. People are still furious at Gibson, which makes sense given the disgusting levels of manipulation. Some think she's getting off too easy, given the weight of her lies. While others are waiting on karma to deal a blow. This whole situation is a deeply ugly mess.
ICYMI: the world can be a cruel and unfair place. Case-in-point: a woman named Stephanie says she was fired from her job over a series of sexy "boudoir" photos taken of her and her fiancé, Arryn, from Overton, Texas. The photographer Bria Terry of Wolf & Rose Photography posted the photos on Facebook earlier this month where they quickly went viral, winning hearts all over the Internet. I wanna one of these pics...
The photos were shared over 80,000 times and wracked up thousands of positive comments, many of them praising the photographer and photos for the "body positive" photos showing a "real" woman. The comments were so positive, people commented with their surprise at the comments being so positive. LOL INTERNET. Both the photographer and subject raved about the photo shoot in interviews with Buzzfeed. "I've honestly never seen two people more in love," said Terry of shooting the couple. "The way he looks at her in those photos, that's an all-the-time thing with him. He treats her like she hung the moon and the stars." And Stephanie confirms. "I wasn’t worrying about how I looked, I was just looking at Arryn and that made me feel confident," she told BuzzFeed. "He looks at me all the time, but the way he looked at me during the photo shoot, I could feel it was different because I could focus on him.” But because no good deed on the Internet goes unpunished, there's a caveat. After her photos went viral, Stephanie tells Buzzfeed that her employer, Austin Bank Texas N.A., informed her they were "concerned" about how the photos would reflect on the company. "They said I was topless and it was inappropriate and we’re a family-oriented company," said Stephanie, who was wearing a swimsuit bottom and a strapless top for the photos. Then, Stephanie says she was fired, telling Buzzfeed, "There was no defending myself, they had made their decision. I gave over a year to a company that I worked really hard for and then to have them turn on me for doing something so positive, something that I was so proud of... to help myself as a woman... it was hurtful. People were pulling out their phones at work and showing the pictures and that was blamed on me." WTF???????????? Stephanie said she strongly agrees with their decision to fire her (me, too!). "It’s just disheartening to me because I feel like home life and work life are two totally different things," she told Buzzfeed. "I was a model employee, I was moving up fast. I had a promotion within seven months. This one thing, for me, was the reason I was booted." Ugh.
Melania Trump is feuding with an elementary school librarian. When the First Lady sent Cambridgeport Elementary School ten Dr. Seuss books as part of National Read a Book Day, the school's librarian said, "thanks, but no thanks." She does not like those "racist" books. She does not like books sent by crooks. In an open letter called "Dear Mrs. Trump," the school's librarian, Liz Phipps Soeiro, thanked Melania but suggested that her resources be sent to underprivileged communities, rather than the well-funded Cambridge, Mass. "Cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, and Detroit are suffering through expansion, privatization, and school 'choice' with no interest in outcomes of children, their families, their teachers, and their schools. Are those kids any less deserving of books simply because of circumstances beyond their control? Why not go out of your way to gift books to underfunded and underprivileged communities that continue to be marginalized and maligned by policies put in place by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos." Phipps Soeiro also called Melania out for her #basic selection of literature. “You may not be aware of this, but Dr. Seuss is a bit of a cliché, a tired and worn ambassador for children’s literature. As First Lady of the United States, you have an incredible platform with world-class resources at your fingertips,” the librarian also wrote. “Another fact that many people are unaware of is that Dr. Seuss’s illustrations are steeped in racist propaganda, caricatures, and harmful stereotypes.” Oh no you didn't. Oh no you didn't. According to NBC Boston, Melania's communications director said, "Sad!" Mrs. Trump intends to use her platform as First Lady to help as many children as she can. She has demonstrated this in both actions and words since her husband took office, and sending books to schools across the country is but one example. Turning the gesture of sending young school children books into something divisive is unfortunate, but the First Lady remains committed to her efforts on behalf of children everywhere. For what it's worth, many Cambridge parents have sided with the librarian. "The people in the White House need to do some homework on different topics, and Cambridge does not need extra books," resident Dan Trajman told NBC Boston. "Perhaps the nature of the books that were selected could be a bit more thoughtful as well," added Chris Walton. Cambridge Public Schools said that they "support their employees' right to voice personal opinions," but that she didn't have the right to turn away the books. Oh, the things you can think!
It seems like every week there's another story about a girl getting "dress coded" at school... a.k.a. the school says a young woman's outfit is too inappropriate. This practice of governing what girls and young women are allowed to wear is problematic... it implies that men objectifying women is acceptable, it encourages victim-blaming, and it ultimately perpetuates rape culture. Seriously. And today, we have yet another example of a school shaming a young woman for her clothing choice... but with a twist. Eleanor, a high school senior, recently took to Twitter to express her frustration about her senior photo being rejected due to her clothing. "Here's my senior picture. Because you can see my part of my bralette, it was 'too inappropriate,'" she tweeted. "Yet, here's the boys swim team picture." Her tweet included both her senior picture and the boys swim team photo. If all the boys on the swim team are allowed to appear in the yearbook wearing nothing but tiny Speedos, why isn't Eleanor allowed to appear in the yearbook fully clothed? As she said in her tweet, the photo was rejected because her bralette is exposed... but her bralette is actually covering her skin, not revealing skin, so this truly makes no sense. Not to mention, comparing the two photos suggests that the school's decision to reject her photo is rooted in sexism. Eleanor posted a few more tweets about the situation, elaborating in one why she chose to share the two pictures side-by-side. She also shared that she talked to a few friends and teachers about the situation, and she plans to sit down with her school principal to challenge the decision. Hundreds of people responded to Eleanor's viral tweet, offering messages of support (and jokes, of course).
The Kush is even more clueless than we thought. According to a copy of Jared Kushner's voting records shared by "Wired," the senior advisor to the president is registered in New York state to vote as a woman. Why an adult human person, especially one with such strong ties to one of the then-presidential candidates, would have such an error on his voter registration form is a mystery. Advertising And in case you might be missing the point, what's funny here is not the idea of Jared Kushner being a woman, but that he is stupid enough to have such a glaring mistake on an important document. As noted by The Hill, this is not Kushner's first paperwork snafu. He has reportedly had to redo his federal security clearance forms on more than one occasion to reflect meetings he had with foreign contacts. (Remember the Russian collusion?) When investigators questioned him about one of these security clearance form mistakes, he said they were the result of a miscommunication with his assistant, according to The Hill. "Wired" spoke with Brad Bainum, a spokesperson for American Bridge, the organization that discovered Jared's confounding voter registration. "Kushner can't even fill out the most basic paperwork without screwing it up, so it's a mystery why anyone thinks he's somehow going to bring peace to the Middle East," he told the outlet. "Would anyone but the president's son-in-law still have a West Wing job after repeated disclosure errors and a botched a security clearance form?" On top of the document listing him as "female," it also reveals that Kushner was registered with no party affiliation, meaning he may not have been able to vote for his father-in-law (or for anyone) in the April 2016 primary. Sound familiar? Just a few days before the primary, news broke that Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump did not make the cutoff to register as Republicans, therefore they were unable to vote for their father. Wow, truly so blessed to have such a competent family running our country. Anyway, here's hoping Jared Kushner's vote in the presidential election is now marked as invalid and Hillary Clinton is named president. Sure, it's a long shot... but so was Trump winning the election.
Hey, it's Sunday... instead of doing this blog thing right now I should be listening to this album...
Ummm... maybe not. So, one thing you may not know about me is that I like to obey rules... some people though take a it a little bit too far. Like this person who did this...
Ha! So, the site PornHub I think is desperate for material. Check this out...
Crazy, right? Speaking of sex, some people just have no bloody clue... check this out.
WTF? So, I asked you guys to send me pics of dogs in pajamas. You guys have been so great with that. I have to share this one.
I love pugs. Hey, look at Trump respecting the shit out of the flag...
Halloween is around the corner and you might want to dress up in something sexy. Well, let me help you. Check this out...
Embody one of Trump's signature catchphrases while highlighting your bosom in a costume Mr. President would most certainly enjoy. Embody one of Trump's signature catchphrases while highlighting your bosom in a costume Mr. President would most certainly enjoy. Okay, it's October and Breast Cancer Awareness Month so all through this month I'm gonna show you pics of one of my favorite things... side boobs with tattoos. You're welcome, fellas...
There. Okay, now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York, here is...
Top Phive Key Pheatures Of Trump's Tax Plan
5. There would be an automatic two-week filing extension of we're in a nuclear war with North Korea.
4. Any trip to Russia, for any reason whatsoever, would be 100% deductible.
3. Schedule 1040 would allow a dollar donation to the white supremacist movement.
2. You can still be elected President, even if you don't really pay taxes.
And the number one key pheature in Trump's tax plan is...
1. It'll be called ObamaTax, just in case it tanks.
David: Thank you, Jason. I was brought in to a school in grade school for the students to watch in an assembly. For one of my tricks, I started by asking for 10 volunteers. After picking 10 students, I proudly said, "This will be a process of elimination! The first volunteer will have 30 seconds to pull apart these two rings, then the second person will have 30 seconds, and so on until we reach the end. Should anyone be able to do it, they'll win..."At this point my assistant walked into the room carrying a large teddy bear. Like the kind Costco sells that are like 7 feet tall. Oohs and ahhs and laughs all around. "Well, lets get started!" I say, and handed the rings to the first volunteer, who was a little girl. "And... go!" The girl fidgeted with them for 5 seconds, then handed it back to me separated. I asked, "How did you do that?" She responded, "My brother has that trick." That bear had to sit in the corner of the classroom for the rest of the day. It was horrible.
Me: Ummm... that's it?
David: Yeah. I lost the teddy bear.
Me: Ummm... okay... Davod Coppafeel, the world's worst magician, everybody. Get out of here, David.
David: Bye, everyone, you can book me at DavidCoppafeelMagic.com. Call me at 555-1035...
Are you a lazy person? If so I bet you are not as lazy as the guy whose desk this is...
Holy shit. That's destroying my OCD. Okay, now for some sad news...
Monty Hall
August 25th, 1921 — September 30th, 2017
Out of respect, those attending his funeral should please dress as chickens.
Today's guests are the two sisters that are the singers in the 80s pop band Voice of the Beehive. Their great albums "Honey Bee" and "Honey Lingers" are available on iTunes. Please welcome to the Phile... Tracey Bryn And Melissa Belland.
Me: Hello, ladies, welcome to the Phile, how are you doing?
Tracey: Thanks, Jason, good to be here.
Me: Okay, before we start with everything you have some big news... bigger than being on the Phile. Haha. Tell the readers what it is.
Tracey: Well, we are playing on October 7th at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, London. It's a festival called Indie Daze and we are playing with some mates of ours... Crazyhead is on the bill, The House Of Love, Apollo 440, Crazyhead, Thousand Yard Stare, Salad , Bis & Miles & Erica of the Wonderstuff. It's a kind of celebration from that era we are in so we are looking forward to it. We have been asked to do a reunion over and over and over again and I have to admit I'm always the one who says know because I'm not particularly interested for digging up the past but I changed my mind. I'm a teacher now, I'm not in the music business anymore.
Me: What made you decide to do this show?
Tracey: What changed my mind is Woody, our drummer, agreed to do it... it's the original line up so all the original members are doing it. Woody really changed it for me and the fact that we are doing it at the O2 Forum, which is where we played a million times also encouraged me to do it. Also it's a way to get back to London and with everybody over there passing away... Prince, Bowie, George Michael, I thought we not gonna be doing this every year so we'll do it, have a great time and tell everyone we love them.
Me: Okay, so, I am not a musician, but my dad was for a long, long time until he passed away. I wish I was a musician and performing. You both kind of walked away from the business so I have to ask why... why don't you do shows like this more often?
Melissa: Tracey doesn't want to do it!
Tracey: Melissa would do everything she was asked. She loves it, she's a natural at it... but I'm a teacher now, I'm really involved with my job, I love what I do, I'm just not a musician anymore. I'm like oh my God, let it go, it's over. Haha.
Melissa: It is what it is and I can't make her do something she doesn't want to do... it wouldn't be fun. Between us it has to be be a mutual want. I can't pull her, she can't pull me. It's something I accepted years ago.
Tracey: I didn't just walk away from being a rock star, it's really hard to describe it. When we had the masters bought by an American company at the very end of our career we left England and it was very different. The record company didn't really get us and it was just so heartbreaking to make them see what we wanted and what we envisioned and what we have been working on. Everything from the artwork was changed, it was just a lot. It was almost less heartbreaking to walk away then to watch it die.
Me: Okay, so, I looked up your discography to listen to the albums and you girls had three albums out... "Let It Bee," "Honey Lingers," which both have bee puns and then "Sex & Misery," which is not on iTunes... or Spotify. What happened to that album?
Tracey: It was a record company thing. The record company in England just kinda lost faith and pulled out and the boys had to go on and make a living. When we came to America it was different and just really heartbreaking. I remember going on the press tours and I remember the people representing us and sometimes I thought oh my God, I can't believe I have to walk into a room with this guy representing me. They weren't that into it, it was a terribly produced record which never captured what we are live. It never captured what we did on vinyl, it never captured the edge we had. I liked the ballad "Angel Come Down" but that's not what people were looking with us. I had no interest in being in a band in America, I wanted to be in a band in England. That's where my musical roots were and my inspirations were. With "Sex & Misery," even though I'm really proud of it and it's a very personal record it's really over produced, so there you go.
Melissa: The way we made the album was different then the way we made the two previous albums. We at that point were the only two side members in the band. The boys at that point were on a wage and Woody had left so the making of the album was different. We tried things that we would never have tried before... Peter-John Vettese produced it and is so talented and it was fun, and exciting. We were trying new things because it was new and came out sounding different because it was different.
Me: So, which one of you wrote most of the songs?
Tracey: I did. I thought maybe we should have done it under a different name, I don't know. When we came back to America I was so beat down by this business, so hammered to the ground by this image, the managers, the politics and the red tape. I just wanted to get it over with to be honest with you.
Me: So, you came back to L.A., and now were part of that music scene? Was it a lot different than the music scene in London?
Tracey: The L.A. music scene was soooo different... we grew up in L.A. and to start not from the bottom, but pretty much from the bottom, without the boys, without the crew we knew, without the fans that watched us forever, I was like oh, hell, I don't think I could do this now.
Me: So, Tracey, how did you go from L.A. to England to start a band? Why didn't you just start a band in L.A.?
Tracey: I always wanted to go to London and when I went there I absolutely fell in love with it. I came home to America for about week and my mom saw me crying one day and I said I don't want to be here, I want to be back in London. Within a week I left Missy and my apartment and my friends and went back. I found Mike Jones and we made a little demo and it got interest. I callers Missy and said we talked about doing some music, I got interest so why don't you come over and we'll try this and see what happens. We'll give it about a year and see what happens.
Melissa: I went on holiday to see her and we went to Mike's studio and worked on a few songs. I then came back to America and two weeks later Tracey called me and said the record companies are calling about the band, but of course there was no band. So I went back and we started hanging out in Camden Town, in music pubs, and we ran an ad in a local paper. The first show we ever played as sisters was as a band called the Fashion Don't. There were about four people there and one of them was Michael Penn, Sean Penn's brother, who thought we were fantastic. Haha.
Me: Your dad, like mine, was a musician. He was in the band The Four Preps. So, you grew up somehow with a music background and had talent... unlike me, who can just play the kazoo. Haha. What is your dad doing now?
Melissa: He still is a musician to this day, he's a composer, and writer.
Me: Cool. So, I never wanted to be a musician, even though my dad was a successful musician. What about you two? Did you two wanted to be musicians when you were young?
Tracey: Yes. When MTV came around we thought oh, my God. We actually brought clothes from videos to copy them. It wasn't like we jammed or anything like that but I think it was something we definitely felt when the time was right and presented itself there was no question about us doing it. To maybe out dad's influence we had rock posters on our wall. I had Debbie Harry, Chrissie Hynde... Missy had Led Zeppelin and Donny Osmond. Haha. We wanted to work with the music just like our dad was. I just liked British music. By the way, I found the David Cassidy button I bought. I might wear that at the show. We once covered "I Think I Love You" so it'll work. Haha.
Me: Did you do a lot of touring back in the day? I think if you toured America now you'd do great. I can picture you playing at Epcot's International Food and Wine Festival.
Tracey: We were together for ten years and made a living doing it. We were always touring. Some bands toured for a year to a year and half, but we never did that but we absolutely surprised people we were good live and were able to carry a show. We loved the feeling of doing it, provided we didn't take a year. We would go on a three month tour all the time. I loved it and I think it got harder toward the end but in the beginning it was fun for us to receive the feedback from the audience. It was really exciting and we loved it.
Melissa: It was also really interesting to see how our band was perceived. We were on tour, were in the charts, went on "Top of the Pops," and shows after that would be packed, the song would go higher, and we really got an immediate response on how popular we were. It was always fun to do, to see people dressing up for these occasions, and make a dance party so that was really, really he fun part.
Me: Looking at pics of you two from back in the day you definitely had a look. Do you still like to dress up?
Tracey: Back in the day when we were younger we were willing to take time to create a look. It takes so much time! The upkeep of my hair alone to keep it perfect is incredibly exhausting. We live at the beach in that beach culture and I love that. Like I said I'm a pre-school teacher and I get teased all the time for my clothes. I wear little dresses with ankle socks and combat boots and I'm always getting teased about my look. So I can't wait to dress and not have anybody make a big deal about it.
Melissa: I, on the other hand, can dress as weird as I want.
Me: Tracey is a teacher, Melissa, what are you doing now?
Melissa: I'm lucky enough to do two things... I make fairies... hand made little play dolls. I appear at the Sawdust Art Festival twice a year... I have done it for 17 years now. I make crowns, I make wands, I sprinkle the kids with fairy dust. But between those two shows I'm a caregiver. I go in people's homes and take care of them. I take care of people who have dementia, parkinson's, plastic surgery, all kinds of different care that people need. In fact, one of my little ladies died just yesterday which makes it hard, but that's part of the job.
Tracey: I'm really proud of something and want to toot my own horn for a minute. I teach pre-school and I devised this program to teach kids about artists that are three or four-years-old. They let me take over this program and all the little ones learn about Monet, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Keith Herring, Picasso... they liked this program so much that they put me in charge of the whole program and now I do it in all campuses at this private school that I teach at and I'm just so in love with that job and how creative it is and responsibility that I have. That's another reason I don't want to strain to far. It's a special school, they have animals, an organic garden, they teach sigh language, Chinese and Japanese... it's just exactly where I should be just now. I really found where I belong.
Me: That's very cool. When I was researching you two for this interview I thought to myself you two are both very creative people. Have you always been that way?
Tracey: I think you can blame our parents for that because they were both creative people. Our mother was an interior designer self-taught and incredibly talented and our dad is a musician as well as a writer so yeah, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I don't remember our parents saying anything practical to us. I remember when I told my dad I wanted to go back to London and play in a band he said, "Oh, thank god you're not going into something boring like real estate." He wanted creativity for us.
Me: Melissa, I have to ask you, I think you had an interaction with our president... or at least the first daughter. Tell me about this.
Tracey: He's not my president.
Melissa: Okay. I'm so upset that Donald Trump is out president. Before I had my daughter about nine years ago there was a contest run by Yahoo and Ivanka Trump for small businesses and neat ideas and nurturing and you had to submit an essay. I wound up out of 10,000 people being one of the five that won. It's hard to explain, I still don't know how it happened, but I won and flew to New York to have a power meeting with Ivanka Trump and all the other winners. They mentored and set up beautiful websites for us, but there was no cash involved. What it did was got a lot of press for my business locally so when I came back to this Sawdust festivals I had a really good season. I met her, she was absolutely lovely. She ate lunch with us and she was all business. She was incredibly smart, very direct, very warm, and that was the ending of that. It was really fun and cool... who would thunk it that nine years later a reality star would be leading the country. It's a strange story, and no one really asks me about it, so thanks, Jason.
Me: Okay, Tracey, so, you girls end up in London and in a popular band... which is amazing how it worked out. It must of been fun and hard work, right? Did you think you'd be so successful? It's a crazy story.
Tracey: Sure. It started out for me when I was waitressing at a restaurant in L.A. and Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy" came on the radio and I thought I am going to England. I literally got money and went with my boyfriend. I am really a big fan of the British music scene It does amaze me that I was illegitimately part of the British music scene for a short time. I watched a documentary of Chrissie Hynde last night and I thought I can't believe I know what rehearsal studio she was in, it's like a dream come true.
Me: Chrissie Hynde was your idol, right? Did you ever meet her?
Tracey: Yeah, I was at a Prince concert before Missy came over and I sure her and I said, "I just want you to know you're the reason I'm here in England playing guitar." She said, "Oh, I don't know if you want to kill me or thank me." I laughed then went into the bathroom, got on my knees and started crying.
Me: Melissa, who are your influences? The same as Tracey?
Melissa: Absolutely. Hundred percent. I used to stare at the cover of Madness album covers, I was so into the band. It was crazy we hooked ourselves up with Mark Bedford and Woody, both from Madness, because our demo tapes were done with the bass player from Madness as well. They said they weren't gonna stay with us. They were gonna help us, sharpen us, and help us get a deal and play on all our stuff, but when we get a deal they were gonna leave. Woody fell so in love with it, which he is so hard to impress, and wound up staying. That was one of the big things for me. I couldn't believe we were playing with Woody. Like how in hell did this happen?
Me: So, Tracey loved London... and wanted to go. Did you feel the same way?
Melissa: One thing that was very different for me than for Tracey I got so home sick when I went there. After a year I hated it. I hated the food, I hated the underground, I hated being away from my boyfriend who I broke up with. I missed the sun, I missed my car, I felt so isolated. Tracey had her boyfriend which was fantastic but I didn't so I was lonely I can't tell you how many times I thought I should just leave. I wanted to abandon ship but I'm so glad I didn't. I spent a year to get my footing and not get sick to my stomach.
Tracey: It's ironic, I always felt homesick my whole life until I went to London and thought I'm where I belong.
Me: I always say to siblings, or married couples that are in bands together how that works as I can't fantom doing that... you seem to have a good relationship, but I'm sure there were problems, am I right?
Melissa: Of course.
Tracey: Never.
Melissa: We had ego challenges. Looking back at the interviews and videos I'm always trying to get my voice heard. I always thought no one gives a shit what I had to say. I was always trying to hype up and be seen. That was a challenge sometimes to not sing as much as I wanted to. I wasn't tied up by guitar so I could run around. It was just ego.
Tracey: When you look at stories of the Gallagher Brothers, that's bad. We were never like that. Or Ray and Dave Davis who were at each others throats all the time. We argued about things like a set list or a meeting that one of us said something that the other didn't like, but it came down to it if you messed with my sister you were history because then we would bend together, we had each others backs. There was bickering but nothing like I read.
Melissa: There was one time we argued on stage. Tracey was mad that I had a sore throat and I wouldn't stop smoking, and I thought she was drinking too much, and we actually went on stage and argued on mike. It was awful. Years later we met someone who said he saw us in Minneapolis and we argued on stage. I was like, yeah, I remember, I know. I had pig-tails in my hair and a t-shirt that said "Brat" so I was dressed for the occasion. Haha.
Me: Who are your favorite bands you played with and went on tour with?
Melissa: We got to play with Crowded House, one of our favorite bands. You have to interview Neil Finn here on the Phile. My personal favorite is we got to play with the Kinks twice and we got to record in Puk Studios in Denmark. I was walking down this long road on this big, big, big ranch and it was pitch black at night. I heard someone walking towards me and I was said, "Rey?" which is my sister's name and Ray Davis said, "Yes?" I said, "I'm Melissa of Voice of the Beehive." I had to introduce myself. We opened for Deacon Blue, INXS, The Butthole Surfers. I can't think of anybody else at the top of my head. I know there's many, many more.
Me: My mum dated Dave Davis from the Kinks before she met my dad who also was named Dave. He used to say she married the better Dave. Haha. Who wrote most of the material and who was responsible for the look of the band? Who was the leader of the band? I'm sure Tracey was as this was really her dream, am I right?
Melissa: Tracey was more into the songs and I was more into the clothes. To make that her priority was not her temperament. I would analyze my costumes all day before she went on stage and she would throw on something the last minute. That was the difference between our personalities.
Me: Looking back at your career as musicians do you have any regrets, or wish you have done anything differently?
Tracey: I don't really believe in regrets. I don't use that word very often. I like to been more creatively involved but that's really easy to say now. I've come into my own at my age. I was a different animal when I was in my twenties. I don't do the regret thing, like I said I am right where I should be.
Melissa: I don't know if this is a regret because I wouldn't have done it any other way but I often wonder of we had made it farther if we hadn't dressed so crazy. It was just a big part of our joy, acting goofy. Part of the Beehive was the comedy. But I remember people asking us constantly why do we dress like that? Personally I wish I prepared a bit more for the ending of the band. It was really painful when it ended so quickly. I wouldn't call it a regret, but I think maybe if we tweaked it a different way but we were so lucky to have ridden the wave as long as we did. Tracey: The problem with the band, and I think Missy will agree, is we wanted to be ourselves, take the mickey out of ourselves, turn pop on its head showing it doesn't have to be dark. We were only gonna have fun with ourselves, it's just pop music, not to big of a deal. It was like all the outcasts will have a party tonight, that's what we ended up pretty much doing. I was often told. "you'd be taken more serious as a songwriter if you didn't dress as a little girl." But I still dressed as a little girl. so whatever.
Me: So, I have to ask, what were the highlights of your music career when you were in Voice of the Beehive? You both must have a thing you loved, right?
Tracey: I know one of mine is I got to stand and sing next to Maria McKee. I have never seen a singer with a presence like that and been so such a force of energy and that to this day is one of the happiest and greatest memories I have. She's still a friend to this day and her husband, Jim Akin, makes beautiful films.
Melissa: I thought it was really exciting when they would pick us up, it only happened a couple of times, to do some late night TV or something. They would pick us up in a helicopter to take us down to do "Top of the Pops." I really liked being on Jools Holland's show... I loved opening for Simple Minds. That was one occasion where we didn't get a sound check. They were playing Wembley Stadium for 40,000 people. I remember walking on stage and looking at my sister who is normally about three arm lengths away from me and now she was a good thirty feet away from me. I felt sick to my stomach and thought to myself I better start entertaining these people because this is a big stage. Haha. Those are some of the exciting things that I remember.
Me: So, I have to ask you about a few song's... what is the story about "There's a Barbarian in the Backseat of My Car?"
Tracey: My boyfriend in England, who used to go with me pub crawling, and hanging out in alleys and drink, used to call me with song titles. He said, "What if you wrote a song about a barbarian?" I said okay, let's do it, so we drank a pint and it just came out. I had a boyfriend in high school who dated me for one year only because I had a car. That's the only reason he wanted to date me. He always wanted me to take him everywhere and ride with me. I swear to God, that song was my vengeance on him.
Me: And the song "Just Like You," don't take this the wrong way, but it sounds similar to "Love Shack." Was that intentional? I do have to say I love that song!
Tracey: It was the other way around, our song came first. Don Was was one of the producers of the album, and after us, he went to work with The B-52's. That was the second time the B-52's ripped us off. "I Walk the Earth" starts with an a cappella opening and song about traveling and discovering the world. After it became a hit the B-52's came out with "Roam," a cappella beginning, a song about traveling, and discovering the world. I could be wrong but to the best of my knowledge I could be right.
Me: Wow. Ladies, thanks so much for being on the Phile. Good luck on the reunion concert on October 7th... I wish I could go. Mention your websites if you want.
Tracey: Thanks for having us, Jason, it was good talking to you.
Melissa: Madeinheavenbymissy.com. Thank you, Jason.
That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Tracey and Melissa for a great interview. The Phile will be back tomorrow with musician Tom Odell. Alright, I'm off to see the Giants play in Tampa. Look for me on TV! Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.
Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker
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