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Ant-Bee is the brainchild of one Billy James. Formed thru a
series of musical experimentations in the recording studio back in 1987 in
Los Angeles, Ant-Bee was born.
In 1988, Ant-Bee were signed to the notorious Los
Angeles record company Voxx/Bomp Records. The first Ant-Bee album was
Pure Electric Honey, and received rave reviews
worldwide (now a collectors item it is soon to be reissued with extra
material on CD on Divine Records UK). The Ant-Bee became an overnight
legend in the European underground. The album also featured guest performances
by Bob Harris (Frank Zappa) and Rick Snyder ( Captain Beefheart ). In
1990 the live Ant-Bee ensemble was assembled and gigged throughout Los
Angeles to the astonishment of most audiences. Also at this time, while
recording new material, the first Ant-Bee video was filmed "Here We
Go Round The Lemon Tree" which viewed in L.A and Canada. Also during
this period a cover version of the Beach Boy's "Do You Like Worms?"
was recorded. Oddly through a bizarre turn of events this Ant-Bee version
of the song was mistakenly played on a Beach Boys radio show as a rare
Beach Boys demo!! It has now surfaced on three european bootlegs as
the Beach Boys!!!!
In 1992 the
second Ant-Bee video was filmed "The Girl With The Stars In Her Hair"
a much more elaborate production. It was broadcast worldwide to much
critical acclaim. At this point Ant-Bee left Voxx records. An EP of
new music was released in Germany and several magazines and European
labels released rare Ant-Bee tracks. Also during this period Billy James/Ant-Bee
began a long (and current) relationship with the original ex-Mothers
Of Invention (Frank Zappa's first group). Thus began a series of recordings,
filmings and gigs with these legendary artists (Bunk Gardner, Don Preston,
Jimmy Carl Black, Motorhead and Roy Estrada). The Ant-Bee was the first
to reunite the original Mothers and record them together in 25 years!!!
From this unique collaboration came the second Ant-Bee album With My Favorite Vegetables & Other Bizarre Muzik
(released Divine Records UK 1994). It also sold very well and received
massive press and airplay worldwide!! It especially appealed to Frank
Zappa fans.
In 1994 Billy James relocated to the east coast to record the third
Ant-Bee album Lunar Muzik. Now in an elaborate
24 track facility, the third album will soon become a true Ant-Bee masterpiece.
Again the original Mothers make guest appearances along with the legendary
Daevid Allen of Gong/Soft Machine, Harvey Bainbridge of Hawkwind and
the original members of the Alice Cooper Group (Michael Bruce, Neal
Smith, Dennis Dunnaway and Glen Buxton - the first time the original
group has been recorded together in 20 years!!!), making Lunar
Muzik the most ambitious and pioneering project of the decade!!!
(more information on this third Ant-Bee album is available on the Bizarre
News page). Also to promote the release of this album is the psychedelic
video Child Of The Moon. After a tour of
the east coast with Michael Bruce the Ant-Bee has begun work recording
the fourth album- Electronic Church Muzik
which promises to be an even bigger extravaganza then the previous album.
This album also features a host of legendary artists like The Mothers,
Alice Cooper Group, Jan Akkerman of the legendary band Focus, Peter
Banks of Yes and Flash, Zoot Horn Rollo of Captain Beefheart, Daevid
Allen of Gong and Gilli Smyth of Mother Gong, to name a few.
Contact:
Ant-Bee Muzik/Billy James
P.O. Box 18254
Asheville, NC 28814 28814 USA
Fax: 828-350-0659
E-Mail:
antbee0@cs.com
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