Album · The Bees
Free the Bees by The Bees
Free the Bees is an album by The Bees, released in 2004. 1 song from it has charted on rock radio countdowns, with 1 countdown appearance in total. The biggest is “Chicken Payback”, on 1 list with a best position of #33.
Free the Bees, the second album from Isle of Wight oddballs the Bees, came out in 2004 as their first record for Virgin, and it's the sound of a shed project turning into a proper band. The sextet that had grown together on the road behind their debut, Sunshine Hit Me, played on this one: Paul Butler, Aaron Fletcher, Kris Birkin, Michael Clevitt, Warren Hampshire and Tim Parkin.
The plan was to make it in Butler's shed, where the debut had been cut, but they packed up for Abbey Road Studios instead, and the upgrade shows. It's slicker and quicker on its feet, a sunny, cheerfully scruffy jumble of vintage garage rock, country twang, jazzy asides and reggae lope. "Chicken Payback" is the party piece, a daft, stomping party tune that grins all the way through, and it went on to reach number 28 on the UK singles chart when it came out as a single in April 2005. Octopus came next.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Free the Bees on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicken Payback | 1 | #33 | – | 2004 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.