BUSY BEE
RECORDS
Busy Bee Records was a small independent label, based in
Leicester. Catalogue numbers suggest that Busy Bee put out at least three
records; there was a four year gap between the first and the last, which
strongly suggests that the company wasn't a full-time concern. Two of
those records were singles by Martin Harvey. 'The Leicester Festival Song'
b/w 'Town Crier' (BBOS-001) saw the light of day in 1979, while 'Maggie Will
Always Be Around' b/w 'Vote Conservative' (BBOS-003) was from 1983.
Presumably there was a BBOS-002 - or perhaps even an album with a different
prefix - between them. MP Greg Knight produced both of the singles and co-wrote
a couple of the tracks, so it seems reasonable to assume that he was involved
with the label. He certainly seems to have been deeply involved with Lord
Bug Music, the pubishers of the 'Leicester Festival Song' - at the time of my
writing this (May 2016) the company has a website undergoing renewal from which
both the song and an e-book by him can be downloaded. In addition,
'lordbug.com' was previously the website of his local conservative
association. Previous to his Busy Bee singles Martin Harvey had released a
self-financed album, 'This Is Me', on SRT Records (SRTX/CUS-77095; 1977).
The label on the next page, Butterfly (1970) also features a record with a
politician on it, which - given that such things aren't common - is a mildly
interesting coincidence. The coincidence extends a little further: that
label is named after an insect, too. Distributed By Busy Bee
Records. Thanks to Robert Lyons For The
Info.
79
Martin Harvey
It's A Leicester Fiesta (The
Leicester Festival Song)
BUSY BEE
B.B.OS
001
79
Not Traced
BUSY BEE
B.B.OS
002
83
Martin Harvey
Maggie Will Always Be Around
BUSY BEE
B.B.OS
003