A Taste of Honey, the disco-soul ensemble recognized for a pair of massive yet strikingly different pop successes, formed in 1971 once Janice Marie Johnson, who supplied vocals, bass, and guitar, crossed paths with keyboardist Perry Kibble at an audition for vacation-cruise engagements. Taking its name from one of the musicians’ preferred tracks, the outfit recruited several friends and performed regularly in Southern California bars plus military bases both stateside and overseas. After Greg Walker left to join Santana, guitarist Hazel Payne came aboard. A connection with producers Fonce and Larry Mizell led the group to sign with Capitol. Their first single, “Boogie Oogie Oogie,” arose from an indifferent crowd that Johnson viewed as chauvinistic during a military show; the cut’s memorable bassline reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in fall 1978 and moved more than two million copies. The sleek, funky follow-up “Do It Good” climbed to number 13 R&B and number 79 pop. Its parent album, A Taste of Honey, earned platinum certification, and the quartet captured the Grammy for Best New Artist. At that moment the lineup comprised Johnson, Kibble, Payne, and drummer Donald Johnson.
Johnson resolved that she and Payne should reinterpret a standard after absorbing Linda Ronstadt’s take on Smokey Robinson’s “Ooh Baby Baby.” Having performed Kyu Sakamoto’s “Sukiyaki” while touring Japan and appearing at the Yamaha Song Festival, she reached her Japanese sub-publisher, who secured approval from the original writers to adapt the song with new English lyrics. Translators produced a version whose theme closely matched the Japanese original’s sense of “I look up when I walk”; Johnson contributed additional lines that struck her as overly plain until producer George Duke urged her to write from the heart. A publishing-rights conflict nearly prevented release. Once the track was finished, Johnson learned that one of the original writers had relinquished his rights, prompting his publisher to require her to surrender all claims to her adaptation before Capitol would issue it. She agreed, convinced the song would distance the group from the disco label. The label instead issued “Rescue Me,” which peaked at number 16 R&B in summer 1980, and “I’m Talkin ’Bout You,” which reached number 64 R&B late that year. Radio airplay of the album cut finally prompted Capitol to release “Sukiyaki,” which attained number one R&B and number three pop in spring 1981. Ladies of the Eighties, issued in 1982, met modest results, although its lead single “I’ll Try Something New” came close to the pop Top 40. Payne then exited to pursue stage acting, leaving Johnson to complete the band’s Capitol contract. The subsequent album One Taste of Honey, issued under Johnson’s name alone, produced no significant commercial impact.
While the group remained active, its material began surfacing as source material for rap producers; Funky 4 + 1’s “That’s the Joint” and Slick Rick’s quotation of “Sukiyaki” on Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew’s “La Di Da Di” illustrate the trend. Payne and Johnson reconvened in 2004 for a PBS disco special. All four of the band’s Capitol albums received reissues from the BBR (Big Break) label in the early 2010s.
