June 1, 1976

June 1, 1976, marks the release of SevenEightNine, the album that carried “Honeycomb” into the charts as The Six moved from a developing live act toward a national headlining tour. The date anchors a period when the record’s songs were still changing in performance and the band’s audience was growing night by night.

Release and Chart Debut

SevenEightNine was released on June 1, 1976. “Honeycomb” debuted at number 86 and was climbing steadily, giving the album an early commercial foothold as the band prepared to headline its own national tour.

The Whisky a Go Go Period

Around the release, The Six spent an extended stretch in Los Angeles, playing an unofficial residency at Whisky a Go Go and refining its set onstage. Graham Dunne recalled that the group had the rest of the album’s material playing tightly, while Billy Dunne’s version of “Honeycomb,” performed without Daisy Jones, restored her part to the form he had originally intended. Graham felt the performance exposed an absence in the song.

During this same Whisky a Go Go period, Daisy appeared at a show and Billy invited her to sing “Honeycomb” with him. The precise date of that performance is not established as June 1. Daisy kept the revised, questioning lyrics rather than changing them back to suit Billy, and she and Billy shared a microphone before harmonizing spontaneously at the ending. The crowd’s emphatic response showed how the song could become something different in performance from the version on the record.

A Turning Point in the Band’s Progress

The release date sits at the intersection of a finished album and a still-forming live identity. The Six’s repeated Whisky a Go Go appearances drew returning listeners, with crowds growing as the band played. Its members described the songs coming together onstage, while the contrasting versions of “Honeycomb” made the creative tension around Daisy’s contribution audible. June 1 therefore marks not only the arrival of SevenEightNine, but the beginning of a period in which the band’s recorded material and its increasingly successful live performances continued to reshape one another.