King Bee (band)

King Bee
Origin	Portland, Oregon United States
Genres	Punk rock, garage rock
Years active	1976–1978
Labels	Whizeagle

King Bee was a band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1976 and consisted of Fred Cole on vocals and guitar, Mark Sten on bass and Pat Conner on drums. Cole had sung and written songs for bands such as The Weeds (also known as Lollipop Shoppe), and Zipper, but King Bee marked his debut as a guitarist. According to Cole's wife (Conner's sister) Toody, the band initially sounded "grungy, rhythm and bluesy, swampy" but "happened to get a spot playing in Portland on the bill with The Ramones the first time they came through." King Bee was inspired by the high-energy punk sounds of The Ramones, and in 1978 released the low fidelity single "Hot Pistol" on Cole's Whizeagle label. However, the band soon folded, and Cole's frustration with short-lived lineups led him to teach his wife Toody how to play bass, leading to the formation of The Rats and later Dead Moon.

Discography

• Hot Pistol (single, 1978)

Literature

• Tony Mitchell (2001). Global Noise: Rap and Hip Hop Outside the USA. p. 169. ISBN 0819565024.
• Andrew Earles (2014). Gimme Indie Rock: 500 Essential American Underground Rock Albums 1981-1996. Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0760346488.