A Taste of Honey is an American band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1972 by Janice-Marie Johnson and Perry Kibble. In 1978, Johnson, with Hazel Payne, had one of the best known chart-toppers of the disco era, "Boogie Oogie Oogie". After their popularity waned during the 1980s, Johnson went on to record as a solo artist and released the album One Taste of Honey. Carlita Dorhan left the band in early 1976, and Hazel Payne was added.

The band began to improve its sound over a period of six years prior to being discovered by Capitol Records. Touring cities outside Los Angeles, they also began doing United Service Organizations tours, with performances in Spain, Morocco, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan. Upon returning to Los Angeles, while playing in a nightclub, they were spotted by record producers, Fonce and Larry Mizell, who convinced Capitol Records' then vice-executive-producer, Larkin Arnold, to give them an audition. They signed a five-album contract, and billed themselves after Herb Alpert's song, "A Taste of Honey". The first single, "Boogie Oogie Oogie", from their debut album A Taste of Honey, spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978, and sold two million copies. A Taste of Honey was awarded two platinum records for the single and album, and won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist at the 20th Grammys on February 15, 1979. Janice-Marie Johnson calls the single her "lifeline" and credits Capitol Records executive, Larkin Arnold, with ensuring they owned their own publishing. Their subsequent disco releases, such as "Do It Good" (number 79 in 1979) from Another Taste, and "Rescue Me" (1980) failed to attract attention, and by 1980 the group had become a duo consisting of Janice-Marie Johnson and Payne.

As of 2025, Hazel Payne is a member of The Three Degrees.

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Title

! colspan="4"| Peak chart positions

!rowspan="2"| Certifications

! rowspan="2"| Record label

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! width="35"| US<br>

! width="35"| US<br>R&B<br>

! width="35"| AUS<br>

! width="35"| CAN<br>

|-

| rowspan="1"| 1978

| align="left"| A Taste of Honey

| 6

| 2

| 81

| 7

| align=left|

  • RIAA: Platinum
  • MC: Platinum

| rowspan="5"| Capitol

|-

| rowspan="1"| 1979

| align="left"| Another Taste

| 59

| 26

| —

| —

| align=left|

|-

| rowspan="1"| 1980

| align="left"| Twice as Sweet

| 36

| 12

| —

| —

| align=left|

|-

| rowspan="1"| 1982

| align="left"| Ladies of the Eighties

| 73

| 14

| —

| —

| align=left|

|-

| rowspan="1"| 1984

| align="left"| One Taste of Honey <small>(Janice-Marie Johnson)</small>

| —

| —

| —

| —

| align=left|

|-

| colspan="15" style="font-size:90%" | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

|}

Live albums

  • Divas of Disco: Live <small>(with CeCe Peniston, Thelma Houston, Linda Clifford, & France Joli)</small> (2010, Pegasus)

Compilation albums

  • Golden Honey (1984, Capitol)
  • Anthology (1995, One Way)
  • Beauty and the Boogie (1997, EMI)
  • Classic Masters (2002, Capitol)

Singles

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Title

! colspan="10"| Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Certifications

! rowspan="2"| Album

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! width="35"| US<br>

! width="35"| US R&B<br>

! width="35"| US<br>Dan<br>

! width="35"| US<br />A/C<br>

! width="35"| AUS<br>

! width="35"| NL<br>

! width="35"| NZ<br>

! width="35"| UK<br>

|-

| rowspan="2"| 1978

| align="left"| "Boogie Oogie Oogie"

| 1

| 1

| 1

| —

| 18

| 2

| 40

| 32

| 2

| 3

|

  • RIAA: Platinum
  • MC: Platinum