Beverly Bivens
We Five's first single, from their debut album of the same name, was a reworked version of Sylvia Tyson's song "You Were On My Mind". It became one of the first folk-rock hits, reaching number three in the "Billboard" "Hot 100" in August 1965. Tyson (then Sylvia Fricker) says that she was unaware that her song had been covered until she heard We Five's version on a car radio while driving on Highway 101 in California. One consequence of We Five's success was that Tyson's song, which, until then, had been unavailable in sheet form, was published by Witmark of New York, with a photograph of Bivens and We Five on the cover. However, with the so-called "British invasion" at its height, We Five's recording had only limited international success, having been covered reluctantly, though successfully, in Britain by Crispian St. Peters.
We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It
Their first release, in March 1986, was a single of "XX Sex" and "Rules And Regulations", with the fuzzbox featuring prominently, which reached No. 41 in the UK charts. This proved a huge success for the girls; despite not reaching the Top 40, the Vindaloo Records release remained in the Indie chart for twenty-five weeks. This led to tours of the UK and Europe and, in December that year, their debut album, "Bostin' Steve Austin", was released (Geffen re-titled the album "We've Got A Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It" upon its US release). This album spawned the band's first Top 40 hit, "Love Is The Slug" and the minor hit "What's The Point".