Barry Biggs
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Barry Biggs (born 1947 (although some accounts list 1953[1], St. Andrews, Jamaica) is a reggae singer, best known in the UK for his cover of the Blue Magic song, "Sideshow", which got to #3 in the UK Singles Chart in 1976.
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[edit] Career
Biggs spent some time as an recording engineer with the Jamaican Broadcasting Company before entering the music scene as a harmony singer at Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One and Duke Reid's Treasure Isle recording studios, and spent time as a member of both the Crystalites and the Astronauts, before accepting a position as the lead singer for Byron Lee's Dragonaires.
It was at Lee's Dynamic Sounds studio that Biggs recorded his first Jamaican hit, a cover of The Osmonds' "One Bad Apple", following it up with his first international success, "Work All Day", in 1972. Biggs placed six singles on the UK Singles Chart between 1976 and 1981, with his biggest hit, "Sideshow", reaching #3 in December 1976. Another hit for Biggs was his version of "Love Come Down", which would be later recorded by Evelyn King.
Always comfortable being a "do-over man," Biggs covered songs by such American artists as Stevie Wonder - "My Cherie Amour"; The Chi-Lites; The Moonglows - "Sincerely"; and The Temptations - "Just My Imagination"[2]; giving each a light reggae make-over. His brand of sweet pop reggae, usually featuring high, double-tracked and heavily echoed lead vocals, was more cosmopolitan than most of his contemporaries, and he avoided the political and Rasta themes then popular in Jamaica, eschewing the standard image of the dreadlocked rebel for the pop style and fine clothes of the club singer.
Amongst the songs he covered was "Goodnight My Love".
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- Wide Awake In A Dream - (1980)
- A Promise Is A Comfort To A Fool - (1982)
- Barry Biggs & The Inner Circle - (1983) - Trojan
- Wide Awake - (1990) - Mango
- Night Like This - (1994) - WEA
- Sideshow - (1995) - Jamaican Gold
- Love Come Down - (2000) - Wesgram Records
- Just My Imagination - (2002) - Disky Records
- Reggae Max - (2007) - Jet Star
