Barry Blue

Barry Blue
Barry Blue in the Dutch television program Popzien, 8 June 1973
Background information
Birth name	Barry Ian Green
Born	(1950-12-04) 4 December 1950 London, England
Genres	Pop, glam rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Vocals
Labels	Bell Records
Associated acts	Bee Gees, Lynsey de Paul, Heatwave, Lydia Canaan, Bananarama, Toto Coelo, Cheryl Lynn, Brotherhood of Man, Toto Coelo, Five Star, Dina Carroll, Andrea Bocelli, Diana Ross, Celine Dion, The Saturdays, Pixie LottC.J. & Company

Barry Blue (born Barry Ian Green, 4 December 1950)^[1][2] is an English singer, producer, and songwriter. As an artist he is best known for his hit songs "Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)" and "Do You Wanna Dance" (both 1973).^[2]

Early career

At the age of 14, Blue signed to record producer Norrie Paramor whose erstwhile assistant was Tim Rice – the producer of Blue's first song "Rainmaker Girl",^[3] which became a hit for Gene Pitney in the United States. Later he became a bassist in the line-up of Spice, the precursor to the heavy rock band Uriah Heep.^[2] He followed this in 1966 with a two-year period in A&R at the Bee Gees' publishing company Abigail Music. In 1970, Blue signed as a songwriter to ATV-Kirshner. His first major success was "Sugar Me" (1972),^[4] which became a hit for Lynsey de Paul,^[5] and was the first of a series of songs that they co-wrote. At the time he was still using his real surname of Green.^[4]

Career

He signed to Bell Records in 1973 billed as Barry Blue,^[2] and had five hit singles, including "School Love" (1974).^[6] His final Top 40 hit in the UK Singles Chart occurred in October 1974, when "Hot Shot", another song co-penned with de Paul, climbed to number 23,^[7] and number 3 in Zimbabwe.^[8]

Further success came with the production of the British funk/soul band Heatwave, who enjoyed hits in the UK and US with "Boogie Nights", "Always and Forever", 'Mind Blowing Decisions", and "The Groove Line".^[9][10][11] In 1989, under the banner of Cry Sisco!, Blue had another minor UK hit with a song called "Afro Dizzi Act", which reached number 42 on the UK Singles Chart.^[12][13]

Blue continued to work in the music industry as a record producer for other artists, including Bananarama, Toto Coelo and Cheryl Lynn.^[2]

Blue has also been a prolific songwriter for other acts. Among his hit compositions are:

• "Sugar Me" for Lynsey de Paul (1972) - a world-wide million seller
• "Devil's Gun" for C. J. & Company
• "Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby" for Brotherhood of Man (a European million seller) (1975)^[14]
• "I Eat Cannibals Part 1" for Toto Coelo (1982)^[15]
• "All Fall Down" for Five Star (1985)^[16]
• "Escaping", for Margaret Urlich (1989)
• "Beautiful Life" for Lydia Canaan (1995)^[17][18]
• "Escaping" for Dina Carroll (1996)^[19]

He has written / produced albums for many artists and has had over forty world-wide hits including Andrea Bocelli, Diana Ross, Celine Dion, The Saturdays, The Wanted, and Pixie Lott. In film and television, Blue has provided scores and/or themes for productions including The Eyes of Laura Mars, Long Good Friday, and Escape to Athena.^[2]

A compilation album, Greatest Hits was released on Repertoire Records in 2002.^[20] Blue was the founder of Connect 2 Music, now owned by Universal Music Publishing.^[2] He is a supporter of the creator's rights in music of all genres and styles, and is dedicating his time to become more pro-active in this pursuit. From 2010, Blue has served on the board of directors of PRS for Music.^[21][22]

Discography

Singles

• 1973: "Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)" UK No. 2, Australia No. 2, Austria No. 3, Germany No. 9, Zimbabwe No. 10, Netherlands No. 11, Belgium No. 13
• 1973: "Do You Wanna Dance" UK No. 7
• 1974: "School Love" UK No. 11, Danish No. 3, Australia No. 31, Zimbabwe No. 9, No. 5 on the Hessischer Rundfunk Hitparade International^[23]
• 1974: "Miss Hit and Run" UK No. 26
• 1974: "Hot Shot" No. 1 Swedish Poporama chart,^[24] UK No. 23, Zimbabwe No. 3, No. 8 on the Hessischer Rundfunk Hitparade International^[25]
• 1975: "You Make Me Happy (When I'm Blue)"
• 1975: "If I Show You I Can Dance"
• 1975: "Happy Christmas to You from Me" (with Lynsey de Paul, credited as Lynsey De Paul/Barry Blue),^[26] covered by Japanese artist Microstar^[27]
• 1976: "Tough Kids"
• 1977: "Billy"
• 1977: "A Lover Lovin' You"
• 1989: "Dancin' On a Saturday Night '89" UK No. 86^[7][28][29]

Albums

• 1974: Barry Blue
• 1974: Hot Shots^[30]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Barry Blue.

• Barry Blue on Myspace
• Barry Blue discography at Discogs
• Favorednationsmusic.com
• Interview with M Magazine