Little Brothers (Demo)

Aglet (Tie The World Together) (Demo)

Breath (Demo #1)

The original demo written and recorded in 2008 for "The Happy Evil Love Song." We changed it slightly for the show, but I've aways had a soft spot for the original, jaunty, slightly more raw and romantically sinister version. 

Recorded on Garageband. All instruments and vocals: JCB 

The Happy Evil Love Song (Original Version)
Words and music by Jon Colton Barry

Love was once a crazy dream
Now it’s my new evil scheme
And I’m as happy as can be
If you’ll plan it all with me

We’ll take this town by force
Hand in hand, of course
And I’m as happy as can be
It’s the age old story how

An evil boy meets an evil girl
We got a love strong enough 
To rule the whole wide world
We both maniacally laugh
At all the same things
First we’ll steal a glance, then a kiss
And then our wedding rings 

When our robot armies march
To the beating of our hearts
I’m as happy as can be
With this evil girl by me

Hey, Doctor, I’m all yours
Matching lab coats: His and Hers
And I’m as happy as can be
When we tell our story how

An evil boy meets an evil girl
We got a love strong enough 
To rule the whole wide world
We both maniacally laugh
At all the same things
First we’ll steal a glance, then a kiss
And then our wedding rings

The Happy Evil Love Song (Original Demo)

Ducky Mo Mo & Me (Demo W No Reverb)

Technology Vs. Nature Ditty (Demo)

Ugly (Demo)

The original song that got butchered in editing

What Do It Do  (Demo)

Set The Record Straight (Dome Lyric) (Demo)

I Walk Away (DVD Music Track Version)

Old song from 1994 - just me banging away on an acoustic live to cassette - old school

                                                            High on Low FI
                                                words and music by Jon Colton


Welcome to your closing mind
I'll be your hateful host
Your useless guide
You know already what you'll find
But are these shades of gray
Or are you color blind?

You've got your head up your ass
With all your preciousness too
High on Low FI, shy
Tried and affectedly true
Form over substance abuse
Has got the better of you
High on Low FI, shy
Tried and unfortunately true

But what's behind the Wicked Ale
Behind that "perfect cup of coffee" jail
Where your convictions cleave to you
And wipe allegiance off like residue

You've got your head up your ass
With all your preciousness too
High on Low FI, shy
Tried and affectedly true
Form over substance abuse
Has got the better of you
High on Low FI, shy
Tried and unfortunately true

Bloodletting the universe
So better feels like getting worse
All fun and games and ignorance
What can you do?
Remember Little Brother's watching you

She touched the face they buy and sell
The surface hides the contradictions well
So off the beaten path , you sheep
If you act now they'll throw friends in dirt cheap

You've got your head up your ass
With all your preciousness too
High on Low FI, shy
Tried and affectedly true
Form over substance abuse 
Has got the better of you
High on Low FI, shy
Tried and unfortunately true



High On Low Fi (Demo)

                                         She's Going Under
                                         words by Jon Colton 
                                      music by Jon Colton and Jason Kleidosty


She's going under
Lake frozen over
She made a breakthrough
She grabs at nothing again and again
She's going under
Blood almost frozen
Hands pressed against it
Eyes open wider and mouth wider still
The bitterest cold makes the bitterest man
She kicked off her feet and she told me the plan
I've no faith at all in this sorry wasteland
I think I'll go mad and create everything I demand

She's going under
Skating above her
Where each figure eight made
Is more an infinity sign on its side
She's going under
Shock to the system
They try to help her
She's sinking deeper and fading away
This tranquility doesn't come in a pill
That testimony was against her own will
Yet thrown to the dogs of the fore of her mind
And ripped into shreds so you can't recognize what you find

She made a difference
Roseate to ashes
"Assent -- and you are sane"
She thought it over again and again
She's going under
Poetry failed her
Philosophy's specious
It is so easy to argue away
Reject all the reason and give into rime
You're as young as you want just forget about time
Vodka is never as cold or as pure
As reality to the insane is with all its allure

"And it was not death
For I stood up
And all the dead lie down"
She grabbed at nothing again and again


She's Going Under (Wade Version)

This is Greg Camp's absolutely brilliant original recording of the song, "Hit The Ceiling," that he, Zac Moncrief and I wrote for the "Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!" episode "Party Like It's 1889." 

Hit The Ceiling (Master1)

Okay, so you "Phineas and Ferb" fans might recognize this riff and music from "My Ride From Outerspace," which, is from where I stole it, of course. Since I wrote both songs, however, I decided not to sue myself. I wrote this one in around 1991 in an attempt to explain to my then girlfriend that perhaps sometimes she can be a bit difficult to communicate with in a calm, rational manner. I think I actually recorded myself slapping my legs instead of drums like playing punk hambone.

Set Your Tongue On Fire
words and music by Jon Colton Barry

Can we just pretend I never said that?
I swear I didn't hear a thing
No, I admit that's far too easy
Here, knife me in the jugular vein
I know that you just look for a reaction
But this is Cronus swallowing his kin
Stick your neck out long, end up in traction
It ended long before it could begin
Do you remember what the point was?
A focus smeared with Vaseline
I'm talking off the top of your head
So you can tell me what I mean
I know you might be looking for attention
And a firing squad will do it every time
We race to cut each other to the quick now
The winner spits the ruthless finish line
And I have seen that nothing good and nothing bad
Will set your tongue on fire

Written, performed and produced by Jon Colton Barry

Copyright 1991 Coal Town Music, BMI

Feel free to remix, create a video and post your own version of this song on Youtube. Just cut and paste the legal credits in the description


Set Your Tongue On Fire (Solo Demo)

This is a jokey song I wrote for "Phineas and Ferb's" "Rollercoaster: The Musical." I thought it was funny that Dad, Buford, Baljeet and Irving weren't in the original "Rollercoaster" episode, which was the first one Dan and Swampy wrote, so I came up with this song to explain it. Obviously, it was not included in the episode so is not technically an offcial "Phineas and Ferb" song and, therefore, doesn't fall under the same "do not post" restrictions as the other "Phineas" demos Martin and I were asked to take down. i still kinda dig it, though and wish it had gotten in. Please excuse the tag with Baljeet swearing. It seemed amusing at the time and I forgot it was on there. Not for younger listeners, okay?

Where The Heck Were WE?!
Words and music by Jon Colton Barry

(sung by Baljeet, Dad, Buford, and Irving) 

When Phineas and Ferb built the Rollercoaster
We mysteriously were not around
But looking back on that day now
Doesn’t it seem really strange how
We were nowhere to be found

Baljeet: Perhaps I was doing lots of extra credit science
Buford: So I was waiting outside the school to beat ‘im
Dad: I might have been refurbishing some old antique appliance
Irving: I guess I still hadn’t even yet worked up the nerve to meet ‘em
Either way…

When Phineas and Ferb built the Rollercoaster
We mysteriously were not around
But looking back on that day now
Doesn’t it seem really strange how
We were nowhere to be found

Dad: It’s an engineering marvel,
Buford: I can’t believe I missed it!
Bajeet: I would have thrown up twenty, thirty times
Irving: If I’d have been there, I’d have kissed it!
Oh well…

I guess there’s no rewriting history
So we just stopped by to say
It’s really quite strange in retrospect
That none of us were there that day!

Written, performed and produced by Jon Colton Barry

Copyright 2010 Coal Town Music, BMI



Where The Heck Were We?  (Demo #1)

An older song about whether or not you actually make a CHOICE to create music, followed by all the choices you DO have to make once you're doing it.

                 Vaudeville
           words and music by Jon Colton Barry

Well, I hate to act and I hate to sing
For your silver thrown is a wasteful thing
How you give an arm, I concede a leg
For that fickle claw and indifferent peg
The applause in thunderstorms
The forecast on days of parades
We mull over our motives all tangled and wired
And lose what’s important
The reason we try
In subtle, almost lies
Good-bye Vaudeville

Where the air is stale and the heat won’t rise
And they disappear right before your eyes
And you fight in vain
Cause you’re told to fight
Just to read your misspelled name in lights
Or in stone
The Great Unknown
That big cane just pulls you away
But you seem more like the Minister’s daughter each day
That yearning for romance, excitement, and fame
Leave a note and change your name

Good-bye Vaudeville
The dangled hopes and endless sea
Good-bye Vaudeville
I’ve been down so long,
It still seems low to me

Vaudeville (Solo Acoustic)

Another strange, but beautiful Thorny track. Based on a strange story, but I forget what it is.

Acoustic Demo

Her Pretty Things (Acoustic Demo)

This is one of the first song I wrote and the first I recorded on a 4-track after about a month of having a guitar and a 4-track in about 1987. Jason Richman came in to sing the high harmony. I proudly played it for my father who listened carefully and then asked, :"What were you ON when you wrote that?" I didn't have the nerve to tell him.

Breakfast At Night (4-Track Demo)

Here is the original rough demo of "Hit The Ceiling" I recorded at Greg Camp's recording Studio on May 30, 2014 with just my acoustic guitar just after Greg, Zac and I had completed writing the song. 

We used this as the test demo for songwriters to rerecord and produce a finished track to see if if their; musical instincts matched the tone for the show we were looking for.

Be Cool Scooby Doo Demos

"Hit The Ceiling"

Hit The Ceiling (Rough Song Demo)

This is the second fully arranged demo of "Hit The Ceiling" from BCSD "Party Like It's 1889" recorded by me and Jake Monaco at his recording studio in 2015. We were trying to keep a raw, post-punky vibe and Jake did a masterful job of blending my rough vocals into his lead vocals to create an edgy effect. I like this version as it's more in keeping with the spirit of the song we were going for.

Copyright 2015 Warner Brothers

BCSD Romp Demos

Hit The Ceiling (Version 2)

On August 12, 2014, Kate Micucci, Zac Moncrief and I convened in the main conference room at Warner Brothers Animation to begin working out the first-ever sung mystery recap for "Screama Donna". I had this kinda groovy guitar riff and some lyrical notions and we began improvising around it with Kate fleshing out the words and finding melodies as Zac keeping a rock steady beat on the table. It was a lot of fun and slowly evolved into a great, fun little song and piece of Scooby Doo history as Velma overcame her social anxiety to drop a little mad science of the crowd.

BCSD Demos

Mystery Recap Song Rough Practice

Here's the first semi-finsihed version of "This Is How We Solved The Mystery" that I recorded in my office at WB on November 13, 2014 with just guitar and vocals after finishing the lyrics and melody based on what Kate Micucci had come up with in our first sessiion. Jake Monaco then took this version and made the chorus into something much more catchy and interesting, but this was the second step in the evolution n of this song from inception to what you saw in the "Screama Donna" episode.

BCSD Song Demos

This Is How We Solve A Mystery  #2 (JCB Demo)

And this is the final demo recorded on May 13, 2015 by me and Jake Monaco, with me singing a guide vocal for Kate over the fully arranged track Jake had produced. He transformed my half-assed chorus idea into something really cool with new chords. The phrasing of the vocals were tricky and Kate totally nailed it for the episode, creating a really fun, funny and charming scene - the first-ever totally sung mystery recap. I'm proud of what we did on this show and this song is just one example of our amazing team working together to push the boundaries and attempt to explore new places in a 50 year-old franchise.

Scooby Doo Songs

This Is How We Solve The Mystery (Full Demo JCB Vox Demo)

Here is a little lost "Phineas & Ferb" treasure. This is a live demo of Dan and Swampy singing in character as Doofenshmirtz and Monogram about how we make "Phineas & Ferb." The origin of it, as with most "Phineas" related gems, was just us (in this case Dan, Swampy, Martin and I) goofing around in the writing bullpen in 2009, when we came up with this little regressive ditty. It is just a one-take, partly improvised couple minutes of absurdity that we all laughed over and then promptly forgot about. Enjoy!

Phineas & Ferb Demos

How We Make Phineas and Ferb (Demo)

Here's the first brand new Thorny song being written at Whitney's house. The start of a new era.

Thorny Songs

Nobody Told Me (Working Title)

Here's a strange instrumental demo of a song I began for the "Phineas & Ferb" episode "The Chronicles of Meap." It was originally intended for the sequence when Candace chases after her brothers in the poached alien creature enclosure on Mitch's spaceship. It's a very long hypnotic loop on which I started to develop a sort of talking verse with a melodic chorus, but the tone ended up not feeling right, so it was left unfinished as this weird, kind cool 6 1/2 minute trance.

Coltonsongs

Walking Through an Alien Landscape (Instrumental Demo)

The "Phineas & Ferb" song "I'm Lindana," that everyone knows from the series is the final version of a song I co-wrote with Swampy that evolved over a couple drafts. For the original, first demo of the song, I was was trying to capture a much more angular, abrasive kind of early 1980's Lene Lovich/New Wave/Post Punk flavor than the more catchy, melodic synth-pop song with which we ended up. I actually find this original version interesting and it does have the flavor I was trying to capture. I have no real problem with it (the kazoo was a sarcastic touch), but at the time, when I first posted the demo for the final version (8-9 years ago?), it was labelled "I'm Lindana (Demo #2)" and people began asking me what happened to Demo #1. I jokingly reacted with horror and said something to the effect of, "We do not even SPEAK of Demo #1! Wipe its very existence from your mind!" (or something like that) like it was some fiendish Voldemort of a recording that could wreak havoc upon the souls of men if even mentioned, much less played. I was, typically, NOT being serious. Over the years, it has come up on occasion and I continued to refuse to speak of it and/or imply it was an unholy evil unfit for this mortal realm. It isn't. It's just less catchy, which for some, may qualify it as that after being accustomed to the official version. Either way, here it finally is, "I'm Lindana (Demo #1)" in all its unholy glory. May God have mercy on your soul.

I'm Lindana (Demo #1)

This is my band Thorny. 

Jon Colton Barry: Vocals and Guitars
Whitney Wade: Drums and Bass


                                          Blood Is Blue
                                            words and music by Jon Colton


Well she has a score of crows
That cling to her head like bows
And rosemary bread’s a novelty
And the poisoned pen I think
Was filled with invisible ink
‘Cause there’s not a stain to choose from

And everyone knows that blood is blue
With hearts big as clenched fists too
But nobody thinks about it
And everyone knows that it’s insincere
To act only out of fear
But I only miss her when she isn’t here

She started to blur at last
Through the bottom of the glass
If only I could keep her there
The hate like a dreary waltz
Inverted dead red rose
And everything new is old again

And everyone knows that blood is blue
With hearts big as clenched fists too
But nobody thinks about it
And everyone knows that it’s insincere
To act only out of fear
But I only miss her when she isn’t here

She’s so like my dead dear wife
A dearness and deadness life
And I’m here for no good reason
But she has a score of crows
That cling to her head like bows
And rosemary bread’s a novelty

And everyone knows that blood is blue
With hearts big as clenched fists too
But nobody thinks about it
And everyone knows that it’s insincere
To act only out of fear
But I only miss her when she isn’t here...


Blood Is Blue

Another track by Thorny, which was a band comprised of just me and Whitney Wade. This is a short, pretty one I always liked.

Jon Colton Barry: guitar & Vocals
Whitney Wade: Vocals


Another Bad Suggestion
                                                words and music by Jon Colton


Have I only made it worse
I’ve been blessed with just that curse
If we ever speak again
I may say the same thing then
Oh my angel I’m ashamed
But it wasn’t me who claimed that I could change

And the scar was always thin
Where you end and I begin
So it’s only out of need
You should also have to bleed
Oh my angel please don’t waste
Your life or blood or breath in haste on
Another bad suggestion from me

Copyright 1993 Coal Town Music, BMI

Another Bad Suggestion

This is me and Whitney Wade in our band Thorny. We liked doing that weaving vocal stuff. One of my personal favorites.

Jon Colton Barry: Guitar & Vocals
Whitney Wade: Drums, Bass & Vocals


                                           Remind
                           words and music by Jon Colton and Whitney Wade


(him)							(her)

Don’t you recall how you told me  			I wrote you a letter
Once in that booth in the corner  			Or maybe I called you
“Oh I love a place with a history”			Something impressing
This once was a speakeasy 
Now it’s a bundle of nerves

                                                              Ah...

Something unraveled in pages 			I wrote you a letter
Someone is bitching and moaning  			It’s funny how things go
Somehow despite how you fight it 			Everything’s easy
Everything’s perfect
Because of what’s in disarray

                                                              Ah...

Don’t you remember those feelings			I thought that I saw you
Don’t you remember those noises 			I thought that I heard you
Don’t you remember it’s laughing 			Laughing and coughing
Don’t you remember
To never forget that again

                                                              Ah...

They always will be disapproving			I never knew them
And say things like “I like their old stuff better”	I wanted to know them
But I know your demons will thank you 		I’ve always known them
The next trip you take
Should be lost in your own little world

                                                              Ah...

Remind

This is me in Tom Waits mode singing a song meant for a woman to sing, so it has a kinda surreal vibe. Everyone seems to like this one.

 I Wanna Look Good For My Man
Words and music by Jon Colton Barry


I wanna look good for my man
In a string of black pearls from Japan
With the help of Saint Lucia 
And just a little Santeria
Powder, rouge, and perfumed oils
I’ll win the war but he’ll get the spoils

Now, Sarah, she dares me to wear 
That red dress from the Mexican fair
He’ll be here any minute
He ain’t never seen me in it
I’ll tell my man to pull up a chair
You know, use a little savoir-faire

My man is so sweet and handsome 
And he’s never late
Set my watch by the clang of the wrought iron gate
I wanna leap from his cake and eat it too
Oh, baby, do onto others as you’d have them do onto you

I swear I have no master plan
I just wanna look good for my man

So wag your finger at me from above
Say a girl shouldn’t have to work so hard for the man that she love
But I say where have you been?
It’s all the horror and sin
In this ugly world that makes a girl cry
Not how she sparkles in her lover man’s eye
But it looks like you will never understand
Until I start to look good to your man

I wanna look good for my man

Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that…


Copyright 2012 Coal Town Music, BMI

I Wanna Look Good For My Man

This is a demo idea written for a "Phineas and Ferb" episode that was not used. The episode where Candace switches places with the Princess from Doof's homeland who looks exactly like her. I wrote this for Jeremy to sing, but it was decided Jeremy shouldn't have feelings for someone who isn't Candace even if she really IS Candace pretending NOT to be Candace. Do you understand? Me neither. Thus the song was chucked. Oh well. It was a cute idea.


Fallen For a Princess
Words & Music by Jon Colton Barry

You think you’ve fallen for a princess
But a part of you is not exactly sure
How to tell if she’s a princess
And, if so, how much, and do they have a cure?

There oughta be some kind of test
You know, part written and part quest

But here’s some ways to prove that she’s royalty

You know you’ve fallen for a princess
When she tells you her godmother owns a wand
She very well may be a princess
If she’s kissed amphibians down by the pond

If she’s graceful, upper class
And all her shoes are made of glass

There’s a good chance that her daddy’s the king


Princess (Demo)

Here's a song from 1996 recorded by my band at the time, "Jon Colton &amp; His Enemies," which included Kelly Castro on bass, Mark Posegay on drums and Greg Camp, from Smash Mouth, on electric guitar and backing vocals. I remember asking Greg to join the band, but he had just started Smash Mouth and wanted to see if anything would happen with it. I remember thinking, "Yeah, right, he'll be back..." Oops.

                                                               Gravity’s Gone
                                      words and music by Jon Colton and Whitney Wade


Once I had you alone,
Confetti and streamers
Lay where they were thrown
And every street sweeper
Was more the Grim Reaper
Of what we had sown

You could not compromise
The weight on your shoulders
A word to the wise:
The wisdom you cherish
Will stagger and perish 
Under your pride

Looking for a thread
To tie me to anything
Holding on instead
To this easily accessible dread

Now, when we say “goodbye”
Parades will turn over
And clutter the sky
With cars and confetti
The ticker-tape’s ready
And gravity’s gone

Written by Jon Colton Barry and Whitney Wade
Performed and produced by Jon Colton & His Enemies
Copyright 1993 Coal Town Music
Feel free to remix, create a video and post your own version of this song on Youtube. Just cut and paste the legal credits in the description


Gravity's Gone

This is the original demo of "The Loud Song" written by Jeff Barry, Clarence Jey and Jon Colton Barry for the first episode of "LEGO City Adventures," recorded in June 2018 at Clarence's amazing home studio that has the original recording console on which my father recorded  "Sugar Sugar" in 1969. 

Although the amazing singer/actor Grey DeLisle sings/recorded the final version as her pop star character, Poppy Starr, for the actual episode, this demo version was recorded with the talented Siena Bjornun singing. 

Turn it up up UP!!!

LEGO City

The Loud Song (Original Demo)

Here is the original demo recording of the infamous "The Loud Song" for my new show "LEGO City Adventures" featured in the first episode, as well as others throughout the series. This demo was written, arranged and produced by the pop masters Jeff Barry and Clarence Jey, as well as them humoring me by allowing me to contribute as well. The brilliant singer, actor, voice actor and stand up Grey DeLisle plays Poppy Starr, LEGO City's resident pop star phenomena perfectly nails the final version heard in the show, but this demo, which perfectly captures the song, was recorded with the help of the amazingly talented singer Siena Bjornun. Turn it up UP UP!

The Loud Song

More perfect pop written, arranged and produced by the masters Jeff barry and Clarence Jey (with the usual "Fetch us some coffee, boy!" help from me)for the already aired "LEGO City Adventures" episode "Poppy Starr."

This is the original demo sung by the wonderful Siena Bjornun, to which Grey DeLisle brought her Poppy Starr magic in the final, aired version.

LEGO City Adventures (OST)

Don't Let The Magic Go Away (Original Demo)

Jon Colton Barry is a songwriter, musician, as well as a writer for television, film and stage. He is the son of Rock and Roll hall of Fame songwriting legend Jeff Barry ("Be My Baby," "Chapel of Love," Da Doo Ron Ron," "The Jefferson's Theme Song," "Sugar Sugar," etc. etc.) and has been a professional musician/singer/songwriter fronting bands such as Mrs. Malone, Thorny and Jon Colton & His Enemies since 1990. 

Jon's an Emmy nominated writer, having written episodes and songs for Disney's #1 animated hit show "Phineas and Ferb," including the top rated TV cable movie of 2011, "Phineas and Ferb: Across The Second Dimension," as well as the shelved "Phineas" feature film script. 

Jon next revamped and wrote a new animated "Scooby Doo" series for Warner Brothers, and served as story editor. He's also created, written and produced live-action series, such as "Revolver" with long time friend and creative collaborator, Jason Richman, for Fox 21 Studios.

Jon is currently creating several new television, music and film projects.

This is a space for various rough songs, "Phineas and Ferb" demos, and other oddities that I feel like throwing in there for fun. Feedback is welcome!

Jon Colton Barry

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