The Lost 45s

Nik Kershaw - Wide Boy

The right muso for the job - Catfish - When You Dance

There are certain key elements that can go into a classic-sounding old-school pop-rock song: 120-ish BPM, a strong melody, call-and-response vocals, handclaps, a bit of doo wop, some boogie-woogie piano, throbbing basslines, stabbing horn section, soaring strings, bouzouki... waitaminnit, BOUZOUKI???

Barry Green was a wannabe writer, producer and singer, who had signed up early with Cliff Richard and The Shadows’s producer/arranger, Norrie Paramor.  He took a gig playing bass in the band that become heavy rock stalwarts Uriah Heep. He worked for a couple of years finding talent for The Bee Gee’s publishing company, later finding himself teaming up to write a song for ex-Herman’s Hermit Peter Noone. 

Noone didn’t end up recording the song, but surprisingly Green’s co-writer Lynsey De Paul did, and Sugar Me became a Top 10 UK hit for her.

Taking his own turn in the spotlight, Green and de Paul penned another song, and Barry Green ended up signing a record deal of his own, changing colour in the process to the more alliterative Barry Blue.

In Australia we perhaps know him best as the writer of songs such as “I Eat Cannibals” as recorded by Toto Coelho, and “Escaping” as recorded by Margaret Urlich. Maybe you’ve heard his tunes performed by artists like Andrea Boccelli, Diana Ross, Gene Pitney and Celine Dion.

The song he released here under his own new name, replete with all those melodies, handclaps, horns, strings and bouzoukis, is today’s Lost 45: here’s Barry Blue with Dancing on a Saturday Night.

Barry Blue - Dancing on a Saturday Night

The Lost 45s

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