Barry Biggs
|
Chart positions Explanation of the data |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Singles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Barry Biggs (* 1947, some sources say 1953, in St. Andrews, Jamaica ) is a reggae - singer and producer , who was mainly successful in the second half of the 1970s. Between 1976 and 1981 he made it into the British charts with six singles . The most successful was the song Side Show from 1976.
biography
Biggs worked as a technician on the Jamaican radio before hiring as a harmony singer in the mid-1960s . He sang choir and backing at producer Coxsone Dodd's Studio One and Duke Reid's Treasure Isle Studios . After a few appearances with the bands The Crystalites and The Astronauts, he became lead singer with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires .
In 1968 he tried his hand at playing solo for the first time and started his professional career with a cover version of the Stevie Wonder hit My cheri amour produced by Harry "J" Johnson , which was released in 1970 under the name Barrington Biggs. The first hit in the Jamaican homeland followed in 1971 with the song One Bad Apple , the original of which was sung by The Jackson Five . Since then, Biggs has also worked as a sound engineer and producer.
The first international success came in 1976 when the original single Work All Day entered the UK charts and reached number 38. The title Side Show , released at the end of the year, is a cover version of the 1974 song by American vocal group Blue Magic. The track became the Jamaican's biggest hit, climbed to number 3 in the English charts, was awarded a silver record and was one of the top 30 best-selling singles in the UK in 1977.
Biggs, known as a lovers rock specialist, also covered other hits by American artists, including Stevie Wonder, The Chi-Lites and The Temptations , and gave the songs a gentle reggae feel paired with his soulful vocals. Also called " Barry White of Reggae" by some, the musician was more cosmopolitan than many of his contemporaries and avoided political and Rasta issues that were popular in Jamaica at the time. Nor did he embody the image of a dreadlock rebel.
After You're My Life, written together with Byron-Lee-and-the-Dragonaires colleague Neville Hinds, climbed to 36th place on the UK charts in the spring of 1977, a second cover song of the group followed in the summer with Three Ring Circus at 22nd place Blue Magic from Philadelphia . Further, albeit smaller, chart successes were What's Your Sign Girl? , originally by Mr. Danny Pearson, and in the summer of 1981 Wide Awake in a Dream penned by Wallace Wilson, also a member of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires.
Discography
Albums
- 1976: Mr. Biggs
- 1977: Sincerely!
- 1980: What's Your Sign?
- 1982: Wide Awake
- 1983: Coming Down with Love
- 1989: So in Love
- 1994: Night Like This
- 1995: Side Show
- 2001: Love Come Down
- 2002: Just My Imagination
- 2007: Reggae Max
Compilations
- 1977: Barry Biggs and the Inner Circle (with Inner Circle )
- 2000: The Vintage Years
- 2001: Love Come Down
- 2002: The Sideshow: The Very Best of Barry Biggs
- 2004: Sideshow: The Best of Barry Biggs
Singles
- 1970: My Cheri Amour (as Barrington Biggs)
- 1970: Got to Be Mellow
- 1971: One Bad Apple
- 1972: How Could I Let You Get Away
- 1976: Work All Day
- 1976: Side Show
- 1977: Why Must You Cry
- 1977: You're My Life
- 1977: Three Ring Circus
- 1977: They Took the Show on the Road
- 1977: Sincerely
- 1978: Give Me a Call
- 1978: Surely
- 1979: What's Your Sign Girl?
- 1979: Too Much Heaven
- 1981: Wide Awake in a Dream
- 1981: Love on a Two Way Street
- 1981: Promise Is a Comfort to a Fool
- 1982: Break Your Promise
- 1982: This Is Good Life
- 1982: Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying
- 1982: Reflections (with Ruddy Thomas)
- 1983: Love Come Down
- 1983: One of the Poorest People
- 1983: Reflections of My Life (with Ruddy Thomas)
- 1986: Conversations
- 1987: Side Show (87 Mix)
- 1987: If You Wanna Make Love
- 2015: Work All Day (with Dennis Brown )
literature
- Frank Laufenberg: Frank Laufenberg's Rock and Pop Lexicon Vol. 1 , ISBN 3-612-26206-8 .
swell
Web links
- Barry Biggs at Allmusic (English)
- Barry Biggs at Discogs (English)
- Biography at Taurus Press
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Biggs, Barry |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Biggs, Barrington |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Jamaican reggae singer and producer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1947 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | St. Andrews, Jamaica |