Barry Palmer (British singer)

Barry Palmer, born 1958 in England, is a British singer who was one of Mike Oldfield's vocalists around 1984.

Biography and career

Born in Worcestershire, England, Palmer commenced his singing career in the early 1970s when he joined Scarborough-based band Brave New World as their lead singer. Brave New World were a five piece band who played all their own original material but were also heavily influenced by bands such as Family, Fairport Convention and Wishbone Ash.

After Brave New World disbanded in 1972/73, Palmer pursued a solo singing career. He released his first ever single almost immediately, a track titled "Always". This was quickly followed the following year (1974) with the release of a second single titled "Getaway" which was heavily influenced by the style of Marc Bolan and his band T. Rex.

In 1974, Palmer's early solo career was highlighted when he sang lead and backing vocals on the major British and European No. 2 chart hit The Bump even though he himself did not appear. The song was in fact Palmer singing under the pseudonym of 'Kenny'.

In return, Palmer wanted to release a single himself and therefore simultaneously recorded a cover of Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" under the stage / release name of DC Palmer. Both songs were released, but while "Maybe I'm Amazed" failed to chart, "The Bump" eventually reached No 3 in the UK charts.

Palmer then began writing his own material and, shortly afterwards, answered an ad in "Melody Maker" placed by a Jürgen Fritz whose hugely successful German Progressive Rock band Triumvirat were looking for a new lead vocalist, as their lead singer had just quit the band. Palmer sent Jürgen a copy demo tape of his single "Maybe I'm Amazed". Consequently, Palmer secured the vacant position as lead singer with Triumvirat. Triumvirat's first song recording together with Palmer was "Take a Break Today" (1975). This was then followed up by one of the band's biggest hits, "The Hymn", again featuring Palmer on lead vocals.

After Triumvirat broke up in the early eighties, Palmer stayed on in Germany, recording and touring with other similar and notable German Progressive Rock Groups such as Satin Whale and Gaensehaut. It was in 1983 that Mike Oldfield heard one of Triumvirat's albums and invited Palmer to join his Crises album tour, an offer Palmer refused as, at that time, he was working on his forthcoming solo album, Without an Aim.

In 1984, Palmer released two further singles, "She's Leaving Home", a Beatles cover which he had recorded whilst in Germany with the assistance of Jürgen Fritz (Triumvirat), followed by "When One Door Closes", a track selected off his forthcoming album, Without an Aim. Later that same year Mike Oldfield again contacted Palmer and asked him to sing on his new track, "Crime of Passion".

Palmer sang every other song (alternating with Maggie Reilly) on Mike Oldfield's Discovery album, redefining himself and his vocal talents on tracks such as "Pictures in the Dark", "Tricks of the Light", "Saved by a Bell" and "Discovery". Three further tracks from Palmer with Mike Oldfield followed. "Poison Arrows" was released commercially but the other two songs were only recorded as demos and were never released.

Around the same time, and under the duo name of Cover Up, Palmer dueted with John Payne (of Asia) on a song called "Love The One You Live / Feel the Fire", written by Stephen Stills and Palmer/Payne respectively.

After his period with Mike Oldfield, Barry Palmer then decided to focus totally on his own solo career. In 1985, he released his solo album titled, Without an Aim. Around the same time, he also released a cover version single of Manfred Mann's "Doo Wah Diddy Diddy" together with his own song, "Spirit of America", on the B side.

1987 saw the further release of an EP by Palmer entitled Shimmering Gold / Unknown Singer which had previously been recorded in Germany with the assistance of Jürgen Fritz. In the same year, he also released his own version of "House of the Rising Sun" (extended & edited versions) which was then quickly followed by "God Bless the Children / Somebody Sing My Song". "God Bless the Children" was also selected to be sung by all the (1987) Miss World contestants that same year whilst they were appearing at The Royal Albert Hall in London.

1988 saw Palmer coming to notice as a music producer with his own record label Pyramid Records. His most notable success during this period was when he produced the massive UK hit, "Lies / I Need Experience" for Amanda Scott (real name Avis Hopkins, the youngest sister of Bonnie Tyler).

Between 1990/1994, Barry Palmer continued performing live and was the lead singer with a Blues Rock band called Jonesville. The mid and late nineties (1995/2000) again saw Palmer performing live as lead vocalist with several London based function bands such as The Wedge and Nightshift. 2000/2001 saw Palmer release a single entitled "Dear John / Ghost of a Love".

Since then, Palmer has taken time out for personal reasons but has continued working on his own music, penning a huge amount of new material, some of which can now be found on his 2012 studio album Night Thoughts.

2012 saw Barry Palmer release his latest single, "Innocent". This was to be followed (September 2012) by his latest studio album titled Night Thoughts, with all tracks written by Palmer and his London-based close friend and song writing partner, Dave Duncan.

Discography

Studio albums

With Triumvirat:

With Satin Whale:

As Barry Palmer:

With Mike Oldfield:

As Barry Palmer:

Singles/Eps

As Barry Joe Palmer:

Barry Palmer as Kenny:

Barry Palmer as DC Palmer:

With Triumvirat:

With Gaensehaut:

With Satin Whale:

As Barry Palmer:

With Mike Oldfield (1984 / 1985):

Barry Palmer as Cover Up:

As Barry Palmer:

Barry Palmer as Producer / Record Label: (for Amanda Scott)

From Triumvirat:

As Barry Palmer:

References

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