Singer Barry Palmer’s distinctive vocals have graced many a fine prog recording over the years. He began his career with Scarborough’s Brave New World in the early 70s before securing a position with the great German group, Triumvirat. In 1974 he sang uncredited lead on London group Kenny’s international hit, The Bump.
He then worked with Satin Whale and Gänsehaut before being headhunted by Mike Oldfield to feature on 1984 album Discovery. He’s been a producer and label owner and recorded with the likes of Asia’s John Payne and composer Robert Reed of Magenta.
How did your first band, Brave New World, come about?
I was living in Sleights near Whitby in North Yorkshire when I saw an ad in the Scarborough Evening News from a band that needed a singer. If you can imagine a cross between Wishbone Ash and Fairport Convention, you’ll be in the right zone: twin lead guitars, where one would switch to violin for certain songs, which made them quite special.
We became very popular all across Yorkshire. Although this sounds hard to believe, when we headlined a gig at Leeds University, our support act was – I kid you not – Supertramp!
How did you come to feature on The Bump?
One of the last gigs Brave New World did was in London. Afterwards, a guy came backstage and said he was interested in signing us. His name was Bill Martin, a successful songwriter and producer, along with his partner Phil Coulter.
After a lot of going round in circles, Bill finally admitted that he wouldn’t sign the band. But he asked if I’d help them out by singing a song that turned out to be The Bump. I said I would – but only on the condition that I could record a song of my choice as well. We agreed that I wouldn’t have to promote The Bump and we could concentrate more on my choice, Maybe I’m Amazed. That song flopped and the other was a big hit!
You recorded three albums with Triumvirat – how did you secure the gig?
They placed an ad in Melody Maker, but it didn’t say who the band were, or even where they were from. It just said you should send four songs on a cassette. I only had one: Maybe I’m Amazed. But amazingly, it was the favourite song of Triumvirat leader Jürgen Fritz. A swift audition in Cologne and I was in!
How did Mike Oldfield get to hear about you?
Around 1982 when Mike was on tour in Germany, he spent an evening with friends listening to music, and Triumvirat were played. Mike told me later that, when he heard our song, he was determined to use me on some of his music. From my perspective, what an honour!
You were busy recording your first solo album when Mike called, weren’t you?
Yes. At about the same time as he was trying to locate me back in England, I’d just signed a deal to do my album Without An Aim. I’d co-written the whole album with my old Brave New World mate Pete Jackson and the company signed me up as soon as they heard the demos. I managed to get some great people to play on it – Gavin Povey, Richard Bailey, Peter Baron, Nigel Jenkins, Mark Lalgee, Alan Darby, Nik Green, Bimbo Acock and Kirsty McColl.
We worked hard for about six hours then spent the evening drinking… You can see why I describe it as a fantastic experience!
In 2012 I co-wrote and recorded a second solo album called Night Thoughts, which was well received. It didn’t trouble the charts, but I can honestly say that my co-writer Dave Duncan and I are very proud of it. We believe that it will stand the test of time. Buy it now, while stocks last!
What was it like working with Mike on Discovery?
I’d already recorded on Mike’s single Crime Of Passion, which did very well, so I knew how he worked. Discovery was recorded in Switzerland near Lake Geneva in 1984 and was backed by a big European tour later that year. Mike had four songs he wanted me to sing, and it was just the three of us in the studio – Mike, me, and co-producer and drummer Simon Phillips. So the atmosphere was very relaxed and good humoured.
We worked hard for about six hours then spent the evening drinking beer. You can see why I describe it as a fantastic experience! The following week, Maggie Reilly went there to record her songs, so we never met until the tour.
Your latest release is a collaboration with Robert Reed. How did that come about?
Over the past few years there’s been a resurgence of interest in Mike, partly because he’s retired; a lot of tribute bands have sprung up to keep the music alive. That led to me being invited to sing the songs I’d originally recorded in the 80s.
The best experience was with Opus One and Tubular Tribute. At the concerts I kept hearing the name Rob Reed, with everyone telling me he was very good and I should go and see him. Then Rob got in touch and asked me to sing a new arrangement of Crime Of Passion, which I was happy to do.
Rob is a special talent and an all-round great bloke; we just hit it off. So when he sent me a brand-new song and asked me to write lyrics and sing it, I jumped at the chance. Fly Away is our new track, but I’m really hoping that we can do more together, much more!
