IT wouldn’t enhance a serious prog rocker’s reputation much to have it known he once took lead vocals on that 1974 glam rock disco classic The Bump.
“Knick knock on the door, bump your baby just a little bit more”, etc, etc.
But, as all aspiring artists know, your nose goes where the money flows and Barry Palmer wasn’t about to give up on a good thing.
Anyway it was better than painting and decorating for the Co-op in Worcester and eventually led to singing vocals for legendary musician and producer Mike Oldfield so that swung the pendulum nicely.
About a year ago, in October 2025, Barry was about to bring his music to a gig at Archdales Social Club in Windermere Drive when he fell ill on the morning of the show and it had to be cancelled.
Undeterred, he’s back, this time for a much-anticipated return on the evening of Saturday, September 19.
Barry lived in Humber Road, Worcester, and after attending St Paul’s School in the Blockhouse area of the city served an apprenticeship as a painter and decorator at the Co-operative building company in Newtown Road.
But that was just the beginning.
He went on to build himself a reputation as one of rock and pop’s most respected singers, not just here but also in Europe and America.
Not bad for a lad from Ronkswood.
Barry started his music career with Scarborough’s Brave New World in the early 1970s.
He said: “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 he wouldn’t sign the band but 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 condition I could record a song of my choice as well. We agreed I wouldn’t have to promote The Bump, which went out under the name of the glam rock group Kenny, and we could concentrate more on my choice Maybe I’m Amazed.
“However that song flopped and The Bump was a big hit, getting to Number Three in the charts!”
However, his real breakthrough came soon after when Barry was recruited by EMI to sing for the now legendary prog rock group Triumvirat.
It had great success across Europe and even struck gold in America with two top-30 albums, the first German group to achieve chart success there.
In the early 80s, Oldfield was touring in Europe when he happened to hear Barry singing on a Triumvirat album and later confessed he immediately knew he wanted to have that voice on his music.
Barry added: “It’s well known in the industry that being chosen to sing for Mike Oldfield is something special.
“So, from my perspective, this was a classic no-brainer and after recording the single Crime of Passion (a hit in Europe and number one in Spain) I went on to sing lead vocals on the album Discovery.
“This was followed by a European tour. At the time the album was charting all across Europe and held the number one spot in Germany for nine weeks.”
Barry has also been a producer and label owner and recorded with the likes of Asia’s John Payne and composer Robert Reed of Magenta.
Since those heady days he has been working on his solo career, building up a strong international following.
He has also recently gone back to his roots which was singing in Worcester and discovering his love of music, especially the classics from the 60s and 70s where it all began.
Barry currently lives in Devon and performs as the duo TAKE2 with his bass player and singer Lesley Stuckey.
“I have been wanting to come back to Worcester for way too long,” he said.
“So when I had to cancel at the last minute last year I was devastated.”
Fortunately there’s a Plan B and tickets for the performance at Archdales club on September 19 are easy to get. It’s pay on the door.
Who knows, you might even get to do The Bump circa ’74 one more time: there’s a new dance that is going around, one, two, three bump, one, two, three bump……………
