Leonard Warren Borisoff (June 12, 1942 – November 5, 2020), known professionally as Len Barry, was an American singer, songwriter, lyricist, record producer, author, and poet.

Life and career

Born on June 12, 1942 and raised in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Barry had little thought of a show business career while still in school. Instead, he aspired to become a professional basketball player upon his graduation. It was not until he entered military service and had occasion to sing with the US Coast Guard band at

Cape May, New Jersey Cape May is a city located at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the country's oldest vacation resort destinations, and part of th ...

, and was so encouraged by the response of his military audiences, that he decided to make music a career. Upon his discharge from military service, Barry returned home to Philadelphia and formed

the Dovells The Dovells were an American doo-wop group, formed at Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1957, under the name 'The Brooktones'. The original members were Arnie Silver, Len Borisoff, Jerry Gross (alias Summers), Mike Freda, a ...

. Barry was the lead singer, appearing on all of the group's best selling

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

, such as "

Bristol Stomp "Bristol Stomp" is a song written in 1961 by Kal Mann and Dave Appell, two executives with the Cameo-Parkway record label, for The Dovells, a doo-wop singing group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who recorded it for Cameo-Parkway late that yea ...

", " Hully Gully Baby", and "

You Can't Sit Down "You Can't Sit Down" was originally recorded in 1959 as "Can't Sit Down" by The Bim Bam Boos on Dasher Records catalogue number D-500 and credited to Dasher - Muldrow; it featured Philip Upchurch on guitar and Cornell Muldrow on organ. Backgroun ...

", among others. "Bristol Stomp" sold over one million copies and was awarded a

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. As a Dovell, he also toured with

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

. Barry also made film appearances with the Dovells in films such as ''

Don't Knock the Twist ''Don't Knock the Twist'' is a 1962 comedy musical film starring Lang Jeffries, directed by Oscar Rudolph and produced by Sam Katzman for release by Columbia Pictures. It is a sequel to the 1961 film ''Twist Around the Clock'', featuring m ...

'', toured the UK with the

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

Revue. Barry also had guest appearances on US television on ''Bandstand'' and later ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

,'' '' Shindig,'' and '' Hullabaloo.'' Soon after leaving the group, Barry recorded his first solo single "Lip Sync". As someone who sang

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

, he recorded hits in 1965 and 1966 for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

in the US and released by

Brunswick Records Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916. History From 1916 Records under the Brunswick label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, a company based in Dubuque, Iowa which had been manufacturing produ ...

: " 1-2-3", "Like a Baby", and "I Struck It Rich", a song he wrote with Leon Huff of the Philadelphia International Records producers,

Gamble and Huff Kenneth Gamble (born August 11, 1943, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) and Leon A. Huff (born April 8, 1942, Camden, New Jersey) are an American songwriting and production team credited for developing the Philadelphia soul music genre (also known as ...

. His first two hits also made the Top Ten of the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. " 1-2-3" reached number three. Those songs also peaked at number 2 and 27 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

respectively. "1-2-3" sold over four million copies, and gave Barry his second

gold disc and a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nomination for Contemporary Rock & Roll Male Vocal Performance. Both "1-2-3" and "Like a Baby" were composed by Barry,

John Madara John L. Medora (born May 28, 1936), also known as John or Johnny Madara, is an American singer, songwriter, composer and record producer best known to have teamed up with David White and Arthur Singer to write the 1957 hit song "At the Hop". ...

, and David White. He performed at the

Apollo Theatre The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, in central London.

in New York; the

Howard Theatre The Howard Theatre is a historic theater, located at 620 T Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C. Opened in 1910, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. In its heyday, the theater was known for catering to an African- ...

in Washington, D.C.; The Regal Chicago, Chicago; Illinois; The Fox Theatre (Detroit) in Detroit, Michigan; and The Uptown (Philadelphia), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He also toured with

Sam Cooke Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer and songwriter. Considered to be a pioneer and one of the most influential soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred ...

, The

Revue in the United Kingdom, and appeared on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

''. He became a major singing star in The United Kingdom. Highlights of his European tour included featured performances at

the London Palladium ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

and

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

as well as numerous appearances throughout England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Barry's respect for the Native American culture led him to write and produce the instrumental " Keem-O-Sabe". The song went to number 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1969 for The Electric Indian. He also did writing and production work with WMOT Productions. With Bobby Eli he helped write the hit singles "

Zoom Zoom may refer to: Technology Computing * Zoom (software), videoconferencing application * Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display * Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...

" for

Fat Larry's Band Fat Larry's Band was an American R&B and funk band from Philadelphia, which enjoyed some commercial success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, particularly in the United Kingdom. Career Formed by drummer and vocalist "Fat" Larry James (August ...

and "

Love Town "Love Town" is a solo (music), solo single (music), single co-written by Len Barry and Bobby Eli and released by the former Sweet Thunder and Impact (band), Impact member, Booker Newberry III in 1983. It was taken from the same-titled album release ...

" for

Booker Newberry III Booker Newberry III (January 19, 1956 – April 5, 2023) was an American singer and keyboardist, who was a member of the mid 1970s soul groups Sweet Thunder ("Baby I Need Your Love Today"), and Impact, before pursuing a solo career. He is probabl ...

. In May 2008, Barry reinvented himself as an author with the publication of the novel, ''Black-Like-Me''. The storyline involved a pair of

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Anthropology *Anything from the Caucasus region ** ** ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus region * * * Languages * Northwest Caucasian l ...

siblings growing up in a largely

African-American neighborhood African-American neighborhoods or black neighborhoods are types of ethnic enclaves found in many cities in the United States. Generally, an African American neighborhood is one where the majority of the people who live there are African American. ...

, accepted by some, rejected by others. In 2011, Barry was featured in the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

Series ''My Music: Rock, Pop & Doo Wop''. Len Barry died on November 5, 2020, at

Nazareth Hospital Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic was founded in October 2018 by the joining together of Mercy Catholic Medical Center—Mercy Fitzgerald Campus in Darby, Pennsylvania; Mercy Catholic Medical Center Mercy Philadelphia Campus; Nazareth Hospital in Phi ...

in Philadelphia. The cause was

myelodysplasia A myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is one of a group of cancers in which immature blood cells in the bone marrow do not mature, and as a result, do not develop into healthy blood cells. Early on, no symptoms typically are seen. Later, symptoms may ...

, or cancer of the bone marrow.

Discography

Albums

* ''1-2-3'' (1965) -

* ''My Kind of Soul'' (1967) -

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

* ''Ups and Downs'' (1972) -

Buddah Records Buddah Records (later known as Buddha Records) was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's foundin ...

* ''More from the 123 Man'' (1982) - Bulldog

Singles

As lead singer with The Dovells

(see separate Wikipedia entry for The Dovells for full discography)

Solo singles discography

References

External links

* *
Billboard: Len Barry Chart HistoryEntry at 45cat.com

Len Barry's 'Prose & Cons: Advice From a Music Legend Who's Seen It All: Question Everything'Facebook: The Official Len Barry Page YouTube: 'The Len Barry Story' (documentary - full movie)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Len 1942 births 2020 deaths American male singers Jewish American songwriters Jewish singers Military personnel from Philadelphia Musicians from Philadelphia Decca Records artists Songwriters from Pennsylvania Singers from Pennsylvania American rhythm and blues singers 21st-century American Jews American male songwriters