{"id":7474,"date":"2026-01-30T18:00:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T18:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=7474"},"modified":"2026-01-30T18:00:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T18:00:04","slug":"shindig-172-barry-ryan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=7474","title":{"rendered":"Shindig! #172 &#8211; Barry Ryan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Parties with Hendrix. A screen test with Sinatra. Nepo baby allegations. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>BARRY RYAN lived a life of pure showbiz. With and without twin brother Paul he was incapable of making a bad record, or indeed a normal record; with the masterpiece \u2018Eloise\u2019, the Ryans inexplicably managed to inspire both Queen and The Damned. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>HUW THOMAS unravels the story behind some of the most ambitious pop records ever put down on tape<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Barry Ryan ~Slow Down~ With The Verge Written by Barry Ryan &amp; W. McKellar From His 5th Solo &#039;72Album\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Kh2t-s-zNNw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Ryans seemed to be packing all their best ideas into the singles at this point. <em>Barry Ryan 3<\/em> (1970) could be described as his <em>&#8216;Til The Band Comes In<\/em>, though that might be a slight on Scott. It contains gems like the driving \u2018We Did It Together\u2019, but half of the album is devoted to rather unimaginative covers including Randazzo and Pike\u2019s \u2018Better Use Your Head\u2019, previously recorded, in an identical arrangement, by Marion Ryan. The album was passed over for UK release, leading Paul to joke in a rare <em>Record Mirror<\/em>probe that his songs were \u201ctoo good for England\u201d. <em>Red Man<\/em> (\u201971) met the same fate, though it was an improvement on its predecessor, boasting strong original Paul material like the tricksy \u2018Easy as You Go\u2019. Its Russian-inspired title track (\u201cSputnick II is floating round my head \/ Cossacks dancing on the moon\u201d) went Top Five in France and stand-out \u2018Today\u2019 became an enormous German hit as \u2018Zeit macht nur vor dem Teufel halt\u2019, achievements that meant nothing when Barry returned to England to play the cabaret slots he thought were behind him. \u201cThere is still a bit of resentment in some quarters towards me,\u201d he wagered in <em>The Evening Sentinel<\/em>. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised if there are some people who would like to believe that my mother wrote my songs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7475\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/R-2932715-1516398330-5197.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"587\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/R-2932715-1516398330-5197.jpg 600w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/R-2932715-1516398330-5197-300x294.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Backing Barry at British cabaret gigs and European outdoor shows alike were The Verge, a Scottish quintet led by Willie McKellar and managed by Status Quo\u2019s Alan Lancaster. They could deliver the power of a 30-piece orchestra for a smidgen of the cost and inspired Barry to dip his toe into songwriting. With McKellar, he wrote almost an albums\u2019 worth of hard-rock songs and recorded them with The Verge at De Lane Lea Studios. Deep Purple producer Martin Birch handled the sessions and one highlight, \u2018Slow Down\u2019, must be heard to be believed \u2013 it sounds like Russell Mael joining Black Sabbath! According to McKellar, Barry was prevented from changing his image and becoming part of the band full-time by Polydor. They wanted hits and had him record two Russ Ballard compositions custom-built for chart warfare, the faintly glam \u2018Can\u2019t Let You Go\u2019 and \u2018From My Head To My Toe\u2019. The former gave Barry one last UK success, making #32, but it\u2019s the latter, a Foundations-style romp with a triumphant soul vocal, that deserved to go Top 10. It doesn\u2019t sound very Barry Ryan but he made it work. Only a fool would underestimate a man who sang about Satan, incest and prawn cocktails in supper clubs.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7476\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/R-6812024-1427135465-2228.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/R-6812024-1427135465-2228.jpg 600w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/R-6812024-1427135465-2228-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/R-6812024-1427135465-2228-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Russ Ballard songs and some of The Verge material made strange bedfellows when they appeared on one last album for Polydor, \u201972\u2019s <em>Sanctus, Sanctus Hallelujah<\/em>. This was, frankly, a collection of odds and ends with little artistic coherence. It was released to capitalise on the German success of the title track, a Christian-themed singalong written by Paul (perhaps as an apology for \u2018Magical Spiel\u2019), and it\u2019s quite understandable that Barry\u2019s solo stardom essentially ends here. After a brief reunion singing with his brother, he flitted unsuccessfully between labels, recording a Judy Garland tribute for Bell (\u201cThey worked you and filled you with colourful friends \/ But were they with you at the end?\u201d) and an unreleased disco album for Private Stock before abandoning music altogether in favour of photography.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.qobuz.com\/album\/a9rdcjosaabwc?zone=GB-en\" width=\"378\" height=\"390\">Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>To read the whole story order issue #172 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.silverbackpublishing.rocks\/product\/shindig-172\/\">here<\/a>. Subscribe to the mag <a href=\"https:\/\/www.silverbackpublishing.rocks\/product\/unlock-the-world-of-shindig-subscribe-today-and-access-every-issue-ever-published\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<span class=\"synved-social-container synved-social-container-share\"><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F7474&#038;t=Shindig%21%20%23172%20%E2%80%93%20Barry%20Ryan&#038;s=100&#038;p&#091;url&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F7474&#038;p&#091;images&#093;&#091;0&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2026%2F01%2FScreenshot-2026-01-30-at-17.31.52.png&#038;p&#091;title&#093;=Shindig%21%20%23172%20%E2%80%93%20Barry%20Ryan\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F7474&#038;text=New%20post%20on%20our%20site\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Shindig%21%20%23172%20%E2%80%93%20Barry%20Ryan&#038;body=New%20post%20on%20our%20site:%20https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F7474\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parties with Hendrix. A screen test with Sinatra. Nepo baby allegations. BARRY RYAN lived a life of pure showbiz. With and without twin brother Paul he was incapable of making a bad record, or indeed a normal record; with the masterpiece \u2018Eloise\u2019, the Ryans inexplicably managed to inspire both Queen and The Damned. HUW THOMAS [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7477,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1009,7,1172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magazine","category-music-videos","category-qobuz"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7474"}],"version-history":[{"count":-4,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}