Barry's got a hit

BLEARY man Barry Fleming has a hit on his hands.

After 25 years in making music it has taken an off-the-cuff song recorded in a kitchen to propel him to national acclaim.

Barry, a support worker at Mount Zion House, told the 'MAIL': "I've written 20 songs from about 1995. My friends were always on at me to do something with them.

"I did 'Household Honey' and sent it off to Gerry Anderson to BBC Radio Ulster as a joke to be honest. I couldn't believe the response. He played it every day and then people wanted to know all about me.

"It caught me on the hop. I'm totally independent so I've had to do everything myself."

After the madness of composing, arranging, producing, recording and getting the CD pressed 'Household Honey' became a saleable commodity..

He explained he got permission from the Marlene Dietrich society to use her image on the cover.

The song itself with it's instantly catchy clarinet hook and cosmopolitan ambience make it a surefire hit.

"In about eight weeks there's been over 10,000 hits on the website," said Barry.

It's the first song he's put his name to, having normally performed under his stage name 'Boo'.

He said he wrote the song with Tom Harper beside him and recorded the first version in his kitchen.

"It all came together very naturally," recalled Barry. "I can't explain what's happened since then"

But the life of a multi-million selling artist is not one Barry is after.

"I'd prefer to concentrate on the song writing and production side of things. I want to have a studio were I can write song, have other people sing them and I record them. That's the dream. I never liked singing. I was always scared of the mic.

"When I was 14 I got a keyboard and practiced for six or seven hours a day every day.

At the age of 16 I played at a wedding in the White Gables in Hillsborough. I didn't sing, just played my keyboard. The wedding was about five or six hours and it probably wasn't particularly what they were after but it broke the ice for me."

Barry, who is originally from Lisburn and now lives in Bleary, went on the make up half of 'Wilf and the Key Notes and later took the plunge and started singing himself.

He spoke of his time in London when he played with Chris Rea's session band and Eric Clapton's right hand boys as being extremely beneficial.

Barry is working on a follow-up to 'Household Honey' and hopes to have an album out in the next few months.

His CD can be ordered online via www.cdmagic.co.uk and digital online versions are also now available on iTunes and also on Amazon.

For more information on Barry go to www.barryfleming.co.uk