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1960s Rock ‘n’ Roll Singer Len Barry Dies at 78
OB ITUARY
ANDY GOTLIEB | JE MANAGING EDITOR
SINGER LEN BARRY, the
voice behind The Dovells’ hits
“You Can’t Sit Down” and “The
Bristol Stomp” and solo hits such
as “1-2-3,” died Nov. 5 from bone
marrow cancer. He was 78.

“He was just an American
original,” son Spencer Borisoff
said. “He was a pioneer. He was
thinking a generation ahead of
everyone.” Born Leonard Borisoff, Barry
grew up in West Philadelphia
and attended Overbook High
School, where he became a part
of a doo-wop group called The
Brooktones in 1957.

By 1960, the band changed
its name to The Dovells and was
signed by Parkway Records.

A year later, The Dovells
reached the #2 position on the
Billboard Hot 100 singles chart
with “Bristol Stomp,” selling more
than a million copies. The tune
received a Recording Industry
Association of America gold disc.

In 1962, The Dovells placed
three more songs in the top 40
and had their second-biggest
hit a year later with the South
Street-referencing “You Can’t
Sit Down,” which reached #3.

Several artists have subse-
quently covered the song,
include Bruce Springsteen,
who has used it in his encores.

During this time period,
The Dovells toured with James
Brown and appeared in films
including “Don’t Knock the
Twist.” Barry then left The Dovells
for a solo career, his biggest
success coming in 1965 with
the #2 hit “1-2-3” — denied the
top spot by The Supremes’ “I
Hear a Symphony” — which
was awarded a gold disc. He
was nominated for a Grammy
Award for Contemporary Rock
& Roll Male Vocal Performance
for the song, which he co-wrote,
and made appearances on
“Bandstand,” “Shindig” and
“Hullabaloo.” Two more top 40 hits
followed in 1966, but his chart
success waned after that.

Still, he performed regularly,
including at prestigious venues
like the Apollo Theatre in New
York, the Howard Theatre in
Washington, D.C., and The Fox
Theatre in Detroit. He toured
the United Kingdom as well.

Later, he wrote and produced
the 1969 instrumental #16 hit
“Keem-O-Sabe” by Electric
Indian, which featured a
young Daryl Hall (of Hall &
Oates fame) on keyboards, and
co-wrote “Zoom,” the 1982 UK
#2 hit for Fat Larry’s Band, and
“Love Town,” a #6 hit in the UK
in 1983 for Booker Newberry III.

When Hall & Oates was
inducted into the Rock & Roll
Hall of Fame in 2014, Hall gave
a shout-out to Barry in his
induction speech.

Even after the hits faded,
Barry continued to record and
He didn’t want to rest on past accomplishments. He really considered
himself a record maker more than an entertainer.”
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JEWISH EXPONENT
Len Barry
Photo of Len Barry taken in 1990 by Alan White is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
produce music, Spencer Borisoff
said, including some music still to
be released. Even as music styles
changed, Barry remained a fan of
all kinds of modern music.

Borisoff noted that his father
wasn’t one to reminisce and
didn’t like working the oldies
circuit. “He didn’t want to rest on
past accomplishments,” Borisoff
said. “He really considered
himself a record maker more
than an entertainer.”
Borisoff did recall a few
anecdotes. At the height of his father’s
career, during a tour of the UK,
Barry did a command perfor-
mance for Queen Elizabeth II.

“She literally was the only
one in the theater,” he said.

And Barry used to fondly
recall a 1960s bus tour with
James Brown and other Black
acts where they’d play a card
game called tonk for hours.

Original band member Jerry
Gross, who still performs with
The Dovells, paid tribute to Barry
on the group’s Facebook page.

“We lost one of our original
members of the group The
DOVELLS. Our lead singer
from 1960 thru 1963— Len
Barry — has gone on to Rock
‘n’ Roll heaven,” he wrote. “In
these trying times that we’re
living in, with the politics and
the virus, and now one more
sad moment.”
In his Facebook post, Gross
noted that Barry reunited with
the group twice in 1994.

In 2008, Barry published
the novel “Black-Like-Me,”
which told the tale of white
siblings growing up in a mostly
Black neighborhood.

Barry is survived by his
son, Spencer (Helicia), and
daughter Bia (Bob); and two
grandchildren. l
agotlieb@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0797
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