barry leef
biographical information

excerpt from 'rap with the zap' soundblast, august 1973, pp. 18-19.

john robinson (technical editor) and fz, transcribed by bil hansen:

jr: is it true that you have hired barry leef (bakery) as your new lead vocalist?

fz: yeah. we were invited to see bakery at the lovely chequers night-spot. they were doing some of my old numbers; i thought barry's singing was kinda swift so i asked him what he was doing for the next six months or so. (snip)

jr: so, every time you take on a new member the overall group personality changes ... how long does it take to break a new member in?

fz: three to six months - depends on their function and experience.

jr: how long do you think barry will take?

fz: barry is on trial. if he doesn't make it, he has the option to return to australia free of charge. a new player has to go through the stages of having the material presented to him, then learning it, then memorising it, then performing it. after this i then get to change what's happening to take advantage of the player's personality on stage.

barry appears on the following fz audience tapes:
1973 june 26 hordern pavillion, sydney, australia
1973 june 29 festival hall, melbourne, australia
1973 july 8  hordern pavillion, sydney, australia 

      from: http://www.sergent.com.au/retaliation.html

the retaliation were a wellington based pop group around for a very short time in 1969.  barry leef had recently been with the simple image.  they only released one single during their short time and that was "if you think you're groovy"/"morning dew"  for hmv in 1969.

     from: patrick neve (splat@darkwing.uoregon.edu)

in '96, barry had a band called barry leef and b'yond b'leef.  says bandmate rebecca johnson:
"barry is one of sydney's most respected session singers and can be heard on 90% of tv jingles; an extremely funky guitarist also, who has worked with frank zappa in the 70's"

these days he can be seen at the city tattersalls club in sydney.

     from: http://members.optushome.com.au/studioconnect/picbk/singpicm.html

barry leef had his own band "the barry leef band" in 1977/78 and was featured vocalist with the band "supermarket" in 1979.  currently plays with "the brothers of oz".

      from: www.devinemusic.com.au/talent.html

barry leef is one of australia's all time greats.  during his amazing career barry has sung with the legends. frank zappa, jimmy smith, elvin bishop, tom jones and george duke are just some of megastars to share his magic.  his own live shows are in constant demand and it goes without saying that  he is one of the busiest session singers in the country.