Claudja Barry - the poor mans Donna?

[OneCharmingBastard]

Just picked up a Claudja compilation, and went online to seek out some more tracks.

Appeared in Hair. Part of the original line-up of Boney M. Man, those Germans have a thing for big voiced dark ladies from North America.

So why didn't she go bigger? The German Playboy thing?

[markydefad]

Hey Bastard,

I've always held the same opinion. I recently bought 2 Claudja Barry compilations on cd and she did some really good work in conjunction with her German svengali-like producer/songwriter husband...Jurgen Korduletsch. (Very Donna & Giorgio!!) But, like Pattie Brooks and Roberta Kelly and some others she never really "crossed over" to the pop charts. Her record labels never got her out of the "disco ghetto"-- "Boogie Woogie Dancing Shoes" was probably the exception--but that was near the tail-end of disco mattering as a radio record and, probably the impetus for her pleas for "Radio Action" in the early 1980s. "I need some radio action...I want some playlist reaction"!!!! Gezz girl, don't be so timid!!! Just say what's on yer mind!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

The best thing I've discovered in my Barry search is a classic morning track first brought to my attention here in a mix by DJ John Ceglia. "Love For The Sake Of Love" is hypnotic and so damned catchy that it coulda crossed over if Salsoul had been able to crossver any of their product. Sadly, they couldn't.

from AMG...review of her fiirst Salsoul Lp "Sweet Dynamite":

From the disco era to the 21st century, critics of dance music have often accused it of being mechanical and robotic. To be sure, this has been true of some producer-driven dance recordings, which might grab you with an infectious beat but are lacking in soul, warmth and vocal personality. However, a lot of dance music has been full of warmth and feeling, and Claudja Barry is a prime example. The singer's promising debut album, Sweet Dynamite, was a major hit in clubs, but all of the material holds up nicely away from the dance floor. None of the songs come across as mechanical or insincere, and Barry is as soulful on the haunting, European-flavored "Love for the Sake of Love" as she is on the exuberant "Why Must a Girl Like Me" and the gritty title song, which has as much to do with soul and funk as it does with Euro-disco. Though Barry's vocals are the album's main focus, she lays out on "Live a Little Bit," an infectious instrumental that successfully fuses Euro-disco with African pop and reggae. Produced by Jürgen S. Korduletsch, this promising debut went down in history as a true dance classic and is among Barry's most essential albums.

[QUINNY]

I kinda liked her voice (she didn't have as much of a hard nasal sound as Donna, thank goodness!), but I felt her material was very sub standard. The productions just weren't as good and the songs were tres facile. Rather like in the Brit funk debate, to my ears and sensibilities, these sounded rather lame compared to the best US disco sounds.

[Nano]

Well, I heard Donna's records and then Claudja's and Pattie's albums and for me it's obvious. They're not good disco singers. Patti does not have a real voice and the arrangements tend to be tacky and kitsch (even with Instant Funk as backup band! :o ). Claudja has a strong voice, but she tries too hard. You can't sing disco like you were Whitney Houston (which, also, she obviously ain't). Cheryl Lynn (this one with a great voice instrument) would be another case in point.
Donna has a good voice, is quite expressive and works well on different kinds of music. Plus, Giorgio-Bellotte songs and arrangements are way over those other German guys you mentioned.
All this IMHO. 8)

[sfbeary]

most of claudja's output i place in the very-good-but-not-amazing category, but, to her credit, she even managed a couple of solid late '80s/early '90s tracks with a strong disco flava, "Down and Counting" and "Love Is An Island," and contributed vocals to a great rave track in 1994, General Base's "Poison." most of her contemporaries had given up pure dance music ages ago. she certainly has enough goodies for a worthwhile greatest hits cd, although there's not a compilation out there that does her justice - she changed record labels every few years.

however, i've got to say that the one track of hers that WORKS ME to no end is "Love For the Sake of Love." pheeeeeew! it is a perfect record.

if you want to know what sleaze is, START HERE.

[SandraDee]

I love 'Down & Counting'. It was an '86 hi-energy track that reminds me of my earlier gay disco days along with Eastbound Expressway's 'Knock Me Senseless' & Suzi Q's 'Can't Live Without You'.

[discofrank]

i have to admit, her earlier material from the 70's and that "Work me over" track in the 80's are definetely her best. Her Salsoul years "sweet dynamite" and "Johnny, Johnny come home" are incomparible and underrated.

She has a fantastic voice!

[DiscoBall]

Did the song The Two Of Us with Ronnie Jones ever do anything on disco or other charts? I just found it in my collection a couple of years ago and had never listened to it. I think it's a great song.

[markydefad]

"The Two Of Us" was big at Trocadero.Great peaktime crowd-pleaser. FAAAASST (140+ bpms for the SPEED QUEENS dancing delight). It was on the Billboard disco charts (peaked at a paltry #39 in 1982). This was beginning to sound like "old disco" at that time. But I recall it wasn't well distributed...sorta hard to find. I have it on a Lollipop 12" and also on a Handshake compilation. Maybe it was acquired by them later? Don't really know the answer.

Miss Barry changed labels very often, started with Salsoul--then to Chrysalis--then on to some foreign labels I can't recall...finally Epic at the "Down & Counting" time.

[paul]

I felt Claudja's voice was pleasant enough but the songs she did were mediocre. I think her talent would have been better realized with the right producers. I wonder if she would have faired better had she worked with Rodgers & Edwards of Chic fame.

[Videoskooter]

Claudja Barry is not one of my favourite singers I'm afraid nor do her records have a special place in my heart.

But Pattie Brooks :) "After dark" :D Can play that record every day, never get tired of it. Her other songs? No, not really :oops: .

And now we're talking female disco-artitsts: Syreeta, she was underrated! "Can't shake", OMG how I love that record and how good her voice is on that one.

[bradg]

I met and briefly interviewed Claudja at the Toronto record pool back in the late '70's -- I'll say 1978 and I think it was at Le Tube; but my mind may be playing tricks on me. It's interesting to note some of the points about her singing style. Claudja was classically trained; in fact she was an opera and Broadway-style singer. To hear here riff an aria was an amazing experience. The other thing I remember about her was how beautiful and how tall she was in-person. Claudja's career trajectory may have had more to do with her personality which was very mellow. In terms of sales she probably could have been a "Donna" but in terms of diva history she was right up there.

Brad
www.bradfordgibson.net

[neonlights]

Thanks for sharing your memories bradg!.. I saw some recent pictures of her at this Billboard dance summit and i was also surprised at how tall she looked.. If i'm not mistaken, Claudja herself was from Toronto..

Not a whole lot of love for her in this thread, but I'll admit I'm a Claudja fan.. She released some really good songs and albums. I consider the "Sweet Dynamite" album a full on disco classic - especially the remixed Salsoul version. The "Boogie Woogie Dancing Shoes" AKA "I Wanna Be Loved By You" album was good too! although I didn't care as much for her second one and "Feel The Fire"..

Comparing her and Donna - to be fair, I don't think she had the same edge that Donna had with the production, those concept-albums, the songs and not to mention Casablanca. Everything she did seemed to be done through her husband/producer's Lollipop company and licenced to a bunch of labels from there.. With that said though, I prefer the stuff she did in the 80s to what Donna was doing at the time.. Claudja had stuck to the club scene and found a niche in Hi-NRG, while Donna was singing about "christian soldiers" and cats without claws and stuff.. Claudja's albums from the 80s are some of my favorites from that time...

[Bernie]

If i'm not mistaken, Claudja herself was from Toronto..

Claudja was of Jamaican descent and from the Toronto area.

[cdmack]

Sorry guys, Claudia was not one of my favorites at all.

[Nano]

It's interesting to note some of the points about her singing style. Claudja was classically trained; in fact she was an opera and Broadway-style singer. To hear here riff an aria was an amazing experience.

That's the strange thing I feel when I hear her disco records; she obviously is not a R&B singer. Sometimes she sings too much, or her voice does not swing with the music (which isn't very swingy either). I understand she was in one "Hair" cast earlier.
Marylin McCoo had the same problem, but it was not so obvious for my ears.

The other thing I remember about her was how beautiful and how tall she was in-person.

Here Claudja's records are easy to find in cut-out bins. There are many, and she's always posing in the cover like a true model. She was beautiful.

[djsonic]

I Realy REALY like "Trippin On The Moon"
by miss Berry is so so hot!
i like the version by cerrone too, but berry's version is much better. i also found her singing Trippin on the moon
on one of my vhs tapes from the 80s. she did the song on some black award show. it was hot!
sonic.

[FrontPage22]

I have just downloaded "love For The Sake Of Love". FINALLY the mystery of the sample in Montell Jordan's "Get it On Tonight" has been solved. Wow, this song is a smoker. Slinky and sexy as hell. Grr!!! I am so glad i read this thread. Was it a 12" issue? I'd love to get it.

[markydefad]

I have just downloaded "love For The Sake Of Love". FINALLY the mystery of the sample in Montell Jordan's "Get it On Tonight" has been solved. Wow, this song is a smoker. Slinky and sexy as hell. Grr!!! I am so glad i read this thread. Was it a 12" issue? I'd love to get it.

Glad you found this gem!!!! :D

I think it was just an LP track. (goes to AMG for confirmation)....Well the LP track timing says 5:17 and the "Best Of" cd says 6:25 (Extended Mix). So I'm not sure. I've never seen it on 12". :o

Correction: I checked Bernie's stats in the Vault...and he has the LP timing as 7:53...so buy the LP. Those "Hot Productions" cds that say "Extended Mixes" on every track are ALWAYS EDITS (after 6:00 or so they just fade it).

Why do they get away with that???? :evil: :evil: :evil:

[neonlights]

Also the 7.53 version is the Tom Moulton Mix, which is found only on the US Salsoul release of the "Sweet Dynamite" LP.. It runs 5.17 on the European and Canadian vinyl releases on Lollipop/Philips as well as the Hot Productions CD reissue (which, to my surprise was actually taken from the master tapes..imagine that!)

[ruoffended]

Two Trax not mentioned from her 1978 Lp "When life was just a game" and "Take it easy"
are very good DISCO numbers worth to give it a listen again
im hooked ...RU!
8)

[InvisibleMan]

I just heard the Can't You Feel My Heartbeat Extended Version from 1987 on youtube and wow, just another proof that the best things are usually the least known and more obscure. Just great 80's disco, and to think some of the artists that were more successful that makes one sad really

German producers and black American ladies made some magical music. And no one was a "poor man's" anything :)

[BrunoRepublic]

Claudja Barry isn't American.

[PierreConstantin]

Claudja Barry isn't American.

Actually she kinda is: Jamaica and Canada are on a continent called America .

[FranceJoliFan]

Interesting similarities when you line up Donna and Claudja side by side. Maybe better management and record label support would have steered Claudja toward greater success.

One thing I'll give her...

In 1982/83, Claudja had one up on Donna. Even with the success of She Works Hard For The Money, Claudja had the more progressive dance hit, Work Me Over. It didn't get Donna's radio play. But it was the song you wanted to dance to in the clubs. An impressive transition into an 80s sound that many late 70s disco divas weren't able to do. I think it still sounds great.