British pop singer Sandra Barry began her performing career in infant talent shows before attending stage school, followed by her debut as an actress on film in an uncredited role in 'The Belles of St Trinian's' in 1954. She went on to small roles in other British films and television shows, and then in 1957 she latched on to the early British rock and roll scene and released 'Rocket And Roll' b/w 'Six Day Rock' under her real name of Sandra Alfred on Oriole Records. At the same time she was starring on comedian Dave King's television series, and also appearing on radio in the long-running comedy show 'Educating Archie', but in 1963 she re-emerged on the music scene under the name Mandy Mason, and released 'A Tear In The Eye', written and produced by Barry Mason (no relation), on the Parlophone label. The following year she took on the stage name Sandra Barry and was signed to Decca Records, releasing 'Really Gonna Shake', backed by guitar band The Boys, who would later go on to become cult mod band The Action, and then even later Mighty Baby. They would sometimes be credited as Sandra Barry And The Boyfriends, before they decided to make a go of it on their own, and so she embarked on a solo career, starting with 'The End Of The Line' single for new label Pye, and this time she was backed by Jet Harris' backing band The Jet Blacks, which included future Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. Despite that pedigree, she failed to score any hits with that song, or the follow-ups, 'Question' or 'Stop! Thief', and so she spent the remainder of the decade out of the spotlight. In 1973 she resurfaced with yet another new stage name, Alice Spring, as the frontwoman of pub-rock combo Slack Alice, who released a self-titled album and a few singles before disbanding. This allowed Barry to join the UK's version of Blondie, as the leggy brunette fronting indie-popsters Darling, a new wave group that was far removed from Slack Alice. I've included a single each from Slack Alice and Darling, as well as one album track from Slack Alice, which shows the gentler side of her voice. Oddly enough, the A-sides of her early singles are much harder to track down that their flips, so we only have the b-sides of the singles by Sandra Alfred and Mandy Mason, but they're all good stuff and so well worth hearing.
Track listing
01 Six Day Rock (b-side of 'Rocket And Roll' by Sandra Alfred 1958)
02 A Sweet Love (b-side of 'A Tear In My Eye' by Mandy Mason 1963)
03 Really Gonna Shake (single by Sandra Barry & The Boys 1964)
04 When We Get Married (b-side of 'Really Gonna Shake')
05 The End Of The Line (single 1965)
06 We Were Lovers (When the Party Began) (b-side of 'The End Of The Line')
07 Question (single 1965)
08 You Can Take It From Me (b-side of 'Question')
09 Stop! Thief (single 1966)
10 I Won't Try And Change Your Mind (b-side of 'Stop! Thief')
11 Motorcycle Dream (single by Slack Alice 1974)
12 Gravelstone Cottage (from the album 'Slack Alice' 1974)
13 Lookin' Kinda Rock 'N' Rolled (single by Darling 1978)
