The unluckiest man in pop...

Jun 10 2007 By Ben Schofield

HIS band was mooned at by Bob Geldof's Boomtown Rats.

He toured with Iggy Pop, shot a video with Bananarama, and even cut a record with Boy George.

Midland saxophonist John Barrow has done just about everything there is to do in the music business.

Except become famous or make any money out of it.

Dad-of-two John, 52, from Leicester, is the unluckiest man in pop.

He has been in the pop industry for the past three decades but has never hit the dizzy heights of stardom.

Because each time fame has beckoned, it has all gone horribly wrong.

* His smash hit record was scuppered by the death of Elvis Presley.

* He passed on a deal with one of rock's most successful managers.

* He had to dump superstar Boy George for legal reasons.

* He missed out on a job with The Beautiful South because he couldn't get time off work.

* And he recorded a single with a TV comedy star, who promptly died.

Yet John's musical career began on something of a high.

He starred on TV's Top Of The Pops in 1977 with his band Black Gorilla, performing Gimme Dat Banana.

It reached the dizzy heights of No 29 and might have climbed higher - had Elvis not died.

Presley's demise meant that the charts were suddenly swamped by his old numbers.

"Performing on Top of the Pops was the highlight of my career," he told the Sunday Mercury.

"It had always been my ambition to appear on the show from the days when I watched bands like The Kinks.

"The white satin suit I was wearing showcased my wedding tackle in a bit too graphic detail, which didn't please my wife.

"And after the programme, when we went to collect our van from the car park, another vehicle cut across our path.

"As it drifted by, pressed against the window was a very bare bottom - it was the Boomtown Rats!

"Still, we knew we had a hit and it was tipped to go Top 10. But next week it slipped to No 30.

"This flew in the face of all predictions. It was because of the glut of Elvis records that peppered the chart."

John next formed his own band, the Swinging Laurels, to pursue his pop fame dream.

But the group turned down the chance to be managed by Miles Copeland, who instead steered The Police to success.

In the early 1980s the group got their big break. They landed a £500,000 recording contract with Warner Bros.

John's band did the TV circuit, from Cheggers Plays Pop to Saturday Superstar. He played sax for The Fun Boy Three and starred in a pop video produced by Ultravox frontman Midge Ure for his single The Telephone Always Rings.

A host of stars had cameo roles in it, including the likes of Banarama, Madness and funny-man Alexei Sayle.

"We had all the trappings - big cars, studios, videos," recalled John. "But without a Laurels hit, it soon dried up."

Then what could have been their best shot at the big time was snatched from them.

"There was a vocal part on one of our tracks which needed filling because I wasn't right for it," recalled John.

"The producer said he knew someone, and brought Boy George in.

"But his record label, Virgin, objected to him being on the record and we had to re-record it.

"Had it been released with Boy George on it I'm sure it would have been a hit. Everything George did was successful then."

Undeterred, the Swinging Laurels were given the chance of touring Europe, supporting Iggy Pop.

With little money coming in, John had landed a new job selling engineering supplies to support his young family - and his new employers had only reluctantly given him time off to perform.

"We had played to thousands in Paris, and almost the next day I was back at work," he said. "It was then I was offered an audition with The Beautiful South.

"But I couldn't go because my boss wouldn't give me the time off work," he said. "My band-mate Gaz got the part and spent 16 or 17 years travelling the world with them."

In 1993, John thought fame had finally arrived when he played on a record with Norman Beaton, star of smash hit Channel 4 sitcom Desmond's.

But the comedy actor died just weeks before it was due for release and the single bombed.

Despite the setbacks, John, who now works in customer service for British Gas, says he enjoyed his flirtation with fame.

He is hoping for success with new Leicester band IST, who recently topped the Russian download charts.

"Although I struggled all those years, I wouldn't change a thing," he said. "We're on the up and up - but with me on board we may go back down!"

* John's musical mishaps are featured in his book How Not to Make It In The Pop World - Diary Of An Almost Has-Been, published by Trafford, priced £12.99.