Barry Harris

Multi-talented Barry Harris began spinning turntables in 1983. After DJing for five years, he formed his own club/dance-oriented outfit called Kon Kan. The Canadian ensemble debuted with the release of “I Beg Your Pardon” featuring vocals by Kevin Wynne. The catchy song peaked at number three on the U.K. singles chart and at number 15 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles. In addition, the dancefloor anthem sampling Lynn Anderson’s “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” won a Juno Award (Canadian version of the Grammy) for Best Dance Recording. Nevertheless, after issuing the unsuccessful 1993′s Vida, Harris turned his attention to producing new projects in the dance music field. DJ Terry Kelly teamed up with him to form Top Cat. In 1996, Rachid Wehbi and Kimberley Wetmore joined him to make a dance version of “One of Us,” a song popularized in 1995 by Joan Osborne. The threesome was introduced as Outta Control. After working with singer Simone Denny on “Funk Like Dat,” Harris hooked up with Chris Cox to start their own remix/production team called Thunderpuss. ~ Drago Bonacich