Len Barry (born Leonard Borisoff, 12 June 1942, West Philadelphia) was an American vocalist and musician.

In 1958 he first appeared on record as the lead vocalist with The Boss-Tones, singing “Mope-Itty Mope”. Barry also was a member of the singing group, The Dovells from 1957 to 1963, before quitting to go solo.

As a predominately blue-eyed soul singer, he recorded two hits in 1965 and 1966 for Decca Records: “1-2-3”, and “Like A Baby”, both of which made the Top Ten of the UK Singles Chart. Both songs were part composed by Barry and Dave White, one of the original Juniors from Danny & the Juniors.
 

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Len Barry was born Leonard Borisoff in Philadelphia on June 12, 1942, it was an ideal place to be exposed to the black group sounds of the '50s. In 1958, an outfit called The Bosstones had an uptempo rocker - 'Mopitty Mope' - out on the Boss label (# 501, b/w 'Wing Of An Angel') : 16-years old Len Barry is thought to have sung on it and it does sound like him.

Some time later, Len teamed up with another bunch of guys out of West Philadelphia to form the Brooktones, soon to be rebaptized The Dovells, a name coined by Bernie Lowe, owner of the Cameo-Parkway record company who would sign them in early 1961. The line-up then was comprised of Len (lead singer), Jerry Gross (first tenor), Mark Stevens (bass), Arnie Silver (baritone) and Mike Dennis. Mark Stevens soon left the group, to be replaced by Danny Brooks who wouldn't stay very long either, thus reducing the quintet to a quartet. Their first single, 'No No No' (Parkway 819) was an instant flop but the second, 'Bristol Stomp' (# 827), co-written by Kal Mann, Bernie Lowe and Dave Appell, became a #2 hit in a matter of weeks, after Dick Clark played it on 'American Bandstand'. It was originally coupled with a ballad, 'Out In The Cold', although later pressings had 'Letters Of Love' on the flip (that song had already been the flip-side to 'No No No'). To me, 'Bristol Stomp' was one of the superior 1961 singles and just about as important as 'Stay', the Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs hit of the previous year, for defining the new '60s Rock'n'Roll sound.

Barry quit the group in late 1963 though, and soon signed with Decca as a solo act, his white soul vocals were best exemplified on the scintillating chart-topper "1-2-3" and the similarly paced "Like A Baby". With his sharp suits and clean-cut image, Barry seemed a Philadelphia teen-idol chronologically cut adrift in 1965, and his contention that long-haired groups were on the way out caused a few ripples in the pop press. Although he enjoyed another minor hit in the USA with the West Side Story anthem "Somewhere", the song had already charted in the UK courtesy of P.J. Proby. During the psychedelic boom of the late 60s, Barry went out of fashion and gradually toned down his lively stage act for cabaret purposes. By the end of the decade and through the 70s, he moved into production work.