Barbara Harris

Barbara Ann Harris, lead vocalist for the '60s pop group the Toys, was born in Elizabeth City, NC, on August 18, 1945. In an exclusive interview on December 6, 2000, for Boston's AM 1670 during the Pop Explosion radio show, Harris told listeners how she began her career: "My aunt is...I guess you would say a pastor, she used to be an evangelist but she kind of graduated and I think she's a pastor now. She owns a church out in Queens, NY, and she's always asking me to come and do concerts for her....I've been singing since I was a little girl, I grew up in North Carolina, we're from North Carolina, there was a church at the end of the block so I was down there all the time, anytime it was open. I was down there singing my little heart out. I think in those days when we were small that's what we had to hold onto (gospel music), singing and playing the tambourine, it was something to just hold on to and get involved in and work the voices out." Barbara Ann Harris' official biography notes: "By the age of eight she was a featured singer in many churches in hers and neighboring towns. She came to New York at the age of 11 and moved to St. Albans, Queens. This is where she learned her second great passion in life, dancing. She would lie about her age and get into the Terrace Ballroom to see some of the touring vocal acts, and leave with the first prize in the dance contest. In high school Barbara met and was asked to be part of a group with two other young singers, Ms. Barbara Parritt Toomer(Born October 1, 1944, in Wilmington, North Carolina) and Ms. June Montiero (Born July 1, 1946, in Jamaica, New York)." In March of 2002, Barbara told the All Media Guide: "The girls were called the Charletts before I got there. It was the name before the Toys." They would sing on street corners coming home from school. Bobby Uri, a friend of theirs, took them up to the music building at 1650 Broadway in Manhattan, where they began doing background vocal work for several up-and-coming recording artists. Then, at a talent show in Brooklyn, NY, they met Eddie Chase. They were brought to the attention of their manager, Vince Marc (the former Vinny Marcaise) by Chase, as Harris told AMG in the radio interview: "His name was Eddy Chase. He was a guy who used to go around to shows checking young artists out. I think he worked for Vinny long before we came along. But he saw us at a talent show...in fact...I was helping (the girls in) the Charletts out in the talent show and he heard it and he liked the sound. I think that's how I stayed with the group. He brought us to Vinny."

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