Barry

Barry had been separated from his first wife shortly after the Gibbs arrived in England, and he was enjoying pop stardom as a "bachelor". Dick Ashby (their personal manager): "Barry's line for getting girls into bed was that he would instantly fall in love with them and want to marry them. That's how he would make sure they'd come into bed with him that night. He actually used to carry engagement rings in his pocket on the German tour. So by the end of the tour, I might have six 'fiancees' at the stage door. Horrendous affairs." Ultimately, the woman who became paramount in Barry's life was the one, who in her own words, "never fell for the engagement bit. Whenever he came on about that to me, I'd say, 'Oh no. I may be Scottish and very naive,but I'm not that naive."

Linda Gray was a Scottish beauty queen, having been voted Miss Edinburgh in 1967 at the age of 17. Her future with Barry may have been preordained, as she remembers. "When I was 15, me and all my girlfriends in Scotland went to this spiritualist. And she was telling me about lots of different things....winning some contest, this and that. I didn't think anything about it. It was rubbish, you just go for a laugh. Then she said, 'I see you with this man. He's got a beautiful head. And he's very musically minded. And he's got a sister Leslie. You don't even know this man. I don't even know if he's in the country [he wasn't]. And there is a blond woman who will stand in your way.' Barry's first wife was blond. More of less, that spiritualist told me about Barry."

After winning the beauty contest in the summer of 67, Linda "went to London to be the hostess of 'Top of the Pops' We were friends with Jimmy Saville, and he always disc-jockeyed the show. I met Barry that day. I didn't know who he was at the time. I was very, very shy and very naive. At rehearsals, I'm with the other girls and they say, 'This guy keeps looking at you.' I was getting all embarassed. He came over and introduced himself, and I told him who I was. He looked at me a bit strangely, as if to say, 'Oh, she doesn't know who I am.' We went down to the restaurant and had coffee. He invited me to the party they were having later that night at Robert's house in Adam's Row. I said that I'd like to go, but Jimmy wouldn't let me. He was more of less a chaperone for me. He said, 'I'm looking after you for your parents and you're my responsibility.'

"After the show, when we got back to the hotel, I saw this cab waiting
there. So I jumped in. Jimmy's assistant jumped in the cab behind me. I said, 'Lose that car,' just like in a movie. They were following me, and I was crying all the way. I don't know why, I just had this strong feeling about Barry. And I was so upset. I thought I was never going to see him again. I got to Adam's Row and Victor, the manservant who worked for Robert, answered the door. I said, 'I've come to see Barry.' Mascara was running down all over my face, and Victor said, 'I don't know who you are.' Just then, Barry came running down the stairs and said, 'It's ok. I'm expecting her.' We didn't go straight into the party; we went into the study. Barry was on the phone to his mother, and his wife was threatening to come to the party. I thought, 'My God, he's married. Oh no !"

When Barry got off the phone, he looked at a very distraught Linda and said, 'Don't look so worried. You tell me you problem and I'll tell you mine.' "He told me all about his relationship, how he was separated. And then I told him how I shouldn't be there. " But Linda stayed. The party that night was to celebrate 'Massachussets' having reached number one. As Linda remembers, "He gave me all the usual crap. 'Oh I love you' this and that. And I said, 'Oh yes ? How many people have you said that to today ?' We saw each other a few times after that when he came to Scotland. When I was eighteen, I came down to do some modelling in London. We met again, and shortly after that, we started living together. I stopped working then because Barry said he didn't want me messing around with photographers. He said, 'You better watch the boys in London.' I thought, 'He's so sweet, he's really nice.' And he was very nice. He was so polite and well-mannered which you don't always find in young guys. He was very romantic, opened the door for me and things like that."
End of part 1

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