He also had a stammer but began singing as a teenager, inspired by James Brown and Otis Redding, whom he heard on American radio stations.
[4] His first group was the Two Tones, formed with friends Brenton Matthews and Fathead, who recorded unsuccessfully for Duke Reid.
[2][3][4] Barker had hit singles with "Shocks of a Mighty" and "Spinning Wheel" (with Melanie Jonas), followed in 1970 by his debut album Prisoner of Love.
[5] He then joined vocal group Chain Reaction along with Bruce Ruffin and Bobby Davis, targeting the soul market, but without great success.
In 2005 Dave Barker performed a couple of tracks with UK ska/ reggae band The Riffs [6] at Club Ska in London.