[3] Barnacle, trumpeter Luke Tunney, and trombonist Annie Whitehead played together on many sessions from 1979 to 1982, alongside Pete Thoms on trombone.

After their frontman, Malcolm Owen, was found dead from a heroin overdose on 14 July 1980,[4] the band continued with Barnacle as Ruts D.C. (where "D.C." stands for the Italian term da capo) in a different musical vein.

He also contributed to In Trance as Mission by Simple Minds, "Power and the Passion" by Midnight Oil, and played saxophone on Rick Wakeman's 1984.

The band released four singles on the Epic label: two in 1982 ("Love Cascade" and "A Way You'll Never Be", which featured Mark King and Phil Gould of Level 42), and two in 1983 ("Cashflow" and "Anxiety").

[9] In 1982, Barnacle also collaborated on Julien Clerc's Femmes, Indiscrétion, Blasphème, Mike Rutherford's Acting Very Strange, Marius Müller-Westernhagen's Das Herz eines Boxers, and with Visage's The Anvil.

He also appeared on the 1983 edition of Drama of Exile by Nico, where he also played the drums, "Right Now" by Siouxsie Sioux's second band − the Creatures, Dalek I Love You's eponymous album, Jerky Versions of the Dream by Howard Devoto, Secret by Classix Nouveaux, Vocabulary by The Europeans, C'est C Bon by Carlene Carter, and Working with Fire and Steel by China Crisis, a collaboration that was repeated later in 1986 with the release of What Price Paradise.

In 1987, Barnacle was featured on the hit singles "China in Your Hand" by T'Pau, "Roadblock" by Stock, Aitken and Waterman and "Breakout" by Swing Out Sister.

Barnacle performed on Feelin' Good About It by This Way Up, Can't Wait to See the Movie seventh solo album released by Roger Daltrey of The Who,[17] Stand Up by Jo Lemaire, Never Never Land by Simon F, If by Hollywood Beyond and Swing Out Sister's It's Better to Travel and Get in Touch with Yourself.

[19] Barnacle also participated in the release of the debut album by Celtic rock group Hothouse Flowers, Yazz's debut album, The Jeremy Days and Circushead (1990) by The Jeremy Days, Monster Jam by Ambassadors of Funk, Union by Toni Childs, Rage by T'Pau, Working Girl OST, Steppin' Out by Daryl Stuermer, No Outsiders by Judy Cheeks, and 24hrs by Scarlet Fantastic.

[9] In 1989, Barnacle performed in Moss Side Story by Barry Adamson, Boomerang by Siouxsie Sioux's second band − The Creatures, and Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week!

[9] In 1990, Barnacle appeared as a session musician on Naked by Blue Pearl, Trading Secrets with the Moon by The Adventures, Dangerous by Andy Taylor, First Time Ever by Joanna Law, Melting Down on Motor Angel by Sunsonic, Running from the Guns by Die Laughing, Stand Strong by Junior Giscombe, Jordan: The Comeback by Prefab Sprout,[11] and December by Dag Kolsrud, which was followed by December II that was released in 1991.

[20] In 1991, he also worked on Meanwhile by German synthpop group Camouflage, Changing Faces by Bros, Black Meaning Good by Rebel MC, Marchand de cailloux from French artist Renaud, Let's Get to It by Kylie Minogue,[9] The Apple by A Man Called Adam,[11] and the eponymous album by Rain Tree Crow, which was the name used by the English new wave band Japan (excluding Rob Dean) when they briefly reformed for this one-off project.

He released his first solo album, Love Will Find a Way and contributed to El pan y la sal by Spanish pop band Presuntos Implicados.

In 1996, Barnacle helped realize Status Quo's Don't Stop and the Sputnik: The Next Generation's eponymous album featuring Tomoyasu Hotei.

Barnacle returned to the music industry in 2001 when he, Hugh Hopper, Jakko Jakszyk, Dave Stewart, and Clive Brooks recorded a new version of "As Long as He Lies Perfectly Still" by Soft Machine for the compilation Man in a Deaf Corner: Anthology 1963–1970.