Ian Levine has posted on his profile that Ric-Tic singer J.J. Barnes has passed, shortly after his 79th birthday.
Barnes' biggest hit came in 1967 with "Baby Please Come Back Home" on the Groovesville label, which, like many of his records, he co-wrote. The song reached No. 9 on Billboard's R&B charts. In the mid-1970s, on the recommendation of Edwin Starr, he moved to the UK and signed with Contempo Records. Although chart success eluded him, the British branch of Tamla Motown reissued his earlier tracks Real Humdinger and Please Let Me In to cater for the Northern Soul scene. He recorded two albums for Ian Levine's Motorcity label, Try It One More Time [[1991) and Happy Road [[1992), the latter remaining unreleased as the label folded. All the songs of the latter would be released four years later on his Best Of J.J. Barnes compilation.
Barnes moved back to Detroit and never stopped performing.
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