Tom Hooker

Tom Hooker or Thomas Barbèy (born Thomas Beecher Hooker on November 18, 1957) is an American singer and fine art photographer. He was the voice and one of the songwriters behind most songs for popular Italo disco artist Den Harrow. The 2018 documentary Dons of Disco covers Hooker's involvement in the Den Harrow project.

Early life Barbèy, best known as Tom Hooker, was brought to Europe when he was six months old. At the age of ten, he started his musical career as a drummer. At 13, he created his first band. At 15, he first appeared in public at a concert as a drummer/singer. He studied languages in Switzerland.

Music career In 1980, he moved to Italy, where he was discovered by Italian producers. His first hit was "Flip Over", b/w the track "We Can Start It All Over Again". He had his first major success in 1986 with "Looking for Love".

Den Harrow Starting in 1985, Hooker co-wrote and sang lead vocals on the first two Den Harrow albums, backing vocals on the third album and co-wrote many subsequent Den Harrow songs under the name T. Beecher. When Hooker was credited for vocals at all, it was only for background vocals, as it was the producer's intention to have the lip-synching model Stefano Zandri as the public face of the project. He also states that Zandri made threats and insults against Hooker and his family on Facebook for exposing the vocal inauthenticity of the Den Harrow recordings. Hooker asserts that Zandri no longer has permission to publicly lip sync to Den Harrow recordings that use Tom Hooker's voice.

In 1986 he took part in the project Fahrenheit 104, a band also composed of Maurizio Vandelli, Jane Hill and Dario Farina, with which he recorded the song Highway To Freedom, composed by Vince Tempera for the musical part and by Michael Kunze for the lyrics, also published as a single by Baby Records.

In 1987, he was one of the writers for the hit Boom Boom (Let's Go Back to My Room) by Paul Lekakis, which became #1 in Australia and #43 in US Billboard Hot 100 chart.

In the 90s he recorded some singles under the pseudonym David Harleyson, obtaining some commercial success in Thailand.

Since 2014, Tom Hooker and Miki Chieregato have been issuing Den Harrow parody tracks under the name of Tam Harrow.

In 2017, he released the double CD Back in Time, 27 songs including the duet with Linda Jo Rizzo I Want You Tonight.

Thomas Barbèy Photography Beginnings as a photographer While living in Milan, Hooker met a lot of people involved in the fashion world. He began dating a model and, in reviewing her portfolio, he "kept seeing the mistakes. Bad lighting, shadows, bags under the eyes".

Personal life He lives in Las Vegas with his wife Suzanne Berquist. New Britain Museum of American Art

Discography

Albums 1980: Tom Hooker 1986: Only One 1988: Bad Reputation 1992: Fighting for Our Love 2017: Back in Time 2018: No Time to Say Goodbye 2020: Together (as Tom Hooker & Tam Harrow)

Albums as Tam Harrow 2015: Incredible Idiot 2020: Together (as Tom Hooker & Tam Harrow)

Singles 1980: "Flip Over"/"We Can Start It All Over Again" 1981: "Toccami"/"Go Today" 1981: "I Want to Love" 1982: "Dove Andiamo"/"Try Me" 1982: "With Your Body" 1983: "Come Back Home" 1984: "Give It to Me" 1984: "Indian Girl"/"Love Attack" 1984: "Real Men" (12") 1985: "Cry"/"Don't Forget (To Buy This Record)" 1986: "Help Me" 1986: "Looking for Love" 1986: "Swiss Boy" (under the pseudonym Lou Sern) 1986: "Help Me" 1987: "Atlantis" (12") 1988: "Feeling Okay" (12") 1988: "No More Heaven" (12") 1990: "Living in the Sunshine" (7") 1991: "Sex-O-Phone & Funk Guitar" (12") 1994: "Runaway" (12") 2010: "Change Your Mind" 2012: "No Elevation" (with Miki Chieregato) 2014: "Illusions/Nobody Loves Me" 2016: "Tell Me" 2016: "My Russian Lady Night" 2017: "I Want You Tonight" (with Linda Jo Rizzo) 2017: "King of the World" 2017: "Find a Way and a Time" 2017: "Rain" (with Miki Chieregato) 2020: "You and I" (with Tam Harrow) 2020: "With Our Love" (with Bad Boys Blue and Scarlett)

Singles as Tam Harrow 2014: "Idiot" 2014: "Incredible" 2014: "Kept Boy" 2014: "You DJ You Rock" 2014: "Fixation" 2015: "Vodka Kaboom" 2015: "Swiss Cows" (feat. Lou Sern) 2016: "Go to Mexico" 2018: "No Time to Say Goodbye" 2018: "Big Boys Don't Cry" 2019: "Dancing to the Night" 2020: "Your Love Is So Nice" 2020: "Latin Lover"

Collaborations 2021: "A Sailor from the Moon" (feat. Lord, Begüm Günceler) 2021: "In the Sign of Destiny" (feat. Lord, Peter Rafelson) 2021: "Keep on Rolling" (feat. Lord)

Filmography Jocks (1983) Dons of Disco (2018)