Barry grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey and was inspired to play tenor sax after watching King Curtis and Little Richard appear at an Alan Freed Rock and Roll show at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater. Barry had some success in the music business, but decided to pursue a career in advertising where he thought he could use his talents to create jingles for commercials. Bobbie grew up in Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia playing piano, violin and then clarinet. But then she started listening to soul music and decided that she had to play the drums. She quickly ran out of opportunities to perform in Richmond, so she decided to move to New York City. After struggling for a couple of months, she got into a group and started performing at a club on New York City's Upper Eastside.

Getting back to Barry, after being on his first advertising job for about two months, a colleague named Tony Cadman invited him out for dinner at a restaurant he partially owned. On the way to the restaurant, they decided to stop for a drink at a club called Jimmy Byrne's. It was so crowded that they decided not to go in, but upon hearing the groove of the drummer, Barry couldn't walk away. He told Tony, "despite the crowd, I've got to go in and say hello to the drummer." Barry was sure, by the distinctive funky beat, that it was his former drummer, Frank Cherubino. So Barry and Tony fought their way through the crowd and up to the stage only to discover that the drummer wasn't Frank, but Bobbie. It was love at first sight for Barry. Barry said to Tony, "I'm in love with the drummer." To which Tony replied, "oh, that's Bobbie and she's a good friend of one of my employees, Sandy Schroeck." Sounds like all Barry had to do was speak to Sandy and his"dream drummer" would be his… Not a chance. "I've been in sales for over 30 years," says Barry. "Winning Bobbie's hand was by far the most difficult sale I ever made. It took over 6 months just for the first date!" And he got that date only after she heard him play "Harlem Nocturne." Barry reminisces, "it wasn't the same arrangement of that song we do today on The Barry Sea Paradox album, but it was good enough to get her attention."