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Barry Cowsill is a non-stop talker, standing 5' 5-1/2" with almost green eyes," according to his own description.
As drummer for The Cowsills, and one of the original at that, he likes drums and girls, or is it girls and drums, in that order.
He likes being a part of the Cowsill family.
"We all get along, but you should see John and me fight it out in the hall when John turns off the TV. Paul gets airsick. I have a rock stomach. Susan can be a little itch, always trying to get in the last licks. Mom is a worry wart, but then, that's what mothers are for. Bobby is a really nice guy. He can dig what's happening for each of us because he's older, and he's been there. We know what we're going through, and I'm not sweating it. Brothers can tell you things."
He likes being a performing member of The Cowsills.
"Boy, was I psyched out when I got my first set of drums! Music is just a part of my life. When I was growing up, I used to do all The Beatles' songs. I do our stuff now, but I still listen to the Beatles on the headphones when the other guys are rehearsing. We all just moved up real slow and even. Every group has to go around impersonating someone else before it gets established and can go out on its own. We did The Beatles, which was cool.
"The best thing about concerts is when there are
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a lot of teen-age girls. Concerts are exciting, the 'escape' part, when you run for the stage before the fans descend. When the girls start screaming, I really get psyched. Like I get psyched when they're psyched.
"I really dig girls. Girls that aren't too dippy, that is. I don't like girls that wear things boys do. I like them to have a good sense of humor, to be quiet but not shy.
"What I like best about school is the social part, the other kids, especially the girls. We really don't have much of a chance to meet kids outside of school, I get along with everybody. What I dig in schoool is the guys watching the girls watching me. It's really a gas.
He likes either very small groups or very large crowds at concerts.
"It's funny, we used to play for about 10 people. Now we play for thousands. By the way, I exaggerate.
"Colleges are always cool. They don't want to just see you, they want to hear you too. College kids are the best audience.
"I don't get nervous performing except in front of my own class. Like when I went back to visit my old school, they asked me to do something. I wouldn't. I don't know why, but it just gets to me.
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"I must be going through a 'weird' stage. It's kind of a 'what's happening' scene. I know I'll get over it, but that's the future. It's a matter of living through it. I overdo things. Like I had a cough. I lay there in bed and said to myself, 'I've got pneumonia. I'm going to have to be hospitalized.' Seems pretty funny when I look back on it, but I really had myself scared at the time!
"I'm always spilling things, always late. I forget I'm supposed to be places. Never have a watch. I'm a regular clock myself. I think, 'It's now 12:30.' Sometimes it is, but sometimes it's not.
"I just bought a bunch of clothes. Really cool. Got a pair of yellow, blue, and white bell bottoms, a yellow, navy, and red striped suit. I don't know whether Mom's going to like them or not. She's kind of vicious about clothes. Like I think she's going to be mad that not enough things go together.
"Yellow is my favorite color. I like green, too-green grass and green trees—but not to wear. I never wear red because a long time ago we used to have to wear those stinky red blazers. They kind of got me."
Miscellaneous "lies": "Happy music when I'm in a sad mood." John Wayne and Army flicks. TV cartoons ("They're cool.") The kind of dances "where you're just jelly." Doing imitations ("I have about 10 voices.") Interviews.
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He can't stand spoiled kids.
"Spoiled kids give me a pain. They get too much attention at the wrong time and too little attention at the right time. Like when a kid is in a store and starts screaming for something and gets it. That's wrong. Kids between the ages of six and ten can be obnoxious enough. It's the 'gaggy' age. I should know. I went through it.
"At the moment, I don't really want to do much of anything. I was going to be a drummer. I'll go to college. Be a Navy officer, maybe. Maybe I'll go to college somewhere in the mid-west. We played Purdue not long ago. It was groovy. College kids are cool. I'm going to be a 'Big Man On Campus.' A frat man. We used to play all the fraternity parties, and I really dug those.
For college, I think I'll get an old MG. They're cool. My bachelor car: a Corvette. And maybe a Rolls for 'class.'
"Actually, my current plans include living as a hermit in the Rocky Mountains, even though I've never been camping except in the back yard. I got this idea from some friends. I'd like living with just animals. I could take a bear cub and raise it; build a log cabin ..."
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