He's done it before and wants to do it all again. Stephen McGinty

speaks to the man who wants to bring all of the beautiful people out at

night

WHEN Colin Barr gets excited he grins so much his face collapses into

creases and all you can see are his teeth -- beaming out like a

lighthouse of white enamel. Grinning comes naturally to Colin, as

natural as breathing or making money. Besides, he has a lot to grin

about; he's recently had a look at his life.

''How many 33-year-olds do you know who are going to have two

night-clubs and two bars?'' Er, only you, Colin. Married to a former

model, now fashion guru, Kelly Barr, with two sweet kids, he plays

tennis with best mate Pat Cash and attends showbiz weddings. ''Mandy

Smith . . . I was at both of hers.'' His bars are The Living Room and

The Lounge, his new night-club The Voodoo Room, while The Apartment

opens at Christmas.

The boy from Balornock whose father was a plumber and who left school

at 17 to hang around and work in the night-clubs of Spain and Holland,

has risen to the good life. He returned to Glasgow aged 20 to tend bar

at Sinatra's and became manager after his boss dipped the till and gave

him a split. He handed the cash to the owner who handed him the keys.

Colin Barr is as wide as a motorway. What he lacked in education he

doubled in experience. When asked to start a night-club, he launched

Glasgow's first gay club in Bennets and watched takings rise five times.

''I became a rich young man.'' The owner became furious -- until he

looked at the books.

During the eighties he rolled out clubs like Fresh, Choice, The Acid

Ball, and Toledo Junction which brought up the new sounds of House and

Acid. He also doubled as a male model to build contacts and a cash

reserve, meeting his wife, who has since worked as personal manager to

Kylie Minogue and Mandy Smith, at The Warehouse.

He fell into The Tunnel in 1989, with partner Mark Woodhouse. What

became the finest night-club in Europe was six snooker halls. A bank

manager whose kids attended his clubs stumped up a loan and Tennents

offered a huge cheque if he could return the bottled-beer brigade to

draught lager. He did by having beer hoses hang from the bar ceiling.

In 1992 Barr sold out for a ''fantastic offer'' and an agreement not

to run a club for 18 months. He launched The Lounge and Living Room

after a six-month break. The golden handcuffs clattered to the floor in

April when he had a one-off with Wonderland. The Voodoo Room opened

three weeks ago as a warm-up for The Apartment, planned for December.

''People asked me: 'why did you sell The Tunnel?' The Tunnel was

getting a wee bit ravey and techno and I didn't really want to go down

that path. I built The Tunnel for beautiful people and unfortunately

there weren't 1000 beautiful people in Glasgow prepared to come out

every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.'' He feels that with smaller clubs

he can pick 'n' choose his clientele. But who makes the grade?

''Beautiful people doesn't actually mean physically beautiful people

-- it means happy, switched on, knowledgeable, creative people . . . my

people that come in here are packages, these people want to be part of

what's going on, part of something positive.''

On the opening night of The Voodoo Room Colin returned to a faulty set

of decks only to have them cut out during his potential Let's Hear It

For The Boy, a fault now fixed. Designed by Glasgow School of Art

graduate Claire Schofield and Graven Images, it mixes the intimate

surroundings of sofas and carpets with the bamboo hangings of a beach

bar. Here dancing is just cool instead of compulsory.

He believes the secret to his success is being selective and

delivering the opposite to everyone else. The Apartment when it opens

could be membership-only. ''I want it to be unique with a certain

quality.'' Until then he'll cater to the Voodoo Room's magic, mixing

comedy with live acts and the best DJs on the decks.

Colin Barr can hype higher than helium and nearly always delivers the

match to an explosive event. He has only a few hurdles to clear to run a

Summer Ball in Blythswood Square for Scottish European Aid, a Bosnian

charity which his wife heads in Glasgow. However, he knows his success

targets him for sneers. He had a Carrera Targa but weekly vandalism

drove him back to an anonymous black Golf GTI.

However, he insists that those who dislike him don't know him: ''I

don't have any airs and graces, I'm just a human being like anybody

else, but I have one thing that a lot of people have not got . . . I can

mix with royalty or I can mix with scumbags. I don't find it a problem .

. . Don't say scumbags, say the great unwashed.'' Colin Barr, back

talking the walk.

* The Voodoo Room, 22 Cambridge Street, Glasgow, runs Thursday-Sunday

from 11 pm 'til late.