Cox performed a couple of times on local radio stations and at corporate events, often as a novelty - "My singing was still not as good as it could be," he says - before he fulfilled a lifetime ambition and won a singing competition in Hong Kong, beating off bemused rivals to snatch a cash prize and the promise of a record deal.
Despite Cox's persistence, the record company refused to honor the deal, he says because they were unsure of how to market him as an entertainment commodity.
Nevertheless, he continued to perform across Hong Kong and southern China even though he feared that his chance to make it big had faded.
Now he is hoping his salvation will come in film.
Initial interest in making a movie of his life came from Miramax, the US film company. The idea was also pitched to director John Woo's Hong Kong-based firm.
But the project drifted until it was taken up by production company Atman Entertainment, which is hoping to pull together the US$5 million in financing to start filming in Liverpool next year, with Cox as the star.
"By learning Cantonese and becoming something of a local hero by singing in Cantonese, Barry brought the two communities together in a whole new way," said Ross Grayson Bell, the film's producer and scriptwriter.
"He made us all see that we are really much more similar with each other than different. That is the essence of what we are going for in the movie - the underdog who breaks out of his life to take on a whole new world and brings greater understanding."
Cox clings to the film as his best remaining chance of stardom.
"I have got all my demos and keep sending them to people. Maybe if the movie gets done, maybe it might be easier for them to give me a chance," added Cox, who is convinced the local record companies are still confounded about how to promote a white Canto-pop singer in a market dominated by over-styled look- and sing-a-likes.
"There is a little bit of regret. I know that I am good. A lot of people know that I am good," he says.
And despite the frustration, he has no doubt his decision to visit his local chip shop and buy that pie has paid off.
"The state of jobs in England, I would be lucky to get a job in a supermarket. When you go back, you see all of your friends doing exactly the same as 10 years ago," he said.
"I have got out of the rut. I do things and have done things that most people could only dream of doing," he added, toying with his Buddha-bead bracelet, which he hopes will encourage a prosperous career.
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