Clifford T. Ward

Clifford Thomas Ward came into the world on 10 February 1946 in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England, and left it on 18 December 2001 in the same town. He embodied the introspective bedsitter singer-songwriter of the early seventies, issuing albums that ranged from charming to overly sentimental. After leaving grammar school short of A-levels he took a clerical post, yet by 1962 he was leading the local beat outfit Cliff Ward and the Cruisers. The band later adopted the name Martin Raynor and the Secrets, cut its first sides for EMI Records in 1965 and went on to record further material for CBS Records under the shortened name the Secrets.

Ward entered Worcester teacher training college in 1967 to read English and divinity, then took a teaching post at Bromsgrove high school. His first album surfaced in 1972 on disc jockey John Peel’s short-lived Dandelion Records imprint. The follow-up, Home Thoughts, marked his initial release for Charisma Records, stood as his strongest collection and brought broader attention; each song was shaped as a self-contained narrative, occasionally to striking effect. The lovely single ‘Gaye’ reached the UK Top 10, whereas the more robust ‘Home Thoughts From Abroad’ and the catchy, sharply worded ‘Wherewithal’ stayed off the chart. Mantle Pieces and Escalator followed the same pattern, yielding the minor hit ‘Scullery’ whose touching lines included the observation “You’re my picture by Picasso, you’d brighten up any gallery.” His unwillingness to tour or promote his work strained relations with the label, prompting a move to Phonogram Records for the 1975 album No More Rock ‘N’ Roll.

Although he continued to make the occasional record and remained averse to live performance, Ward earned respect as a songwriter whose compositions were taken up by Cliff Richard, Art Garfunkel and Justin Hayward. Multiple sclerosis was diagnosed in 1987 and his condition quickly worsened. He completed the vinyl-only album Laugh It Off in 1991; afterwards friends and associates assembled two further collections of fresh material, out-takes and demos to provide him with income. Pneumonia finally claimed him in December 2001.