Biography
A rockabilly performer known for his upbeat outlook, Clyde Stacy gained little traction in his home country yet scored several successes across the border in Canada during the closing years of the 1950s and the opening years of the 1960s. He entered the world on an Oklahoma farm on August 11, 1936, and relocated to Lubbock, Texas, upon reaching his early teenage years. There he shared a school with Buddy Holly, the two occasionally intersecting while each chased a music career. In his late teens Stacy moved to Tulsa, where he immersed himself in the city’s emerging rockabilly circuit and connected with DJ and manager Don Wallace. Wallace launched the singer’s recording path by securing a deal with Candlelight Records. The debut release, “So Young”/“Hoy Hoy,” was tracked at Oral Roberts University; both tracks earned solid local airplay, climbed the lower tiers of Billboard’s Hot 100 stateside, and reached the Top Ten in Toronto and Winnipeg. A follow-up, “Dream Boy,” repeated the pattern of stronger Canadian than American results. Stacy then placed his affairs with Phil Ladd, a former Lubbock associate, who arranged a contract with Bullseye. The 1958 single “Baby Shame” again stirred little interest in the U.S. while performing better in the Great White North, a fate mirrored by its successor, “Honky Tonk Hardwood Floor.” Bullseye issued one more 45, “Once in a While,” yet sustained national breakthrough remained elusive. Stacy therefore settled into steady club work around Scranton, Pennsylvania, maintaining that routine until 1975, when he returned to Oklahoma. He continued performing both at home and in assorted venues throughout the United States and Europe well into the new millennium.