Clifford T Ward

Early life

Born in Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, Ward was the fifth child of Kathleen and Frank Ward, a carpet factory worker, and he had one older sister and three older brothers. He was educated at Stourport secondary modern school and King Charles grammar school at Kidderminster. He met his future wife, Pat, at school when she was 13 years old, and he 14. At school he spent some time as a choir boy. They married when he was 17 and she 16, after Pat became pregnant with the first of their four children: Debbie, Martin, Sam and Polly. They initially lived in Castle Road, then Stourbridge Road in Kidderminster, for several years and both were active in raising funds for cerebral palsy, a condition their daughter Debbie had from birth. He was also an English teacher for about a year and a half at North Bromsgrove High School.

Early career

In 1962, shortly after leaving school and supporting himself with a series of clerical jobs, Ward formed a beat band Cliff Ward and the Cruisers, which won the 1963 Midland Band of the Year contest in Birmingham. The band was popular in Birmingham and also in demand at American Army bases in France. It was during this time abroad that Ward wrote "Home Thoughts from Abroad" (a song that would later appear on his second solo album and also as the B-side of "Gaye"). In the mid 1960s and after several member changes, the group was renamed Martin Raynor and The Secrets, with Ward in the role of the elusive Raynor. The fictitious name was soon dropped and the band continued on as Raynor's Secrets, and went on to tour around Britain and France, achieving moderate success. Along the way, six singles were recorded by the group (ten of the songs penned by Ward himself), though these made little impact.

Solo career

In 1968, following the demise of The Secrets, Ward decided he needed to get "a real job", and so spent the following three years at a teacher training college, ultimately finding employment at North Bromsgrove High School, teaching English and drama. One of his pupils was the future wife of Sting, Trudie Styler and Underworld singer Karl Hyde. The children heard singing on Ward's early albums were from North Bromsgrove High School. In his spare time, he continued songwriting and recorded his first solo album Singer Songwriter, released in 1972 on Dandelion Records (a label formed by the disc jockey John Peel) just before it went into liquidation. As a result, the album received little media coverage and went largely unnoticed. Signing a new recording contract with Charisma Records, Ward went on to have a hit with the single "Gaye". It sold over a million copies worldwide and reached number 8 in the UK Singles Chart in July 1973.

In July 1973, following the success of "Gaye", Ward's second album Home Thoughts achieved healthy sales and reached number 40 in the UK Albums Chart. At this point, wanting to concentrate on music full-time, he gave up the teaching profession. He made a rare public appearance in August, performing "Gaye" on Top of the Pops. In January 1974 Ward entered the singles chart again at number 37 with "Scullery", a track from his third album Mantle Pieces.

Subsequent singles, notably "No More Rock 'n' Roll", "Jigsaw Girl", "Ocean of Love" and "I Got Lost Tonight" (written by the US singer-songwriter Tim Moore, one of the very rare occasions when he recorded outside material) were loved by BBC Radio presenters and programmers but Ward never made it into the UK charts again. It was said that he would have had more commercial success were it not for his dislike of touring, public appearances, interviews and photo shoots. "The Best is Yet to Come", from the album Both of Us, enjoyed success when covered by Justin Hayward, and his songs were recorded by Cliff Richard, Jack Jones, Art Garfunkel, and Judy Collins. He was compared to Paul McCartney by reviewers and his songs have strong melodies and concise, original lyrics.

Limited touring

Ward's manager in the early 1970s, Clive Selwood commented on Ward's lack of touring as contributing to his lack of success: "Clifford should have been a major, major star - he had hits, but he simply wouldn't perform publicly."

Death

In 1987, Ward was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). He continued to record and write songs while living at home, cared for by his wife, Pat. In 1994, Ward was interviewed by a local newspaper, the Wolverhampton Express & Star. He told reporter Aidan Goldstraw: "I have not and will not come to terms with this illness. There are times — usually quite late at night — when I'm almost normal again. But unless they find a cure for this dreadful MS, then I don't see a future".

Ward recorded his eleventh and what would be his last new album, Julia and Other New Stories, crawling on all fours into his home-based recording studio to finish it. At around the same time, a stage musical, Shattered World, was produced as a tribute to him, based on his life and his battle against MS. Half of the songs were Ward's own, and half were numbers written by others about him. In 2001, he fell ill from pneumonia and entered a Kidderminster hospital. He died there a few weeks later, on 18 December, 2001.