About Clive
Clive was born and raised in Derby where he grew up as part of a musical family. His parents were both radio continuity singers and his brother was the bass player with Derby bands “Unit Four” and "The Shamrocks". It was his brother that taught him his first song – “Paddy McGinty’s Goat”.

Aged just 14, Clive formed his first band "Civvy Street"... They managed to get a few local gigs in Derby and started writing their own material which seemed to go down well. This really whet Clive's appetite to write more. Civvy Street was not to last long but it was a great launch post.

Clive then got an opportunity to record some of his songs for A&R demo at Double Doors recording studio in Derby and one song, “You Baby”, was picked up by “The Engineers” and released as a single along with their own composition “Easy Street”. Somehow, they managed to get the amazing George "Porky" Peckham doing the technicals and that got the recording some kudos... It was pressed and released in Canada and the US under the Beserkley label in late 1978… However, I think they gave away more than were bought. Needless to say, it didn't chart!!

This was enough to gain the attention of another A&R agent who offered to buy some of Clive's work - easy money for a young lad. Youth and naivety played their part and he signed away the rights to the songs. Hindsight is a great thing… He should have kept the rights as a few of them did a lot better than he thought they would. Though he has always maintained that they would not have done anything if he had kept them!

It was through George Peckham that Clive met Graham Fellows (a.k.a. Jilted John Shuttleworth)... He asked Clive to do some studio work for him and that started a whole new direction in his musical interest! The world of session and library music.

Between 1979 and 1984 Clive worked as a session/dep guitarist for local bands and made contributions to a number of library works and musical scores including works for Gary Bell and the gorgeous Stevie Lange on the Limara Body Spray advert - "Remember My Name".  Clive met and worked with several great musicians and producers including Tony Visconti, Robyn Hitchcock and Vince Clarke. Most notably during this time working with Julian Cope making contributions to The Teardrop Explodes’ first album "Kilimanjaro" and to New Musik’s album "From A to B".

In 1980 Clive joined “Fire Brigade”; a working function band playing for private functions and Working Men’s Clubs. They also played the university and poly circuit in the Midlands as a support act. Fire Brigade  (or derivatives thereof) was a consortium of drummers, bass, keyboard players... and several guitarists and vocalists. These were great days working alongside some of the upcoming bands of the time. They did venture south on occasion memorably to the Hope & Anchor in Islington to support The Soft Boys.

Clive stopped playing "professionally" in 1982 after leaving school and landing a "proper job" but kept his hand in as a session guitarist and dep for local bands through to 1984... 

...roll on 30 years and an opportunity arose, and Clive started playing and writing again and found a whole new world of music. In 2013 Clive teamed up with the amazing vocalist Simone Perks. She introduced him to Jazz, Soul, Blues and Funk. That experience widened his already eclectic mix of genres and it was amazing to be able to produce such great music with an awesome musician (yes, vocalists are musicians too!).

Clive Walker is now a solo performer for the first time in his career bringing acoustic versions of a wide variety of fantastic songs. "Just Clive" aims to provide Smooth Easy Listening to the modern audience which is as diverse as it ever was. Pub, Club, Restaurant or Bar... Just give him a live audience and he'll do the rest in his own inimitable style!

Bruce Knapp 1 is following