Clifford T. Ward -

Clifford T. Ward (Feb. 10, 1944 — Dec. 18, 2001) was an English singer/songwriter who emerged from the Midlands beat circuit before his 1972 solo debut on Dandelion. His 1973 Charisma albums Home Thoughts and Mantle Pieces produced his main UK chart entries, led by the Top Ten single “Gaye” and the later hit “Scullery.”

Ward continued the 1975–77 albums Escalator, No More Rock ’n’ Roll, Waves, New England Days. Later singles include “Jig-Saw Girl,” “Ocean of Love,” and “The Best Is Yet to Come.” His later career slowed after multiple sclerosis, though archive releases and posthumous collections kept his demos, home recordings, and late-period songs in circulation.

Background

Clifford Thomas Ward was born on February 10, 1944, in Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, England. He was the fifth child of Kathleen Ward and Frank Ward, a Kidderminster carpet-factory worker from a family with Irish music-hall performers. The Ward children picked fruit on a local farm to add income to the household.

Ward attended Stourport Secondary Modern School and King Charles I Grammar School in Kidderminster, where he sang as a choirboy. He left school before A-levels and worked clerical jobs.

1960s Singles

Ward entered local music in 1962 as singer with Cliff Ward and the Cruisers, a Midlands beat group that won the Midland Band of the Year contest in Birmingham during 1963. The group worked around Birmingham and played American military bases in France. Ward wrote “Home Thoughts from Abroad” during the French period.

Columbia issued “Candy to Me” in May 1965 (b/w “You’re a Wonderful One”), credited to Martin Raynor and The Secrets. CBS issued “I Suppose” in December 1966 (b/w “Such a Pity”), credited to The Secrets. “Infatuation” followed in February 1967 (b/w “She’s Dangerous”). “I Intend to Please” appeared in June 1967 (b/w “I Think I Need the Cash”). As Simon’s Secrets, the group issued “Naughty Boy” in April 1968 (b/w “Sympathy”). “I Know What Her Name Is” followed in November 1968 (b/w “Keeping My Head Above Water”).

Teaching and Dandelion

Ward enrolled at Worcester Teacher Training College in 1967, where he studied English and divinity. He then taught English and drama at North Bromsgrove High School while he continued private song recordings.

Private recordings by Ward reached John Walters, producer for the BBC Radio 1 program hosted by John Peel. Peel and Clive Selwood issued Singer • Songwriter on Dandelion in September 1972. Dandelion closed soon after the album appeared. Selwood, by then Ward’s manager, moved Ward to Charisma, where “Gaye” and Home Thoughts followed in April 1973.

Singer • Songwriter

Clifford T. Ward released his debut album, Singer • Songwriter, in September 1972 on Dandelion.

The album introduced Ward as a solo artist after his mid-Sixties work with the Secrets. His piano-led material receives string and brass arrangements by Richard Hewson, whose late-Sixties and early-Seventies arranger credits included the Beatles, Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, and the Bee Gees.

The supporting cast links a small rhythm section to selected color parts. Bassist Bev Pegg and drummer-percussionist Ken Wright also supply background vocals. Guitarist Derek Thomas begins an early-album association with Ward. Keyboardist David Skinner, vibraphonist John Sawyer, and flutist Will Roper complete the debut’s expanded studio credits.

“Coathanger” turns a household image into a sly miniature, with cello detail tucked under the vocal. “Carrie” quickens into a communal refrain and bright backing-vocal response. “Circus Girl” takes the same uptempo lane and tightens the verse toward a sung refrain.

A1. “Coathanger” (2:49)
A2. “Sam” (3:05)
A3. “Leader” (4:10)
A4. “A Dream” (4:14)
A5. “Anticipation” (2:49)
A6. “Rayne” (3:06)
A7. “The Session Singer” (3:04)

B1. “Carrie” (4:28)
B2. “God Help Me” (2:53)
B3. “The Cause Is Good” (3:20)
B4. “Sympathy” (3:04)
B5. “Circus Girl” (2:59)
B6. “You Knock When You Should Come In” (3:57)

Ward produced Singer • Songwriter at Marquee Studios off Dean Street in Soho. Phil Dunne engineered the sessions. Jerry Boys handled the remix credit before his later engineering work on Ward’s Charisma albums.

Hamish Grimes designed the sleeve. The cover uses a framed title card fixed to a weathered wall, with leaf shadow across the upper-right glass.

Dandelion issued “Carrie” as an August 11, 1972 single (b/w “Sidetrack”). “Coathanger” followed on October 13, 1972 (b/w “Rayne”).

Home Thoughts

Clifford T. Ward released his second album, Home Thoughts, in April 1973 on Charisma.

Richard Hewson retains the orchestral-arrangement role from Singer • Songwriter. The credited group contracts to bassist Terry Edwards, drummer-percussionist Ken Wright, and guitarist Derek Thomas, which gives the first Charisma album a clearer small-band profile.

Edwards replaces Bev Pegg in the bass role. Wright and Thomas return from the debut. “Home Thoughts from Abroad” links Ward’s solo catalogue to his earlier band years with the Secrets.

“Gaye” lingers in a quiet piano-and-string setting with lyrics about abandonment. “Wherewithal” quickens into compact verse-refrain turns and a clean title cadence. “The Dubious Circus Company” folds marching-band effects into a jaunty chorus. “Nightingale” retreats into a shadowed vocal setting.

“Home Thoughts from Abroad” lingers over a long-distance address. Plain vocal phrases carry the domestic text. “Where’s It Going to End?” darkens the sequence with dramatic phrasing. “Time, the Magician” turns simple verse-and-refrain craft into a lightly arranged meditation on age. “The Open University” threads literary names through an academic comic register. “Crisis” brightens the close with a brisk step and title tension.

A1. “Gaye” (3:40) – addresses a woman at the point of departure. Ward expresses direct appeal, domestic praise, and fear of absence with her name as the emotional anchor.
A2. “Wherewithal” (2:57)
A3. “The Dubious Circus Company” (3:20)
A4. “Nightingale” (2:23)
A5. “Where Would That Leave Me” (2:48)
A6. “The Traveller” (5:25)

B1. “Home Thoughts from Abroad” (3:22)
B2. “Where’s It Going to End” (3:36)
B3. “Time, the Magician” (3:13)
B4. “Give Me One More Chance” (3:44)
B5. “Cold Wind Blowing” (3:16)
B6. “The Open University” (2:24)
B7. “Crisis” (2:20)

Ward produced Home Thoughts at Sound Techniques in London, where Jerry Boys and Vic Gamm engineered the sessions. The Chelsea studio connects the album to a recording environment also used by John Martyn and Nick Drake during the surrounding period.

Alan Curtis and Tony Bell handled the photography. The cover places Ward inside an ornate tabletop frame and extends the title’s domestic reference through the surrounding objects.

Charisma issued “Gaye” as an April 1973 single (b/w “Home Thoughts from Abroad”). The single reached No. 8 on the Official Singles Chart. “Wherewithal” followed on September 7, 1973 (b/w “Thinking of Something to Do”).

Home Thoughts reached No. 40 on the Official Albums Chart.

Mantle Pieces

Clifford T. Ward released his third album, Mantle Pieces, in December 1973 on Charisma.

Ward used the Home Thoughts core of Terry Edwards, Ken Wright, and Derek Thomas for Mantle Pieces. Richard Hewson shares arrangement credit with Ward and supplies the orchestral parts. Domestic titles recur in “Scullery,” “All Modern Conveniences,” and “Tea Cosy.”

Edwards, Wright, and Thomas give the album the same compact support team as the prior Charisma LP. Hewson remains the principal outside arranger across Ward’s first three albums.

“Scullery” clips domestic detail to a brisk backbeat and dusting-song motion. “Are You Really Interested?” springs from its first bar, then sets tambourine accents against close harmony. “To an Air Hostess” cuts short verses to a repeated title refrain. “For Debbie and Her Friends” turns the address inward through a family-text lyric. “Tea Cosy” closes on a broader cadence and a heavier domestic image.

A1. “Scullery” (2:45)
A2. “Not Waving-Drowning!” (3:46)
A3. “Are You Really Interested?” (4:02)
A4. “A Sad Cliché” (3:17)
A5. “To an Air Hostess” (4:26)

B1. “All Modern Conveniences” (4:37)
B2. “Wayward” (3:52)
B3. “Screen Test” (5:08)
B4. “For Debbie and Her Friends” (3:23)
B5. “Tea Cosy” (4:40)

Ward produced Mantle Pieces at Chipping Norton Recording Studio. Barry Hammond and Dave Grinsted engineered the band sessions. Hewson’s orchestral parts were recorded at AIR Studios in London, and Jerry Boys mixed the album at Sound Techniques.

Reg Wilson shot the cover photograph, and Alan Curtis supplied the insert photography. The cover places a soft-focus Ward portrait inside an oval field, with arched display type above and below the image.

Charisma issued “Scullery” as a November 30, 1973 single (b/w “To an Air Hostess”). The single reached No. 37 on the Official Singles Chart. Mantle Pieces reached No. 42 on the Official Albums Chart.

Escalator

Clifford T. Ward released his fourth album, Escalator, in April 1975 on Charisma.

The Escalator credits widen Ward’s Charisma studio circle. Richard Hewson retains the orchestral-arrangement role. John Mealing supplies the string arrangement on “We Could Be Talking,” and alto saxophonist Peter King brings a leading British jazz credit into Ward’s mid-Seventies sessions.

The rhythm-section credits divide across several players: bassists Andy Bown, Dave Wintour, and Terry Edwards; drummers Andrew Steele, Glen LeFleur, and Ken Wright. Guitarist Derek Thomas returns while Dan Fone adds a second guitar credit.

“Jig-Saw Girl” skips through sectional breaks and a bright title refrain. “Escalator” glides through light swing, with saxophone detail inside the string-sweetened arrangement. “We Could Be Talking” slows into a contained string setting around the lead vocal. “Mr. Bilbo Baggins” recasts Tolkien verse as a light character piece. “Cellophane” carries the album’s polished orchestral shading into a compact vocal setting. “A Sad Affair” closes with a more deliberate vocal cadence and a longer emotional arc.

A1. “The Way of Love” (4:32)
A2. “Jig-Saw Girl” (3:16)
A3. “Escalator” (4:52)
A4. “Trespass” (2:46)
A5. “We Could Be Talking” (3:49)

B1. “A Day to Myself” (5:02)
B2. “Miner” (3:53)
B3. “Mr. Bilbo Baggins” (2:32)
B4. “Cellophane” (3:37)
B5. “A Sad Affair” (4:45)

Ward produced Escalator. Jerry Boys recorded and mixed the album, extending the studio link from Ward’s earlier Charisma recordings.

Hipgnosis created the cover with American illustrator Joe Petagno, whose mid-Seventies sleeve work also crossed into Renaissance, Captain Beyond, Baker Gurvitz Army, and Roy Harper projects. The Escalator cover uses a Petagno portrait of Ward against open fields beneath a grey sky.

Charisma issued “Jig-Saw Girl” as a March 1975 single (b/w “Cellophane”). The 2010 Cherry Red CD adds “Jesus of Long Ago,” a Ward title first issued on the 1975 Charisma compilation Beyond an Empty Dream.

No More Rock ’n’ Roll

Clifford T. Ward released his fifth album, No More Rock ’n’ Roll, in December 1975 on Philips.

Richard Hewson co-produced No More Rock ’n’ Roll and retained the orchestral-arrangement role. The credits draw on a broader London session pool than Ward’s Charisma albums. Chris Spedding and Alan Parker join Derek Thomas in the guitar ranks. B.J. Cole adds pedal steel, and the Mike Sammes Singers supply the vocal-ensemble credit.

Brian Odgers takes the bass role. Andrew Steele continues from Escalator as drummer. Keyboardists Pete Wingfield and Mike Moran connect the album to the same studio network that supplied the expanded guitar and vocal credits. Chris Karan adds percussion.

“Gentle” opens in a restrained vocal register. “Secretary” frames workplace detail as a character sketch. “Jayne from Andromeda Spiral” stretches a science-fiction address across the side’s broadest arrangement. “No More Rock ’n’ Roll” softens its title stance into a gentle domestic address. “Gandalf” repeats its fantasy name in a plain refrain. “For Emily” turns the address toward a shorter, more intimate setting.

A1. “Gentle” (3:05)
A2. “Secretary” (3:17)
A3. “Birmingham” (3:06)
A4. “Up in the World” (2:55)
A5. “Summer Solstice” (3:42)
A6. “Jayne from Andromeda Spiral” (6:04)

B1. “Tomorrow Night” (3:16)
B2. “No More Rock ’n’ Roll” (2:56)
B3. “Gandalf” (3:08)
B4. “For Emily” (2:24)
B5. “When I Found You” (3:10)
B6. “Easy, Baby” (3:35)

Ward and Hewson produced No More Rock ’n’ Roll. Jerry Boys and Nick Sykes engineered the Philips sessions. Boys links the album to the Charisma catalogue, while Hewson keeps the arranger-producer thread intact across the label change.

Charisma issued “Jayne from Andromeda Spiral” as an August 1974 single (b/w “Maybe I’m Right”). Philips issued “No More Rock ’n’ Roll” as a November 1975 single (b/w “Gandalf”).

Waves

Clifford T. Ward released his sixth album, Waves, in November 1976 on Philips.

Waves contains two instrumental title pieces and revisits “Not Waving-Drowning!” from Mantle Pieces under the revised title “Not Waving-Drowning! (Revisited).” Richard Hewson’s orchestral credit applies to “Avenue Dreams” and “A Song for Susan.” Terry Edwards and Derek Thomas return from Ward’s early Charisma circle, while Paul Keogh and Peter King extend the instrumental cast.

Edwards returns as bassist after the expanded Philips lineup on No More Rock ’n’ Roll. Keith Smart takes the drummer credit. Keogh handles electric guitar, Thomas handles acoustic guitar, King returns on alto saxophone, and Mike Moran adds keyboards.

“Waves – Part One” opens the water motif as an instrumental prelude. “Ocean of Love” swells into a wide chorus built for group-scale vocal projection. “Not Waving-Drowning! (Revisited)” returns to the earlier dramatic text with a new mid-Seventies arrangement. “Heaven” pares the setting down to a direct vocal statement. “Waves – Part Two” resumes the instrumental motif on the second side. “Witches and Ghosts” darkens the close through spectral title imagery and extended development.

A1. “Waves – Part One (Instrumental)” (3:00)
A2. “Ocean of Love” (4:31)
A3. “Not Waving-Drowning! (Revisited)” (3:51)
A4. “Heaven” (2:49)
A5. “Next to You” (4:21)
A6. “Avenue Dreams” (2:53)

B1. “Waves – Part Two (Instrumental)” (3:15)
B2. “Moonlight” (3:15)
B3. “Everything Goes Out the Window” (3:53)
B4. “A Song for Susan” (4:21)
B5. “Witches and Ghosts” (7:35)

Dave Grinstead and Gerry Kitchingham engineered Waves. Kitchingham mixed the album, and Clive Selwood served as executive producer. Grinstead’s credit reconnects Ward to the Chipping Norton side of Mantle Pieces.

Joe Petagno supplied the sleeve illustration after his shared Hipgnosis credit on Escalator. The cover places a robed figure at the shoreline beside rolling surf, with a centered moon against a dark sky.

Philips issued “Ocean of Love” as a September 1976 single (b/w “Tomorrow Night”). Mercury later issued “Up in the World” as a March 1977 single (b/w “Not Waving, Drowning! (Revisited)”).

New England Days

Clifford T. Ward released his seventh album, New England Days, in October 1977 on Mercury.

Ward recorded New England Days with producer Bill Halverson and engineer Martie Echito. Additional recording and mixing took place at The Record Plant in Los Angeles. Tim Moore wrote “I Got Lost Tonight,” the only outside title in this nine-album sequence.

“I Got Lost Tonight” casts the outside song as a clean lead-vocal feature with a broad adult-contemporary finish. “Someone I Know” sharpens the address around a compact accusation. “New England Days” settles into the album’s transatlantic setting through a measured title refrain. “Waterwheel” turns the rural image into a circular text pattern. “Nothing New” closes on a resigned title phrase.

A1. “I Got Lost Tonight” (3:43) – Tim Moore
A2. “Sal” (3:40)
A3. “Somebody Stole My Woman” (4:09)
A4. “Someone I Know” (2:06)
A5. “You’re No Angel” (3:25)
A6. “Reckless” (3:13)

B1. “New England Days” (3:30)
B2. “Detriment” (3:27)
B3. “Waterwheel” (4:35)
B4. “If I Had Known” (2:59)
B5. “Nothing New” (3:53)

Ward shares arrangement credit with Echito, Halverson, and Waves. New England Days features string arrangements by Jimmie Haskell, used recently by Chicago on X and their transatlantic chart-topper “If You Leave Me Now.” The Record Plant credit places the album inside a Los Angeles studio network used for major West Coast album work throughout the Seventies.

Mercury issued “I Got Lost Tonight” as a September 1977 single (b/w “Detriment”). “Someone I Know” followed in January 1978 (b/w “If I Had Known”).

1978–83 Singles and Television

Ward closed his Mercury period with “Someone I Know.” Old Gold then returned “Gaye” to circulation in July 1978 (b/w “Scullery”) and repeated the pairing in 1979.

WEA issued the non-LP “Convertible” in July 1980 (b/w “Taking the Long Way Round”). “The Best Is Yet to Come” followed in January 1981 (b/w “Lost Again”), and “Contrary” appeared in April 1981 (b/w “Climate of Her Favour”). Ward and Justin de Villeneuve produced the two 1981 singles, which Philips later placed on Both of Us.

Ward kept a limited broadcast profile during the album gap. Granada featured “Someone I Know” on Get It Together in February 1978. BBC1’s Pebble Mill at One featured “Contrary” in 1981. RTÉ appearances followed with the Castlebar Song Contest and Live at 3 in 1982, then The Late Late Show in 1983 with “Watchin’ the T.V. News.”

Charisma used Ward’s “The Traveller” as the B-side to the April 1983 Lindisfarne single “Clear White Light.” Philips issued Both of Us the following year.

Both of Us

Clifford T. Ward released his eighth album, Both of Us, in March 1984 on Philips.

Both of Us followed a long break from Ward’s studio-album sequence and incorporates two earlier WEA singles: “The Best Is Yet to Come” and “Contrary.” Justin de Villeneuve co-produced those singles with Ward during the early-Eighties WEA period, after his profile as Twiggy’s manager and a fashion-industry figure.

“Messenger” carries its address in a plain mid-tempo setting. “Watchin’ the T.V. News” turns broadcast language into topical domestic commentary. “Both of Us” narrows the album’s title phrase to a private two-person exchange. “Contrary” clips its argument into a compact single-side form. “Twenty Minutes” stretches the sequence through a longer narrative span. “The Best Is Yet to Come” closes with an exposed vocal question and a restrained keyboard setting.

A1. “Still Not Free” (3:48)
A2. “Messenger” (3:23)
A3. “Watchin’ the T.V. News” (4:38)
A4. “Leaving” (4:11)
A5. “Both of Us” (4:19)
A6. “Where Do Angels Really Come From?” (3:57)

B1. “Contrary” (3:19)
B2. “Before the World Was Round” (4:30)
B3. “Waiting for the Garda” (4:35)
B4. “Change of Heart” (3:15)
B5. “Twenty Minutes” (6:35)
B6. “The Best Is Yet to Come” (2:23)

WEA issued “The Best Is Yet to Come” as a January 23, 1981 single (b/w “Lost Again”). “Contrary” followed in April 1981 (b/w “Climate of Her Favour”). Philips placed both titles on Both of Us.

Sometime Next Year

Clifford T. Ward released his ninth album, Sometime Next Year, in July 1986 on Tembo.

Sometime Next Year closes Ward’s original 1972–86 studio-album run before his multiple-sclerosis diagnosis became public the following year. Mark Tibenham supplies the main credited musical partnership as arranger and keyboardist. The song titles draw on everyday objects, broadcast terms, and institutional language through “Prams,” “Another Radio Station,” “Quiz Show,” and “Today in Parliament.”

“Prams” opens with everyday-object language and a nursery-scale image. “Another Radio Station” turns broadcast routine into a repeated title address. “Quiz Show” frames public entertainment as a moral ledger. “They Must Think Me a Fool” pivots on a blunt self-accusation. “Sometime Next Year” softens the title into deferred time. “Today in Parliament” brings institutional speech into the album’s domestic register.

A1. “Prams” (4:43)
A2. “Who Cares” (3:59)
A3. “Another Radio Station” (4:25)
A4. “Quiz Show” (4:37)
A5. “They Must Think Me a Fool” (3:37)
A6. “Sometime Next Year” (2:57)

B1. “Losin’ After All (Nothin’ New)” (3:04)
B2. “Stains” (3:32)
B3. “Turbo” (3:07)
B4. “Like an Old Song” (5:09)
B5. “Today in Parliament” (2:39)
B6. “Lost in the Flow of Your Love” (4:02)

Sometime Next Year credits Tibenham for arrangements and keyboards. Clockwork handled the design and artwork.

Tembo issued the non-LP “Cricket” as a March 1986 single (b/w “Computer”). “Sometime Next Year” followed in November 1986 (b/w “Turbo”).

Postlude

Ward’s health declined after Sometime Next Year. By the late 1980s, he had multiple sclerosis, which reduced his public activity and shifted his later work toward home recordings, demos, and small-label releases.

Virgin collected earlier material on Gaye and Other Stories in 1990. Ameless issued Laugh It Off in 1992, and Graduate followed with Julia and Other New Stories in 1995. The latter album drew on demos and outtakes, with “Julia” as the focal new title from Ward’s final release of new material.

RP Media issued Hidden Treasures in 1998, Bittersweet in 1999, and The Ways of Love in 2000. Dave Cartwright’s biography Bittersweet: The Clifford T. Ward Story appeared in 1999.

Ward contracted pneumonia in November 2001 and died at Tenbury Community Hospital on December 18, 2001, aged fifty-seven. Cherry Red and related archive labels later extended the catalogue with Anthology, This Was Our Love, Studio Sessions, and Change of Heart. The official Bandcamp archive has since made rarities, home recordings, demos, and fan-club material available online.

Discography: