Andy Clark (musician)
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Andrew (Andy) Clark is an English rock composer and performer who is best known for his work on keyboards and synthesiser in the 1970s. Clark played and recorded with Jeff Beck (Upp) and Bill Nelson (Be-Bop Deluxe, Red Noise) and appeared on the David Bowie album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). He also worked for several years in Los Angeles as a session musician and has credits on records by artists including Judie Tzuke and Toyah.
Clark first came to prominence as a founder member with guitarist Mick Hutchinson of the late-1960s instrumental duo (later four-piece) Clark Hutchinson, both of them having previously played in underground band Sam Gopal Dream. Clark Hutchinson recorded four albums between 1969 and 1971, the most successful being A=MH² which reached the top ten of the UK album charts in 1969 and was regarded by John Peel as one of the most innovative recordings of the era.
After working in LA, Clark returned to Europe. He wrote and played the music for the seven-part 1983 UK television drama No Excuses which featured Charlotte Cornwell who had previously starred in the lighter-hearted Rock Follies. The screenplay by Barrie Keeffe (better-known as writer of The Long Good Friday) was the fictional story of a self-destructive female rock star having to face the fact that time moves on and her career is in decline.
The story-line demanded music and songs in a range of genres mirroring the main character's career moves over two decades and Clark's diverse sound-track was a creative tour-de-force. However, unlike Rock Follies which was entertaining and commercially successful, the story did not glamorise female rock stars or the music business. Neither the TV series itself nor later the novelisation and soundtrack release had great popular success and the project did little to boost Clark's career or finances.
The gritty subject matter had some resonances with Clark's own situation. By this time he was living in near-poverty and struggling with drug addiction and unpaid taxes, both of which were the aftermath of his dissipated rock'n'roll lifestyle in the Los Angeles music scene.
After discovering Nichiren Buddhism some years later, his life stabilised but his musical career remained low-key. This is in part because despite his talents and achievements Clark is a modest man whose gentle personality was not always suited to the rougher edges of the rock music business. During the 1990s he again played and recorded with one of his earliest musical collaborators Sam Gopal culminating in Father Mucker (1999).
Having experienced, and narrowly survived, close brushes with wealth and fame, Clark continues to live and work quietly in London, still supporting himself with his music as he has always done. He is also an accomplished and witty raconteur with many a strange tale to tell of life in the fast lane.
[edit] References
This article is based on personal recollection, Google, and the following webpages:
