Old News
4 Apr 00 Graham Patterson sent in the following gig review. Thanks Graham!
Gary and Boo did a short acoustic set, supporting Colin Vearncombe. They were stunning. They did about 6 songs including;
my last cigarette, space oddity, greedy, joke, god's favourite angel
Highlights were an unforgetable space oddity. This song will never be the same again for me. I will always picture Gary sliding his plectrum along the strings to recreate the "lift off ". Brilliant. Also the encore greedy. Boo and Gary heads down over their guitars really 'going for It'. Pure class from two great artists.
I spoke to Gary afterwards. Unfortunately he did not reveal his plans but seemed amused when I suggested he reform danny wilson. He said he was in touch, and on good terms, with all of them.
All in all a great night. Include Colin Vearncombe in that. A class musician and a top bloke!
1 Apr 00 If anyone attends the imminent Gary Clark performances, please send a review. Also, I thought it was about time for some new sound samples. To kick things off we have "Loren" (1:18 mono MP3, 308KB) by Kit Clark. It comes from the Lovedung EP which Kit released shortly after Danny Wilson disbanded. I think you will find it very much in keeping with Kit's vocal tracks from Danny Wilson.
18 Feb 00 Gary will be playing some tour dates in April with Boo Hewerdine (of The Bible) and Colin Vearncombe (aka Black). Confirmed dates are:
2nd April: Colin Vearncombe, Boo Hewerdine, Gary Clark @ BIRMINGHAM RONNIE SCOTTS
Also, latest rumor that I have heard is that Gary decided not to do another Transister album, in favor of concentrating more on his personal music projects. No word on what he is working on at the moment.
20 Jan 00 Yikes...it's been way too long since the last update. Unfortunately, I don't get a whole lot of info on what Gary is up to [Gary - if you read this, drop me a line sometime :-)]
Anyway, there IS an update. Gary was the support act at the Colin Vearncombe (Black) show last Tuesday at the Jazz Cafe (in Camden London). He played a short set, but looks like it had a few unreleased tunes. Thanks go out to Patrick Cleasby for this info and set list:
God's Favourite Angel
Also, I should have mentioned this a number of months back, but Gary has a co-write on the recently-released Colin Vearncombe album.
7 Aug 99: Saw a preview yesterday for an upcoming film starring Clair Danes called "Brokedown Palace". The music from the first part of the preview is all from "Look Who's Perfect Now" by Transister. Not sure if the song will be featured in the movie itself.
1 Aug 99: Not much news, but I did add a couple items to the Danny Wilson discography. There were 10" releases for Never Gonna Be the Same and Second Summer of Love, both of which contain b-sides unique to those releases. Thanks to Dave for the info!
1 June 99: Max Malagnino has put together a great website dedicated to Scottish pop music called Rainsound. Currently featured on the site is an interview with the man himself, Gary Clark. Hop on over and see what Gary has to say about Transister, another solo album, King L, etc. There are plenty of other great articles and reviews on the likes of Prefab Sprout, High Llamas, Marina Records, etc. Thanks Max!
29 May 99: Well, in the absence of any -NEW- information on Gary, here's some old information (that I will eventually fold into other parts of this page). It may not be 100% accurate, but should be interesting.
Prior to Danny Wilson, Gary was involved in the following projects:
(If anyone has tapes of any of these, please contact me! :-)
Following the breakup of Danny Wilson, and before recording his solo album, Gary released at least one record as the group "Eleven". Their one known release is the 12" single "You Can't Turn Around To Me" released on Seven Records. The track was backed with "A Place to Stay". One or more members of Prefab Sprout was reportedly somehow involved in the project. The track "You Can't Turn Around To Me" later appeared as a b-side for one of Gary's solo singles.
At around the same time, Kit Clark released the 4-track EP "Lovedung" on Reverb Records. The record contained "Loren", "Men Without Women (A Way You'll Never Be)", "Comeback", and "Baby No". Stylistically, the songs were right in keeping with those that Kit had wrote and sang in Danny Wilson, with "Loren" easily sounding like it could have been a DW track.
14 May 99: Just a quick note that CDNow is taking $10 off any order $14.99 or higher through May 17 if you enter through these links, so if you are looking for Gary's solo album or either Danny Wilson album, you can get a good price on them.
10 May 99: Sorry to say I haven't heard any major news to report, but I do have a couple things:
Gary co-wrote a single from Wendy Matthews CD "Ghosts". The song is called "Then I Walked Away" and has also been released as a cd single (#74321 48026-2, BMG Australia). Eric Pressley co-wrote the track. (Thanks Kirk!)
I found a Ged Grimes page that gives an update on his activities. He has been doing music for film, tv, and videogames, and will be openning a digital studio within Radio Tay's complex.
14 Feb 99: Just noticed that Transister's "Flow" is included on the "Jawbreaker" soundtrack, and was specifically mentioned in a Rolling Stone Review, February 18, 1999.
25 Jan 99: Happy new year to one and all. Unfortunately, I have received very little word of Gary's activities so I have little to report. If anyone has word on what Gary is up to, please let me know and I will pass it on here.
Sometime early this year, I hope to do some work on this page and segment it a little better into individual areas for Danny Wilson, Gary Clark solo, King L, and Transister. As time allows. :-)
For those of you who have never been able to get a hold of Gary's solo album "Ten Short Songs About Love, it appears it may be back in print. I happened to be checking out CDNow...they're currently running a sale...and when I typed in Gary's name, there it was. Although not as consistent an effort as the Danny Wilson studio albums, there are nevertheless some very good tracks on it, including the excellent "This is Why, J".
06 Sept 98: Pynkbyrd@aol.com wrote me to see if anyone associated with Danny Wilson was aware of the Donna Lewis tune "I Could Be the One" from her new album "Blue Planet". Portions of the song sound remarkably similar to "Mary's Prayer"...enough so to make one wonder if Gary is credited on the tune. Check out the audio samples yourself and see if you don't agree.
Well, thanks to info from Aaron who runs one of the Donna Lewis sites, it turns out that Gary is indeed co-writer of the track. I'll let you know more if I hear anything.
20 July 98: Jay Ehret sent mail that "Mary's Prayer" appears on the There's Something About Mary soundtrack. Very nice...also features three cuts by the incomparable Jonathan Richman. The film was written by the same folks that wrote "Kingpin" (which coincidentally also featured Jonathan Richman as a barroom singer) and was very funny in a bent sort of way.
06 July 98: Andrew Bradley sent in a URL for an official UK Transister site at http://raft.vmg.co.uk/transister/. Phil Hogarth sent the following track list for the new 'Look Who's Perfect Now' UK single:
U.K. c.d. release[cat.no. VSCDX1678]
23 Mar 98: Alan Matheson sent me a link to the official Swiss Family Orbison site. Be sure to check it out to get info on debut album from SFO.
19 Mar 98: Angus Robb from Scotland dropped me a line and said that Gary will be in Scotland this week because Transister is scheduled to play on national TV in support of their single "Look Who's Perfect Now" which is getting great airplay and was just released in the stores. (Can someone let me know what what the b-sides for this release are? Thanks!)
12 Feb 98: Looking for "Meet Danny Wilson" on CD? Ron at Horizon's Music has three copies at $15 each. Contact him at ron@horizons-music.com. If they are out, please let me know so I can remove this note.
25 Nov 97: The info that I had previously reported regarding Kit Clark's new release was erroneous. The debut CD by Swiss Family Orbison is now slated for release in the UK on January 12th. And as of this writing, they aren't touring with Teenage Fanclub on their next tour. Sorry about passing on rumour instead of fact...that's the internet for ya.
I've also heard from someone who saw Transister's video "Look Who's Perfect Now" on MTV, so it's definitely out there. It was on a show where the hosts pick their favorite new videos/songs.
21 Oct 97: The new Transister album on Interscope Records is out and in stores in the US. The bad news (for Gary Clark fans) is that Gary doesn't sing any lead vocals, and his backup vocals are fairly buried in the production. The good news is that Transister has a really contemporary production and sound and could end up doing very well on the charts. I think a video is being made for their first single, "Look Who's Perfect Now". It would be kind of cool to turn on MTV or VH1 and see Gary and co on television. Keely Hawks has a good voice and the songs are pretty catchy (and this is coming from someone who doesn't care for No Doubt and can't easily name a Garbage tune). Check out CDUniverse for a tracklisting and samples.
31 Aug 97: Gary Clark is all over Lauren Christy's new album "Breed". He plays on and wrote several of the tracks, and sings a duet on "Burn". Check out this Lauren Christy fan site for sound samples and more info. Gary also co-wrote the song "Rain" on Lauren's debut album.
13 July 97: Andrew Bradley contacted me. He used to run the King L fan club and is still in contact with Gary and Alison. He had lots of great information:
Gary and Alison are both very busy. They have just bought a home in LA in the same block as Lauren Christy. Gary Clark has a track with Lauren Christy on the Batman and Robin soundtrack called 'Breed'. Gaz does the instruments and production, they have collaborated a lot over the years. I've heard some tracks for Lauren's album and they are excellent. One track I have also heard is the duet "Burning Bridges" which is a ballad, and the Gaz-produced "The Night I Saved Peter Ustinov" (weird).
The Transister album is FANTASTIC, Keeley Hawkes is the singer (daughter of Chip Hawkes from the Tremeloes). The music is state-of-the-art pop with heavy guitars and odd samples. It will strike a chord with anyone who likes the current wave of female solo performers but it has an extra element - humour. It fits in with Gary's love of experimentation (ref. b-sides from the 'Ten Short Songs' period). Actually it's a bit like Garbage as well. The album will be released in August...that's the latest anyway.
I have heard one of Gary's solo works called 'God's Favourite Angel' which might see light of day at some point if he ever gets the chance to make another solo record. It is absolutely the best song he has ever written.
Gary and Boo have collaborated with David McAlmont, the first single will be 'Look at Yourself', due in the UK soon (it's really good pop music, vaguely glam, loads of horns and wailing harmonica) - credited to McAlmont.
Gary is currently helping with Alison's solo album along with Neill MacColl.
9th April: Colin Vearncombe, Boo Hewerdine, Gary Clark @ LONDON RONNIE SCOTTS
Last Cigarette
Greedy
Stars Remember When You Smile
Stella Luna
Don't Believe in Hollywood
Space Oddity
Baby Blue No2
1980 - Clark's Commandos (w/ Ged Grimes)
1984 - Good Friday (other members unknown)
1985 - Perfect Strangers (w/ Ged and Lisa ??? - now married to Ged) - did support shows for Chris De Burgh(!!!).
1985 - Swiss Family Orbison (Gary, Ged, Kit), then renamed Spencer Tracy
1986 - Spenser Tracy forced to change name due to legal problems w/ Spenser Tracy's estate.
look who's perfect now
look who's perfect now [luke slaters electric funk mix]
flying so high [featuring damon brown]
house to myself
back to antimatter containment field