|
MARTIN
CLARKE AND CLARION RECORDS
WA's
iconic entrepreneur remembered and written by Colin Nichol
|
In the
early 1960's Clarion was Western Australia's first and only significant
record label, but it made a big impression on the national scene, with a
number of singles further being licensed overseas in the US and UK.
Owned and
run by founder, record producer and WA music industry luminary Martin
Clarke, Clarion was later distributed by Festival Records (now Festival
/ Mushroom / Warner), and had enough hits to keep going until the late
70's. Clarke was instrumental in not only the success of countless local
artists, including Johnny Young and The Valentines, featuring Bon Scott,
but also the development of the local music industry.
Bon Scott
was seen by Clarke on the stage of Canterbury Court Ballroom and he
promptly recorded him in his studios in early 1967. "He had a good voice
- very good", Martin confirmed to me. Those were the first studio
records by Scott, along with the Valentines and then the Spektors.
In
recognition of Clarke's contribution he was inducted into the WA Music (WAM)
Hall of Fame on 18 February 2005 which recognised his success in the
fields of recording, promotion, talent-spotting and organisation.
Of the
early days, Clarke once said: "Good, bad or indifferent, it was nice to
be able to be the first that really made successful recordings in
Western Australia. People had been making all sorts of records in Perth,
which never saw the light of day. The Clarion label brought it into the
national and even international scope".
Clarke
said when Clarion was operating, especially during the 60s and 70s, it
was a time when things "really happened" and there was always work
around for people with talent. "You couldn't stop it. It was just
happening. That to me was the age. But as far as product is concerned, I
think there are good things still to come." |
 |
In its heyday
of almost three-decades long history, Clarion issued as many as five
releases a week. Right up to mid-2006, Clarke was licensing re-releases of
his early hits and compilations through UK labels and by then UK-based, was
talking of bringing a major artist to tour Australia.
In London,
where he moved in 1978, he worked with Valentine Music finding, promoting
and recording talent while organising tours and public relations for such
performers as Dave Brubeck. He continued, as he had always done,
occasionally commuting to the USA as part of his music activities.
Passionate
about music by the age of 12, Clarke worked at Radio 6PR at 15 and built the
Clarion studio at 272 Hay Street Perth by the time he was 21. As a colleague
and family friend, I recall the teenage Martin recording earlier in the
living room at the family home on Glyde Street, Mosman Park, with drums
isolated to the bathroom for sound separation. He was strong-willed and
determined to put Perth on the national music map, despite critics saying
Perth was too small.
He described
his purpose-built recording studio: "The studio was what we call a room
within a room, the ceiling was high, it was 26 feet." However, it wasn't
until 1966 that the Clarion label was really up and running. Clarke says
that it was simply impossible to set up a label straight way so he was
available for any type of recording.
|
"I wanted
to get into recording, not only music, but everything"; so he did just
that, recording choirs, bands and, of course, his own beloved dramatic
programs, one of which was called 'Deadline Plus Five', "All the action
had to be finished within five minutes." What makes Clarke's
accomplishment more incredible is that during the 60s most recordings,
which were played on the less than 150 existent commercial radio
stations Australia-wide, were coming out of Melbourne and Sydney.
His
studio was not only the best, it was the only one here of consequence,
world standard and ahead of its time for Australia. The Clarion Records
label he created put many Western Australian artists on the map and
launched careers that might otherwise have been stifled by the isolation
of Perth.
I found
the music talent through running my live dance shows around the city,
metropolitan and country areas and Martin had the ability and facilities
to record them. He had the gumption to get up there and do it, and he
did something that nobody else could do, when he created his own label
in 1962.
His
passion for recording radio dramas as well as music of all
genres extended
to his interest in theatre,
working
for the National Playhouse Theatre where he took part in a number of
productions including Pygmalion, Cyrano de Bergerac and Aunty Mame.
He always cited Johnny
Young as his favourite recording artist and the key to his success. For
his part,
Johnny never hesitates to give Clarke full credit for
launching his national career. |
 |
Clarke's dedication to
professional production saw him install world standard recording and disc
cutting equipment ahead of elsewhere in Australia.
His
state-of-the-art specially imported Neumann lacquer-cutting lathe enabled
him to have total control over his product and this remains a 'first' for
Australia.
Apart from
occasional recordings with the symphony orchestra, it was mostly players
from pubs who recorded on Clarke's label. He attributes being at the right
place at the right time. "It just happened that all the talent was in
Western Australia at the time because the hits that we made weren't just
hits in WA, but hits in every part of Australia."
Clarion had a
subsidiary imprint Action, but few singles are known to have been released
on that label. The first single issued on Clarion in 1962 was Jag Drag b/w
Little White Star by Peter Piccini and His Orchestra, both composed by him.
The A-side was an instrumental; the B-side was a song with monologue, about
the then-recent space flight of John Glenn, which made reference to Glenn
having seen the lights of Perth from orbit.
Maestro
Piccini, a renowned accordionist and composer-arranger, later became musical
director for the Nine Network. He arranged, conducted and played on many
Clarion recordings. The early releases from the label, distributed by Clarke
himself, were largely by local TV personalities, but when he began recording
local rock bands such as The Times, Russ Kennedy & The Little Wheels, Roy
Hoff & The Off Beats, and especially Johnny & The Strangers, soon to become
Johnny Young & Kompany, sales began to rise.
1966 saw the
manufacture and distribution of Clarion recordings taken on by Festival
Records from
16 May,
on a national
basis. This triggered the reissue of some of the records that had already
been successful in Western Australia like The Skye Boat Song by Glen Ingram,
songs by Robby Snowden, Johnny Young and others. Over the next few years
sales were strong and the label earned three gold record awards.
Clarke's
success not only extended to the Australian market, but the international
one as well, making trips to the US at least twice a year, for months at a
time, promoting Perth-based artists. He worked hard for his artists, listing
of whom covers the music scene of the period: Chris and John, Swingshift,
Colin Cook, Maggie Hammond, the Proclamation, The Clan, Gemini, The Birds (a
knock-off of the originals), Lloyd Lawson, The Hi-Five, The Offbeats, The
Court Jesters, Chalice, Joy Mulligan, Sue Jennings, Bill Shepherd.
The label's
first major success was Johnny Young's double-sided hit Cara-Lynn/Step Back
(May 1966) and Johnny featured prominently on the Clarion catalogue until
mid-1969. Festival Records eventually took over the Young contract when
buying the Clarion catalogue.
The
Valentines signed with the label in May 1967, as well as Glenn Ingram, Toni
Lamond, Perth's 'pop prince' Robbie Snowden, and songwriter Bill Millar. It
was Millar, in collaboration with Clarke, who recorded one of Clarion's most
remarkable singles, the outrageous psychedelic confection Even Stevens
Hypnotic Suggestion, which they released under the pseudonym 'The Vegetable
Garden'.
He enabled
the likes of Hi Five, The Times, Swingshift, Wayne Pride, Les Meade, the
Quarefellas, and many others to reach the greatest potential audience, even
overseas. His list of artists is very long and includes as well: Fatty
Lumpkin, Tex and Clem Croft, Watts and Martin, Bill Shepherd and Orchestra,
Terry Walker, Toni Lamond, the Troupadours, Tony Tyler, Maggie Hammond, Russ
Kennedy and the Little Wheels.
In February
1978 the label was wound up. In 1989, still active in music, Clarke felt he
had gone as far he could. His mother, the last of his family in Perth, had
passed on in 1985 and he decided it was time to move on. "The world was
changing, it always does, and music just keeps moving on."
Having
already seen the world thanks to his success with Clarion, Clarke finally
made the decision to move to England, where he still had family connections
and branch out in the music business abroad. "There's nothing wrong with
Australia, I love Australia."
|
After,
according to him, some difficulties over the expiry of his agreement
with Festival Records, Martin regained the rights to his catalogue and
licensed the Clarion/Action catalogue to the British reissue label
Cherry Red which, with other archive recordings, compiled the CD Clarion
Call, an overview of the Clarion singles of the Sixties and mixes
well-known hits with more obscure material, including the ultra-rare
demo version of Johnny Young's breakthrough hit Step Back.
His last
release was of previously unheard archive recordings of Scott and the
Spektors from an early Perth TV show, preceding the Valentines and
the-later AC/DC. In his earliest days, rock legend Bon Scott was "quiet
and polite; well behaved", Clarke observed to me. Little sign then, in
1966-68, of the wild behaviour that later became his trademark.
Martin
died suddenly of a heart attack in Surrey England, four months short of
66, on 28 March. 2006. He had been active and well known in the London
music scene since leaving WA and was still deeply involved in the
industry that was his life. Finding new talent was his driving force.
"The
standard of recorded sound he achieved is still held in high regard",
WAMI (the West Australian Music Industry Association Inc) Executive
Director Paul Bodlovich stated in part. "It's hard to overstate the
impact that Martin had on the local music industry. His induction to the
WA Music Hall of Fame drew considerable attention and reminded us all of
the importance of acknowledging the past in looking to build a better
future." |
 |
Tributes to
Martin Clarke came from, amongst others, artists, print media and radio
stations, two of which devoted programmes to him. His impressive lifetime
output, originally on vinyl then cassette, is now on CD and as the
technology changes and moves on, so his legacy is carried on. And his memory
continues to be valued by those who knew him.
Acknowledgements: WAMI, Cherry Red Records, Miles Ago |