Tony Clarke (April 13, 1940 – August 28, 1971) – (They Call Me) A Wrong Man (1968)

Three years before his own tragic early death, the unsung singer/songwriter whose records became Northern soul classics co-wrote this epic tale of a life gone wrong.

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Tony Clarke was a talented Detroit singer/songwriter who wrote early songs for Etta James and David Ruffin, and released a string of his own singles in the 1960s that were destined to become Northern soul classics, including the #10 R&B hit “The Entertainer” (1965) and “Landslide” (1967).

Born in New York City, Ralph Thomas Williams’ parents were Thelma Williams and her Italian-American boyfriend who last name was Giglio. They did not marry, but a few years later Williams met and married her first husband Cyril Clarke. The family moved to Detroit in 1950, where Ralph changed his name to Tony and took his stepfather’s last name. He went to school in West Detroit, but left Northwestern High School at age 16 to get married to his high school sweetheart, Joyce Elaine Heath.

In 1962, Clarke released his first single under his own name on future Westbound Records owner Armen Boladian’s Fascination label. He co-wrote both songs with Boladian (who used the pseudonym Isidore Jacobs) with the heartfelt “Cry” on the A-side and the stellar, upbeat jam “Love Must Be Taboo” on the flip.

Also in 1962, Clarke and Boladian co-wrote a song with songwriter/producer Billy Davis that a young David Ruffin recorded for Check-Mate, the Detroit-based subsidiary of Chicago’s Chess Records. The following year, Clarke and Davis again collaborated to write the track “Pushover” (1963) recorded by the great Etta James. Arranged by Bert Keyes, it was released on Chess’ jazz subsidiary Argo.

Clarke signed with Chess, and released his first single for them in 1964. His second dropped a year later, the phenomenal “Joyce Elaine,” which Clarke solely wrote and co-produced with Davis. It was named for his wife, and its lyrics were a plea for her to come back to him.

Clarke’s next single for Chess proved to be his all-time biggest hit. “The Entertainer” (1965) was a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the not always glamorous realities of stardom, b/w the ballad “This Heart of Mine,” both written by Clarke. It hit #10 on the R&B charts and #31 on the Billboard Hot 100. With his initial royalties, he bought the small Detroit record label Brute Records from LeBaron Taylor. Later in 1965, he performed “The Entertainer” live on the Nashville, Tennessee music television show Night Train, which remains some of the only footage that exists of Clarke.

Clarke then released a single that failed to chart yet was destined to become his biggest-ever record on the UK’s Northern soul scene. He wrote the upbeat, floor-filling jam “Landslide” (1966), co-produced by Leonard Caston and Billy Davis, b/w “You Made Me A V.I.P. (Very Important Person)” which Clarke also wrote.

He left Chess Records in 1966 and moved to Hollywood, where he formed Earthquake Productions and landed a small role in They Call Me Mister Tibbs!, the sequel to In The Heat Of The Night that starred Sidney Poitier and Barbara McNair. But he wanted to be closer to his four children, and eventually moved back to Detroit.

In 1968, he released his first single on the Dearborn, Michigan-based M-S Records label, with both sides produced by Ed Kaplan and arranged by Mike Terry. The upbeat heartbreak tale “(No Conception) No Sense Of Direction” (1968) was co-written by Clarke and Kaplan. Its B-side was the phenomenal, epic saga of a life gone wrong, “(They Call Me) A Wrong Man.” Clarke co-wrote it with Ty Hunter, future member of both Glass House and the Originals. Original copies of this single today sell for a cool $900 on Discogs.

The last record Clarke released in his lifetime came out 1970 on the small Denver, Colorado label Chicory Records, co-produced by Dennis Ganim and J.C. Phillips. He co-wrote the funky inner city tale “Ghetto Man” with songwriter/arranger Roger Spotts, who arranged both sides. On the flip was the superb message song “Love Power,” co-written by Chester Pipkin and Linda Hood.

By the summer of 1971, Clarke and his wife Joyce Elaine had become hopelessly estranged. The official version of events is that she took out a restraining order on him, and when he broke into her house one night, she fatally shot him, gone far too soon at age 31. But some felt for years there was more to the story, and that he might have been killed by someone else in the house. Joyce Elaine herself died in 1986 after being robbed, shot, and left for dead. No arrest was ever made for her murder.

Happy Heavenly Birthday to the great Tony Clarke.

Further info:

The Genius of Tony Clarke: Tony Clarke Seen in Hindsight, by Dr. Darlene Gaskins, 2019.

“Remembering The Legacy Of The Iconic American Soul Singer-Songwriter: Tony "The Entertainer" Clarke,” by Gena Heelz, Life in Entertainment, April 21, 2020.

#soul #funk #NorthernSoul #Detroit #TonyClarke