Clive Richard Shakespeare was an English-born Australian pop guitarist, songwriter and
producer died from prostate cancer he was 62. He was a co-founder of pop, rock group
Sherbet, which had commercial success in the 1970s including their number-one single, "
Summer Love" in 1975. The majority of Sherbet's original songs were co-written by Shakespeare with fellow band member
Garth Porter.
Other Sherbet singles co-written by Shakespeare include "Cassandra"
(peaked at number nine in 1973), "Slipstream" and "Silvery Moon" (both
reached number five in 1974). In January 1976 Shakespeare left the band
citing dissatisfaction with touring, pressures of writing and concerns
over the group's finances. Shakespeare has produced albums for other
artists including
Post by
Paul Kelly in 1985.
(3 June 1947 – 15 February 2012)
Biography
Main article:
Sherbet (band)
Clive Richard Shakespeare was born in
Southampton,
Hampshire,
England on 3 June 1949. With his family he migrated to Australia and settled in Sydney. As
lead guitarist, he joined various bands including The Road Agents in 1968 in Sydney with Terry Hyland on vocals.
[1] He was a founding member of Down Town Roll, which was a
Motown covers band, alongside Adrian Cuff (
organ), Frank Ma (vocals),
Doug Rea (
bass guitar), Pam Slater (vocals) and Danny Taylor on
drums.
[1]
In April 1969 Rea, Shakespeare and Taylor founded
pop,
rock band,
Sherbet with Dennis Laughlin on vocals (ex-
Sebastian Hardie Blues Band, Clapham Junction) and Sammy See on organ, guitar, and vocals (Clapham Junction).
[2] See had left in October 1970 to join
The Flying Circus and was replaced by New Zealand-born
Garth Porter (Samael Lilith, Toby Jugg) who provided Hammond organ and electric piano.
[2][3] Sherbet's initial singles were cover versions released by Infinity Records and distributed by
Festival Records.
[4]
From 1972 to 1976, Sherbet's chief songwriting team of Porter and
Shakespeare were responsible for co-writing the lion's share of the
band's material, which combined British pop and American soul
influences. For their debut album,
Time Change... A Natural Progression (December 1972), Shakespeare co-wrote five tracks including the top 30 single, "You've Got the Gun".
[2][5]
Other Sherbet singles co-written by Shakespeare include "Cassandra"
(peaked at number nine in 1973), "Slipstream" and "Silvery Moon" (both
reached number five in 1974), and their number-one hit "Summer Love"
from 1975.
[2][5] Sherbet followed with more top five singles, "Life" and "Only One You" / "Matter of Time".
[5]
In January 1976, Shakespeare left Sherbet citing 'personal reasons'.
[2]
He later explained "I couldn't even go out the front of my house
because there were all these girls just hanging on the fence [...] There
was always a deadline for Garth and me - another album, another tour.
When it did finally end, I was relieved more than anything because I had
had enough. I left the band early in 1976 for reasons I don't want to
discuss fully … but let's just say I wasn't happy about where all the
money went".
[6] The last single he played on was "Child's Play", which was a No. 5 hit in February.
[5] Shakespeare was soon replaced by
Harvey James (ex-
Mississippi,
Ariel).
[2][3] In 1977, Shakespeare issued a solo single, "I Realize" / "There's a Way" on Infinity Records.
[7]
Shakespeare set up Silverwood Studios and worked in record production, including co-producing
Paul Kelly's debut solo album,
Post (1985).
[8]
Shakespeare rejoined Sherbet for reunion concerts including the
Countdown Spectacular
tour throughout Australia during September and October 2006. That year
also saw the release of two newly recorded tracks on the compilation
album,
Sherbet – Super Hits, "Red Dress" which was written by Porter, Shakespeare,
Daryl Braithwaite, James,
Tony Mitchell, and
Alan Sandow; and "Hearts Are Insane" written by Porter. In January 2011 Harvey James died of
lung cancer – the remaining members except Shakespeare, who was too ill,
[6] performed at Gimme that Guitar, a tribute concert for James on 17 February.
[9][10]
Death
Clive Shakespeare died on 15 February 2012, aged 64, from
prostate cancer.
[11][12]
Discography
- Solo
- "I Realize" / "There's a Way" (1977)
- Production
- At the Alpine – Richard & Wendy (1978) producer
- "Stop all Your Talking" – Tuesday Piranha (1983) co-producer
- "All You Wanted" – The Apartments (1984) engineer
- "Possession" – Leonard Samperi / "Give It Up" – David Virgin (June 1984) engineer
- "Forget" – John Kennedy (September 1984) audio recorder
- Post – Paul Kelly (May 1985) co-producer
- "Ruby Baby" – Martin Plaza (1986) co-producer
- Everything – Let's Go Naked (April 1986) engineer
- Hide & Seek – Julie Blanchard (February 2012) engineer
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