Music royalty: Gary Clark

Slessor Gardens, Dundee, September 15

Gary Clark is a member of Dundee’s musical royalty, even though only those with an in-depth knowledge of and memory for such things might be able to place the name.

If you’re wondering where you know him from, all we need to say is that he was the singer and songwriter behind Mary’s Prayer, the huge and still-loved transatlantic hit for his band Danny Wilson in 1988.

Clark was raised in Douglas, and he describes it as “a cool place to grow up in the 1970s”, especially as a glam rock fanatic.

One of his best friends at school was Ged Grimes, and – after starting a course at art college and spending time in London trying to make it as a musician from the age of 19 – Clark returned to Dundee and started a group called Spencer Tracy with Grimes (who is now in Simple Minds) and Clark’s brother Kit. An objection from the actor’s estate meant they were renamed Danny Wilson following their major label signing in 1986.

“Dundee’s always produced great music and musicians, but it’s never really been scene-y,” says Clark now, reeling off a disparate list of examples including the Average White Band, Michael Marra, the Associates and The View. “None of them sound like any of the others. Dundee’s identity is its eclecticism, and its distance from the ley lines of the big cities removes it from the pressure to conform.”

Danny Wilson released the albums Meet Danny Wilson (1987), and Bebop Moptop (1989), containing their other hit The Second Summer of Love, before splitting in 1991. At this point Clark was in London, releasing solo material as well as working with the bands King L and Transister, but it was in songwriting where he made his new, behind-thescenes name.

He has regularly written and produced for Natalie Imbruglia since her 2001 album White Lilies Island, as well as doing work for pop acts like Mark Owen, Melanie C and Demi Lovato, and classic artists including Chris Difford, Liz Phair and fellow Scots Lloyd Cole and Deacon Blue.

Five years ago he moved back to Dundee from Los Angeles, and this will be his biggest show since his return. “I’m doing a short set to close the free concert on Saturday,” he says.

“I’ve mustered an incredible band with members of Danny Wilson, Deacon Blue, Swiss Family Orbison, Idlewild and the Hazey Janes, although we only have one rehearsal the day before and I won’t know the exact set until we all get in a room together.

“I can say that we’re going to be joined on stage for the last song by a very large choir provided by Sistema Scotland, which will be a thrill for me and, I hope, the audience.”

Gary Clark made his name as the frontman of band Danny Wilson, which found fame with hit Mary’s Prayer.