' Clown ' was formed in Plymouth in 1970 by drummer Ley Perryman and lead guitarist Terry Ball, who had worked together in various Plymouth bands several years earlier. Alan Hodgson, known as ' Alby ' (later to become Toots Earl), was the band's lead singer. Clown recorded six original songs in January 1971 at Gemini Studios in Cricklewood which generated interest from a number of music companies, including EMI and CBS.
The original line-up consisted of Alan Hodgson (lead singer), Paul Arscott (bass guitar, saxophone, harmonica and vocals), Terry Ball (lead guitar and vocals), Dave Ahern (guitar, flute, violin and vocals), Steve Parrish (keyboards) and Ley Perryman (drums and congas).
Following CBS' offer of a five-year contract, a number of demo tracks (later known as the 'Chappell demos') were produced in June 1971 in a small basement studio below the Chappell music publishing company offices in Hanover Square, London. Clown later signed a publishing deal with Chappell. A single and several album tracks were recorded around the corner at the CBS studios in Bond Street in October 1971.
CBS released the single ' Lord of the ringside ' in April 1972. It received favourable reviews in Melody Maker and on Radio 1 , but CBS appeared reluctant to promote it, and somewhat at a loss as to what to do with the album. The problem seemed to be that they couldn't define a genre for the music, which had such diverse influences as folk, blues, jazz and rock, and which was at odds with the trends prevailing in the music scene at the time.
Following completion of the album, the band continued to perform live gigs and supported many well-known bands, including Lindisfarne, Black Widow and Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Without a manager, however, and with no experience of how the music industry operated, the lack of support from CBS, together with dwindling finances, eventually led to the disintegration of Clown. Base player Paul Arscott and lead guitarist Terry Ball made the decision to leave the band (keyboard player Steve Parrish had already quit shortly after recording the album due to illness).
The band was re-formed with a new keyboard player and bass player, the first of several changes in lineup. Clown enjoyed some success playing live gigs, but CBS consistently failed to set a date for any further recording sessions. The situation was no doubt exacerbated by the fact that the band had wrecked a newly opened disco called ' Bumpers ' in Leicester Square during an audition for Swedish TV!
Eventually, most of the original band members had left the band, including Ley Perryman. Alby himself also finally bowed out, totally disillusioned with the music scene. Clown had struggled on through various incarnations, but the lack of input from CBS accelerated their demise. Although their career was relatively brief, Clown became cult figures on the Plymouth music scene.
Mike Oxlong, M.N.E. (Music News and Echo), 2006
