Clifford Thomas Ward (10 February 1944 – 18 December 2001) was an English singer-songwriter, best known for his career as a solo artist. Ward's 1973 album Home Thoughts remains his best known recording and he had hit singles with "Gaye" and "Scullery". His reluctance to tour in support of recorded work may have affected his chances of more substantial mainstream success. Early life Born in Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, Ward was the fifth child of Kathleen and Frank Ward, a carpet factory worker whose grandparents had been Irish music-hall artistes. Ward had one older sister and three older brothers, and as children, he and his siblings picked fruit on a local farm to supplement the family income. He was educated at Stourport secondary modern school and King Charles grammar school at Kidderminster. At school he spent some time as a choir boy. He met his future wife, Pat, at school when they were teenagers. They later married after Pat became pregnant with the first of their four children. They initially lived in Castle Road, then Stourbridge Road in Kidderminster, for several years and both were active in raising funds for cerebral palsy, a condition their daughter Debbie had from birth. He was also an English teacher for about a year and a half at North Bromsgrove High School. Early career In 1962, shortly after leaving school and supporting himself with a series of clerical jobs, Ward formed a beat band Cliff Ward and the Cruisers, which won the 1963 Midland Band of the Year contest in Birmingham. The band was popular in Birmingham and also in demand at American Army bases in France. It was during this time abroad that Ward wrote "Home Thoughts from Abroad" (a song that would later appear on his second solo album and also as the B-side of "Gaye"). In the mid-1960s and after several member changes, the group was renamed Martin Raynor and The Secrets, with Ward in the role of the elusive Raynor. The fictitious name was soon dropped and the band continued on as Raynor's Secrets and as Simon's Secrets, and went on to tour around Britain and France, achieving moderate success. Along the way, six singles were recorded by the group (ten of the songs penned by Ward himself), though these made little impact. Solo career In 1967, following the demise of The Secrets, Ward decided he needed to get "a real job".