Gary Clail (born 1956) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

, and the founder of the Gary Clail Sound System. He was part of

On-U Sound Records On-U Sound Records is an English record label known for releasing its own unique flavour of dub music since the 1980s. The label was founded by Adrian Sherwood in 1979/1980 and is home to acts such as Tackhead, Dub Syndicate, African Head Char ...

(and also the On-U Sound System) and led Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System. They had a big hit in clubs with the 1991 song "

Human Nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...

Biography

Clail worked originally as a

roofer A roofer, roof mechanic, or roofing contractor is a tradesperson who specializes in roof construction. Roofers replace, repair, and install the roofs of buildings, using a variety of materials, including shingles, bitumen, and metal. Roofin ...

, but during the mid- to late 1980s, based in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, he became a warm-up act for On-U gigs. Clail first released a record in 1985. Several 12"

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

were issued between 1985 and 1987, before Clail's first LP for Nettwerk, ''Tackhead Tape Time'', a split effort between Clail and

Tackhead Tackhead (styled TACK>>HEAD, sometimes known as Fats Comet) is an industrial hip-hop group that was most active during the 1980s and early 1990s, and briefly reformed in 2004 for a tour. Their music occupies the territory where funk, dub, indus ...

. "Television: The Drug of the Nation" by

The Beatnigs The Beatnigs were an American, San Francisco-based band, which combined hardcore punk, industrial and hip hop influences, described as "a kind of avant-garde industrial jazz poets collective". The band was the initial collaboration of Michael Fr ...

was

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed by Clail,

Adrian Sherwood Adrian Maxwell Sherwood (born 20 January 1958, London, England) is an English record producer specialising in the genre of dub music. He has created a distinctive production style based on the application of dub effects and dub mixing technique ...

and Mark Stewart, on the

Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single " California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent label, t ...

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

in 1988. In 1989, Clail, billed as Gary Clail & On-U Sound System, released an album on the label On-U Sound, marking his entrance to the

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

underground scene in Bristol, eventually leading him to work with

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

a couple of years later. This output incorporated several singles and

EPs EPS, EPs or Eps may refer to: Commerce and finance * Earnings per share * Electronic Payment Services, in Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen, China * Express Payment System, in the Philippines Education * Edmonton Public Schools, in Edmonton, Al ...

, as well as the ''Emotional Hooligan'' album (1991). Clail released a further album on Yelen Records, entitled ''Keep the Faith'' (1996). In 2013 Clail formed the Gary Clail Sound System and began work on the album 'Nail It To The Mast'. It was released on 15 December 2014.

Discography

Singles

*Gary Clail - "Half Cut for Confidence" (1985) *Gary Clail and

- "Hard Left" (1986) *Tackhead / Gary Clail - "Reality" (1989) *Gary Clail On-U Sound System featuring

Bim Sherman , children = Chantelle Vincent, Rasiah Vincent Jarret Lloyd Vincent (12 February 1950 – 17 November 2000), better known by one of his stage aliases Bim Sherman (others include Jarrett Tomlinson, Jarrett Vincent, Lloyd Vincent, J. L. ...

- "Beef" (1990) – UK #64 *Gary Clail On-U Sound System - "

" (1991) – UK #10, AUS #38,Australian (

ARIA Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

) peaks: *Top 50 peaks: *Top 100 peaks from January 1990 to December 2010: *"Escape", "The Emotional Hooligan", "Who Pays the Piper", "These Things Are Worth Fighting For" and "Another Hard Man": *''Dreamstealers'' and ''Keep the Faith'':

IRE Ire or IRE may refer to: Ire * Extreme anger; intense fury * Irē, the Livonian name for Mazirbe, Latvia * A town in Oye, Nigeria * ''Ire'' (album), a 2015 album by the Australian metalcore band Parkway Drive * Ire (Iliad), a town mentioned in ...

#27, NED #69 *Gary Clail On-U Sound System - "Escape" (1991) – UK #44, AUS #117 *Gary Clail On-U Sound System - "The Emotional Hooligan" (1991) *Gary Clail On-U Sound System - "Who Pays The Piper?" (1992) – UK #31, AUS #177 *Gary Clail On-U Sound System - "These Things Are Worth Fighting For" (1993) – UK #45, AUS #157 *Gary Clail On-U Sound System - "Speak No Evil" (1993) (promotional release only) *Gary Clail - "Another Hard Man" (1995) – UK #86

Studio albums

*Gary Clail On-U Sound System - ''End Of The Century Party'' (1989) *Gary Clail On-U Sound System - ''Emotional Hooligan'' (1991) – UK #35, AUS #95 *Gary Clail On-U Sound System - ''Dreamstealers'' (1993) – AUS #180, NZ #38 *Gary Clail - ''Keep The Faith'' (1995) *Gary Clail Soundsystem - ''Nail it to the Mast'' (2014)

Compilation albums

*Gary Clail - ''Human Nature: The Very Best of Gary Clail'' (1997)

References

External links

2014 Release Nail It To The MastOfficial Tackhead websiteOn-U Sound website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clail, Gary Living people English record producers English rock singers English male singers Musicians from Bristol On-U Sound Records artists Tackhead members 1959 births