Clem Curtis (born Curtis Clements; 28 November 194027 March 2017) was a Trinidadian British singer, who was the original lead vocalist of 1960s soul group the Foundations.
Background Early life Born in Trinidad as Curtis Clements, he arrived in England at the age of fifteen and later found employment as an interior decorator. He entered boxing and won most of his fights as a professional boxer. His mother was a popular singer in Trinidad and Curtis claims that this contributed to his ear for music.
As a teenager he experienced racism when he and two white friends were charged with theft. As it turned out, Curtis was the only one of the three that had a custodial sentence.The Sydney Morning Herald, March 31, 2017 — Clem Curtis, original singer with the Foundations
Curtis also took up wrestling and weightlifting for his hobbies.Disc and Music Echo, November 4, 1967 - Page 11 Eight faces that laid the FOUNDATIONS of a hit!, * Clem Curtis
Musical Curtis later reformed a version of the Foundations. Over the years, Curtis fronted various line-ups of the Foundations, as well as appearing on his own as a solo artist. He recorded and released records on various record labels, including EMI, Opium, Pye Records, RCA Records, Riverdale, and others.
Career The Ramong Sound Between 1966 and 1967 Curtis joined the Ramong Sound. He joined the group after hearing from his uncle that Ramong, Raymond Morrison, the lead singer of the group, was looking for backing singers. Curtis initially had very limited singing experience, only singing with his uncle when he came around the house with the guitar.
After the Ramong Sound lost their original lead singer, the band took on board Arthur Brown temporarily, and went through a few name changes before they became the Foundations Arthur Brown stated in an interview that in his time with the group, he enjoyed singing with Curtis. They both sang separately as well as doing some duets.
Decades later, Arthur Brown had a recollection of when he walked into the Westbourne Grove bar for an audition, he saw Curtis holding a spear to the throat of the drummer who was bent backwards over the bar.Louder, January 15, 2004 - Arthur Brown: Fire Starter by Hugh Fielder
At some stage, Rod Stewart had sat in with the band for a night but he had other plans.It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine, 22 July 2011 - Pluto interview with Paul Gardner & Alan Warner, You were in The Foundations and recorded four albums
During the time of the band's evolving from the Ramong Sound to the Foundations, Curtis was tied up by a protection racket gang with someone holding a knife to his throat. As a result, they had to move out with all their belongings to the derelict Mini Cab office above the old premises. This is where they were discovered by Ron Fairway.Alan Warner website - The FoundationsCherry Red Records, June 13, 2022 - THE FOUNDATIONS| Discover the 'Pye' recordings of The Foundations in this new collection – 'Am I Groovin' You'
The Foundations 1960s
The group emerged in early 1967 with Curtis as their lead singer. The Foundations would go on to have worldwide hits with "Baby Now That I've Found You" and "Build Me Up Buttercup". Curtis is the lead voice on their hits "Baby Now That I've Found You", "Back on My Feet Again", and "Any Old Time (You're Lonely and Sad)".Billboard, 03/28/2017 - Foundations Singer Clem Curtis Dies at 76 By Andrew Unterberger
Curtis was the guest reviewer for the Blind Date Section of the October 28, 1967 issue of Melody Maker. He reviewed singles by Stevie Wonder, The Kinks, John Walker, Lee Dorsey, Madeline Hell, Chris Barber's Band, Brian Auger and the Trinity, Arthur Conley, The Creation, Mille Small and Astrud Gilberto.Melody Maker, October 28, 1967 - Page 14 BLIND DATE, CLEM CURTIS OF THE FOUNDATIONS
An article "Foundations find a few problems in the States" by Bob Dawbarn in the 29 June 1968 issue of Melody Maker told of incident in the United States where Curtis lost his temper with a policeman. Curtis and Peter MacBeth were driving through San Francisco to Los Angeles. They were stopped by the police. The policeman took MacBeth's license and went around the back of the car possibly to check the number plate. Curtis turned around to look and the policeman started shouting at him "Have you got anything to say" and told him to sit down. Curtis lost his temper telling him, "You may talk to your American spades like that but I'm British". He also said "Don't you dare speak to me like that", and he would have his badge off of him as well. Apparently the policeman looked amazed.Melody Maker, June 29, 1968 - Page 7 Foundations find a few problems in the States - Bob Dawbarn
After having found success with The Foundations, two hit singles and releasing two albums, some problems started with their songwriter producer Tony Macaulay as well within the group. Curtis felt that after their hit a couple of The Foundations members were taking things a little too easy thinking that they did not need to work so hard now that they had scored a hit. After being disillusioned with the band, he along with another member, Mike Elliott, left The Foundations in 1968 just after recording a version of "It's All Right", a song that they had been playing live for some time.Baby Now That I've Found You CD, Sequel Records NEECD 300, Notes by Roger Dopson He stuck around long enough to help the band audition a replacement. One of the singers auditioning was Warren Davis of the Warren Davis Monday Band. His replacement turned out to be Joey Young (Colin Young).Melody Maker, October 5, 1968 - JOEY REPLACES CURTIS
In 1969, a self-titled album, The Foundations was released on the Marble Arch label (cat MALS 1157). It was among the selection of lower priced records listed in the 18 October 1969 issue of New Musical Express.New Musical Express, October 18, 1969 - Page 12 UNDER A£ It featured stereo re-recordings of songs previously recorded by The Foundations.Last Dodo - The Foundations 1970 LP: MALS 1157The Foundations, Baby Now That I've Found You CD Sequel Records – NEECD 300 Notes by Roger Dopson The songs "Any Old Time (You're Lonely and Sad)", "Back on My Feet Again", "Harlem Shuffle", "Tomorrow" and "We Are Happy People" had appeared on the Rocking the Foundations album released the previous year.Popsike - Foundations The Foundations Marble Arch Records MAL1157 Mono Vinyl LP AlbumPopsike - Foundations Rocking The Foundations UK vinyl LP album record NPL18227 PYE 1968 "Baby Now That I've Found You" with Colin Young on vocals from the Marble Arch LPThe Second Disc, August 24, 2022 - NEWS, Build Me Up, Buttercup: Cherry Red Collects The Foundations on "Am I Groovin' You", CD2 Plus:, 16. Baby, Now That I've Found You (Colin Young Vocal/Stereo) (from The Foundations, Marble Arch LP MALS 1157, 1969) has the same backing track as the original version by Clem Curtis.The Foundations channel, Jan 4, 2023 - The Foundations - Baby Now That I've Found You (Stereo) (Colin Young Version) (Official Audio)The Foundations channel, Dec 22, 2022 - The Foundations - Baby Now That I've Found You (Mono) (Official Audio) The new version of "Tomorrow" when referred to years later, gets referred to as the alternate version. This version has Colin Young on vocals instead of Clem Curtis' vocals which appeared on the live version. They too have the same backing track. However, the Colin Young re-recording is a longer edit.The Foundations channel, Jan 4, 2023 - The Foundations - Tomorrow (Alternate Version) (Official Audio)The Foundations Channel, Jul 21, 2021 - Tomorrow (Live) "Tomorrow" was originally on the Rocking the Foundations albumAmazon - The Foundations - Rocking The Foundations - Pye Records - NSPL 18227 NM/NM LP which was a mixture of actual live and studio tracks.It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine, July 22, 2011 - Pluto interview with Paul Gardner & Alan Warner, The Foundations Albums: It's likely that there were some recordings with Clem Curtis on lead vocals in existence, but his vocals were replaced with those by Colin Young.
1970s Clem Curtis & the Foundations During the 1970s, the group was called Clem Curtis & the Foundations but sometimes used the Foundations name.The Stage, Thursday 14 December 1972 - SEASONAL SNIPPETS FROM WALES--DEREK WAYLANDGetty Images - English Pop Group Foundations arrived in Sydney to start a month long tour of Australia Curtis and his Foundations toured Australia in 1975. Unfortunately, the tour was marred with a trumped up assault charge which resulted in Curtis being taken off of a Jet by the New South Wales police, put into handcuffs and put into a police cell.
In 1977, Clem Curtis and the Foundations nearly got into the Eurovision final with "Where Were You When I Needed Your Love", a John Macleod and Dave Meyers composition. They came third in the heats, and were picked as a favourite to win, but an electricians' strike ruined their chances, and "Rock Bottom" by Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran was the winner.
Reconnection with another Foundations member Curtis and Alan Warner worked on a project to re-cut the original Foundations hits. The result was the Greatest Hits CD album that was released on Double Play GRF176 in or around 1994. The recordings were produced and arranged by Keith Bateman and in addition to Warner on guitar and Curtis on lead vocals, the recordings featured Andy Bennett on Drums and Vince Cross on keyboards.Discogs - The Foundations – Greatest HitsTelevision, July 1994 Vol. 44, No. 9, Issue 525 - Page 4 CD GRF176
Solo career and other ventures 1960s Curtis went on to pursue a solo career in the United States. This was probably helped along by the encouragement of his friend Sammy Davis Jr. Debut single