Clarke was born to Fred and Vie Clarke, in 1950, in
Merton Park, London. He attended
Rutlish Grammar School where he took violin lessons and joined the school orchestra. In 1964, Clarke formed Stonewall Blues Band with his school friends and performed at local youth clubs. In 1966, he left Rutlish Grammar School and joined
Advision Studios as an assistant engineer where he worked on sessions with
Vic Flick,
Big Jim Sullivan,
Jimmy Page,
Graham Bond and others. In 1968, Clarke formed
Killing Floor with Bill Thorndycraft in London. Stuart McDonald, Bazz Smith and
Lou Martin joined the band later that year. In 1969, the band recorded their first album
Killing Floor which was released on
Spark Records as well as
Sire Records in the United States. Later that year, the band toured to multiple locations in England alongside
Howlin' Wolf,
Otis Spann and
Freddie King. In October 1971, Clarke joined Funky Fever, a rock band formed by
Lenny Zakatek and toured extensively with them to Germany and the United Kingdom. In 1972, Clarke performed with Killing Floor at Huntington College in London after which Killing Floor disbanded and did not perform for the next 32 years. Later that year, he joined
Cliff Bennett's band Toefat along with
Lou Martin. Toefat released their first single
Brand New Band shortly which received good airplay on British radio. Between 1973 and July 1974, Clarke joined Daddy Longlegs who were signed with
Vertigo Records and continued to gig with them. In 1975, Clarke formed a new band, SALT with Steve Smith, Stuart McDonald and
Tony Fernandez. Clarke returned to London in the early 1980s and formed The Mick Clarke Band. Three albums were released subsequently;
Looking For Trouble in 1984,
Rock Me in 1986 and
All These Blues in 1988. During those years, Clarke performed at various festivals and concerts throughout Europe including Italy,
The Netherlands and
Belgium. Between 1986 and 1989, Clarke toured to the United States with his band and performed at various locations including concerts with
C. J. Chenier and
Linda Hopkins in Los Angeles, California, with
Johnny Winter in
Olympia, Washington and with
Canned Heat in
Eugene, Oregon. Subsequently, an album with the name
West Coast Connection was released in 1989 by
Brambus Records. In 1991,
Mike Vernon produced Clarke's fifth album,
Steel and Fire which was released on the German label Line Records as well as on the British label
BGO Records.
Steel and Fire was followed by
Tell the Truth in 1991 and
No Compromise in 1993. Tracks from
No Compromise spent six weeks on the
Virgin Radio playlist in the United Kingdom.
Roll Again featuring Chris Sharley, Lou Martin and Dave Newman was released on Taxim Records and BGO in 1995. After a pause of five years,
Solid Ground was released on the German label Taxim Records, in 2008.
The Rambunctious Blues Experiment featuring the drummer, Russell Chaney, was released in 2011. Later that year, Clarke embarked on the project for reforming SALT and subsequently an album, ''The Cobra's Melodies'', was released featuring all the band members. In 2012, Clarke toured India and played at the Simply The Blues festivals in
Mumbai and
Bangalore. In 2013, Clarke produced and recorded
Ramdango which was released by BGO. Between 2014 and 2021, Clarke produced nine albums that were released by BGO including one album with Killing Floor known as ''Rock'n'Roll Gone Mad'' released on Rockfold Records. In 2018, Clarke toured Sweden and played at
Sweden Rock Festival with The Mick Clarke Band. ==Discography==