Clarke, Kim

Websites:  https://citizenfreak.com/artists/91782-bonus-boys
Origin: Vancouver, British Columbia, 🇨🇦
Biography:

Kim Clarke was a Vancouver-based singer, guitarist, songwriter, and educator whose career spanned punk, new wave, roots-leaning rock, and thoughtful solo work. Active from the late 1970s onward, Clarke was best known as the founding member and creative anchor of Bonus Boys, a band that captured the quieter, more ironic side of Vancouver’s early post-punk movement.

Clarke emerged during a period when Vancouver’s music scene was rapidly expanding beyond traditional rock forms. Rather than pursuing volume or confrontation, his songwriting gravitated toward observation, restraint, and subtle wit. This approach came into focus with Bonus Boys, formed in Vancouver around 1979 with Jack Matthews, Elmar Spanier, and Jay Johnson. The band released two singles on Tsunami Records, including “Everytime I See a Car Like Yours Go By” and “I Want to Work in a Bank,” recordings that showcased Clarke’s understated vocal delivery and literate lyrical sensibility.

Following the dissolution of Bonus Boys in the early 1980s, Clarke remained an active and versatile presence on the West Coast music circuit. He went on to perform with and contribute to a number of projects, including Mocassin Telegraph, Way Out West, The Falcons, and Tokyo Joe, adapting easily to different musical settings while retaining his distinctive voice and compositional style.

In 1986, Clarke released a solo LP, It’s A Grey Day, which revealed a more introspective side of his songwriting. The album emphasized melody, atmosphere, and emotional nuance, reflecting an artist more interested in clarity and mood than trends or genre boundaries.

Alongside his performing and recording career, Clarke was deeply committed to music education. He taught for many years at Bill Lewis Music in Vancouver, where he became a respected mentor to younger musicians, valued for both his technical knowledge and his thoughtful, encouraging approach.

Kim Clarke passed away on December 30, 2010, in London, Ontario, after a long and private battle with cancer. Though never a mainstream figure, his work continues to resonate as part of Vancouver’s independent music history—defined by intelligence, modesty, and a quietly personal artistic voice.
-Robert Williston