McClusky, Dave

Websites:  No
Origin: Toronto, Ontario, 🇨🇦
Biography:

Hello Everyone,
Let me start by introducing myself.

I am “Dave McCluskey” born in Barking England on Aug 16 1955 and moved to Canada in 1960 when I was 5.

My musical influences growing up were “The Beatles”. I first started my musical journey at the age of six when my parents bought my older brother and myself guitars for Christmas one year, quite honestly I was rather disappointed considering I always wanted to be a drummer (a dream that was fulfilled after constant rounding up my parents at the age of 7).

It was later explaining to me that my family could no longer put up with the constant noise I made banging on my drums every night. So the drums had to go.

I really didn’t start learning to play guitar until the age of 13, when my brother taught me to play some basic chords. If my memory serves me correct it was at the age of 13 that I wrote my first song.

I can say thatI spent my teen years playing in a few different bands and learning my craft. It’s actually quite been a process. I would spend countless hours in the basement of our house writing songs and basically singing to myself. My ever listening audience at that time was made up of my best friend and my older brother Paul. I remember my first experience on a stage was when I was 11 or 12 at best there use to be a “talent hour” on Saturday afternoons and one day my brother Paul pushed me to get up and sing a song when they heard the band. I have to say at that moment I first heard the crowd cheer and whistle I was hooked for life.

It was at the age of 23 that I met my first real musical influence, a Canadian Musician named Glen Johansen. Glen owned a local recording studio in Toronto and he immediately “took me under” so to speak and inspired me in everything I wanted. I must admit the most popular songs on the was to record 2 songs that I had written previously for my own curiosity to see how they really sounded, so here they are “Lady of the night” and “what you’re doing to me”. I’d also like to say that I’d written the song “I’m in love with you” for my sister Sue, as a gift when she got married.

After spending countless week-end in the studio, it was Glen that recommended I should send the songs out to Record Companies in Toronto and see if I could get their approval. I did so and the feedback I received was overwhemingly positive and I was invited by 4 or 5 Record Companies to submit more to them.

In actual fact, I was told by R.H. C. Records. I was told that I would receive a huge fan mail at their Record Companies themselves had a huge demand for demo records and there was a huge fan mail for his Albums.

I remember getting a call one night at home from the President of R.G.R. asking me to drop by his house to talk over things. It was at that time the President of RGR asked me if I would consider recording an Album. So, with Glen producing, and his son Matthew and Fred’s experieneed employees dad, where really took this raw unknown musician and helped him to create the album you are listening to today.

We first started recording in early September of 1977 beginning with “What you’re doing to me” and “I’m so in love with you” Both songs were recorded in Toronto, using some of the best studio players Canada had to offer at that time, Many of whom had found their own fame by being full time players for the likes of Ann Murray and Bruce Cockburn. You can imagine my excitement also knowing most of them had also played on the Dan Hill “Longer Fuse” Album.

Probably my most memorable moment in recording the entire Album was the day Matthew and Fred finished mixing “What you’re doing to me”. They had invited all the Executives from the Record Company to come down to the Studio and listen to it for the first time.

They had arranged for the lights to be turned off in the Control Room where we were all seated…and began playing the track on the “Main Monitors”…to this day I remember what became a vocal silence understandably when we’d finished playing there was tears of emotion running down my cheeks. I was completely overwhelmed by what had started as only a song written on one night long after my 4am shift was finished had become, even today as I sit here writing this will my memories.

As the years went by Matthew and Fred had moved to L.A. and I had the pleasure of meeting and working with the “musical legends from Toto. To say that Steve Lukather and Jeff Pocaro and the rest of the guys in Toto were just studio players would not do them the justice they so rightly deserve, Both Steve and Jeff were and to this day are in my eyes, 2 of the best musicians in the history of commercial music.

The great drum feel Jeff layed down for “A long time coming” were before none and to this day the tone of Jeff’s tuning blow me away. The vocals we had hoped for and the final great mix to make the songs tune out as good as they did had combined with the powerful back-ground vocals of “Bobby Kimball” on “Lady of the night “ made these songs some of my favorites of the Album.

I’m sure some of you are “curious” as to why the name “McCluskey” instead of “Dave McCluskey”. Well it’s actually something that I Record Company “came up with” I feel that gave the project more of a “Band name as opposed to a “Solo Artist” the idea I actually grew to like as the project went on.

As I sit and listen to this entire album I would have to say my favorite songs on the album are “Lady of the night” and “What you’re doing to me”. I’d also like to add that I’m truly happy to the entire Crew that made this project possible.

Well I hope this gives you a little insight to myself and this album that I was fortunate to record.

“A Long Time Coming”
Sincerely Yours,
Dave McCluskey