Darcy Clay (born Daniel Robert Bolton, 5 December 1972 – 15 March 1998) was a New Zealand singer, songwriter and musician, who was made famous in 1997 for his Number 5 hit "

Jesus I Was Evil ''Jesus I Was Evil'' is an EP by New Zealand musician Darcy Clay. It was released on Antenna Records in 1997. All songs except for "In The Middle" were recorded on a 4-Track. "Jolene" is a cover of the Dolly Parton song A song is a mu ...

", in which he recorded all of the instruments in his bedroom on a 4-track recorder. He was signed to Antenna Records.

Background

Darcy grew up in

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

. When he was 14 years old he spent 9 months living in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, Georgia and later lived for 18 months in the Blue Mountains of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia with his Aunt, Che, her husband, Peter, and his cousin, Madelaine. Darcy Clay's favourite bands were

Mötley Crüe Mötley Crüe is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Hollywood, California, in 1981 by bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, with guitarist Mick Mars and lead vocalist Vince Neil joining right after. The band has sol ...

Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1972 in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York (state), New York. Their best-known songs include "We're Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister song ...

, AC-DC,

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1973. Credited with restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene, Van Halen was known for their energetic live performances and the virtuosity of their guit ...

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

, and a variety of other metal bands and a broad variety of country and other western music. He very much enjoyed The Highwaymen and had a deep appreciation of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

. All of his songs on the EP "Jesus I was Evil" were written (except " Jolene"), played (all instruments and vocals), recorded, and produced by Darcy Clay alone.

Music

Clay's entire career output consisted of two six track EPs, ''Jesus I Was Evil'' and (posthumously) a live EP ''Songs For Beethoven'', recorded on DAT tape when he opened for Blur's 1997 New Zealand performance (including a solo performance of "

Candle in the Wind "Candle in the Wind" is a threnody-style ballad written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was originally written in 1973, in honour of Marilyn Monroe, who had died 11 years earlier. In 199 ...

", the tribute to

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe ( ; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; June 1, 1926 August 4, 1962) was an American actress and model. Known for playing comic "Blonde stereotype#Blonde bombshell, blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex ...

written by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

and

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English lyricist and visual artist. He is best known for his songwriting partnership with Elton John, recognised as one of the most successful partnerships of its kind in history. Taupin co-wrote th ...

who later re-recorded it as a tribute to

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William ...

, who had died less than two months beforehand). The two EPs were reissued back to back as an album entitled ''Darcy Anthology'', featuring a bonus CD of all of Darcy Clay music videos, interview footage and press clippings created before his death in 1998. His music has been described as "country-fried punk rock" - his ''Jesus I Was Evil'' EP featured a cover of

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

's '' Jolene'', amongst other somewhat country-flavoured rock songs. Clay's song "Jesus I Was Evil" was covered by Australian group Butterfingers, and his song "All I Gotta Do" was covered by Justin Hawkins' (of The Darkness) solo outfit Hot Leg in 2009

Awards

Death

Darcy Clay died by suicide on 15 March 1998. At the time of his suicide Clay was scheduled to perform on 9 April 1998 at the Levi's Life Festival, a suicide prevention and awareness event.

References

External links

Darcy Clay profile
audioculture.co.nz
Darcy Clay, ten years on

The Sunday Star-Times The ''Sunday Star-Times'' is a New Zealand newspaper published each weekend in Auckland. It covers both national and international news, and is a member of the New Zealand Press Association and Newspaper Publishers Association of New Zealand ...

, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, Darcy 1972 births 1998 suicides 1998 deaths APRA Award winners New Zealand male singer-songwriters New Zealand singer-songwriters 20th-century New Zealand male singers Suicides in New Zealand