Although Delectus Clark was born in Arkansas, in November of 1938, he was raised in Chicago. Delectus had always enjoyed an inherent love of music, which was fostered by his mother who was a singer of gospel.
As Dee Clark he performed with a succession of groups from 1952 before embarking upon a career as a solo artist, in 1957. In late 1958, Dee recorded “Nobody But You” which, early in that following year, ascended to No.21 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and No.3 on its rhythm and blues chart.
Dee’s three subsequent entries also performed more creditably on the rhythm and blues chart when “Just Keep It Up” reached No.9 and “Hey Little Girl”, No.2, also in 1959, and “How About That”, No.10, in 1960.
However, the best was yet to come! This took the form of the uptempo ballad, “Raindrops”, which became an international hit in 1961.
Dee’s entries to the charts had petered out by 1963, nevertheless, quite out of the blue, he appeared on the British pop chart, in 1975, via the single, “Ride A Wild Horse”, which peaked at No.16.
When Dee was fifty years of age I saw a report on television, which showed him to be virtually penniless and living in a dilapidated motel. Just as sad, was the fact that his health appeared to mirror his pecuniary situation. Two years afterwards, he died from a heart attack, in December of 1990, in Georgia.