In 1992 a stage musical, 'Shattered World', was produced as a tribute to him, based on his life and his battle against MS, with half the songs being his own, and the rest being numbers written by others about him. In 1984 Ward was diagnosed as suffering from multiple sclerosis, which he kept from his fans for a number of years, until the symptoms could no longer be disguised. He remained a very private person, consistently refusing to tour and perform live gigs, while interviews, photograph sessions, and television appearances were made only when absolutely necessary. At this point he gave up teaching so that he could concentrate on music full-time, and he released a further nine albums over the next 25 years. Ward's second album followed the success of the single, and 'Home Thoughts' was named after the song that he'd written while on tour in Europe in the early 60's. It was exactly as the title stated, and the r'n'b of his early bands had been replaced by a collection of introspective and personal songs, one of which, 'Gaye', went on to sell over a million copies worldwide when released as a single, and reached number 8 in the UK chart in July 1973. In 1972 he recorded his first solo album 'Singer Songwriter', which was released on John Peel's Dandelion Records just before it went into liquidation. In his spare time he continued songwriting, and under the pseudonym of Pat Rollings (using his wife's maiden name) he wrote 'Path Through The Forest', which was later recorded by The Factory, and is now regarded as one of the best UK psychedelic singles of all time. In 1967, following the demise of The Secrets, Ward decided he needed to get a real job, and enrolled at Worcester Teacher Training College, subsequently teaching English and Drama at North Bromsgrove High School. More singles followed, with three from The Secrets and two from Simon's Secrets, with Ward penning most of the songs himself. Another single was released under this name, before the fictitious name was dropped and the band continued on as Raynor's Secrets, Simon's Secrets, or just The Secrets, and they went on to tour around Britain and France, achieving moderate success. The Cruisers recorded one single before they opted for a name change to Martin Raynor And The Secrets, with Ward in the role of the elusive Raynor.
They were popular in Birmingham and also in demand at American Army bases in France, and it was during this time away from his family that Ward wrote 'Home Thoughts From Abroad, which would later appear on his second solo album in the 70's.
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In 1962, shortly after leaving school and supporting himself with a series of clerical jobs, Ward formed a beat band called Cliff Ward And The Cruisers, which won the 1963 Midland Band of the Year contest in Birmingham. Clifford Thomas Ward was born on 10 February 1944 in Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, and was the fifth child in his family, with one older sister and three older brothers.
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