Of Motörhead's classic lineup, which consisted of Lemmy and Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor, he was the last surviving member at the time of his death.

He continued playing local gigs until 1973, when he turned professional by joining Curtis Knight's blues prog rock band, Zeus,[2] as lead guitarist.

Later, with guitarist friend Allan Callan, keyboard player Nicky Hogarth, and drummer Chris Perry, Clarke attended a recorded jam session at Command Studios in Piccadilly.

[3] Clarke soon formed another band with Be-Bop Deluxe bassist Charlie Tumahai, vocalist Ann McCluskie and drummer Jim Thompson.

Called Continuous Performance, this line up lasted until early 1975, when their demo tracks failed to secure them a record deal and the band split up.

[3] Still out to secure a record deal, Clarke then formed a group with Nicky Hogarth from Blue Goose, bass player Tony Cussons and drummer Terry Slater.

"[4] Clarke was replaced by former Thin Lizzy and Wild Horses lead guitarist Brian Robertson after Anvil frontman Steve "Lips" Kudlow turned down the offer to play with Motörhead.

Another cameo from Clarke on a later Motörhead album was on 2000's Live at Brixton Academy, released in 2003, on which the band featured many guest appearances from other guitarists, of which he was one, playing on the songs "No Class", "The Chase Is Better Than the Catch" and "Overkill".

The ads began showing positive results, cassettes from potential band members arrived; one of these was from a young singer named Dave King.

Fastway were also engaged to provide music for the Trick Or Treat film soundtrack, for which they composed the title track and performed "Heft" and "If You Could See" from their albums.

Clarke's group now consisted of Riff Raff on drums, keyboards and bass, plus assorted friends helping out; Biff Byford and Nigel Glockler of Saxon, Don Airey, and Kim McAuliffe and Cris Bonacci of Girlschool.

Clarke reunited with Lemmy on 6 November 2014 at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham to play the Motörhead track "Ace of Spades".