Having achieved success on the popular UK variety circuit, Clayton was quickly signed to EMI/Parlophone and released his first single, "Tenerife," which he introduced on the British TV music series Thank Your Lucky Stars.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, he was musical director and arranger for a number of popular singers, including Dick Haymes, Shirley Bassey,[2] Matt Monro, Robin Gibb, Cilla Black, Charles Aznavour, Sacha Distel, and Roger Whittaker.
As a composer, Clayton scored the films The Ragman's Daughter (1972), The Pied Piper (1972), The 14 (1973), The Savage Hunt (1980), and the final Morecambe and Wise project, Night Train to Murder (1984).
Clayton's stage credits included the scores for Bertie (with Mike Margolis), Oedipus, Ring Your Mother, Box, and The Mistress (with Bruce Montague).
In 2011 and 2012, he played on several occasions at the Alley Cat venue in Denmark Street, London, with his long-time friend, the crooner Paul Ryan.