Clive Skinner was an English songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist who found his professional start and stage surname “Maldoon” while working with the band Bodast in 1968. However, complications would lead to Bodast’s album being delayed for thirteen years. His first appearance in the public eye would instead be with Curtiss Maldoon.
He had formed the duo with Dave Curtiss, another former Bodast member. Their first album would release in 1971, successfully touring until the conception of their second album. Before the album was published, Curtiss expressed his dissatisfaction with the end product and asked for his name to be removed. Thus, the album would come out in 1973 as Maldoon. The duo soon disbanded.
Problematic contracts and managerial issues would ensure that Maldoon wouldn’t release any more music up to his early passing in 1978. The cause of death was found to be accidental, stemming from prescription drug use.
Known mostly for working with Steve Howe of Yes fame and co-writing the song that would later become Madonna’s “Ray of Light”, Maldoon remains a low-key folk-rock artist enjoyed by a select few to this day.