# Clout (band)

Clout was a South African rock group formed in Johannesburg in 1977, best known for their hit single, "Substitute". Originally all-female, the group later included some male musicians, who had played as session musicians on "Substitute".

## Career

Clout's first and biggest hit, "Substitute", was a new arrangement of a Righteous Brothers song, composed by Willie Wilson. In 1978, their version reached No. 1 in South Africa, New Zealand, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Denmark and Belgium. It also reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart and remained in the UK charts for 15 weeks. Due to sanctions against South African artists and performers by UK's Equity at the time, the BBC One television series Top of the Pops used the group's performance of the song on Dutch programme TopPop, from 8 April 1978, to present the hit song for its Top 10 countdown.
A major success in Europe, Clout scored more Top 10 singles, notably "Save Me", "You've Got All of Me" and "Under Fire".
Clout's cover of "Substitute" reached No. 67 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
Clout split up in 1981, shortly after the release of their last major single, a re-arrangement of the Hall and Oates song "Portable Radio". The previous single "Oowatanite" was also a cover, the original being a hit by the Canadian group April Wine.
In 1992, their greatest hits package was released on CD, and it was re-mastered as The Best of Clout in 2010.
In 2018, the band had a brief reunion to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their hit single Substitute. The line-up consisted of Cindy Alter, Ingi Herbst Brough, Glenda Hyam, Gary van Zyl, Connie Bentlage (on saxophones), and Alastair Coakley. In 2020, Cindy Alter, Ingi Herbst Brough, Jenni Garson, and Glenda Hyam had a brief virtual reunion with a performance of Substitute, edited by Verny Scholtz.

## Musicians

* Cindy Alter (born in Johannesburg, South Africa): lead vocals, guitar (1977–1981, 2018-2019)
* Ilene "Lee" Tomlinson: bass, vocals (1977–1980)
* Ingrid "Ingi" Brough (nee Herbst): drums, vocals (1977–1981, 2018-2019)
* Glenda Hyam: keyboards, vocals (1977, 2018)
* Jenni Garson: guitar, vocals (1977–1981)
* Ron "Bones" Brettell: keyboards, vocals (1978–1981)
* Sandy Robbie: guitar, vocals (1978–1981)
* Gary van Zyl: bass (1980–1981, 2018-2019)
* Connie Bentlage: saxophone (2018-2019 (reunion tour))
* Alastair Coakley: guitar (2018-2019 (reunion tour))
'All Around New Music' and other websites state that 'Circus', an all-male group, actually played the instruments, and that they disbanded the same year (1981), this rumour was disclosed.

## Discography
### Albums

* 1978: Substitute (aka Clout)
* 1979: Six of the Best
* 1980: A Threat and a Promise
* 1981: 1977 to 1981 (compilation with one new song)
* 1992: Substitute (Dutch compilation)
* 1992: 20 Greatest Hits (compilation)
* 1994: Clout (German compilation)
* 2007: Since We've Been Gone (compilation with nine new recordings)
* 2010: The Best of Clout (compilation)

### Singles

| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions |
| Year | Single | AUT | BE (FLA) | DEN | IRE | GER | NL | NZ | SA | SWI | UK | US | ZIM |
| 1977 | "Substitute" | 10 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 67 | 1 |
| 1978 | "Since You've Been Gone" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1978 | "You've Got All of Me" | 25 | — | — | — | 14 | 17 | — | 16 | — | — | — | 14 |
| 1979 | "Let It Grow" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 33 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1979 | "Save Me" | 14 | 5 | 5 | — | 4 | 6 | — | 7 | 4 | — | — | 1 |
| 1979 | "Under Fire" | — | 18 | 6 | — | 15 | 26 | — | 19 | 7 | — | — | 18 |
| 1979 | "Oowatanite" | — | — | 8 | — | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1980 | "Portable Radio" | — | — | 7 | — | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1980 | "The Best of Me" | — | — | — | — | 73 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 1981 | "Wish I Were Loving You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released ||||||||||||||