Sir Clive Sinclair was the King of Inventing.
Without his genius for making small, black, boxes that were more or less affordable we'd never have had the ZX Spectrum - and the computer game boom of the 1980s. Sir Clive may not have imagined he would ignite the imaginations of countless bedroom coders, but by design or accident his beautiful device brought joy to millions.
Here's a brief tribute to the great man - along with ten things you might not have known about him.
Without his genius for making small, black, boxes that were more or less affordable we'd never have had the ZX Spectrum - and the computer game boom of the 1980s. Sir Clive may not have imagined he would ignite the imaginations of countless bedroom coders, but by design or accident his beautiful device brought joy to millions.
Here's a brief tribute to the great man - along with ten things you might not have known about him.
THE INVENTION OF THE SINCLAIR C5-B
Sir Clive's Sinclair C5 might've been one of his biggest commercial failures, but that didn't discourage him from trying again. He went back to the drawing board and created the Sinclair C5-B; a high-tech dancin' shoe in regulation Sinclair black.
Once placed on the wearer's left foot, the shoe would shoot an electric current into its owners leg, causing them to jerk and gyrate spasmodically.
The sound-activated electric pulses would fire in time to music, making the wearer appear as if he were dancin' - thus impressing any nearby blonde ladies, providing they didn't notice his involuntary grimacing.
Once placed on the wearer's left foot, the shoe would shoot an electric current into its owners leg, causing them to jerk and gyrate spasmodically.
The sound-activated electric pulses would fire in time to music, making the wearer appear as if he were dancin' - thus impressing any nearby blonde ladies, providing they didn't notice his involuntary grimacing.
HE LIKES WARM BICYCLE SEATS
When he wasn't busy inventing things, Sir Clive would wander the streets of Britain's towns until he spotted a cyclist. He would then follow the cyclist until they dismounted, and then place his hand on their still-warm seat, muttering things like "Mmmm" and "Yes... yes...". If the cyclist was a blonde lady, he would enjoy The Warm for thrice as long!
HE WAS IN A COOL GANG
At weekends and in school holidays, Sir Clive would knock for his friends Smeagol and Jeremy Wires. Together they were members of The Red Bike Frame Club, and would dream up sweet inventions in Smeagol's cave, then head out on adventures to spy on Jeremy Wires' blonde mother, despite Jeremy's many protestations that it "Felt wrong somehow".
HE COULDN'T STOP HAVING IDEAS
Sir Clive found it impossible to switch off his brain - even on the lavatory! Here he is doing a nice big poo in the bathroom of his palatial mansion, while coming up with the idea for the Sinclair QL.
HE COULDN'T BEAR TO LOOK AT PETER STRINGFELLOW
Envious of the sleazy tycoon's many, many highlighted hairs, Sir Clive would squeeze shut his eyes whenever Peter Stringfellow entered the club. Suffice to say, this was not something Sir Clive did lightly, knowing that he was surrounded by blonde ladies.
HE WAS ALWAYS WAITING BY THE PHONE FOR YOU TO CALL
Why didn't you call him? Was it something he'd said? Just one call was all it would've taken. C'mon - why didn't you ever give him that call?!
HE WAS ALWAYS EMERGING FROM THE DARK TO CHEER YOU UP
Cheer up, love; you're a redhead, and possibly a male hippy. Either way, he's no threat to you!
HE DIDN'T ALWAYS THINK THINGS THROUGH
Sir Clive's pocket TV was a great innovation. Unfortunately, the tiny speaker meant that in order to hear the thing you had to place it against your ear - making it impossible to see what was happening on screen!
HE WAS A BIG LEO SAYER FAN!
Sir Clive rarely felt like dancin' unless there was a blonde lady nearby. The exception was when he heard the beautiful music of 70s pop icon Sir Leo Sayer, whose songs included You Make Me Feel Like Dancing - which could've been written about Sir Clive's own attitude to the song!
"I'VE GOT A BOMB!"
A notorious practical joker, one of Sir Clive's favourite pranks was to board an aircraft with one of his inventions, hold it above his head, and claim that it was an improvised explosive device. This prank worked fine until the day Sir Clive tried it with a Sinclair C5; the three-wheeled electric vehicle was so heavy that he dropped it on the head of Sir Alan Sugar, killing him immediately!
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