Mike Smith (Dave Clark Five)
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- For other people by this name, see Michael Smith.
Mike Smith (born Michael George Smith, December 6, 1943, in Edmonton, North London) [1] has been a singer, songwriter, and music producer from 1960-present. In the 1960s, Mike Smith was the lead vocalist and keyboard player for drummer Dave Clark in their band, The Dave Clark Five. Mike Smith was a significant singer and musician of the British Invasion, since The Dave Clark Five had several top hits in the United States,(before the emergence of the Rolling Stones, the Dave Clark Five was the Beatles' main competition in the US), and portions of the keyboard and organ music had intricate musical sections. Mike Smith is also credited with co-writing some of the songs during 1962-1970 for The Dave Clark Five, which disbanded in 1970.
Mike Smith and Dave Clark continued as a duo in 1970, releasing the medley "More Good Old Rock 'N' Roll" to reach #34 in the UK, but other recordings failed, and they split in 1973. [2]
Mike Smith later toured beginning in March 2003 with his own rock band, called "Mike Smith's Rock Engine" formed as a quintet in 2000 in the Costa del Sol of Spain. [3] [4]
In October of 2003, nearing age 60, Mike Smith was involved in a falling accident in his home in Spain, which caused severe injury to his spinal cord, and he was permanently paralyzed from the waist down plus in his right arm, and with very little movement in his left arm.[4]
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[edit] History
Due to his role as lead singer, Mike Smith was considered the other star of The Dave Clark Five, less visible by name than drummer/founder Dave Clark but still at the center of the group's sound as lead singer and keyboard player. [5]
Born "Michael George Smith" on December 6, 1943, in Edmonton, England, Michael Smith had a natural ability as a pianist that surfaced as early as age five. Mike started lessons in classical piano, and at age 13 passed the entrance exams at Trinity Music College in London.[5]
Mike Smith first met Dave Clark as members on the same soccer team for the St. George Boys Club.[5] By his mid-teens, Mike Smith had developed a strong vocal delivery, while idolizing Little Richard, among other American rock & roll stars. At age 17, while working for a finance company, Smith was invited by Dave Clark to join his band, which was busy rebuilding itself around the core of Clark and rhythm guitarist (later bassist) Rick Huxley, after having recently lost its lead singer.[5]
With Mike Smith on vocals, piano or organ (and occasionally playing guitar in later years),[5] the new Dave Clark Five was completed with the additions of sax player Denis (Denny) Payton and lead guitarist Lenny Davidson, who was auditioned on Smith's recommendation. Smith made his recording debut, at age 18, with the single "I Knew It All the Time" b/w (flip side) "That's What I Said" produced by Pye Records in June of 1962[5] and credited to the unknown band "the Dave Clark Five featuring Mike Smith." Performed in a style midway between early British beat and the bolder 1960s sounds that were developing, it was a powerful record to be issued while the Beatles were still developing their first recording deal.[5]
Mike Smith's singing showed the strong influence of Elvis Presley during the period of "The Girl of My Best Friend," "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame," and "Little Sister." [5] Smith's voice and keyboards were clearly evident in the Dave Clark Five's sound over seven (7) years: during their two major years of success in 1964-1965 and continuing five years after the British Invasion died down in America, until the group disbanded in 1970.
Mike Smith continued working with Dave Clark in the early 1970s, mainly to help the drummer/bandleader fulfill their contractual commitments.[5] Later, Mike recorded with former Manfred Mann singer Michael d'Abo. Most of Mike Smith's work in the 1970s and 1980s, however, was as a producer and songwriter, and Smith was successful working on commercials (commercial ads), authoring jingles for many products.[5]
Mike Smith returned to performing in the late 1990s and discovered he still had many fans on the oldies circuit. Mike would probably have an even bigger reputation if The Dave Clark Five's classic recordings, apart from a few very early singles, hadn't been kept out of print by Dave Clark.[5]
Beginning in March 2003, Mike Smith toured with his own rock band, called "Mike Smith's Rock Engine" formed as a quintet in 2000[3] in the Costa del Sol region of Spain: Mike had met four musicians who shared his dedication to playing for fun above all else. After gigging at each other’s houses in Costa del Sol, Spain, where Smith lived for many years, the group made their concert debut in August, 2002 when they played a benefit for a charity of abused children and raised $100,000.[3][4] The other band members of Mike Smith’s Rock Engine include: lead guitarist Doug Lean, bassist Curt Sandell, drummer Paul Skelton, and saxophone player Frank Mead.[3]
Mike Smith's occasional tours during this period generated very enthusiastic responses from audiences, despite being prevented from mentioning The Dave Clark Five in his advertising,[5] and Mike appeared to be emerging as a popular star in his own right, on the oldies circuit, when two tragedies struck in 2003: his son died in a water diving accident,[5] and a few weeks later, Smith himself suffered a serious spinal injury during a fall in his home in Spain, leaving him permanently paralyzed from the waist down plus in his right arm, with very little movement in his left arm.[4]
[edit] Compositions
Many of the seventeen (17) Top-40 U.S. hits for The Dave Clark Five (DC5) were written by Mike Smith and Dave Clark,[3] including "Glad All Over" (#6), "Bits and Pieces" (#4), "Can’t You See That’s She Mine" (#4), "Come Home" (#14) and "Try Too Hard" (#12). The DC5 also had the hits "Do You Love Me" (#11), "Because" (#3), "Reelin’ and Rockin'" (#23), "Catch Us If You Can" (#4, by Clark & Lenny Davidson), [6] "I Like It Like That" (#7), "Over and Over" (#1), "You Got What It Takes" (#7) and "Any Way You Want It" (#14). Mike Smith and Clark also co-wrote and performed "Wild Weekend" [3] from one of two feature films the DC5 made, Having a Wild Weekend. They sold more than 100 million records, sold out five consecutive world tours and six in the U.S. including 12 consecutive shows at Carnegie Hall, and made a record-setting 18 appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" (New York City).[3]
When the DC5 disbanded, Smith first collaborated with singer Mike D’Abo, former lead singer of Manfred Mann. They made one self-titled album, which has recently been reissued by Sony in Japan. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice recruited Mike Smith to sing on the recording of their Evita before it ever hit the stage,[3] earning him another gold record. Smith also produced recordings for Shirley Bassey and four gold albums for one of Europe’s top male vocalists, Michael Ball.[3]
Mike Smith can be heard in the Applebee’s Restaurant commercial that uses "I Like It Like That" and in Target’s campaign, which uses "Bits and Pieces" (song from 1964):[3] one of dozens of commercials he has made over the years, employing his distinctive "Smith sound."
Mike Smith has also taped an interview and performance for a TV special on "The British Music Invasion" which aired in the U.S. on TLC in 2003. The Dave Clark Five are known as one of the most influential of the Brit bands and, as Steve Van Zandt points out, "they actually made the most powerful records of anybody. . . . They were a tremendous band."
[edit] See also
- Discography list of hit songs for the Dave Clark Five.
[edit] Notes
- ^ "1960s British Rock and Pop Chronology - Birth of a Nation" (birthdates), Gordon Thompson, 2006-09-17, webpage: Skidmore-BritRock.
- ^ "OVER AND OVER ? THE DAVE CLARK FIVE" (chronology of recordings), Epinions, Inc., 2003-09-27, Epinions.com webpage: EpinionsCom-DC5.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "DAVE CLARK FIVE SINGER-SONGWRITER MIKE SMITH TO LAUNCH FIRST U.S. TOUR..." (bio), The Regent Theatre, Arlington, MA, 2003-01-28, webpage: Regent-Mike-Smith-Tour.
- ^ a b c d "Biography for Mike Smith (XVIII)" (trivia), IMDb, 2006, webpage: IMDb-Mike-Smith.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Mike Smith: Information from Answers.com" (biography), Answers Corporation, 2006, webpage: AnswersCom-Mike-Smith.
- ^ "The Lyrics Library - Dave Clark Five" (lyrics for "Catch Us If You Can"), Lyrics Library, webpage: Mathematik-DC5-Catch.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- YouTube - Live in the Sky: Video of Mike Smith singing with The Dave Clark Five.
