Mike Smith, the lead singer of 2008 Rock Hall inductees The Dave Clark Five died today at the age of 64. Here is the full press release:
Mike Smith, the lead singer and keyboard player of The Dave Clark Five, one of the premier bands to emerge during the 1960’s “British Invasion”, died today from pneumonia at Stoke Mandeville Hospital outside of London. His devoted wife, Arlene, who is known as Charlie, was by his side. Smith was 64 years old.
Smith, who was due to be inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame with his band mates on Monday, March 10th, was admitted to the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit yesterday morning with a chest infection, a complication from a spinal cord injury he sustained in September, 2003 that left him a tetraplegic (paralyzed below the ribcage with limited use of his upper body). Smith had been in the hospital since the accident, and was just released in December 2007 when he moved into a specially-prepared home near the hospital with his wife. Prior to his hospitalization yesterday, arrangements were being made to transport Smith to New York so he could personally attend the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
After his accident, Smith found tremendous support from his peers including Bruce Springsteen, Little Steven Van Zandt, and Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits, who helped defray his medical costs through donations and fundraisers. Long-time fan and “Late Show” bandleader, Paul Shaffer, helped organize a benefit concert in New York in August 2005, which featured many of Smith’s fellow “British Invasion” stars, including The Zombies and Peter & Gordon. A DVD of the benefit, Paul Shaffer and his British Invasion: A Tribute to Mike Smith will be released in March by VDI Entertainment.
According to Smith’s agent, Margo Lewis of TCI in New York, “These last five years were extremely difficult for Mike. I am incredibly saddened to lose him, his energy and his humor, but I am comforted by the fact that he had the chance to spend his final months and days at home with his loving wife, Charlie, whom he adored, instead of in the hospital, and that he was able to attend a recent concert in London by his good friend, Bruce Springsteen. He was extremely excited and honored to have been inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and I am glad that he will be remembered as a “Hall of Famer,” because he was in so many ways.”
Although the press release mentions Smith was preparing to go to the ceremony, it was unlikely he was going to be able to make it due to his declining health.
Ken Barnes from USA Today has a nice tribute to Smith and his work with the DC5.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/listenup/2008 ... -five.html
Dave Clark Five singer/composer Mike Smith dies
This is a real heartbreaker. A week and a half before his band, the Dave Clark Five, was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the band's lead singer, keyboard player and chief co-writer, Mike Smith, died of pneumonia today at age 64. Smith had developed a chest infection that stemmed from the severe spinal cord injury he suffered in 2003, which left him paralyzed below the ribcage.
Until their nomination in 2006 and election this year, the Dave Clark Five was one of the most severely underrated bands of the mid-'60s British Invasion, lumped in because of their teen appeal and numerous pop hits with lightweights along the lines of Herman's Hermits and Gerry & The Pacemakers. But Smith's raspy R&B-styled growl, along with his versatile songwriting abilities in tandem with group leader/drummer Clark, created a body of work that stands up with tougher, bluesier bands such as the Rolling Stones and the Spencer Davis Group.
In terms of numbers, the DC5 eclipsed everyone but The Beatles in the early stages of the Invasion. The group placed an astonishing 13 albums on the charts from 1964-67, with 16 hit singles in the top 30 during that stretch. Total worldwide sales for the group are estimated at 100 million.
More important for history's sake, this was high-quality music. First hits Glad All Over and Bits and Pieces established a footstomping, rough-edged sound as powerful as anything you could hear in early 1964, and Do You Love Me was one of the rawest, strongest Motown covers in rock annals. Any Way You Want It took hard rock to new and more power-packed heights in late '64, and 1966's Try Too Hard perfectly married the band's primal style with subtler musical progression (and was a piano showcase for Smith). DC5 albums and B-sides contained all manner of fascinating, more experimental songs (Maze of Love, Inside and Out).
Mike Smith was at the center of all of it -- he sang and co-wrote nearly every song and his piano licks were a potent component in the DC5's unique musical engine, which de-emphasized guitar heroics (unlike most bands of the period) and leaned on drums, sax, keys and rhythm guitar to produce a sustained rocking roar whose closest relative may have been the guttural Northwest bands such as The Sonics and The Wailers.
In later years he recorded solo and with other partners, but it's the Dave Clark Five's music for which he'll be remembered -- and now properly honored with Rock Hall validation.
FINALLY, THE TV COMMERCIAL FOR THE 2008 ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME!!!