[Deathwatch] Mike Smith, singer, 64

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Singer of British Invasion Band Dies
By Joal Ryan
Fri, 29 Feb 2008

There weren't many bands that rivaled Beatlemania in 1964. The Dave
Clark Five was one of them.  

Mike Smith, the lead singer of the hard-driving British Invasion group,
died Thursday in a hospital near London, less than two weeks before he
and his bandmates' scheduled induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame.

Smith was 64, and had been in compromised health since 2003 when he
suffered a spinal cord injury that paralyzed him below the ribcage. He
was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday with a chest infection.

"He was extremely excited and honored to have been inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," his agent Margo Lewis said in a statement,
"and I am glad that he will be remembered as a Hall of Famer, because
he was in so many ways."

The Dave Clark Five's hits included "Bits and Pieces," and "Glad All
Over," which knocked the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" from its
No. 1 perch on the British charts in 1964. 

In 1965, the group starred in the Hard Day's Night-style comedy Having
a Wild Weekend, known to British audiences by the track that set its
breathless pace, "Catch Us If You Can," another of its big hits.

In all, according to the Rock Hall, the Dave Clark Five amassed 17 Top
40 U.S. hits, and 18 appearances on the career-making Ed Sullivan Show,
more than either the Beatles or the Rolling Stones. It disbanded in
1970.  

The group, which took its name from its drummer, manager and chief
songwriter, was praised by the Rock Hall for a "slick melodic
sensibility" that was offset by volume.

As the New York Times put it, mildly, in a 1964 review of the band's
Carnegie Hall concert, "The Clark group appears to play louder than the
Beatles." 

Historians would apparently concur. In its inductees announcement last
month, the Rock Hall said "the DC5 were the loudest group in the U.K.
until the advent of the Who."

The Rock Hall's Class of 2008, which also includes Madonna, John
Mellencamp, The Ventures and Leonard Cohen, will be honored at a Mar.
10 induction ceremony in New York.

Despite his health woes, Smith was planning to attend the black-tie
gala, his agent said.

Since his accident, Smith was championed by Bruce Springsteen, Late
Show with David Letterman bandleader Paul Shaffer and more, who sought
to help him with medical costs through fundraisers and benefits.

Smith was hospitalized for more than four years after becoming
paralyzed. Only this past December was he able to move into a specially
equipped home with his wife, his agent said.

In a 2003 interview before the accident with Cosmik Debris magazine,
Smith, who doubled as the Dave Clark Five's keyboardist, said he was
surprised to belatedly learn that the band was beloved by Springsteen,
Billy Joel, Tom Petty and so many other Americans.

"In all the three or four years we toured there I never heard one
show," Smith said. "They heard more than we did because all I ever
heard was screaming."

Many thanks to Deathwatch Central for posting this obituary