Lead singer and keyboard player with the Dave Clark.
Dave Clark Five lead singer Mike Smith died of pneumonia Thursday, less than two weeks before the band was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was 64.
Smith died at a hospital outside of London, his agent Margo Lewis said.
He was admitted to the intensive care unit Wednesday morning with a chest infection, a complication from a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed below the ribcage with limited use of his upper body. Lewis said he was injured when he fell from a fence at his home in Spain in September 2003.
Smith had been in the hospital since the accident, and was just released last December when he moved into a specially prepared home near the hospital with his wife.
RIP MIke Smith
Re: RIP MIke Smith
He'd done well to survive that accident at all and to make the recovery he did. There had been a major bit of fund-raising organised by Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits to get him the stuff he needed to enjoy life, i.e a special van etc
A talented bloke and a good frontman, if he'd been in different 60's band (a more democratic one) and/or had more ambition he'd have been so much more than a footnote in rock
Of course his boss Mr Dave Clark has kept an iron grip on all the DC5 recordings (1 compilation in 25 years long since deleted) that have minimised the royalities Mike wold have got from the songs he sang & wrote
A talented bloke and a good frontman, if he'd been in different 60's band (a more democratic one) and/or had more ambition he'd have been so much more than a footnote in rock
Of course his boss Mr Dave Clark has kept an iron grip on all the DC5 recordings (1 compilation in 25 years long since deleted) that have minimised the royalities Mike wold have got from the songs he sang & wrote
They're locking them up today, they're throwing away the key...I wonder who it be tomorrow, you or me?
Re: RIP MIke Smith
Steve, where were you? Rare for you to be beaten to it.
Re: RIP MIke Smith
chatterji wrote:
> Steve, where were you? Rare for you to be beaten to it.
So true, not only did Steve fail to inform us of the death of a singer
and keyboard player but also misses out on a dead drummer
I hope Steve is well
> Steve, where were you? Rare for you to be beaten to it.
So true, not only did Steve fail to inform us of the death of a singer
and keyboard player but also misses out on a dead drummer
I hope Steve is well
Re: RIP MIke Smith
Reports on Wikipedia that Dave Clark didn't even drum on their records- he called in a session drummer!
Re: RIP MIke Smith
colonel wrote:
> Reports on Wikipedia that Dave Clark didn't even drum on their
> records- he called in steve56
Stay away from wiki colonel - you know what that leads to don't you
> Reports on Wikipedia that Dave Clark didn't even drum on their
> records- he called in steve56
Stay away from wiki colonel - you know what that leads to don't you
Re: RIP MIke Smith
Yes sad but i was never a big fan of DC5 liked other groups better really I did have 1 DC5 single called Live In The Sky from 1968.
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planeterotica
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Re: RIP MIke Smith
They had a big hit back in the 60s with a song called Glad All Over, but this is sad news !sad!
Re: RIP MIke Smith
I've heard quite a few stories about the man Dave Clark
Since day one, all members of the DC5 were on a wage. Clark of course took charge of all the money and everything else. The DC5 was a piece of "product" that he created, shaped, manipulated and ultimately sold to the public as a "package". Their image was all his own making... he told them what to wear, what to say... everything. He was the boss and everything he said was law. He was trying out a new way of making money out of the burgeoning pop music scene and as is obvious, made a nice killing doing so.
Every song any member wrote for the band, Clark would add himself to the credits. He did not have hardly anything to do with the songwriting process, most of which were written by Mike Smith and Lenny Davidson. Of course by putting his name on all these songs he didn't have any part of in writing, Clark snagged a nice royalty. He had a friend called Ron Ryan write him a few songs, some of which he credited to himself only! He owned the publishing as well, so the money he was raking in from the publishing must had been astronomical. Not bad considering his non-contribution... and of course he didn't play on the vast majority of the records either. The excuse given is that he was busy producing and a session drummer was quicker to use, but to sell said music with him as the figurehead, miming to session mens work... no wonder he was always grinning away on TV.
In 1966, there was a change to the deal. Mike Smith signed a separate agreement with Clark that put him on a higher wage than his fellow bandmates. Not surprisingly this caused a fair bit of resentment and Smith became effectively co-leader of the band.
In July 1970, Clark called the band round to his place and announced the DC5 were over. From that moment on, Lenny Davidson, Rick Huxley and Denis Payton received no more monies or royalties from their work. There was no severance pay. One week they were being paid for their job, next week they were out of a job. Whenever Clark reissued DC5 material, those three members never saw a penny. Clark got the lot and Mike - under the 1966 agreement - got a small percentage.
Because Clark had signed a ten year deal with EMI in 1963, he had to fulfil that contract so kept Mike Smith bound to him under the "Dave Clark and Friends" moniker in order to do so. He needed somebody to sing those songs. That was a sham of a "band" anyway because most of what came out under that name was generally DC5 leftovers mixed in with a handful of new recordings made by Mike Smith.
It appears Clark made all the members sign some kind of confidentiality agreement. Have you ever read any interviews with Huxley, Payton or Davidson? You won't have because they have never been allowed to talk about the DC5. Mike Smith was able to, but within boundaries. A 1992 interview in Record Collector proved that - he was evasive whenever questions got a bit too close towards the business side of the band.
When the internet began to flouirish, Huxley or Davidson - can't remember who - created a website devoted to the DC5 in which he talked about the band. Dave Clark had the website removed in record time. Even some 30 years later, Clark was still gagging them and controlling everything.
Notice too there has NEVER been a book about the DC5? There is supposedly an "official biography" coming out this year, but of course overseen by Clark it will be hyperbolistic and tell the DC5 story in the usual Clark manner no doubt.
Author and musician Alan Clayson began researching a book on the DC5 in the early Noughties. Clayson was forced to abandon the book. He has said that he uncovered a whole load of information and has also said that there is no way the true story of the DC5 will ever be told whilst Clark remains alive. That story is apparently "really shocking".
Dave Clark has always been evasive and shady. He has always acted as if he had something to hide. I believe one of those things is the probable fact he is homosexual. I was in contact for a short time with a man who lived on the same street as Clarks mother. Dave visited her all the time accompanied by a "male friend". Clark never married nor been romantically linked to any woman since the 1960s. The fact he was also a very close friend of Freddie Mercury to the degree he was in Mercurys house when Freddie died is interesting. It may be one reason why there is so much secrecy and gagging that's gone down over the decades.
Take a look again at the Catch Us If You Can movie if you have it... not only couldn't Clark act but here he was as a "dashing" stuntman, seen exercising, pumping his muscles in white T-shirts... it's rather homosexual in tone and his "love scenes" with the actress are stilted and awkward, as if he didn't quite know where to put himself!
He is still lying about his age. Round the Hall of Fame ceremony earlier this year, virtually every paper and mag stated that Clark was 65 years old. Nonsense. He is actually 69. He was born in 1939, but to this day, Clark continues to twist truths to create the myth he is desperate to preserve.
The true DC5 story has never been told and won't be told properly until Clak dies
Since day one, all members of the DC5 were on a wage. Clark of course took charge of all the money and everything else. The DC5 was a piece of "product" that he created, shaped, manipulated and ultimately sold to the public as a "package". Their image was all his own making... he told them what to wear, what to say... everything. He was the boss and everything he said was law. He was trying out a new way of making money out of the burgeoning pop music scene and as is obvious, made a nice killing doing so.
Every song any member wrote for the band, Clark would add himself to the credits. He did not have hardly anything to do with the songwriting process, most of which were written by Mike Smith and Lenny Davidson. Of course by putting his name on all these songs he didn't have any part of in writing, Clark snagged a nice royalty. He had a friend called Ron Ryan write him a few songs, some of which he credited to himself only! He owned the publishing as well, so the money he was raking in from the publishing must had been astronomical. Not bad considering his non-contribution... and of course he didn't play on the vast majority of the records either. The excuse given is that he was busy producing and a session drummer was quicker to use, but to sell said music with him as the figurehead, miming to session mens work... no wonder he was always grinning away on TV.
In 1966, there was a change to the deal. Mike Smith signed a separate agreement with Clark that put him on a higher wage than his fellow bandmates. Not surprisingly this caused a fair bit of resentment and Smith became effectively co-leader of the band.
In July 1970, Clark called the band round to his place and announced the DC5 were over. From that moment on, Lenny Davidson, Rick Huxley and Denis Payton received no more monies or royalties from their work. There was no severance pay. One week they were being paid for their job, next week they were out of a job. Whenever Clark reissued DC5 material, those three members never saw a penny. Clark got the lot and Mike - under the 1966 agreement - got a small percentage.
Because Clark had signed a ten year deal with EMI in 1963, he had to fulfil that contract so kept Mike Smith bound to him under the "Dave Clark and Friends" moniker in order to do so. He needed somebody to sing those songs. That was a sham of a "band" anyway because most of what came out under that name was generally DC5 leftovers mixed in with a handful of new recordings made by Mike Smith.
It appears Clark made all the members sign some kind of confidentiality agreement. Have you ever read any interviews with Huxley, Payton or Davidson? You won't have because they have never been allowed to talk about the DC5. Mike Smith was able to, but within boundaries. A 1992 interview in Record Collector proved that - he was evasive whenever questions got a bit too close towards the business side of the band.
When the internet began to flouirish, Huxley or Davidson - can't remember who - created a website devoted to the DC5 in which he talked about the band. Dave Clark had the website removed in record time. Even some 30 years later, Clark was still gagging them and controlling everything.
Notice too there has NEVER been a book about the DC5? There is supposedly an "official biography" coming out this year, but of course overseen by Clark it will be hyperbolistic and tell the DC5 story in the usual Clark manner no doubt.
Author and musician Alan Clayson began researching a book on the DC5 in the early Noughties. Clayson was forced to abandon the book. He has said that he uncovered a whole load of information and has also said that there is no way the true story of the DC5 will ever be told whilst Clark remains alive. That story is apparently "really shocking".
Dave Clark has always been evasive and shady. He has always acted as if he had something to hide. I believe one of those things is the probable fact he is homosexual. I was in contact for a short time with a man who lived on the same street as Clarks mother. Dave visited her all the time accompanied by a "male friend". Clark never married nor been romantically linked to any woman since the 1960s. The fact he was also a very close friend of Freddie Mercury to the degree he was in Mercurys house when Freddie died is interesting. It may be one reason why there is so much secrecy and gagging that's gone down over the decades.
Take a look again at the Catch Us If You Can movie if you have it... not only couldn't Clark act but here he was as a "dashing" stuntman, seen exercising, pumping his muscles in white T-shirts... it's rather homosexual in tone and his "love scenes" with the actress are stilted and awkward, as if he didn't quite know where to put himself!
He is still lying about his age. Round the Hall of Fame ceremony earlier this year, virtually every paper and mag stated that Clark was 65 years old. Nonsense. He is actually 69. He was born in 1939, but to this day, Clark continues to twist truths to create the myth he is desperate to preserve.
The true DC5 story has never been told and won't be told properly until Clak dies
They're locking them up today, they're throwing away the key...I wonder who it be tomorrow, you or me?