Mike Smith (Dave Clark Five)
Michael George Smith (6 December 1943 – 28 February 2008) was an English singer, songwriter and music producer.[1]
For other people named Michael Smith, see Michael Smith (disambiguation).In the 1960s, Smith was the lead vocalist and keyboard player for the Dave Clark Five. The band was a leading unit in the British Invasion of the United States, and were the Beatles' main British rivals before the emergence of the Rolling Stones.
Compositions[edit]
Many of the seventeen (17) Top-40 U.S. hits for the Dave Clark Five (DC5) were written by Mike Smith and Dave Clark,[6] including "Glad All Over" (No. 6), "Bits and Pieces" (No. 4), "Can't You See That's She Mine" (No. 4), "Come Home" (No. 14), "Try Too Hard" (No. 12), and "Please Tell Me Why" (No. 28). The DC5 also had the hits "Do You Love Me" (No. 11), "Because" (No. 3), "Reelin' and Rockin'" (No. 23), "Catch Us If You Can" (No. 4, by Clark & Lenny Davidson), "I Like It Like That" (No. 7), "You Got What It Takes" (No. 7) and "Any Way You Want It" (No. 14). ("Over and Over", previously listed herein as composed by Smith and Clark, was actually written and recorded by Bobby Day. Day's version entered the Billboard Top 100 in 1958 – the B-side to "Rockin' Robin"). Mike Smith and Clark also co-wrote and performed "Having A Wild Weekend"[6] from the movie Catch Us If You Can, renamed Having a Wild Weekend for its U.S.premiere. 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).[6]
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,[6] 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.[6]
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" :[6] one of dozens of commercials he has made over the years, employing his distinctive "Smith sound." He 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 British groups and, as Steve Van Zandt points out, "they actually made the most powerful records of anybody... They were a tremendous band."
Discography[edit]
(See DC5 discography at The Dave Clark Five discography)