Last week we expressed our extreme jealousy over the fact that Phil Nee had the chance to interview one of OUR dream interviewees, David Gates of Bread ...
But this week's piece may even outrank that ...
As Phil ALSO had the chance to talk to Mike Smith, lead singer of The Dave Clark Five, when he did his American tour in 2003.
I had the chance to see Mike perform at The Holiday Star Plaza Theater in Merrillville, Indiana, that same year. There was NO way I was going to miss this concert!!!
I had been a Dave Clark Five fan from Day One ... and got to live thru the whole "rivalry" cooked up by the press between The Beatles and The DC5. (I found room in my heart for BOTH bands! lol)
One of the greatest thrills of my life was receiving "The Dave Clark Five's Greatest Hits" as a Christmas Present in 1965. Man, I begged and begged for this album.
And what a Greatest Hits album is was, too. All thriller, no filler ... ALL the big hits up to that point were on there, even their latest release (and only official #1 Hit Single) "Over And Over." (The album was rounded out by "Glad All Over," "Bits And Pieces," "Do You Love Me," "Can't You See That She's Mine," "Because," "Everybody Knows (I Still Love You),""Any Way You Want It," "I Like It Like That" and "Catch Us If You Can." Man, what a great LP!
And if that was one of the best Christmas presents I ever got as a kid, then seeing Mike Smith in concert was one of the greatest concerts I've ever seen as an adult ... and I've seen a LOT of concerts over the years.
After not touring for decades (especially here in The States), the news of him coming thru with a new tour came completely out of the blue ... like a dream from heaven. The show absolutely blew me away ... truly one of my Top Ten Concerts EVER.
I hung around after the show to see if I might have the chance to talk with him a little bit ... but after waiting some 45 minutes, his security people came out and told us that Mike wouldn't be coming out to visit and asked if we would all please go home. I was heartbroken, knowing full well that I would likely never have the chance again to speak with one of my all-time favorite lead singers.
And sure enough, it was right after his US tour, after Mike got home to Spain, that he fell and damaged his spinal cord, never walking again. Thank God (for his sake and ours) he was able to enjoy that last round of applause.
So yes, Phil, I am EXTREMELY jealous and envious of you once again!!!
I want to thank you again for sharing that experience with us and all our Forgotten Hits Readers all over the world!!! (kk)
Mike Smith was born December 6th, 1943, in Edmonton, London. He would grow up and become one of the greatest rock and roll singers of all time as a member of the Dave Clark Five.
I was one of the lucky ones to see Mike back in 2003 when he played a few select dates here in the States.
My luck began while dozing off while watching Letterman and I woke to hear Paul Shaffer and the band going to commercial break playing a DC5 song. I later learned that Mike Smith was sitting in with the group that night.
The next day I talked with a friend who said that he saw that as well and wouldn't it be cool to be able to see the Mike Smith Band live. He called me back a moment later and said, "You are not going to believe this, but Mike Smith is playing in Dubuque, Iowa, tomorrow night!"
Normally my radio station knows about shows like these. I immediately called the venue and told them that I would like to promote it. They gave me Mike's manager's phone number and within minutes I was talking on the air to one of my all time favorites.
Today I am pleased to share portions of that 2003 interview.
I loved the first wave of the British Invasion. Several groups sounded similar, but the Dave Clark Five were unique.
The Dave Clark Five had many records that jumped out of the radio with an energetic sound. Their 6th record to hit the Billboard chart was a ballad. Of all of the group's hits, it has always been the most requested on my radio show. I asked Mike Smith about 'Because'.
[Phil is right about that ... The Dave Clark Five singles were recorded SO loud that they had built-in distortion, which, I thought, took a little bit away from just what GREAT records these were. That was another reason their Greatest Hits album meant so much to me ... the sound was much cleaner ... and as their material was sporadically re-released over the years (Dave Clark kept a good portion of their catalog out of print, something I NEVER understood), the sound only got better and better. - kk]
[As a side note, the record label fought Clark on releasing "Because" as a single in America ... they didn't want to break with the formula. In this instance, Dave was proven right ... "Because" became a #3 Hit, second only to their chart-topper "Over And Over" on Billboard's Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart. It was NOT released as a single in Great Britain. - kk]
Mike Smith sounded as good as he did in the '60's when we saw him in concert in Iowa in 2003. He was born to be the lead singer of a rock and roll group.
[My feeling was Mike Smith never really got his due as a singer. The band was named after its leader, Dave Clark, and unless you were REALLY into the music, I'd venture to say that most listeners really didn't have a clue who the guy with those great vocal chops really was. Sadly, ALL of the members of The Dave Clark Five ... even Smith ... were simply hired hands, paid a salary to perform in Dave's band. A guy with THIS much talent deserved a better fate ... AND a bigger piece of the pie. He was the key element to The Dave Clark Five Sound. - kk]
Glad All Over debuted in mid-February of 1964 and quickly rose toward the top here in America. Just as the Beatles were welcomed in a frenzy, the Dave Clark Five were overwhelmed when they arrived in New York. Mike Smith talked to me about how life quickly changed for the band in one weekend.
GREAT interview, Phil ... would LOVE to hear the whole thing some day.
(Maybe you can do a Dave Clark Five Night on Those Were The Days one of these weekends!!!)
Of all the British bands, The Dave Clark Five graced The Ed Sullivan Show more than any other ... Ed loved these guys, too ... a very clean-cut, professional outfit. (kk)
THIS JUST IN ...
Phil WILL be featuring portions of his Mike Smith interview on tonight's show, including previously unaired segments and other pieces he hasn't run since his interview first ran nearly twenty years ago.
In addition, he'll also be featuring more from his David Gates interview, which we featured last week in Forgotten Hits. (Scroll back to last Saturday's post, November 26th)
Be sure to listen to Phil Nee's THOSE WERE THE
DAYS radio program tonight … and EVERY Saturday Night on WRCO ... 6 pm –
Midnight (Central):
WRCO AM FM
Radio Richland Center Wisconsin
Just click on the 100.9 headphones and start
streaming!
