Mike Smith Was the Real Deal
One day in December of 1964, I bought three singles that encapsulated the period for this deeply committed adherent of the First British Invasion: the Zombies' "She's Not There," the Kinks' "You Really Got Me," and the Dave Clark Five's "Any Way You Want It."
Each single deserves its own essay, and I could go on and on about the Kinks, perhaps my favorite live band ever, but "Any Way You Want It" caught the essence of the Dave Clark Five, a full two minute and thirty one second assault on the senses that begins and ends at full throttle – with a lot of echo. The DC5, first and foremost, was a great singles band. I bought at least 12 of their 45s during the band's brief day in the sun, including the one pictured here with the column. My admiration and enthusiasm continues unabated.
Some people remember that Dave Clark, who led the band and played drums, retained the copyrights to his material, something very rare in those early days and worth mentioning – the individual Beatles have spent decades fighting for the rights to their own music.
Musically, the DC5 sound was completely unique. With rare exception, the guitar, bass and saxophone were mixed like one huge monolithic instrument. The inclusion of tenor saxophone was unusual, something that young Bruce Springsteen no doubt picked up on when he saw them on The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday nights during the band's heyday.
No band was more economical than the Five. On the group's definitive hits collection, The History of the Dave Clark Five, only three of the 50 tracks last more than three minutes; 12 don't make it to two minutes. There is no padding, no wasted notes, no filler in any DC5 track. They won't be remembered as a jam band.
One of the great ironies of the English Invasion was that we American kids were learning American soul songs from white English kids who were reinterpreting singles they imported from the U.S. And nobody this side of Stevie Winwood was a more natural interpreter of that music than Mike Smith, who also played organ. "I can do the blues, I can do the twist," he sang, understating his enormous range, on the band's magnificent cover of the Contours' "Do You Love Me."
Smith, who co-wrote many of the Five's songs with Clark, translated soul hits ("Reelin' and Rockin'," "Little Bitty Pretty One"), crooned Beatles' knock-offs ("Because," "Don't Be Taken In") and led the charge on the pedal-to-the-metal rock ("Glad All Over," "Bits and Pieces") that was the band's bread-and-butter. Nobody did Chuck Berry better than Smith on the band's outrageous take of "Reelin' and Rockin'." Listen to the primal scream that opens "All Night Long," a b-side instrumental, and tell me that Smith wouldn't equal even the mighty McCartney in a Shriek-Like-Little-Richard competition.
Mike Smith, the secret weapon of the Dave Clark Five and the best vocalist of his generation, died outside London on Feb. 29. He was 64. The band is to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Monday night.