As we often reflect on those we most emulated and admired, the icons we patterned our lives to, it is with heartfelt sorrow I construct this editrial about one of the truly nice people in the music genre. The impact of Mike Smith can never be impugned nor refuted by those who know and understand the difference he made not only on music in general but to the social concept of mankind. From humble beginnings to keybaordist and vocalist for The Dave Clark Five, his versatility and prowess as lead singer would catapult the band to rival The Beatles in reference to sales and popularity. Mike continued to record with Dave Clark well into the seventies but eventually opted for writing and singing commercials for various corporations and products. Mike finally decided to tour once again in 2002 with Rock Engine and although banned from any connotations of the DC5, he was met with an ecstatic and entusiastic welcome acroos the land. His work with Dave Clark would include authoring seventeen singles for the band and exude a distinctive voice that would forever etch him into the pantheons of musical immortality.

We often refer to those we grew to as the proverbial "Rainbow Warriors" and forget that "Swinging London" was the European answer to San Francisco and the psycledelic sounds of the era. Mike Smith was and will remain a "Rainbow Warrior", a mirrored image of Pete Sears, Chet Helms, David Nelson, David Freiberg and other luminaries who continue to not only expand the parameters of their chosen craft but continue to verify that their is hope for universal peace through the music and acceptance of cultural differences. I first saw Mike Smith as a sixteen year old athlete who managed to avoid track practice and venture downtown Chicago in search of a noted British Invasion band who ruled the airwaves at the time with Glad All Over & Catch Us If You Can. Years later at Merriville, Indiana Resort I went to see Rock Engine and spoke to Mike briefly about the glory days of the DC5 and how he felt about touring after all those years. He was cordial, charismatic and charming, and seemed ready to embark on an neoteric entity that would become a dichotomy that kept his emerging resurgence separate from DC5 fame and Mike Smith brilliance as an individual performer.

Trauma would become a shrowd that seemed to be the juxtaposing image for Mike as his son died in a diving accident just a few months prior to his falling from a seven foot fence and becoming paralyzed from the neck down. Four years of a hospital room was viewed as a prison but alas, a house equipped with various mechanisms for a person relegated to a wheel chair had been implemented and Mike was on his way to a somewhat normal existence. He had just gone to see Bruce Springsteen, a longtime friend and his spirits were soaring when pneumonia was diagnosed and he succombed to that malady before getting a chance to finally go home and the induction to The Hall of Fame.

Perhaps Jann Werner will bear the burden of Mike's inability to attend as the band should have been inducted last year but Werner opted for Grand Master Flash noting that the band could conceivably make it in 2008. Can a body of work from Grand Master Flash be compared to that of a legendary band from England who had only The Beatles to rival their universal acclaim?

So..another one of the few great people of the music genre has left the perpetual "circle" of friends. To say he will be missed is a vast understatement but for those who know the power of his music and his indelible impact as a human being.....may he be with the God of choice and forever "Rock In Peace"...as it should be...........

Cheers
Don Aters - Editor
Haight Street Music News - 3/4/08