This one’s for ALL DC5 fans who’ve been concerned about Mike Smith, former lead singer of the Dave Clark Five. It’s an article sent to me via Bob Kostanczuk of the Post-Trib, printed here in its entirety:
HALL OF FAME IS CALLING
Husband of Merrillville native may have earned a place there
December 17, 2006
BY BOB KOSTANCZUK Post-Tribune
Arlene Gorek married into a dream.
The Merrillville girl wedded Mike Smith, lead singer of the Dave Clark Five — rivals of the Beatles during those mad-and-giddy days of the British Invasion.Gorek was there in the ’60s during the frenetic nuttiness, such as when fans stormed the DC5’s car while the band was making a getaway after a California concert.
But a freak accident in 2003 crushed the fairy-tale life.
Smith broke his neck in three places in a fall from a high fence at their home on the Mediterranean Sea.
He’s 63, and — barring an unadulterated miracle — will never walk again.
Additionally, he has no use of his right arm.
There were also complications this year from infection to a lung.
He’s been on a feeding tube and ventilator.
Life, for Smith, is an English hospital outside of London that specializes in spinal injuries.
He can’t seem to make it home, at least not yet.
“This is our fourth Christmas here in the hospital. Can you believe it?” his wife asked rhetorically. “I’ve got his room decorated. It’s got a wreath above his bed and there’s a big Santa Claus on his bulletin board. I’ve got his Christmas stocking up and got a wreath on the door, so we’ve got a lot of Christmas stuff right here in the ward.”
Despite attempts at holiday merriment, challenges abound.
“It’s hard at times when he’s down,” she said by phone this month. “I won’t say that he’s up all the time. It has been hard, but Mike and I really try to be positive. You really, really, really get to know each other.
“The both of us have held each other at times, and we’ve both cried. Then, there’s other times when we just laughed ourselves silly. We have had tears of joy streaming down our faces.”
There may be more reasons to shed tears of joy if Smith’s group is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year.
The Dave Clark Five is one of nine nominees for the 2007 class of inductees. Five inductees will be announced Jan. 8, with the induction ceremony set for March 12 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.
“You have no idea how much he would want to be there for it,” said the 1961 graduate of Merrillville High School.
Gorek is now known as Charlie Smith. The unusual first name stems from the professional moniker she once used for her Hollywood career: Arlene Charles.
She did a little movie work, but her hubby was the one in the public spotlight.
‘Huge honor’
Because of medical procedures — which included placement on a ventilator — Smith didn’t have his usual voice to answer questions about his band’s nomination.
But Charlie helped take a statement from him earlier this month.
“I’m very thrilled,” he said. “There is so much talent out there, and for us to even be nominated is a huge honor. We were at the beginning of the musical revolution called the British Invasion.
“In England, we had to sell a million records to just knock the Beatles off the No. 1 spot with ‘Glad All Over.’ We then went on to tour the world four times and played to millions of fans.”
The Dave Clark Five also had the distinction of performing 18 times on “The Ed Sullivan Show” — the most popular variety program on American television at the time.
Being named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame would likely be a commercial boon for Smith and his ex-bandmates.
“It’s a little bit of free marketing, and a lot of labels are savvy in taking the energy of that and turning it into a sales campaign. It can be a great thing for some acts,” said Warren Zanes, vice president of education and public programs for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland.
Although some acts aren’t poised, from a business sense, to take advantage of induction, Zanes said that “in general, it means a spike in sales” for honorees.
Renewed interest
Induction into rock’s hall of fame would also mean a boost in name recognition for Smith and his old band, especially among new generations.
“The opportunity for a band like the Dave Clark Five is to reawaken people to what a big international act they were,” Zanes said. “A lot of folks know the songs, but they can’t tell you who it is.
“When people talk about the Dave Clark Five, it will be just one or two beats before they do a comparison with the Beatles. Of the British Invasion artists, they were the only real threat to the Beatles, and a lot of people don’t know this.”
During 1964 — the hottest year of the British Invasion — the Dave Clark Five’s bombastic sound notched more hit singles in America than the Rolling Stones. Utilizing saxophone and a muscular rhythm section, the DC5 churned out loud, buoyant fare that included “Bits and Pieces,” “Any Way You Want It,” “Do You Love Me” and “Glad All Over.”
Anchoring the vocals was Smith’s full-bodied singing. The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll calls him “a truly outstanding soul shouter.”
Groovy times
Charlie met her husband-to-be in the midst of the band’s fame.
It was November 1964.
After having lived in Merrill-ville and the Glen Park section of Gary, Charlie moved to California while in her early 20s. She was a pretty blonde and beauty-pageant winner who had headed west with big dreams that included film roles.
Landing a date with a publicist, Charlie was taken to a Dave Clark Five concert in Anaheim. There was backstage access and a meeting with the group’s chief singer and keyboardist, who wowed her.
“I just thought he was really cute,” she recalled.
It was the start of a periodic relationship with the mod pop star, whom she would catch on concert stops in the mid-’60s.
They dated, but Charlie’s mother hardly endorsed the relationship with Smith.
The parental advice was direct: “He’s a star. He’s gonna break your heart.”
In any event, Charlie and her beau lost touch while the English band with the “Tottenham sound” was still motoring along in the swingin’ ’60s.
Smith obviously had his career, and she was trying to get hers off the ground. Charlie ended up having small roles in the Elvis Presley movies “Spinout” (1966) and “Clambake” (1967).
Many years later — in 1999 — Charlie was living in the Valparaiso area when her friends contacted a Dave Clark Five fan club via the Internet, seeking to get a message to Smith that an old flame was curious about him.
On Valentine’s Day 1999, Smith called Charlie. It was the first time they had spoken in more than three decades.
On Oct. 27, 2001, they tied the knot. Both had been previously married.
They lived the idyllic life in an upscale area of southern Spain. Smith once noted that on a clear day, Africa was visible across the water.
Tragedy looms
Shortly after marrying his Hoosier girl, Smith was enjoying a career renaissance by touring as Mike Smith’s Rock Engine. He played Merrill-ville’ s Star Plaza Theatre in March 2003.
A few months later, he fell from a fence, trying to gain access to his home after a door had stuck. Smith — who was returning home in the evening — landed awkwardly, snapping his neck.
Charlie was in the United States at the time.
He laid helpless all night until being found by neighbors.
When the accident occurred, Charlie and her husband were planning to move from Spain to the LaPorte area.
They sold their home in Spain this past spring, acquiring a rental house in England that is about 10 minutes from the hospital where Smith is being treated. He’s been able to go home to the house only fleetingly, visiting for a couple of hours last Christmas, for instance.
The singer receives constant — and costly — care through England’s National Health Service. Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits — another British Invasion band — helped raise money for a motorized wheelchair for Smith.
“We wouldn’t have been able to afford that,” Charlie said. “We didn’t have that kind of money.”
Noone offered a financial observation: “Musicians don’t get great pension plans.”
At the hospital, Smith ’s grind is eased by human contact. He found a friend in fellow patient Sylvia Hursey of Kent, England.
“I know him pretty well; I think he’s a lovely guy,” Hursey recently said by phone. “He’s very friendly. He’s got a good sense of humor.”
Fingers crossed
If Smith makes it to New York for induction into rock’s hall of fame, it would make for an emotional moment, according to Joel Peresman, president and chief executive officer of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation.
“I think everyone in the house would appreciate the effort to get there,” Peresman said. “Probably anything he does is an effort. People would appreciate seeing him.”
In the meantime, Charlie has other goals in mind for her husband.
“We’re hoping that he’ll get to come home this Christmas for a couple hours, and, in the new year, we’re hoping he gets to come home for good,” Charlie, 64, related.
She said her husband’s permanent move to their home outside London would require the services of live-in caregivers.
“We still have our very, very strong faith in God,” Charlie assured. “We have a very, very strong belief in each other, and that’s helped us through the difficult times.”
The couple recently worked on a Christmas message for his Web site.
Speaking of the holidays, Charlie was trying to get doctor’s clearance for her hero to come home for the yule season, if only for a two-hour stay.
“The tree is up, all the decorations are up, so they’re waiting for him,” she said.
