RIP Mike Smith
Not *that* Mike Smith. Or that one.
Sad to me that the world has seemingly forgotten the Tottenham Sound that briefly knocked the Beatles from the charts in 1964; you mention the Dave Clark 5 nowadays, and if someone remembers them, they remember them as a footnote in rock history….
…but I defy anyone to listen to “Bits And Pieces” and not define it as one of the great punk rock moments in rock and roll history. From Smith’s larynx-shredding soul shout to Clark’s tub-thumping kick drum signature, the song represents everything that is good or even great about rock and roll. (Clubs around Britain back in the day refused to play “Pieces” for fear that eager dancers would stomp their wooden dancefloors to splinters. That’s rock and roll, yo.)
Mike Smith, the DC5 vocalist, was maybe the only guy in the British invasion who could hold his own with Stevie Winwood and Little Stevie Marriott. It sounds as if his latter years were very difficult. Hopefully he’s at peace now.
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The one political blogger you *should* be reading…
If you’re following the Democratic nomination horse race as closely as I am, there’s one blogger out there who is continually scooping every news reporter out there, who is constantly crushing the competition on analysis, and who happens to write with a flair and elan that puts everyone else in conventional reportage to shame.
His name is Al Giordano. His blog is called “The Field”
Giordano was the guy in December 2003 who was telling anyone who was listening that John Kerry–then polling single digits and running 5th–was going to win Iowa and New Hampshire. This cycle, Giordano was the first guy reporting on how the Obama ground game was going to create an incredible momentum that Camp Clinton was unprepared for; Al was talking about it before Super Tuesday; today it’s the meme-du-jour among reporters on the scene in Texas.
At any rate, read The Field. Check the archives. Giordano is immensely entertaining, even when he reads as if he’s drunk off his ass–his style a sort of gonzo cross of Hunter Thompson and Bill James in that respect. Al will let you know what the score on March 4th will be before anyone else does.
Popnarcotic 