Shaffer Produces Concert to Help Dave Clark Five's Mike Smith

The Dave Clark Five were part of the first wave of the British music invasion of the 1960s and always one of my favorites. Their use of a BookerT and MG's-style of organ, the saxophone, and Dave Clark's interesting drumming combined with a flare for melodies and harmonizing that made them a fun listen. Their hits included Glad All Over, Bits and Pieces, Because, Catch Us If You Can, and their cover of Do You Love Me?, among others.

Last night, for some reason, I Googled the Dave Clark Five and learned two things I hadn't known:

• That lead-singer Mike Smith, who played the organ in the band, is paralyzed from a fall that resulted in a broken neck. The accident happened three years ago. Here's a link to a short video of thanks to fans for prayers and well-wishes, made by Smith, his wife, and friends last Christmas time.
• And just two days ago, David Letterman music director Paul Shaffer released a DVD of a concert he instigated to help pay Smith's medical expenses, incurred at a hospital in England.

According to this article from the UPI:

Shaffer last year staged the 'British Invasion: A Tribute to Mike Smith' concert in New York featuring the Zombies, Billy J. Kramer, Denny Laine of the Moody Blues and Peter and Gordon...

Shaffer said he recently delivered a 'British Invasion' DVD to Smith, who he found to be 'amazingly positive for a guy in such a state of affairs.'

'He has a tracheotomy. He moves around in a motorized wheelchair. Luckily, his right arm is mobile enough to operate it,' Shaffer told the Daily News. 'Nonetheless, he`s a lovely English gentleman with a great sense of humor.'

The DVD isn't presently stocked by Amazon or Barnes and Noble. But, if for nothing but the music, is worth scrounging around to find. Purchasing it will also contribute to a good cause.

UPDATE: Dave Clark himself, always an enterprising fellow, has an official DC5 web site. It's quite incomplete, but if it were brought up to its potential would really be cool. Clark's compositions, by the way, are administered by Paul McCartney's company, MPL Communications. Macca also owns the publishing rights to music by such luminaries as Buddy Holly, Frank Loesser, and Bernie Williams. (Yeah, that Bernie Williams, center fielder with the New York Yankees.)