The music world has suffered the loss of two artists in the past week.
Mike Smith, the lead singer of 60s pop band Dave Clark Five, passed away from pnuemonia on Thursday. Smith’s passing came less than two weeks before he and the remainder of the Dave Clark Five were scheduled to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
For a time, the DC5’s popularity rivalled even The Beatles, as the band scored 17 Top 40 hits on the U.S. charts.
I was also saddened (and a bit surprised) to learn of the passing of Canadian blues/rock guitarist Jeff Healey at only 41 years of age (I was also stunned that he was so young). As the leader of the Jeff Healey Band, he scored a Top 10 pop hit in 1988 with the bluesy ballad “Angel Eyes”.
Of course, most people remember Jeff because he was blind, and because of that ailment (caused by the cancer that would eventually kill him), had a very unorthodox way of playing guitar, strumming the instrument on his lap.
Healey’s final CD, “Mess of Blues”, will be released later this month.
Rest in peace to both men.
