Mike Smith, one of the voices of the sixties, left just £66,000 in his will, following his death earlier this year.As the lead singer of The Dave Clark Five, he was heard by over 100 million people who bought their records. The band had twenty top twenty singles in the UK and America and their songs still get people up and dancing; who can’t remember “Bits and Pieces” “Glad All Over” and “Catch Us If You Can?”
Although the band ended as the DC5 in 1970, they’ve been heard on radios around the world ever since. So much so, that they were inducted into America’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008 where Tom Hanks introduced them and Joan Jett performed their hits including a rousing performance of “Bits and Pieces” where Tom Hanks reminded America that Mike Smith’s voice was the one we heard when we listened to the band.
Dave Clark was always an astute businessman. He ran the DC5 and employed the performers. The band members were co-writers on some of the songs only. That probably explains why Mike Smith left such a small estate compared to general belief about someone who sells 100 million records.
Mike returned to performing in 2003 (with rare footage on YouTube) after staying away for 25 years. Tragedy hit when his son Jamie died in a diving accident in 2003. Months later Mike Smith broke his neck in a fall at his home in Spain.
He was paralysed from the waist down after the accident and became an inpatient at The Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury. He died there on 28th February 2008 aged just 64 following the onset of pneumonia, less than two weeks before being inducted into the Hall of Fame, but at least he did know he was to receive the award.
Mike Smith left £66,000 in his will. He left the residue of his estate to second wife Charlie Smith. He made £40,000 of donations with a legacy of £5,000 going to the National Spinal Injuries Centre. Around £26,000 went to Michael Mahan on condition that he didn’t contest the will.
The will covers only Smith’s UK holdings. His royalties and intellectual property, including those as cowriter for The Dave Clark Five, were left to his cousin Donald Carn.
Sir Lawrence Oliver said “the DC5; they were as well known as the English dictionary.”
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