Bassobit: Rick Huxley

Rick Huxley, bassist with the Dave Clark Five, has died.

After the band had split in 1970, Huxley took a job with the Vox amplifier business, before moving into more general retailing. He still played, even having a spell helping out the Barron Knights, and with the bands Cascade and Ridge.

Rick Huxley had emphysema; he died February 11th at the age of 72.

[Related: Mike Smith obituary]

Mail Clark

As if to prove that it's equal-opportunities shallow, the Daily Mail chooses to mark Dave Clark's elevation to the Hall of Fame by focusing on his appearance:

Clark's hair appeared to have been dyed back to its 1960s colour and any grey on his beard looked to have been blended in with a touch-up brush. His face was remarkably wrinkle-free and there was a conspicuous absence of lines on his forehead.

They would, of course, have been just as happy to run a story on how he no longer looked like he did in the 1960s. Indeed, it looks like they might have been expecting a snaggly-toothed madman:

In a rare public appearance, Clark, who lives the life of a recluse in a multi-million-pound mews house in London...

"Lives the life of a recluse" in a tabloid means "doesn't appear in the newspapers" - we suspect that Clark doesn't actually live the life of a recluse at all.

Britishinvasionobit: Mike Smith

The lead singer of The Dave Clark Five, Mike Smith, has died from pneumonia.

Born in Edmonton, London, in 1943, Smith's first encounter with a Dave Clark came not through music, but on the football pitch; Clark already had a teenage band and when his singer quit, Smith was invited to join.

Pye Records signed the Five in 1962, with their 1962 debut release credited to the the Dave Clark Five featuring Mike Smith. Although the billing might have avoided the obvious confusion that the band was named after the drummer and not the singer, it was clumsy and quietly shortened by the time the band hit America. The Tottenham Sound might never have lodged itself in the popular mind like the Liverpool Sound, but it didn't hold the band back - although the Five arguably rode the Beatles' slipstream, they turned the opportunity into two years of solid success in the US, perhaps peaking with the movie Catch Us If You Can.

Although popularly viewed as the muscial bedrock of the band, when talking to the NME in 1968, Smith was more modest about his talents:

I've studied piano since I was five, and I probably know more about music than Dave, but that does not make me a Brian Auger. I regard myself as a session organist - that is, I know what is going on in the studio and the techniques involved in producing a record.

The band split in 1970, although Smith and Clark continued to work together - partly to fulfill contractual obligations; eventually, the balance of power would be reversed and nucleus of The Dave Clark Five turned into Mike Smith's Rock Engine.

After the band had finally run its course, Smith first formed a partnership with Mike D'Abo - yielding just one album release for the Japanese market - and appeared on the first recorded version of Evita; mainly, though, he concentrated on production and writing for commercials.

Dave Clark's tight grip on the Five's legacy kept all but a handful of the band's records out of print for decades and meant that, when Smith first returned to live performance in the late 90s, Mike wasn't able to mention the connection in publicity. Instead, he revived the Mike Smith's Rock Engine label, and carved a degree of succcess on the nostalgia circuit.

Smith's death comes weeks before the band was due to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - a double tragedy, as some believe they had actually qualified for induction last year but the votes were fudged to ensure Grandmaster Flash could be elevated instead.

In 2003, Smith suffered a fall which left him paralysed; he remained in hospital until last December. After developing pneumonia, he was taken back to Stoke Mandeville where he died, yesterday.

Madonna now officially "a monument"

The clearest signal so far that Madonna's creative days are behind her, and she's in the ossification phase of her career: She's being considered for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Also fighting with her to get the induction, and a large display explaining to people why they used to be popular are Leonard Cohen, John Mellencamp, Chic, the Dave Clark Five and Afrika Bambaataa.

We're starting the campaign for the Dave Clark Five right here.