Mike Clifford, (born November 5, 1943), is an American singer,
songwriter and actor. He is best known for his 1962 pop hit, "Close To
Cathy", which reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Mike Clifford was born in Los Angeles, California. His
father, Cal Clifford, was a professional trumpeter, who took him to many of his
engagements. Mike soon developed an interest in music and began taking voice
lessons.
While in school, Mike began to entertain at school and community
functions, and by the age of 15 was performing at local nightclubs in Los
Angeles. After singing for just a short time period, Clifford signed with
Liberty Records in 1959. He recorded his first single that year, titled
"Should I". The song was mixed by Mark McIntyre and featured
additional vocals from Patience and Prudence and Eddie Cochran on guitar.
Clifford met Helen Noga through an introduction by a friend
and she agreed to become his personal manager after hearing him sing. Helen
Noga and her husband John managed the career of Johnny Mathis, and were able to
get Mike signed to Columbia Records. Later, after much hard work and
rehearsing, Helen Noga brought Mike to meet Ed Sullivan who was so impressed
with Mike’s poise and stage presence that he booked him for his TV debut, the
first of three appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Mike Clifford's first taste of success came at age 18 when
"Bombay" became a hit in Venezuela. He appeared on the state owned
Venevision in his own TV special.
However, Clifford's recordings for Columbia received little
buyer’s attention, and in July 1962, Clifford signed with United Artists
Records. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller produced several songs for Clifford,
including his biggest hit "Close To Cathy", written by Earl Shuman
and composed by Bob Goodman. The song reached number 12 in September of that
year, and stayed there for 2 weeks and remained on the charts for 12 weeks. On
December 29, 1962, "What To Do With Laurie" entered the Billboard Hot
100 and peaked at number #67. "One Boy Too Late" entered the
Billboard Hot 100 on May 11, 1963 and was to be his last nationally charted
record. He subsequently, had several songs that were regional hits in the
U.S.A.
He had hit records in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany as
well as "It Had Better Be Tonight" in Chile, "See You In
September" in the Philippines and "How To Murder Your Wife" in
Japan.
In 1965, United Artists released Mike Clifford’s debut album
For The Love Of Mike which was reviewed and a spotlight pick in the February
13, 1965 issue of Billboard.
Mike appeared in the films Village of the Giants in 1965,
Lord Of The Rings in 1978, In the 1978 film Sextette, Mike Clifford sang
"Love Will Keep Us Together" with Mae West, while actor Timothy
Dalton lip synched the words.
The 60's and 70's saw Mike Clifford tour over one hundred
cities during 1964 and 1965 with the Dick Clark Caravan Of Stars and perform in
Canada, France, Puerto Rico and Mexico. He did commercials for Black Cow and
Slowpoke suckers, Ortho Mattress and MJB coffee. American International
Pictures purchased cartoon films from Japan and had the dialogue and songs
translated into English. Mike recorded the Guy Hemeric-produced song "Rose
Colour Sky" and another song for the soundtracks. They were released to
movie theatres and television.
The 1970s also saw Clifford play the dual role of Teen Angel
and Johnny Casino in the first national tour of the Broadway musical, Grease
that also starred John Travolta.
Mike Clifford continues to have a very successful nightclub
and concert career that began on his 18th birthday at the Elegante Club,
Brooklyn, New York co-starring with Totie Fields.
He currently tours with his singing partner Sandy Zacky. The
two released a collaborative album in 2007, titled Love Is Everything. In 2010,
Mike Clifford recorded a brand new mp3 release, "Mack The Knife", on
the Hired Gun Records label (Info edited
from Wikipedia)
American Bandstand. November 21, 1964
2 comments:
For “Mike Clifford - The Single's Collection” go here:
http://www104.zippyshare.com/v/r6o7RjJh/file.html
1. I Don't Know Why (2:30)
2. I'm Afraid To Say I Love You (1:49)
3. Poor Little Girl (2:38)
4. Stranger (2:27)
5. Uh Huh (1:53)
6. Look In Any Window (2:33)
7. At Last (2:09)
8. Pretty Little Girl In The Yellow Dress (2:28)
9. Bombay (2:11)
10. When We Marry (2:28)
11. Joanna (2:32)
12. Mary Mary (2:01)
13. Close To Cathy (2:54)
14. She's Just Another Girl (2:31)
15. What To Do With Laurie (2:36)
16. That's What They Said (2:13)
17. One Boy Too Late (2:47)
18. Danny's Dream (2:29)
19. Gee I Don't Remember (2:40)
20. Cotton Dress (2:30)
21. All The Colors Of The Rainbow (Turn To Blue) (2:29)
22. It Had Better Be Tonight (2:08)
23. One By One The Roses Died (2:53)
24. See You In September (2:25)
25. Don't Make Her Cry (2:17)
26. Barbara's Theme (3:15)
27. Lavender Dreams (2:28)
28. How To Murder Your Wife (2:10)
29. Here's To My Lover (2:20)
30. Before I Loved Her (2:45)
31. Shirl Girl (2:23)
32. Out In The Country (2:47)
33. Countin' (2:02)
A big thank you to Polar Bear @ With the song of life Blog for original link
I don't remember him but listening may jog my alleged memory. Thanks for posting this.
Pudge
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