Dave Clark Four

I'll never forget when the Dave Clark Five appeared on Ed Sullivan (one of their many appearances on rocker Sullivan's program) and they sang the song "Bits and Pieces." The incredible beat of the song made me decide that I wanted to be a drummer. It's only been 43 years. Maybe one day I will.

Mike Smith, the lead singer, keyboardist and face of the Dave Clark Five at the height of the British band's popularity, died Thursday of pneumonia. He was 64.

Smith was admitted Wednesday morning to Stoke Mandeville Hospital outside London with a chest infection stemming from complications of a 2003 spinal cord injury that had left him paralyzed, his New York agent, Margo Lewis, said in a statement.