LONDON (AP) _ Dave Clark Five lead singer Mike Smith died of pneumonia Thursday, less than two weeks before the band was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was 64.

Smith died at a hospital outside of London, his agent Margo Lewis said.

He was admitted to the intensive care unit Wednesday morning with a chest infection, a complication from a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed below the ribcage with limited use of his upper body. Lewis said he was injured when he fell from a fence at his home in Spain in September 2003.

Smith had been in the hospital since the accident, and was just released last December when he moved into a specially prepared home near the hospital with his wife.

"These last five years were extremely difficult for Mike. I am incredibly saddened to lose him, his energy and his humor, but I am comforted by the fact that he had the chance to spend his final months and days at home with his loving wife Charlie," Lewis said.

Smith wrote songs as well as singing and playing keyboards for the Dave Clark Five, one of many British rock acts whose music swept across the United States in the 1960s during the so-called British Invasion.

The Beatles are the best remembered, of course, but at the time the Dave Clark Five posed the strongest threat, commercially and critically, to their pre-eminence.

The Dave Clark Five claimed a string of U.S. hits, including "Because," "Glad All Over," and "I Like it Like That." By 1966, the band had made 12 appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show," then a record for any British group.

The group's antics were captured in John Boorman's 1965 documentary "Catch Us If You Can," which followed Smith and his band mates through the English city of Bristol.

While the group — which broke up in 1970 — was named after him, Dave Clark himself was the drummer.

The group is going to be inducted in the rock hall on March 10, a ceremony Lewis said Smith was trying to attend.

"We're very unhappy about the whole situation — it's sad," Rock and Roll Hall of Fame President Joel Peresman said.

He said the ceremony would go ahead as planned, but that there would be "a little extra significance this year."

Said Lewis: "He was extremely excited and honored to have been inducted … and I am glad that he will be remembered as a hall of famer, because he was in so many ways."

Smith is survived by his wife, Arlene (nicknamed Charlie).

NEW YORK (AP) ` Justin Timberlake will induct Madonna into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.¶
The ‘‘Sexyback’’ singer has been working with the Material
Mom on her upcoming album, expected to be released this year.¶
Madonna will be among those honored March 10 at the
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan. Other inductees include
Leonard Cohen, John Mellencamp, The Dave Clark Five, The
Ventures and Little Walter.¶
Tom Hanks will induct The Dave Clark Five, the '60s British
pop band behind the hit ‘‘Glad All Over.’’ Billy Joel will pay
tribute to Mellencamp, and Lou Reed will honor Cohen.¶
Ben Harper will induct Little Walter, who produced 14 Top 10
hits on the R&B charts before his death in 1968 at 37. John
Fogerty will induct The Ventures, whose hits include ‘‘Walk
Don't Run’’ and ‘‘Hawaii Five-O.’’¶
Singer-songwriter Jerry Butler will induct Kenny Gamble and
Leon Huff, founders of the Philadelphia International record
label that collaborated with R&B artists such as Butler, The
O'Jays, Patti LaBelle and Lou Rawls.¶
"`¶
On the Net:¶
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:¶
http://www.rockhall.com/¶

Though Akron Duo The Black Keys next album Attack & Release isn't due until April, the duo has posted a new track Strange Times on their myspace page.
Area fans with decent memories may recognize the song as one of the tunes the band played during their December concert at The Civic Theatre.

Dig the synths and the more fleshed out arrangement.

The 2008 Tri-C JazzFest lineup has been announced.
the 2008 festival will run from April 17-27 and will be a salute to "American Classics" and will feature several of the guest artists paying tribute to legends including Frank Sinatra, Marvin Gaye and Billy Holiday

The lineup includes:
Natalie Cole, John Pizzarelli & The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra paying tribute to Frank Sinatra, Nnenna Freelon paying tribute to Billy Holiday , Jason Miles paying tribute to Marvin Gaye and Motown, Rick Braun and Richard Elliot,The Joshua Redman Trio, The,Vijay Iyer Quartet, The Marcus Roberts Trio, Eddie Backus, Sr., The JD Allen Trio,The Ernie Krivda Trio, and Dominick Farinacci.

Tickets go on sale March 7, 2008 and can be purchased after that date at Playhouse Square Center, 216-241-6000, or online at www.tricpresents.com.

For more information and special packages, call 216-987-4400, or visit www.tricpresents.com.

…In two months!!

To be exact:

Tuesday, April 22nd @ 7:00PM

Live Nation Presents:

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE

w/ Billy Talent, Drive By

(Doors at 6:00PM)

Tickets for this show are $35 General Admission and go on sale through Ticketmaster and the Agora Box Office on Saturday, February 22nd at 10:00AM!
The Agora box office will be opn Saturday Morning from 10:00AM - 12 Noon so come on down!

Per the Associated Press

Chrissie Hynde took a ride on an Akron city bus to show her support of a countywide sales tax increase for mass transit.

Officials say all weekend buses and a curb-to-curb service that helps the disabled and elderly would be cut without the increase.

Sorry about the Grammys blog, had some technical difficulties with the hamster that powers my Googlebox.

And now for someting completely different.

Rolling Stone reports…

The rumors are true: A reunited Stone Temple Pilots will headline this year’s Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, Ohio. It will be the band’s first concert in seven years. Last week, Scott Weiland, currently the lead singer of Velvet Revolver, entered a rehab center after a recent DUI arrest, throwing VR’s planned Australian tour (and Weiland’s own drunken claims that STP would reunite) in jeopardy. However, VR guitarist Slash also confirmed the Stone Temple reunion, proving it wasn’t just Weiland’s delusion. As of yet, no other STP dates have been revealed. The Rock on the Range festival runs May 17th & 18th at Columbus Crew Stadium, and tickets go on sale on Saturday, February 23rd.

I didn't miss them but they do still have many fans and won't it be special that the big show is happening right in OHIO.

Besides it could have been worse.

Candlebox anyone?

Herbie Hancock gets Best Album of the year for The Joni Letters!

I dont anyone saw that coming..excpet for apparently Herbie who brought a speech.

That is very, very suprirsing…even as "safe" choices go (Steely Dan over Eminem a few years go)

Hey, let's give Amy Winehouse hand collective hooray for pulling it together to show us all that she's there's still a an interesting singer and pop star under all that train wreck.

And she gets Record of the Year (and three others at this point) for the now ironic REHAB and looks completely shocked by her win.

Nice.

I gotta give it to the Grammys for basically chucking the handing out the awards and the obligatory speeches (Kanye…bro, really…get to the point, man) and just fill the evening with music.

That Herbie Hancock and Long Long Gershwin was nice and they didn't condense it to a 3 minute pastiche but aired it out a bit.

That Dave Grohl sure can write a rockin' single can't he?

Ladies and Gentleman…SLAYER

Best Metal Performance
(For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances, with vocals. Singles or Tracks only.)

* Nothing Left
As I Lay Dying
Track from: An Ocean Between Us
[Metal Blade Records]

* Never Ending Hill
King Diamond
Track from: Give Me Your Soul…Please
[Metal Blade Records]

* Aesthetics Of Hate
Machine Head
Track from: The Blackening
[Roadrunner Records]

* Redemption
Shadows Fall
Track from: Threads Of Life
[Atlantic]

* Final Six
Slayer
Track from: Christ Illusion
[American Recording/Columbia]

Congratulations

You can't call Alicia Keys lazy, she has been working the hell out of her album AS I AM and it's paid off..The Super Bowl, MTV, GRAMMYS, I can't remember but I'll assume she was at The Amercian Music Aawards's…she's puttining in Beyonce/Usher level work.
And she has great taste in pants.

You know you've reached back into the annals of rock n' roll history when 62 year old John Fogerty is the youngest of the stars onstage…Little Richard still fabulous after all these deacdes, and The Killer who seems a little more energetic than he did at the Civic in September.

We should enjoy these moments because as the annual slide show of DOOM shows us odds are at least one of those three rockers won't be available in 2010.

Well, this has been fun so far hasn't it?

For the love of (omniscient deity) can we have some sort of moriutorum on Duets with the Dead?!
please?
Alicia Keys and Ol Blues Eyes, great, please dont' do that again.

It was nice to see the Time…the original Time…damn, them dudes is old and Morris Day was dressed like The award statue at the annual Pimps and Hoes Ball.
Interesting medley with Rihanna but hey! it was one of a kind ,ey?

I wish they'd just get to the AMY WINEHOUSE thing already so we can move on.

Congratulations to her for Best New Artist, though she's really not new.

Tina Turn and Beyonce…..does Beyonce own a skirt that comes down to her knees?
I'm not complaining, just wondering.
Nice to see Tina can still work it out there with the younguns, and Miss B paying her respects.

Kanye West looks like the cover of an 80's new wave album.

Was there any doubt that Kanye would win Best Rap album? I didn't think so.

Aretha Franklin….sounds great…nice big GOspel blowout with trinity 357 (as opposed to Oaktown .357) and the Glark Sisters et al.
See these are the special one of a kind moments that the Supe Bowl has given up on.
No wardrobe malfunctions at the Grammys…though Amy Winehouse hasn't gone on yet..