The “Golden Hits Of The 60s”
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MIKE CLIFFORD
“CLOSE TO CATHY”
(Bob Goodman, Earl Shuman)
United Artists 489
No. 12 November 3, 1962
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” His voice really rubs me the right way,” said Mae West of Mike Clifford in the legend’s last film– Sextette
(1978).
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”I’ve seen a lot of people go and come in the last 40 year,” wrote Mike Clifford in a letter to the author.” In
1964, SONNY & Cher were my opening act! I toured with the Supremes, before their first hit; Mary Wilson
wrote of me in her book, Dreamgirls .. .”
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When five, Mike (b. Nov. 5, 1943, Los Angeles) started singing with a group of strolling sidewalk musicians
on the island of Catalina, where his parents owned a summertime business. His father, Cal Clifford was a
trumpet player with Tommy Dorsey, Stan Kenton, Paul Whiteman, and his own unit, the Cavaliers. Mike-
who got the chance to perfect his performance with his dad’s band–was making demos at the age of 15. The
following year, he was greased up, suited, and crooning in nightclubs. Helen Noga, Johnny Mathis’
manager, happened to hear Mike’s singing and decided to manage him; she also introduced him to Mathis’
label, Columbia. Mike’s first few singles for Columbia were not bad teen idol tunes; the Paul Anka-
supervised “Uh Huh” actually had raw and youthful energy.
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Noga arranged for Mike to make his first of several appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” in 1961–an
event that would cause him to miss his awaited high school prom and graduation. Bio materials report that
Mike Clifford had his first major hit–a number-one charter, no less–that year with the Lawrence Welk,
GEORGE CATES’ tune “Bombay,”in Venezuela. The success garnered the 18 year old his own TV special on
the state-owned network, emanating from Caracas. On his return, Mike was ushered into the studios for a
recording session for United Artist.
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“Close to Cathy,” as well as his debut LP, For the Love of Mike, were the result. His odes to girls like
“Cathy” and “Joanna,” though, were puffy pop, with leanings toward earlier times; definitely not the folder
for die-hard rock’n’ rollers.
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While “What to Do With Laurie” (#68, 1963) and “One Boy Too Late” (#96, 1963) did chart, the road as a
recording artist got rougher for Mike. More records were made for Cameo, Sidewalk, America Internation
al, and Air Records; some reportedly popular in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Through it all, Clifford
appeared often on “American Bandstand,” made four tours with the Dick Clark Caravan and appearances
on the Joey Bishop, Donald O’Connor, MIKE DOUGLAS shows; as well as repeat performances at such clubs
as Mister Kelly’s, the Hullaballoo Club and various Playboy Clubs.
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In 1965, Mike Clifford made his acting debut opposite “Leave It to Beaver”‘s Tony Dow and “Lassie’s”
Tommy Rettig in ABC-TV’s short-lived soap series “Never Too Young.” That same year, Clifford and Casey
Kasem co-hosted the syndicated music show “Shebang,” and appeared with 30-foot tall Tommy Kirk and
Beau Bridges in the sci-fi silly Village of the Giants (1965).
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For two years in the ’70s, Mike played the dual role of Johnny Casino/Teen Angel–opposite John Travolta-
Barry Bostwick–in the national touring company of the musical Grease. He sang “Love Will Keep Us
Together” with femme fatale Mae West in her last flick, the Regis Philbin-Keith Moon-Alice Cooper
extravaganza Sextette (1978); sang the love theme to Orson Welles’ Necromancy (1972), and appeared in
John Hurt’s Lord of the Rings (1978).
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And then there’s the commercials he did–Inglenook Wine, MJB Coffee, Holloway Candies, and Ortho
Mattresses.
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“Right now, I have a part-time job, and I’m doing demos for songwriters,” wrote Clifford. “Even though I
only made $4,000 from ‘Cathy’–and I’m obviously not a millionaire–I feel so lucky to have worked all over
the world and known so many great people. All of my initial dreams have come true, as far as my career
goes. Anything that happens after this is pure gravy.
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