Mike Clifford (born November 5, 1943)[1] is an American singer, songwriter, and actor[2] known for his 1962 pop hit "Close To Cathy," which reached number 12 on the USPop.
[4] Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller produced several songs for Clifford, including his biggest hit, "Close To Cathy",[4] written by Earl Shuman and composed by Bob Goodman.
In 1965, United Artists released Clifford's debut album, For The Love Of Mike, which was reviewed and spotlighted in the February 13, 1965, issue of Billboard.
In the 1978 film Sextette, Clifford sang "Love Will Keep Us Together," with Mae West, while actor Timothy Dalton lip syncheded the words.
Clifford toured over one hundred cities during 1964 and 1965 with the Dick Clark Caravan of Stars and performed in Canada, France, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and Mexico.
In the 1970s, Clifford played the dual role of Teen Angel and Johnny Casino in the first national tour of the Broadway musical, Grease,[4] that also starred John Travolta.
Clifford continues his nightclub and concert career, which began on his 18th birthday at the Elegante Club, in Brooklyn, New York co-starring with Totie Fields.
In 2015, Clifford traveled to Long Island, New York for the annual doo-wop show, where he headlined along with Jimmy Clanton, Johnny Tillotson, and Chuck Jackson, among others.
Released in late November, within six weeks "Sentimental Journey" achieved top five status on the Reverb Nation LA Jazz Music Chart.
This jazzy bossa nova production hit the Reverb Nation LA Jazz Chart Top Ten in less than one week of release.
In December 2021, Mike released a new recording of the classic "Ave Maria" sung in Latin, arranged by Ben DiTosti and produced by Maurice Gainen.
Co-produced with Maurice Gainen, he recorded a rendition of "(They Long to Be) Close To You", a song written by Bacharach which had originally reached number 1 on the Billboard Top 100 when performed by the Carpenters in 1970.