Phil Hadaway
January 24th 07, 05:22 AM
Hi everyone, if you don't know already, Mike is very sick. We have
tried to keep this very private for a while but I think it's time that
all of his friends know what's going on. Mike has been battling lung
cancer for the past few months although he may have had it for many
years. He was doing pretty well until last Friday when he started
feeling really bad. He's back in the hospital now receiving treatment
on a number of fronts. I should have more information soon and will
keep the group posted when I hear of any changes in his condition. It
will probably be impossible to get though to him or Mellisa over the
next few days. If you would like to leave a message, please send an
email to: or and we will try
and pass them on.
My phone number is 912-352-9057 ext 21
Phil Hadaway
Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
Below is a bio of Mike.
MIKE CLARK
Chronological Biography
Mike Clark was born December 13, 1943 in Atlanta, Georgia. He
attended Joel Chandler Harris Elementary School in the Atlanta
community of West End, where he began playing drums in the 5th Grade.
He was a member of the prestigious West End Elementary Band, featuring
outstanding players chosen from grammar schools in the area.
After a bout with Non-Paralytic Polio in the summer of 1956, Mike
Clark enrolled at Atlanta's Brown High School. One of his schoolmates
at Brown was a singer named Tommy Roe, with whom he formed a combo,
Tommy Roe and The Satins. In 1958, their single, "I Got A Girl," was
recorded at music publisher Bill Lowery's studio, which in those days
was an old schoolhouse equipped with a Gates Radio Console and a
simple two-track tape deck. Lowery pitched "I Got A Girl" to Judd
Phillips (brother of Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records who had
discovered Elvis Presley), and it became a regional hit for the
Memphis label, Judd Records. This was the beginning of Mike Clark's
association with Bill Lowery, which lasted four decades until Lowery's
death in 2004.
Mike graduated from high school in 1962, the year that Tommy Roe had
his first million-seller with "Sheila." As Roe's drummer, he toured
with Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars, which remained an unforgettable
experience. The legendary package tour was headlined by Sam Cooke, and
it featured every top R & B act from the period: The Drifters; Jerry
Butler; Solomon Burke; Little Eva; Smoky Robinson and The Miracles,
who were having their national breakthrough with "Shop Around."
During the Sixties, Clark was in demand around Atlanta as a studio
session drummer. He played in most of city's popular clubs including
The Sans Souci,The Domino, and The Darlington Lounge. He backed up
performer Freddie Cannon ("Palisades Park") at the now-demolished
Ponce de Leon Ball Park, home of the historic Atlanta Crackers. On
the road, he briefly toured with Roy Orbison. He jammed with Liza
Minelli at Miami Beach's famous Peppermint Lounge. He worked dates
with Ray Stevens' touring group that on occasion included both Jerry
Reed and Joe South.
In 1966, Bill Lowery asked Mike to work at the Lowery Music Company.
(Lowery Music would be named BMI's #1 publisher in 1969.). In a short
time, Clark was promoted to National Director of Promotion. By day,
he promoted records; at night, he did session work at The Old
Schoolhouse, playing drums on successful tracks by the Classics IV
("Traces"), Billy Joe Royal ("Cherry Hill Park") and Lou Christie.
Mike also flew out on weekends for national dates with Billy Joe
Royal. By the early Seventies, however, the demanding schedule had
become overwhelming. He gradually withdrew from steady roadwork,
though he continued to hold down his job at the publishing company.
Clark eventually persuaded Bill Lowery to let him begin producing
records, a move which led to Mike's success in 1975-76 with Starbuck's
hit "Moonlight Feels Right." Later in the decade, Clark left behind
his promotional responsibilities to become Lowery's Administrative
Assistant, overseeing two label deals with Capitol and MGM Records,
pitching masters to record companies and working with new songwriters.
By 1979, Mike was managing the old schoolhouse studio. He
co-engineered two Grammy-nominated albums for the Atlanta Pops
Orchestra. Under Clark's watch the studio cut Bertie Higgens' surprise
1981 hit,"Key Largo." When Atlanta's rapid transit system, MARTA,
acquired the old schoolhouse in 1983, Lowery and Clark moved their
headquarters to the current Northeast Atlanta site. The new studio,
Southern Tracks Recording, was designed by George Augspurger as a
single-room facility, and, in the beginning, it was used primarily for
Lowery's stable of songwriters and artists.
Beginning in 1986, Mike managed and produced the Contemporary
Christian band, Newsong, whose "Arise, My Love" has become a standard
in the field of Contemporary Christian Music. Then, in 1988, Lowery
and Clark formed anofficial studio partnership, and the modern era of
Southern Tracks Recording began. They opened the studio to the public,
purchasing new equipment that included an SSL recording console. Under
Clark's management, Southern Tracks began turning out platinum albums
by Silk, Keith Sweat and Another Bad Creation.
In 1989, a young engineer named Brendan O'Brien began bringing his
projects into the studio; by 1993, having established himself on the
West Coast as one of the decade's most important producers of American
Rock (Red Hot Chilli Peppers; Pearl Jam; Stone Temple Pilots), O'Brien
relocated to his Atlanta home and made Southern Tracks his base of
operations. Clark immediately purchased the first SSL Ultimation
console in the South and, with the addition of an arsenal of vintage
electronic gear, he transformed Southern Tracks into a recording
facility of international prominence. Things had certainly come a long
way from the days of the little two-track machine and Gates Radio
Console on which Tommy Roe and Mike had cut their first record in
1958.
Since then, guided by Mike Clark, Southern Tracks has logged success
after success. The list of rock, country, Rap and R & B artists who
tracked or mixed at the Atlanta studio in the 90's included Pearl Jam,
Black Crowes, Keith Sweat, Stone Temple Pilots, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Bob
Dylan, Aerosmith, Rage Against The Machine, Matthew Sweet, .38
Special, Kansas, ARS, Silk, LSG, Doug Stone, Travis Tritt, Indigo
Girls, Another Bad Creation, and Outkast. The studio worked on
soundtrack albums for the two "Crow" movies, "Godzilla," "Dumb &
Dumber," "Money Talks," "The Bevis & Butthead Experience," and the
"Friends" TV soundtrack. And, while continuing to manage the studio,
Mike Clark returned to studio work in 1997, co-producing the Dove
Award's Album Of The Year Nominee, Newsong's "Love Revolution."
In the 21st Century, under Mike Clark's direction, Southern Tracks
Recording continues to set a unique standard. Bruce Springsteen
visited the studio in 2002 to record his monumental return album with
The E Street Band, The Rising, as well as his solo disc from 2005,
Devils and Dust, both with Brendan O'Brien as producer. Train has
recorded three albums, at Southern Tracks including their
multi-platinum single, "Drops of Jupiter." The Wallflowers, Third Day
and, recently, The Bravery have recorded there. In total, Southern
Tracks has contributed to the combined sales of over forty million
albums. In the history of Billboard Magazine slightly over a hundred
albums have debuted at No. 1; Southern Tracks recorded or mixed nine
of them in the 1990's alone.
Mike Clark was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1999.
tried to keep this very private for a while but I think it's time that
all of his friends know what's going on. Mike has been battling lung
cancer for the past few months although he may have had it for many
years. He was doing pretty well until last Friday when he started
feeling really bad. He's back in the hospital now receiving treatment
on a number of fronts. I should have more information soon and will
keep the group posted when I hear of any changes in his condition. It
will probably be impossible to get though to him or Mellisa over the
next few days. If you would like to leave a message, please send an
email to: or and we will try
and pass them on.
My phone number is 912-352-9057 ext 21
Phil Hadaway
Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
Below is a bio of Mike.
MIKE CLARK
Chronological Biography
Mike Clark was born December 13, 1943 in Atlanta, Georgia. He
attended Joel Chandler Harris Elementary School in the Atlanta
community of West End, where he began playing drums in the 5th Grade.
He was a member of the prestigious West End Elementary Band, featuring
outstanding players chosen from grammar schools in the area.
After a bout with Non-Paralytic Polio in the summer of 1956, Mike
Clark enrolled at Atlanta's Brown High School. One of his schoolmates
at Brown was a singer named Tommy Roe, with whom he formed a combo,
Tommy Roe and The Satins. In 1958, their single, "I Got A Girl," was
recorded at music publisher Bill Lowery's studio, which in those days
was an old schoolhouse equipped with a Gates Radio Console and a
simple two-track tape deck. Lowery pitched "I Got A Girl" to Judd
Phillips (brother of Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records who had
discovered Elvis Presley), and it became a regional hit for the
Memphis label, Judd Records. This was the beginning of Mike Clark's
association with Bill Lowery, which lasted four decades until Lowery's
death in 2004.
Mike graduated from high school in 1962, the year that Tommy Roe had
his first million-seller with "Sheila." As Roe's drummer, he toured
with Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars, which remained an unforgettable
experience. The legendary package tour was headlined by Sam Cooke, and
it featured every top R & B act from the period: The Drifters; Jerry
Butler; Solomon Burke; Little Eva; Smoky Robinson and The Miracles,
who were having their national breakthrough with "Shop Around."
During the Sixties, Clark was in demand around Atlanta as a studio
session drummer. He played in most of city's popular clubs including
The Sans Souci,The Domino, and The Darlington Lounge. He backed up
performer Freddie Cannon ("Palisades Park") at the now-demolished
Ponce de Leon Ball Park, home of the historic Atlanta Crackers. On
the road, he briefly toured with Roy Orbison. He jammed with Liza
Minelli at Miami Beach's famous Peppermint Lounge. He worked dates
with Ray Stevens' touring group that on occasion included both Jerry
Reed and Joe South.
In 1966, Bill Lowery asked Mike to work at the Lowery Music Company.
(Lowery Music would be named BMI's #1 publisher in 1969.). In a short
time, Clark was promoted to National Director of Promotion. By day,
he promoted records; at night, he did session work at The Old
Schoolhouse, playing drums on successful tracks by the Classics IV
("Traces"), Billy Joe Royal ("Cherry Hill Park") and Lou Christie.
Mike also flew out on weekends for national dates with Billy Joe
Royal. By the early Seventies, however, the demanding schedule had
become overwhelming. He gradually withdrew from steady roadwork,
though he continued to hold down his job at the publishing company.
Clark eventually persuaded Bill Lowery to let him begin producing
records, a move which led to Mike's success in 1975-76 with Starbuck's
hit "Moonlight Feels Right." Later in the decade, Clark left behind
his promotional responsibilities to become Lowery's Administrative
Assistant, overseeing two label deals with Capitol and MGM Records,
pitching masters to record companies and working with new songwriters.
By 1979, Mike was managing the old schoolhouse studio. He
co-engineered two Grammy-nominated albums for the Atlanta Pops
Orchestra. Under Clark's watch the studio cut Bertie Higgens' surprise
1981 hit,"Key Largo." When Atlanta's rapid transit system, MARTA,
acquired the old schoolhouse in 1983, Lowery and Clark moved their
headquarters to the current Northeast Atlanta site. The new studio,
Southern Tracks Recording, was designed by George Augspurger as a
single-room facility, and, in the beginning, it was used primarily for
Lowery's stable of songwriters and artists.
Beginning in 1986, Mike managed and produced the Contemporary
Christian band, Newsong, whose "Arise, My Love" has become a standard
in the field of Contemporary Christian Music. Then, in 1988, Lowery
and Clark formed anofficial studio partnership, and the modern era of
Southern Tracks Recording began. They opened the studio to the public,
purchasing new equipment that included an SSL recording console. Under
Clark's management, Southern Tracks began turning out platinum albums
by Silk, Keith Sweat and Another Bad Creation.
In 1989, a young engineer named Brendan O'Brien began bringing his
projects into the studio; by 1993, having established himself on the
West Coast as one of the decade's most important producers of American
Rock (Red Hot Chilli Peppers; Pearl Jam; Stone Temple Pilots), O'Brien
relocated to his Atlanta home and made Southern Tracks his base of
operations. Clark immediately purchased the first SSL Ultimation
console in the South and, with the addition of an arsenal of vintage
electronic gear, he transformed Southern Tracks into a recording
facility of international prominence. Things had certainly come a long
way from the days of the little two-track machine and Gates Radio
Console on which Tommy Roe and Mike had cut their first record in
1958.
Since then, guided by Mike Clark, Southern Tracks has logged success
after success. The list of rock, country, Rap and R & B artists who
tracked or mixed at the Atlanta studio in the 90's included Pearl Jam,
Black Crowes, Keith Sweat, Stone Temple Pilots, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Bob
Dylan, Aerosmith, Rage Against The Machine, Matthew Sweet, .38
Special, Kansas, ARS, Silk, LSG, Doug Stone, Travis Tritt, Indigo
Girls, Another Bad Creation, and Outkast. The studio worked on
soundtrack albums for the two "Crow" movies, "Godzilla," "Dumb &
Dumber," "Money Talks," "The Bevis & Butthead Experience," and the
"Friends" TV soundtrack. And, while continuing to manage the studio,
Mike Clark returned to studio work in 1997, co-producing the Dove
Award's Album Of The Year Nominee, Newsong's "Love Revolution."
In the 21st Century, under Mike Clark's direction, Southern Tracks
Recording continues to set a unique standard. Bruce Springsteen
visited the studio in 2002 to record his monumental return album with
The E Street Band, The Rising, as well as his solo disc from 2005,
Devils and Dust, both with Brendan O'Brien as producer. Train has
recorded three albums, at Southern Tracks including their
multi-platinum single, "Drops of Jupiter." The Wallflowers, Third Day
and, recently, The Bravery have recorded there. In total, Southern
Tracks has contributed to the combined sales of over forty million
albums. In the history of Billboard Magazine slightly over a hundred
albums have debuted at No. 1; Southern Tracks recorded or mixed nine
of them in the 1990's alone.
Mike Clark was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1999.