Mike Clifford to meet Ed Sullivan who was so impressed with Mike’s poise and stage presence that he booked him for his TV debut, the first of three appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show". Mike Clifford's first taste of success came at age 18 when "Bombay" became a hit in Venezuela. He appeared on the state owned Venevision in his own TV special. However, Clifford's recordings for Columbia received little buyer’s attention, and in July 1962, Clifford signed with United Artists Records. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller produced several songs for Clifford, including his biggest hit "Close To Cathy", written by Earl
National Academy of Songwriters Billy James, Bruce Kaplan, Pat and Pete Luboff, Kevin Odegard, Mark Spier, Gordon Pagoda, Paul Zollo, Steve Schalchlin, Dan Kirkpatrick, Dan Kimple and Kevin McCarley. Hundreds of songwriters came through to learn the craft and business of songwriting and get advice on how to market their songs. The organization also lobbied for better copyright protection, and published the magazine "SongTalk", a newsprint publication with original interviews of hit songwriters. In December 1985, the National 'Academy' of Songwriters started their annual "Salute To The American Songwriter" concerts which over the years featured performances by artists such as Carole King, Jackson Browne,