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
My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii number one hit, and numerous recordings followed. It was used in a number of films during the 1930s, particularly musical shorts. It appeared in television shows through the 1950s and 1960s and even more recently. It remains a standard for ukulele, again a popular instrument. J. P. McEvoy, a popular magazine writer and humorist in the 1920s and 1930s, wrote to the songwriters after hearing "My Little Grass Shack" on the radio. Without benefit of printed lyrics, he asked tongue-in-cheek about some of the Hawaiian place names and phrases in the song: "What does it mean? What are connies and