| Sugarbuzz Magazine Way-Back Machine The Dave Clark Five March 20, 2005 By Victoria Joyce |
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| Ok, you've heard of the Beatles, the first rock band to invade America in February of 1964 in what was to become known as the British Invasion. So who was the second band in the attack? About a month later, on the same Ed Sullivan Show, on the same Sunday night, the new number one band with the next number one song, "Glad All Over," The Dave Clark Five made their US debut. Serious contenders to the throne, it was all "Will the DC5 Beat the Beatles?" all over the place and chills ran through all the Beatlemaniacs, especially when they knocked "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" out of the number one slot. Ya see, it was like this, because all the girls went so nuts over the Fab Four, the guys had to be guys and would never admit out loud they liked this new stuff, even though they loved the British Sound. So when Dave Clark came on the scene with his band, with the same long hair and cool clothes, all the guys went bizerk for them. It was a girls versus boys thing at first. And the DC5 had a little bit of an American look going on with a signature white pants and nautical blazers. Very Surfer Joe. They were practically The Beach Boys. |
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| The floodgates were now open and just about every week or so from then on there was another new band from the UK on the radio and TV. Some were one hit wonders like the Honeycombs and The Nashville Teens. And others were short timers like the Animals and Herman's Hermits. And other long-timers are still rocking like The Stones. Bits and pieces of the Kinks and Yardbirds show up now and then as well.
Back to Dave Clark. He played the drums, leader to a band of five very cute guys playing guitar (Lenny Davidson), bass (Rick Huxley), keyboards (Mike Smith) and sax (Denis Payton. This was a more traditional line up to the contemporary rock combo of the 60's. Straight ahead happy teenage music that even parents could approve of - a hip, sweet blend of the early 60's dance craze, girl group stuff with a light touch of R&B. Now, mind, all the while the British were invading, the two dominant schools of rock in the US were coming from Motown in Detroit and The Surf and Drag stuff from So Cal. Dave Clark was maybe the most American of the Englanders. The success of Dave Clark Five was unparalleled. They had more top ten hits than the other bands, 15 between '64 and '66 and more appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show than any other band, British or American, 18 in all. And when the Beatles made a movie, so did they, "Havin A Wild Weekend" shows up at retro film festivals as a quintessential 1960's mod Swinging London romp. They sold a million records a month in 1964 but today you'd be hard pressed to find their stuff anywhere. "The History of the Dave Clark Five, " a two-CD set was released on Hollywood Records in 1993, put together by Dave Clark himself, who is alive and well and producing theater in London. He was always a smart businessman. He was his own Brian Epstein, co-writing and producing the music and held onto his publishing rights and his masters. The songs still sound good. "Glad All Over" and follow up hit, "Bits and Pieces" are as fresh as ever and collecting royalties. A year or so ago, Mike Smith, the keyboard player, sat in with Paul Schaffer on The Letterman Show. His hair was gray of course, but still long and Schaeffer went nuts, proclaiming that seeing Mike Smith standing and playing a Farfisa organ on that first Ed Sullivan show was his personal inspiration to become a musician. And further confessed he and his wife fell in love to "Because," the one of prettiest rock ballads ever. Yeah, The Dave Clark Five, well worth a listen. |
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