Dave Clark Five

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The Dave Clark Five (also known as "The DC5") were an English Beat group, one of the few presenting something of a commercial threat to The Beatles^{[citation needed]}. They were the second group of the "British Invasion", after The Beatles, to have a chart hit in United States ("Glad All Over" #6, February 1964).^{[citation needed]}

The Dave Clark Five had several more hit songs (see Discography below) in the United States during 1964-67, including "Bits and Pieces" (#4, April 1964), "Can’t You See That She’s Mine" (#4, June 1964), "Because" (#3, August 1964), "Anyway You Want It" (#14, November 1964), "I Like It Like That" (#7, June 1965), "Catch Us If You Can" (#4, August 1965), "Over And Over" (#1, December 25, 1965), and "You Got What It Takes" (#7, April 1967). The group disbanded in late 1970.

On 10 March 2008 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[1]

[edit] Career

Unusually for a group named after an individual, Dave Clark was the drummer. He played with his drums at the front of the stage, relegating the guitarists and keyboard to his rear and sides. He formed the band around 1957, originally as a partnership, but from 1963 to 1968 he employed the other members, paying their wages and also paying for the recordings. He owned the copyright in the recordings for this period.

Lead vocals were provided by Mike Smith, who also played the keyboards. The rest of the band was Lenny Davidson on lead guitar, Rick Huxley on bass guitar, and Denny Payton on saxophone, harmonica and guitar. Songwriting credits went to Clark, Clark and Smith, Clark and Davidson, and Clark and Payton. Some early songs were credited to Clark and Ron Ryan, who was the brother of early group member Mick Ryan.^[2]

Originating in North London, the band was promoted as the vanguard of the 'Tottenham Sound', a response to the Mersey Beat stable managed by Brian Epstein. From the outset, the band's sound was complemented by the inclusion of a saxophone.^[3] They had a series of memorable hits, including "Glad All Over" that in January 1964 knocked the Beatles from the number one position on the UK Singles Chart.

The Dave Clark Five had 17 records in Billboard's Top 40, with 12 Top 40 United Kingdom hits between 1964 and 1967. Their song "Over And Over" went to number one in the U.S. on the Billboard Charts Hot 100 at the end of December 1965, despite less than impressive sales in the UK, and they played to sell-out crowds on their tours of the U.S. Heavily promoted as having a "cleaner" image than the Beatles, the Dave Clark Five made 18 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, more than any other UK group.

In spite of their huge success for a period, bolstered by the movie and a television special, the major hits dried up after 1967's "You Got What It Takes". The DC5's efforts to embrace the prevailing trend of psychedelia were not successful. They disbanded in 1970, having placed a further three singles on the UK chart that year.

[edit] Post break-up

Dave Clark was also the manager and executive producer of the band. Following the group's break-up, Clark set up a media company. In the process, he acquired the rights to the iconic 1960s pop series Ready, Steady, Go!. Clark has turned down all offers to reunite the group. His reasoning is that "We can't better what we've already done. I'm sure we can pack in certain venues if we reunited, but we've done that already. I'll leave it to all the new, exciting bands that are around."

Mike Smith returned to performing in 2003 after a layoff of 25 years. He formed Mike Smith's Rock Engine and did two mini-tours of the U.S., and he was legally forbidden from mentioning the DC5 in his advertising. A few months after his only son died in a diving accident, Smith suffered a spinal cord injury in a fall at his home in Spain on 12 September 2003. Until December 2007 he was an inpatient at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, according to published reports in the United Kingdom. He passed away on 28 February 2008 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital of pneumonia, at age 64, just less than two weeks before being inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame as a member of The Dave Clark Five.^[4]

Denis Payton died on 17 December 2006 after a long battle with cancer. He was 63.

[edit] Controversy

In the voting leading up to the 2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions, the band, which according to sources received the fifth most votes and thus was eligible for induction, were allegedly denied election by Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner in order to allow the induction of Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five as the first Hip Hop group in the hall. ^[5] They were inducted into the hall in 2008.

There is live footage of the band. On one of the Ready Steady Go videos, the band performs Bits and Pieces supposedly from an Ed Sullivan show performance. There is also a Pathe News newsreel (like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones) showing the band in a club playing Glad All Over and Bits and Pieces.

Although the group apparently played live at the 1964 New Musical Express Poll Winners' Concert, the footage has not circulated, despite the performances of all the other acts at that show are readily available.

[edit] Induction into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Dave Clark Five made the list of nominees for the class of 2008, and on 13 December 2007 it was announced that the band would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 10 March 2008.^[1] The group was inducted by Tom Hanks, who wrote, directed, and starred in the film That Thing You Do!, which was about an American one-hit wonder band that became popular in the wake of the British Invasion. The theme from "That Thing You Do!" was played as Tom Hanks walked out on stage.

In attendance with the three surviving members of the DC5 were the families of Lenny Davidson and Rick Huxley, and Denis Payton's two sons; Mike Smith died on February 28, living long enough to know the band had made it, but 11 days before the induction. Dave Clark opened up his acceptance speech by saying that he felt like he was at the Oscars. Davidson gave ironic mention that they arrived in New York for the ceremony on March 8, exactly 44 years after their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Joan Jett honoured the Dave Clark Five by performing "Bits and Pieces" with John Mellencamp's band. To perform "Glad All Over", Jett was joined by John Fogerty, John Mellencamp, Billy Joel, and other artists that performed throughout the night.

In March 2008 a 28-track collection, The Dave Clark Five: The Hits, was released on iTunes.

[edit] Band personnel details

The members of the Dave Clark Five, with birthdate and instruments, were the following: ^[6]

• Dave Clark (15 December 1942, in Tottenham, North London, England), was the drummer.
• Mike Smith (born Michael George Smith, 6 December 1943, in Edmonton, North London - died February 28, 2008 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire), was the lead vocalist, who also played the keyboards.^[4]
• Lenny Davidson (born Leonard Arthur Davidson, 30 May 1942,^[7] in Enfield, Middlesex) (ex The Off Beats, The Impalas) on lead guitar.
• Rick Huxley (born Richard Huxley, 5 August 1940, in Dartford, Kent) (ex The Riverside Blues Boys, The Spon Valley Stompers) on bass guitar.
• Denis Payton (born Dennis West Payton, 11 August 1943, in Walthamstow, East London — died 17 December 2006,^[8] in Bournemouth, Dorset) (ex The Renegades, The Les Heath Combo, The Blue Dukes, The Mike Jones Combo) on tenor and baritone saxophones, harmonica, and guitar.

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Indictees for 2008". Rock and Roll Hall of Fame official website (2007-12-13). Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
2. ^ There is a significant debate as to the extent of Ron Ryan's songwriting contributions to material of the Dave Clark Five. In addition, since Dave Clark employed the other band members, some contend that he received songwriting credits solely by virtue of his status as employer, rather than by virtue of having made an actual contribution to a particular song. Ron Ryan details his involvement with the songwriting arrangements, asserting that he had a handshake agreement with Dave Clark that, while Dave Clark would receive songwriting credit for Ron Ryan's contributions, Ron Ryan was to share in songwriting royalties. There has never been any judicial confirmation of Ron Ryan's assertions. Instead, Ryan asserts that his claim against Clark was settled out of court.
3. ^ Denny Payton had replaced former member and saxophone player Jim Spencer, who had come to the band through Rick Huxley. Spencer left the band in 1962, choosing to be close to his young family over the prospect of extensive touring. See Profile of Jim Spencer by Iris Clapp, "All anyone wants to talk about is the Dave Clark Five". Billericay Weekly News, December 19, 2008; www.billericayweeklynews.co.uk.
4. ^ ^{a b} "Dave Clark Five singer Smith dies", BBC (2008-02-28). Retrieved on 29 February 2008. 
5. ^ [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,258664,00.html FOXNews.com - Mario Vazquez Is Not a Bad 'Idol' - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment}
6. ^ "1960s British Rock and Pop Chronology - Birth of a Nation" (birthdates), Gordon Thompson, 2006-09-17, webpage: Skidmore-BritRock.
7. ^ The IMDb biography for Lenny Davidson had his birth year incorrectly stated as "1944" while other sources confirm "May 30, 1942" (noted 2006-10-01).
8. ^ "Dave Clark Five star Payton dies", webpage: BBC News

[edit] Discography

[edit] UK albums

[edit] U.S. albums

• The first three albums were featured on two separate Cashbox charts for mono and stereo albums. These charts were merged into one when Coast To Coast was in its third charted week

[edit] UK Singles

• [1] by Dave Clark and Friends

[edit] US Singles

• Most of the US singles were issued with picture sleeves. Charted singles that did not include picture sleeves include Bits And Pieces, Do You Love Me, Any Way You Want It, Reelin' & Rockin', Red And Blue, and Please Stay

• The group released two different songs with the title "Everybody Knows", the first in 1964 with subtitle "I Still Love You", the second in 1967. The 1964 single was a bigger hit in America, reaching #15/#22 in the Billboard/Cashbox charts, the 1967 version charted at #43/#41. In the UK the latter was a bigger hit, reaching #2, the former reaching #37.

[edit] Discography References

• Guinness Book of British Hit Singles — 16th Edition — ISBN 0-85112-190-X
• The Book of Golden Discs - 2nd Edition — ISBN 0-214-20512-6
• Goldmine Standard Catalog Of American Records 1950 to 1975 — 3rd Edition — ISBN 0-87349-471-7

[edit] External links

• http://www.TheDaveClarkFive.com The Legendary MIKE SMITH
• Classic Bands on The Dave Clark Five.
• Dave Clark Five biography at the AMG web site.
• Discussion forum for the Dave Clark Five.
• Dave Clark Five website: plays jukebox of original recordings. (Official website)
• DC5 Fansite 1
• DC5 Fansite 2
• Ron Ryan's Website