The Dave Clark Five
The Dave Clark Five at their peak.(L to R) Lenny Davidson, Mike Smith, Dave Clark, Denny Payton, and Rick Huxley.The Dave Clark Five Were The First Band to Knock The Beatles From The No. 1 Spot!
The Dave Clark Five were indeed the first band to knock the Beatles off the top of the English charts.
"Their Glad All Over "knocked I Want to Hold Your Hand" from the No.1 spot in January 1964.
The Dave Clarke Five were promoted as the vanguard of a "Tottenham Sound", a response to Liverpool's Mersey Beat sound. Dave Clark struck business deals that allowed him to produce the band's recordings and gave him control of the master recordings.
This proved very successful for Dave, especially after the band split.
So, Who Were the Dave Clark Five?
The Dave Clarke Five, looking exceptionally clean and acceptable to the Mums and dads, as well as the teen set. L to R, Mike Smith, vocals and piano, Lenny Davidson, guitar, Denny Payton on sax, Rick Huxley, bass and Dave Clarke behind the drums.The band consisted of Dave Clarke on drums, Mike Smith keyboard and lead vocals, Len Huxley bass, Dennis Payton saxophone and harmonica, and Lenny Davidson on lead guitar. People either loved the DC5 or loathed them. If you were not a fan, they were just Beatle impersonators. They were the first of the "Bigger that The Beatles" bands
As apposed to a lot of the hairy monsters appearing on the pop TV at the time, and the DC5 were clean. Very clean. I thought they were a pretty good live band, I saw them here in Adelaide (with the Seekers, believe it or not!) and loved Dave’s drumming. .
Interview With Dave Clark
The Dave Clark Five Recording Success
In October, the DC5 had their first big hit, with the classic " Glad All Over”. "Bits and Pieces" followed then, Cant You See That She’s Mine, followed by some great singles, I Like it Like That, Over and Over,(No1 in the U.S.) and Catch Us If You can.
The Dave Clark Five had 12 Top 40 hits in the UK between 1964 and 1967, and 17 records in the Top 40 of the US Billboard charts. The band hold the record for the number of appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show
......After The Split
The DC5 split in 1971, but surprisingly, in 1977 at the height of the
punk era, a Best Of album, "Thumping Great Hits" shot to No. 1 on the U.K. charts.
The band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on 10 March 2008
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 had planned on attending but died eleven days before the induction. Dave Clark opened up his acceptance speech by saying that he felt like he was at the Oscars. Davidson's family mentioned that they arrived in New York City for the ceremony on 8 March, exactly 44 years after the group's first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Joan Jett honored 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 who performed throughout the evening.
Dave Clarke Five on Vinyl
The Dave Clark Five have a couple of vinyl records still available, but they are rare indeed.
The best one is this selection of their greatest hits, The Dave Clarke Five, It came out in January 2020, with 16 tracks, including "Glad All Aver", "Bits and Pieces", "Over and Over" and "Catch Us If You Can". A good value album.
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