The Dave Clark Five, also known as the DC5, were an English

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

band formed in 1958 in

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

, London. Drummer Dave Clark was the group's leader, producer and co-songwriter. In January 1964, they had their first UK top-ten single, "

Glad All Over "Glad All Over" is a song written by Dave Clark and Mike Smith and recorded by the Dave Clark Five. Released in 1963, it was a hit and in the United States formed part of the early British Invasion, becoming the first hit of the movement by a ...

", which knocked

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' "

I Want to Hold Your Hand "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock music, rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Recorded on 17 October 1963 and released on 29 November 1963 in the United Kingdom, it was the first Beatles recor ...

" off the top of the UK Singles Chart. It peaked at No. 6 in the United States in April 1964. Although this was their only UK No. 1, they topped the US chart in December 1965, with their cover of

Bobby Day Robert James Byrd (July 1, 1930 – July 27, 1990), known by the stage name Bobby Day, was an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, and songwriter. He is best known for his hit record " Rockin' Robin", written by Leon René un ...

's " Over and Over". Their other UK top-ten hits include " Bits and Pieces", "

Can't You See That She's Mine "Can't You See That She's Mine" is the fourth single released in the United States by the Dave Clark Five. The song was written by Dave Clark and Mike Smith, and was the Dave Clark Five's fourth Gold Record. The B-side "No Time To Lose" was tak ...

", " Catch Us If You Can", " Everybody Knows", "

The Red Balloon ''The Red Balloon'' () is a 1956 French fantasy comedy-drama featurette written, produced, and directed by Albert Lamorisse. The thirty-four-minute short, which follows the adventures of a young boy who one day finds a sentient, mute, red ballo ...

", "

Good Old Rock 'n' Roll "Good Old Rock 'n' Roll", also known as "The Dave Clark Play Good Old Rock 'n' Roll", is a medley by British band the Dave Clark Five, released as a single in November 1969. It was a top-ten hit in the UK, peaking at number 7 on the Singles Cha ...

", and a version of

Chet Powers Chester William Powers, Jr. (October 7, 1937 – November 16, 1994) was an American singer-songwriter, and under the stage names Dino Valenti or Dino Valente, one of the lead singers of the rock group Quicksilver Messenger Service. As a songwri ...

' " Get Together" (retitled as "Everybody Get Together"). They were the second group of the

British Invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when Rock music, rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of Culture of the United Kingdom, British culture became popular in the United States with sign ...

to appear on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

'' in the United States (for two weeks in March 1964 following the Beatles' three weeks the previous month). They would ultimately have 18 appearances on the show. The DC5 were one of the most commercially successful acts of the British Invasion, releasing seventeen top-40 hits in the US between 1964 and 1967, including several that did not chart as highly in the UK such as " Because", "

Do You Love Me "Do You Love Me" is a rhythm and blues song recorded by the Contours in 1962. Written and produced by Motown, Motown Records owner Berry Gordy Jr., it appeared twice on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, reaching numbers three ...

", "Everybody Knows (I Still Love You)", "

Any Way You Want It "Any Way You Want It" is a song by American rock band Journey, released in February 1980 as the lead single from the band's sixth album '' Departure'' (1980). Written by lead singer Steve Perry and guitarist Neal Schon, it peaked at number 23 on ...

", " I Like It Like That", "Try Too Hard" and "

You Got What It Takes "You Got What It Takes" is a 1959 single by Marv Johnson. In the US it reached number 2 on the Black Singles chart, and number 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 early in 1960. In the UK Singles Chart it reached a high of number 7. The origina ...

". In 1965, the group starred in a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

vehicle, '' Catch Us If You Can'', directed by

John Boorman Sir John Boorman (; born 18 January 1933) is a British film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for directing feature films such as '' Point Blank'' (1967), '' Hell in the Pacific'' (1968), ''Deliverance'' (1972), '' Zardoz'' ...

. The group disbanded in early 1970, though Clark and a few former members continued as Dave Clark & Friends until 1973. In 2008, the band was inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

History

The band had its origins in 1958, as the backing musicians for

north London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

vocalist Stan Saxon. Dave Clark played drums and contributed background vocals, alongside a frequently changing line-up. Clark and guitarist Rick Huxley both participated in the 1958 line-up. Clark and his bandmates eventually split with Saxon and reconstituted themselves as a standalone concern in January 1962, making their home in the South Grove Youth Club in

, London. After a little more evolution, a lasting ensemble was settled, with Clark on drums, Huxley moving to bass, Lenny Davidson on lead guitar, Denis Payton on saxophone (and harmonica and rhythm guitar), and Mike Smith on keyboards and lead vocals. Davidson's previous bands were the Off Beats and the Impalas. The DC5 was promoted as the vanguard of a "Tottenham Sound", a response to Liverpool's

Mersey Beat ''Mersey Beat'' was a music publication in Liverpool, England in the early 1960s. It was founded by Bill Harry, who was one of John Lennon's classmates at Liverpool Art College. The paper carried news about all the local Liverpool bands, and ...

sound, which featured an often loud and forceful production style driven by Clark's punchy drumming, Payton's saxophone padding and Smith's belting vocals. Dave Clark produced their recordings in collaboration with sound engineer

Adrian Kerridge Adrian Kerridge (27 March 1938, Harrow, Middlesex – 28 September 2016) was a British sound engineer, one of the earliest employees of the Lansdowne Studios in 1959 and eventually its owner. He helped establish the distinctive sound of the Dave ...

Lansdowne Studios __NOTOC__ Lansdowne House is a Grade II listed eight-storey building on Lansdowne Road, Holland Park in London, constructed in 1902–04 by Scottish architect William Flockhart, for South African mining magnate Sir Edmund Davis. The building c ...

, with production credited using the pseudonym Adrian Clark. Dave Clark was also the group's manager, and struck business deals that allowed him to produce the band's recordings and gave him control of the master recordings. Songwriting credits for the band's original material went to Clark, or more often to the team of Clark and Smith. Clark/Davidson and Clark/Payton compositions were also not uncommon. Session drummer Bobby Graham is also reported to have played on some of the band's hits. 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 A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' chart. Their cover of

's " Over and Over" went to No. 1 in the US on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on Christmas Day 1965, despite less impressive sales in the UK (it peaked at No. 45 on the UK Singles Chart). They made 18 appearances on ''

'' – more than any other

group. The band released a film, '' Catch Us If You Can'' (directed by

) in 1965. It starred

Barbara Ferris Barbara Gillian Ferris (3 October 1936 – 23 May 2025) was an English actress and fashion model. She appeared in a number of films and productions for television, and is possibly best remembered as Dinah, the young woman who eloped with Dave ...

, and was released in the United States as ''Having a Wild Weekend''. The short film ''Hits in Action'' highlighted a series of Dave Clark Five hits. Other than the songs "Live in the Sky", "Maze of Love", "Inside and Out", "The Red Balloon" and "Lost in His Dreams", the band did not follow the

psychedelic music Psychedelic music (sometimes called psychedelia) is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as Dmt, DMT, Lysergic acid diethylamide, LSD, mescaline, ...

trend. Their popularity in the US mostly dried up by 1967, though they continued to score hits in Britain for another three years. The Dave Clark Five disbanded in 1970, having had three singles on the UK chart that year, two of which reached the Top Ten. In 1970, Davidson, Huxley and Payton left, and Alan Parker and Eric Ford joined on lead guitar and bass. That line-up, renamed "Dave Clark & Friends", lasted until 1972.

Post break-up

Following the group's break-up, Clark set up a media company. In the process, he acquired the rights to the 1960s pop series ''

Ready Steady Go! ''Ready Steady Go!'' (or ''RSG!'') was a British rock/pop music television programme broadcast every Friday evening from 9 August 1963 until 23 December 1966. It was conceived by Elkan Allan, head of Rediffusion TV. Allan wanted a light ente ...

''. Additionally, he wrote and produced the 1986 London stage musical ''Time – The Musical'' where he directed the last performance of Sir

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

. A two-disc vinyl album was released in conjunction with the stage production featuring music recorded by

Julian Lennon Julian Charles John Lennon (born John Charles Julian Lennon; 8 April 1963) is an English musician, photographer, author, and philanthropist. He is the son of Beatles member John Lennon and his first wife Cynthia; Julian is named after his pate ...

(singing DC5's song " Because"),

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter who achieved global fame as the lead vocalist and pianist of the rock band Queen (band), Queen. Regarded as one of the gre ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

Ashford & Simpson Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting, production and recording duo composed of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carol ...

and Olivier's selected dialogue. This double album was digitally remastered and released on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

in May 2012. Mike Smith teamed up with

Mike d'Abo Michael David d'Abo (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of Manfred Mann from 1966 to their dissolution in 1969, and as the composer of the songs " Handbags and Gladrags" and " Build Me Up Bu ...

(previously with

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. They were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The group had two l ...

) for one album in 1976. He also released a now-scarce CD in 2000 titled ''It's Only Rock & Roll'' and returned to performing in 2003 after a hiatus of 25 years. He formed Mike Smith's Rock Engine and did two mini-tours of the U.S. He died on 28 February 2008 in a

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

hospital from pneumonia, a complication of a paralysing spinal injury sustained from a fall in 2003. Denis Payton died on 17 December 2006 at the age of 63 after a long battle with cancer. Rick Huxley died from emphysema on 11 February 2013 at the age of 72. Lenny Davidson taught guitar for many years at a school in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, the county he lives in. Between 1978 and 1993, none of their music was available to be purchased in any commercial format due to rights-holder Clark declining to license the band's recordings. In 1993, a single CD ''Glad All Over Again'' was produced by Dave himself and released by EMI in Britain. After a 1989 deal with the Disney Channel to rebroadcast the 1960s ITV show ''

'' (which Clark owned), he made a deal with Disney-owned

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label owned by the Disney Music Group which focuses on pop, rock, alternative, hip hop and country genres, also specializing in recordings for a more mature audience not suitable for the flagship Wal ...

to issue in 1993 a double CD ''History of the Dave Clark Five''. No DC5 material was then legally available until 2008, when the 28-track ''The Hits'' compilation was released by

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

in the UK. In 2009, selections from the band's catalogue were released on

. In 2014, Dave Clark wrote, produced, appeared in, and partly presented the television documentary ''The Dave Clark Five and Beyond: Glad All Over''. Smith also appeared via archival footage and archived interviews, but there was no participation from Lenny Davidson nor were there any archived interviews from the Denis Payton or Rick Huxley. The documentary also featured appearances from

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

, and

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

. In 2019, almost the entire catalogue from the band, including all the original 1960s studio albums, became available on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

for the first time. On 24 January 2020,

BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was formed in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its st ...

, with whom Clark has recently joined forces to reissue the band's recordings, released a new DC5 greatest hits CD (titled ''All the Hits'', and which was based on the 2008 ''The Hits'' compilation) in two configurations.

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

on 10 March 2008. The group was inducted by

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

, who wrote, directed and starred in the 1996 film ''

That Thing You Do! ''That Thing You Do!'' is a 1996 American musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Tom Hanks, in his feature writing and directorial debut. Set in 1960s rock and roll culture, it chronicles the rise and fall of a fictional one-hit won ...

'', which was about an American one-hit wonder band that became popular in the wake of the British Invasion. 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 11 days before the induction. Dave Clark opened up his acceptance speech by saying that he felt like he was at the

Oscars The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...

. Davidson 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 Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin; September 22, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music#J, Godmother of Punk", she is regarded as a Pop icon, rock icon and ...

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 Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty, he founded the swamp rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he was th ...

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation ...

Billy Joel William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Piano Man" after his Signature song, signature 1973 song Piano Man (song), of the same name, Joel has ha ...

and other artists who performed throughout the evening.

Members

The Dave Clark Five comprised:

Classic line-up

* Dave Clark – backing and occasional lead vocals, drums (1959–1970; 1970–1972, Dave Clark and Friends spinoff group) * Mike Smith – lead vocals, keyboards (1961–1970; 1970–1973, Dave Clark and Friends spinoff group; died 2008) * Lenny Davidson – backing and lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitars (1961–1970) * Rick Huxley (ex the Riverside Blues Boys, the Spon Valley Stompers) – backing vocals, bass guitar, rhythm guitar (1959–1970; died 2013) * Denis Payton (ex the Renegades, the Les Heath Combo, the Blue Dukes, the Mike Jones Combo) – backing and occasional lead vocals,

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

and

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

s, harmonica, rhythm guitar (1962–1970; died 2006)

Early members

* Stan Saxon – lead vocals, saxophone * Mick Ryan – lead guitar * Chris Walls – bass

Dave Clark & Friends members

* Alan Parker – lead guitar * Eric Ford – bass

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (US, 1964) *''

The Dave Clark Five Return! ''The Dave Clark Five Return!'' is the second US studio album by the English rock band the Dave Clark Five. It features the single "Can't You See That She's Mine" and covers of "Rumble" by Link Wray & His Wray Men, " On Broadway" by The Drifters ...

'' (US, 1964)/'' A Session with The Dave Clark Five'' (UK, 1964) *'' American Tour'' (US, 1964) *'' Coast to Coast'' (US, 1964) *'' Weekend in London'' (US, 1965) *'' Having a Wild Weekend'' (US, 1965)/''Catch Us If You Can'' (UK, 1965) *'' I Like It Like That'' (US, 1965) *''

Try Too Hard ''Try Too Hard '' is the eighth American album by the English rock band the Dave Clark Five. It was released on 31 May 1966 on the Epic label. It followed the Top 20 hit of the same name. The album reached No. 77 on the Billboard 200 album chart ...

'' (US, 1966) *''

Satisfied with You ''Satisfied with You'' is the ninth album released in the US by the British band the Dave Clark Five. It was released on 15 August 1966 and contained three hit songs, "Look Before You Leap", "Please Tell Me Why" and "Satisfied with You". The LP hi ...

'' (US, 1966) *'' 5 by 5'' (US, 1967) *''

'' (US, 1967) *'' Everybody Knows'' (US, 1968) / '' Everybody Knows'' (UK, 1967) *''

5 By 5 (1964–69) ''5 By 5 (1964–69)'' is a British album by the Dave Clark Five, released in November 1968. The subtitle of the album was "14 Titles by Dave Clark Five". It contains the band's two big hit singles "The Red Balloon" and the ballad "No One Can Brea ...

'' (UK, 1968) *''

If Somebody Loves You ''If Somebody Loves You'' is the fifth British album by the Dave Clark Five. It was released by EMI (Columbia) in 1970. The album contained four of the group's popular songs, the minor US hit "Red and Blue" ( ''Billboard'' No. 89), and the succe ...

'' (UK, 1970) *'' The Dave Clark Five Play Good Old Rock & Roll'' (UK, 1971) *'' Dave Clark & Friends'' (UK, 1972)

References

External links

* *

Dave Clark Five biography at the Allmusic website Dave may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the 1993 film * ''Dave'' (TV series), a 2020 American comedy series * ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Dave, Five, The Beat groups British Invasion artists English musical quintets English rock and roll music groups Musical groups from the London Borough of Haringey Musical groups established in 1957 1957 establishments in England Musical groups disestablished in 1970 1970 disestablishments in England Capitol Records artists Columbia Graphophone Company artists