Lost Bands of Yesteryear #2 - The Dave Clark Five

hello and welcome back to the guitar historian youtube channel when the dave clark five was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in 2008 many music fans could be forgiven if they had forgotten who they were unlike many other british invasion bans of the 60s the dc-5s music was not as accessible or prevalent over the previous few decades their hits did not show up on compilations there were no grand reunion specials to watch on television the reason for this was the tight control and strange secrecy of the group's founder and leader dave clark who himself is shrouded in mystery but now as the fog of history clears we can begin to examine this band of which surprisingly little is known and the truth just may shock you the dave clark 5 is our subject next on lost bands of yesteryear [Music] so [Music] before the middle 60s fame of the dave clark v in which the british press would have a field day matching them up with that lovable quartet from liverpool there was dave clark himself as we'll learn clark's story is full of at best intrigue and at worst outright fabrication clark was born on 15 december 1939 in tottenham middlesex england a town that would become synonymous with the sound of his future band dave clark has built a mysterious and mostly unsubstantiated story of his early life before the formation of the dc5 clark claimed that he left school at 15 to become a film stunt man working on over 40 films the internet movie database however has only been able to verify proof for four film credits what is known about his drumming career however is that clark bought himself a set of drums sometime in the late 1950s and formed a skiffle group mostly to raise funds for his football team that's soccer here in america to travel to the netherlands indeed football was clark's first love and pop fame was not the main reason for him getting into music clark and original bass player chris walls ran an ad in melody maker magazine which drew in singer stan saxon lead guitarist mick ryan and rhythm guitarist rick huxley who would go on a switch to base and remain with the dc5 for their entire run this lineup would settle as the dave clark 5 featuring stan saxon between 1958-1960 with the band enjoying moderate success on the live circuit but as with all new bands lineup changes would abound bassist walls and guitarist ryan would depart forcing huxley to move to base and the group would seek out replacements those replacements would fundamentally change the sound of the band guitarist lenny davidson former league guitarist from band called the impalas joined and he brought with him keyboardist and vocalist mike smith who would replace saxon on vocals and bring the only classical musical training to the band having 10 years of studies on piano smith's vocal virtuosity also would become a hallmark of the band's future sound a short while later multi-instrumentalist dennis payton who had enjoyed stints in many uk bands such as the renegades would join as a replacement for saxons saxophones this new and improved lineup of the dc5 would start to ramp up their live act in the early 60s eventually procuring a contract to perform on a ballroom circuit called mecca in 1962. these three hour long nightly performances are reminiscent of the marathon gigs that the beatles were playing concurrently in hamburg on germany's reaper bond and caused the band to develop a rich tightness peyton's saxophone smith's strong vocal delivery and clark's pounding 4-4 solid drumming set the dc-5 apart from their contemporaries indeed the very setup of the band with dave clark being the face of it was unusual as most bands were built around the front man of the group the dc-5 would win the mecca circuits gold cup for best live band in 1963. 63 would also be the year that the recording industry would come calling in earnest the bane had recorded several singles in 1962 to no effect however their last single that's what i said did seem effective at capturing the band's stomping sound as a harbinger for the future although no one would peg dave clark as being the most proficient drummer in the world he did have a flare for business and clark was able to parlay shockingly favorable terms for the dc 5's early recording contracts clark signed what is now known as a lease deal with emi which would put dave clark on the hook for the financing and recording of all the dc5s records he would then lease the recordings to emi to release and promote after 10 years the full ownership and control of the recordings would revert back to clark he set himself up as the producer and owner of the band's master tapes giving him complete control over the recording and the final sound of the songs eventually most of the band's records would be released on epic records which was the subsidiary of colombia whichever label the dave clark 5 was released on you can bet that a lion's share of the prophets went straight to dave clark himself but more on that in a bit the man's fortunes would not start off with a bang however as their first single the cover of the contours do you love me would only make number 30 in the uk charts this was mostly due to another act called brian poole in the tremolos releasing a single of the same cover song just a short time before the dc-5's version the tremolo's version would shoot to number one and supplant the dc5 the story goes that poole found out about clark's outfit recording the song and he decided to rush his band into the studio to beat him to the punch clark was furious with this and became the genesis of his total control over every aspect of the band including conducting all future recording sessions behind closed doors and in total secret the clark and mike smith by lined glad all over would be released in november in the uk and december in the us at least that's what the label on the 45 said but more on the songwriting mystery in just a bit in their mother country the song would hit number one in january replacing none other than the beatles i want to hold your hand from the top spot this immediately caused the british musical press to set up a rivalry between the groups despite their obvious similarities but glad all over did set the standard for the dc-5 sound with the driving drum sound and saxophonic layer being standouts along with smith's arrival into the pantheon of great early rock singers indeed mike smith is often overlooked as a vocalist and his powerful pipes are more reminiscent of the second generation of british invasion singers like roger daltrey and mick jagger but the press had a field day comparing the dc-5's tottenham sound against their north west england contemporaries mersey beat glad all over was backed up by the group's second single bits and pieces in february of 1964. once again it saw immediate success reaching number two in the uk and number four in america where the dave clark five would begin something of a residency on the ubiquitous american variety tv show by ed sullivan although most people remember the beatles famous 9 february 1964 show the dave clark 5 would follow the fab 4 less than a month later on 8 march despite clark initially rejecting ed sullivan's first invitation to perform on the show having not heard of him at the time this would begin a relationship with sullivan that eventually ran even deeper than the beatles and the dc5 would go on to play on the ed sullivan show 18 times more than any other british invasion act despite the dave clark five's quick rise to success the musical core of the band was shrouded in mystery and as we said above clark saw the band as another business venture more than a love of music he would be the first to tell you that he was neither the greatest drummer in the world nor the most proficient songwriter and therein lies the first big mystery of the band's true origins it would later be found that dave clark didn't even play the drums on most of the dc5's major recordings instead hiring session drummer bobby graham his main reasoning was that graham worked faster and clark wanted to focus on his production duties rather than pulling double duty on the skins most footage that survives to this day features clark miming to previous recordings and it is very hard to find true live performances even the vaunted ed sullivan appearances were recorded over the original records that being said many people who saw the dave clark 5 live in the 60s can attest that clark was able to acquit himself quite well behind the kit but he was also pragmatic enough to know that a professional would be far better in the crucible of the studio however knowledge of this fact would have set the dc-5 apart for most of their contemporaries who were playing all their own instruments and writing most of their own songs and so clark decided to keep this a closely guarded secret but there was apparently an even more shadowy mystery figure in the wings of the dc5 his name was ron ryan ryan's brother mick was the guitar player from the first generation of dave clark's outfit that i mentioned above ron ryan was also the leader of another local band called the walkers and would go on to become a member of other several unsuccessful bands including riot squad which featured future hendrix experience member mitch mitchell on drums over the years ron has done interviews revealing that he and clark had struck up a working friendship even after his brother mick had left the band and that he was instrumental in guiding clark towards the band's early sound he said that clark had asked them to write for the new band and that ryan had heard a record by hackney singer doug sheldon called your ma said you cried in your sleep last week ryan remembered being struck by the driving drum forward sound of the record and felt that it would be perfect to distinguish the dc-5 apart from the other groups in britain dave clark was a willing student and he indeed followed the formula of the record to guide the band sound ryan said quote the next day i bought the record and took it to dave saying this sounds great and it would be easy with the band's lineup to get this sound dave did as i said and so the tottenham sound which is really the hackney sound because doug was from there ron ryan also takes credit for many of the band's biggest hits including bits and pieces and because ryan said that he and mike smith would often get together in ron's flat to write the songs with clark leaving them for several hours ryan said quote when i had a new song ready for dave and mike smith to listen to i would phone dave and he would bring mike around to my home i would then play and sing the new song to them both dave would say yes or no he always said yes and then leave mike alone while he went about his day for a few hours he did not stick around as he said mike and i would start speaking in a strange language music ryan said that he and clark had made a handshake agreement about his share of the royalties that he would be paid an agreement that clark later reneged upon he also said that quote to my knowledge dave clark did not write or co-write any songs ryan's story is strengthened by his refusal to take the story public over the years often turning down tabloid newspaper's offers of thousands of pounds out of respect for the other members of the dave clark five whom he believed would be tarnished if such a story were released the story of clark's writing and the story of the band itself and the future of the dc5s recordings would all be part of a tightly controlled narrative that had been built and packaged by dave clark himself he told the band what to do how to dress and what to say at interviews he created an entire business venture around the dave clark 5 and controlled every aspect of it in that way the dc-5 was more a progenitor of what we would call a boy band project today the talent in the band had little if any control over the direction of the band and simply enjoy the fame and money that went along with the lifestyle ryan's comments have been largely accepted as fact by most rock historians but it should be noted that no members of the actual band have ever corroborated it this is most likely due to the fact that clark had agreements to pay them salaries in perpetuity of some sort provided that they do not disclose any of the unfortunate truths surrounding the mysteries of the band of course this is conjecture indeed the one person who would speak most directly about ryan's story lead singer mike smith has only ever said quote i don't wish to speak about that however ryan's name has since appeared in the writing credits of several dc5 song listings however these updates do not appear everywhere such as wikipedia or on the official releases of the dc5s compilation albums which still list dave clark as a writer on all the songs the dc-5s train would keep rolling however and they found themselves in an increasingly crowded uk market for rock music and actually started to see the tide turned to the band being more popular in america than in their mother uk in 1965 they would release their only movie an answer to the beatles the hard day's night and help called catch us if you can to be renamed the dave clark five are having a wild weekend in the u.s rather than portraying themselves the film centers around clark as a disillusioned stunt man and his girlfriend as they wander around england the film was actually well received on its own merits as the vehicle for veteran playwright peter nichols who wrote the screenplay and fledgling director john borman who would go on to direct such seminal 70s works as deliverance zardaz and the exorcist ii later that same year the dz5 would have its first and only number one hit in america with the cover of bobby days over and over it would be the high water mark of their success in the us as pop music began to take on a more psychedelic and folk rock bent the dc-5 did try to follow this trend for a short time releasing singles like inside and out and red balloon but it was not a direction that band leader clark felt was right for the band after 1967 they would retreat back to england and surprisingly reignite their fame there scoring three more top 40 hits in 1969 and 1970 however cracks in the mortar were becoming more frequent by the middle of 1970 the band members began to see the writing on the wall the dc-5's luck and fame was beginning to run out davidson huxley and payton would leave the group but dave and mike smith would continue on for two more years under the moniker dave clark and friends adding guitarist alan parker and bassist eric ford but success was hard to come by and after a devastating tobogganing accident in 1972 in which clark broke four knuckles he would give up drumming forever dave clark would actually go on to become a full-fledged impresario he has started acquired or sold many television production companies and he's even had a hand in stage direction co-writing the science fiction play time which was heavily influenced by doctor who and featured a space traveling world-saving band he would buy the rights to the british music show ready steady go in the 80s and has of course released greatest hits compilations of the dave clark 5 over the years but a big part of the reasoning why the dc5 mostly receded from memory over the decades was due to clark's fierce privacy and much of the band's pre-packaged story from the 60s had gone on to become the standard knowledge as for where are they now of the other members of the band dennis payton passed away in 2006 and rick huxley in 2013. lenny davidson still resides in cambridge vocalist mike smith would continue to tour with several projects all the way up into the early 2000s but he would sustain a debilitating fall in 2003 after accidentally locking himself out of his villa he would pass 5 years later in 2008. upon his death it was found that smith's estate was worth approximately 100 000 usd despite being co-writer of many of the dc-5's hits the reason for this is that clark has closely guarded the dave clark five's recording catalog only releasing compilations in 1978 and 1993 and then only making the dc5's recordings available for streaming in 2010. clark wrote produced and appeared in a documentary about the dave clark five in 2013 called glad all over but of course neither ron ryan's nor recession drummer bobby graham's alleged contributions to the dc5 success were mentioned in the film indeed with most of the interview time going to clark himself this allowed him to continue the narrative that the dc5 were a natural and musically equal member of the british invasion when that may not be true clark has repeatedly declined opportunities to bring the contributions of graham and ryan into the story of the band the members of the dave clark five were also paid like session musicians rather than given an equal sharing in the band's success most would point out that clearly clark himself was the business engine and visionary from a financial sense and deserves most of the spoils as the band had his name on it from the very beginning but in light of the revelations brought by ron ryan and other session musicians close to the group it is clear that the dc5 was more of a business venture than an actual true band and now that we look back on their legacy and regard their 2008 induction into the rock and roll hall of fame as a legitimate band we have to question the reality of that legacy and whether it is truly deserved give dave clark credit he is very good at very many things but drumming may not have been one of them and he is very good at identifying trends and building a viable business entity to deliver the goods to the masses now don't get me wrong the dave clark fives music is still timeless and i like it very much the individual talent displayed by the musicians who did play and contribute is still obvious to this day and you cannot take away the millions of record sales or the massive success across many fronts of pop music television and film but i will leave it up to you to decide whether we call the dave clark 5 an actual great band or as one of the great examples of pre-packaged pop content in music history tough question there but that's another episode of lost bands of yesteryear i hope this episode will foster some great debate below about the origins and secrets of a band that on the surface seemed like a squeaky clean professional outfit of the british invasion but i was sure surprised when i found out these revelations were you i'm interested to find out your thoughts before i go don't forget to click subscribe to our channel and if you've already done so be sure to also click the bell icon to get notified whenever i post a new video and with that as always thanks so much for watching and we will see you next time

Channel: The Guitar Historian

Views: 344,826

Keywords: Lost Band of Yesteryear, Guitar Historian, Dave Clark Five, Mike Smith, The Beatles, Ready Steady Go!, Dave Clark Productions, Glad All Over, Bits and Pieces, Because (song), Ron Ryan, Riot Squad, Mitch Mitchell

Id: bDMiHPFMMM8

Length: 19min 12sec (1152 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 01 2022