Dave Clark Five
Formed in North London, around 1957 the Dave Clark Five (Also known as the DC5) were the second band of the British invasion to hit the American Charts with their song Glad All Over 1964. Back home, the band, touted as being the forefront of the “Tottenham Sound”, a response to the then popular “Mersey Sound”.
From the outset the band set themselves apart with their “cleaner” image, with the inclusion of a Saxophone and of course having the drummer not only as the namesake but also as the focal point on the stage with the keyboards and guitars arranged to either side and behind him. Keyboards and lead vocals were provided by Mike Smith, Lenny Davidson was on lead guitar, Rick Huxley on bass guitar, and Denny Payton on saxophone, harmonica and guitar.
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In keeping true to the band’s unique stage arrangement they also had a rather uncommon infrastructure, from 1963 to 1968 Dave Clark actually employed the other members of the group, paying their wages and paying for the recordings. He owned the copyright for all of this period’s recordings, including the notable hit Glad All Over 1964 that knocked the Beatles from the top of the UK Singles Chart that January. The song writing credits went to Clark, Clark and Smith, Clark and Davidson and Clark and Payton. Some early songs were credited to Clark and Ron Ryan.
On the heels of the successful Beatles' movie A Hard Day's Night in 1964, the Dave Clark Five put out their own film, Catch Us If You Can 1965 Titled Having A Wild Weekend for the American release—directed by John Boorman and co-staring Barbara Ferris.
The Dave Clark Five’s had put 17 records into Billboard's Top 40, 12 onto the UK’s Top 40, make a whopping 18 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show—more than any other UK group. But in spite of their huge successes, bolstered by the movie and a television special, the major hits dried up after You Got What It Takes 1967. Their efforts to embrace the emerging psychedelic era were unsuccessful. The DC5 disbanded in 1970.
In 2007 the band made the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of nominees for the class of 2008 and on December 13th of that year it was announced that the band would be inducted. On March 10th 2008 the group was inducted by Tom Hanks. In attendance with the three surviving members of the DC5 were the families of Lenny Davidson and Rick Huxley, and Denis Payton. Mike Smith passed away on February 28th, living long enough to know the band had made it, but dying eleven days before the induction.
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