Who’s buried in Grant’s tomb? You got it. Well alright then, how many people were in the band The Dave Clark Five? If you guessed five, you would also be correct. What many people might not know, though, is that Dave Clark wasn’t actually the front man of The Dave Clark Five but the drummer – making this most likely the only popular band ever with the drummer represented as the band’s name-leader (other than Fleetwood Mac, sort of, since Mick Fleetwood was still joined by bassist John McVie in their naming origins).
Even more incredible is that for a time, briefly, the Dave Clark Five toppled The Beatles from the top of the charts. It was the DC5’s smash ‘Glad All Over’ that overtook ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ for the #1 spot on the UK singles chart in January of 1964. And for a while, again briefly, there was a genuine debate in America over which was the greatest British Invasion band of the time, the ‘Mersey Beat’ Beatles or the ‘Tottenham Sound’ of the Dave Clark Five. While the legitimacy of that argument was short-lived and soon perhaps somewhat laughable, the DC5 did continue on with a remarkable series of hits and successes of their own: 17 records in the Top 40 of the US Billboard chart, including ‘Over And Over,’ ‘Catch Us If You Can’ and ‘Bits And Pieces’; 18 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, more than any other British Invasion group (including you know who); and 2008 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (with a presentation speech by none other than Tom Hanks). Pretty impressive stuff for the 5 members of the Dave Clark 5 (but sorry, still not quite a match for those 4 in the Fab 4).
Campbell Griffin
October 3, 2018 3:00 pmCommissioner, thanks for the history lesson!
Bill G.
October 3, 2018 6:01 pmNo prob, Campbell, just one of the services I’m hoping to provide!