1964 Swedish Tour
The DC5’s tour of Sweden in May 1964 probably ranks as their least known venture. Virtually no information appears anywhere on the Internet or in any music archive. Although I have been unable to complete every detail, I have managed to give a reasonable account of the events of the brief tour.
My thanks go to Lena Ahlquist and Jorgen Larsson for their efforts in finding data and pictures.
Sandwiched between a gruelling six week tour of England and the groups first US Tour, someone at the Harold Davidson Agency decided it would be a good idea if the DC5 went to Sweden as a “tester” for their American tour. This was the groups first ever tour abroad although they had performed overseas at the Ed Sullivan show in New York earlier in the year. Unfortunately in the 60’s, before “global warming”, Sweden was still a very cold place in May. I’m not certain the people at “Harold Davidson” realised that most of the venues would be “open-air”. If they had, maybe the tour would never have taken place.
The long UK tour had finished at the Granada in Kingston ( a suburb of London ) on the evening of Thursday the 14th May. On Friday the 15th ,with virtually no time to say hello or goodbye to loved ones they flew from London to Kastrup. The first venue was the magnificent China Theatre in Stockholm where they were supported by local group “The Mascots”, if only all the other venues had been so nice! The group played consecutive nights to a very appreciate Swedish crowd who surprised the group by throwing sweets and small gifts onto the stage.
Picture dated 16th May 1964 showing the group performing “Big Noise From Winnetka” at the China Theatre”. Particularly interesting is that both Dave and Mike are playing the floor “toms”.
After the China Theatre things went downhill as the rest of the venues were outside in the cold Swedish spring. Initially the DC5 performed in their usual black jackets and white slacks but the extremely low temperatures meant that later in the tour overcoats and fingerless gloves were worn while playing! Over 3,500 hardy Swedes turned out for an outdoor concert at Katrineholm and most venues attracted large crowds to what essentially were temporary stages in local parks. Unfortunately somewhere down the line the small sweets and gifts thrown on to the stage became lipsticks and small stones etc. Not as a sign of displeasure but a Swedish custom showing appreciation!
Newspaper cuttings advertising the Torrengelund and Parlan shows both
on the same evening!
The final night of the tour (Saturday 23rd May) had been arranged so they would play at Torringelund at 9.15pm and Parlan, Helsingborg at 11.30pm. The two venues were around 40 miles apart and around a one hour drive so there was little time to spare. The Helsingborg concert unfortunately only lasted around 15 minutes as Dave was injured by one of the “gifts” thrown by the fans.
Article in Kvällsposten Sunday 24th May 1964: Almost a half side
of the paper is about the DC5 concert in Helsingborg and the injury
to Dave Clark. The headline is in Swedish but really needs no translation!
The next morning ( Sunday 24th May) the group left Sweden from Kalstrup airport and flew to the USA. They commenced their first USA tour at the Mosque Theater, Newark, New Jersey the very next day.
Here are some of the guy’s brief recollections of the tour.
Rick
We toured Sweden in May when the weather over there is still very cold. We started at a wonderful theatre in Stockholm but then found ourselves playing in open-air venues.
I remember it being so cold we had to play in overcoats with scarves and woollen fingerless gloves. At least one open-air concert was played while it snowed heavily. The stages were wooden affairs which would move as the crowd pressed against them. The girls also used to shower the stage with lipsticks which really hurt. We had to appeal for fans not to throw things but they took no notice, apparently it was “the done thing” at concerts over there.
Lenny
Playing live in Sweden was very unusual, especially at the outdoor venues which are in “folks-parks”. There was no drinking in public however the fans always seemed to have hip-flasks smuggled into the concerts. On one occasion we actually played inside a mobile lion’s cage borrowed from a circus especially for the concert.So you had the DC5 with all their gear playing behind bars on a wheeled trailer!
Denis
“They would throw things at you like small toys and sweets, someone wrapped a note for Dave in a heavy stone and threw it. It hit him straight in the forehead and knocked him off the drums.It cut his head quite badly.”
"They had these folks-parks which had lakes and trees and fields and they’d back two flat-backed trucks up together and that was the stage.Then people would appear with lights and others with a p.a. system and you’d do your show and the temp was minus 6. The audience would be all wrapped up warm in ski suits etc.. we dressed in mohair suits we were absolutely frozen and you couldn’t even get warm during the performance.Once my mouth nearly froze onto the mouthpiece of my sax.”
In Stockholm “Doug Talbot, Harold Davidson rep was in the car with us and we are driving through some fans .He put his hand out the window to wave and they pulled his sleeve clean off his jacket.It frightened the life out of him.”
Photos of Denis at Stockholm amd Mike at Skansen both dated 19th May 1964
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Below is a brief diary of the events of that period as I have them. If anyone is able to fill in any of the blanks please contact me.
1964
14th May Granada, Kingston.End of 7 week UK tour
15th May Appeared on “Ready Steady Go!” performing “Can’t You See That She’s Mine” ,Then flew to Sweden for 1 week tour.
16th May Played China Theatre in Stockholm
17th May Played China Theatre in Stockholm
18th May Played at Katrineholm 3,500 attended
19th in Skansen, Stockholm , did a “Mess Up a Dress” story for a Swedish magazine.
23rd Played concerts at Torringelund (9.15pm) and Parlan Helsingborg (11.30pm)
24th leave Kastrup airport Sweden to fly to USA
25th 1ST U.S.A. tour begins Mosque Theater, Newark, New Jersey
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Swedish Chart Discography ( position reached in chart in brackets )
Singles (all on Columbia)
DB7154 Glad All Over (2)
DB7210 Bits and Pieces (7)
DS2237 Can’t You See That She’s Mine (11)
DB7335 Thinking Of You Baby (10)
DB7503 Reelin’And Rockin’ (7)
DB7625 Catch Us If You Can (9)
DB7744 Over And Over (2)
DB8152 You Got What It Takes (15)
DB8465 Red Balloon (10)
DB8505 Live In The Sky (13)
DB8624 Put A Little Love In Your Heart (11)
