Dave Clark 5

Biography

  The first ever "DC5" 25th October 1957

The origins of this band go back to 1957 when Dave Clark formed a "skiffle" group to help raise funds for "South Grove Football Club".The combo was made up of himself on drums, a double bass player called Chris Walls, Roger Smedley on piano and Dave Sanford on guitar. There was also a sax player who remains unknown.The Dave Clark Quintet made their first appearance at the Cissbury Road Library Hall on Friday 25th October 1957.

After limited success, they decided to form a proper group and advertised in Melody Maker for musicians to join the band.Johnny Johnson (guitar), Stan "Saxon" Pilley ( vocals) and Rick Huxley ( guitar) then joined the group replacing Sanford and the "unknown" sax man.

The next changes in personnel resulted in the departure of Johnson, Smedley and Walls, their replacements being Mike Smith on keyboards, Mick Ryan on lead guitar ( Rick Huxley moved to bass guitar) and Jim Spencer on saxophone, Spencer joining in 1959.

On Ryan's departure in late 1961 Lenny Davidson joined the group ( from the Impalas ) as lead guitarist but almost immediately in early 1962 Saxon left ( Mike Smith taking over lead vocals) followed shortly after by Spencer. Denis Payton was brought in on sax ( from the Mike Jones Combo) and was the final piece in the now famous DC5 line-up.

Their main workload was at local ballrooms and on the circuit of the numerous US airbases to the north of London.

Songwriting was carried out by Ron Ryan, the brother of guitarist Mick, the group also recorded demo discs for songwriter Mitch Murray which included "I Like It" and "How Do You Do It" which later became hits for Gerry and The Pacemakers.Also,through Clark's work as a film extra ,the group appeared in two early 1960's movies "Rag Doll" and "Pit Of Darkness".

By mid 1961 the group were now on the "Mecca" circuit and playing at Ballrooms all over Southern England. Primarily at this time though they were a "dance band".As part of their audition for Mecca they cut their own first demo disc consisting of seven tracks. Their first proper recording was "Chaquita", an instrumental which Dave Clark, who proved to be an astute businessman over the years, sold the master of to Ember Records in 1962. They released it in August, but meanwhile the band had signed to Pye's Piccadilly label and released the vocal "I Knew It All The Time". The follow-up was another instrumental, "First Love", but again made little impression and the Piccadilly deal was terminated.

It could have been a future of complete obscurity for the band but an EMI A&R man spotted them playing at their residency, the Tottenham Royal, and signed them up to EMI's Columbia label.Their first record, a rock version of a nursery rhyme, "The Mulberry Bush", didn't Chart, but their next release, a cover of The Contour's "Do You Love Me?", crept into the UK Top 30, although Brian

Poole and The Tremeloes concurrent release of the same song made No. 1. Next came the two records for which the band are best remembered, although by now they'd already won the Mecca Gold Cup being voted the best band of 1963 on the ballroom circuit. "Glad All Over", released in late 1963, written by Clark and Smith, had immediate commercial appeal and a pounding

beat. It knocked The Beatles' "I Want To Hold Your Hand" from the top of the Charts and prompted speculation in the press that London would replace Liverpool as the centre of the beat music revolution. The follow-up, "Bits And Pieces", was similar in style and every bit as good. It had a stomping break which inspired dancers to stamp their feet in time with the music and also led to it

being banned by many ballroom managers who feared for their wooden dancefloors. It peaked at No. 2 in the UK.

1964 saw the release of their first album, "Session With The Dave Clark Five" in the UK and marked the beginning of their onslaught on America.They flew in to do the "Ed Sullivan" show on March the 8th and were immediately asked to re-appear the following Sunday. On May 30th they appeared at New York's Carnegie Hall, followed by another slot on the 'Ed Sullivan Show' the following day. The tour was a phenomenal success and they went on to do a further five US tours. Indeed they went on to enjoy 24 U.S. hits over the next three years and for the first two of these rivalled The Beatles for popularity. Their U.S. discography is very different from the U.K. releases and included several U.S.-only albums, which would only have been available in the U.K. as imports.

In 1964,while starring in the Dick Emery show in Blackpool,they were asked to provide two songs for the American film "Get Yourself a College Girl" (UK name was "The Swinging Set"). Emery flew them to Elstree in his private plane and they were filmed miming to "Thinking Of You Baby" and "Whenever You're Around".The American stage sets having been re-created in England effectively meaning they starred in an American made film without leaving the shores of England.

In 1965, they starred in their first film, 'Catch Us If You Can'.It was directed by the then unknown John Boorman and co-starred Barbara Ferris. It was a success and had its risque moments. The title track made No. 5 in the U.K., where the soundtrack

movie peaked at No. 8. In the US the movie was released as "Having A Wild Weekend" and climbed to No. 15. The title track, still known as "Catch Us If You Can", peaked at No 4.

In 1967 the band formed its own film company, Big Five Films, to make low-budget features and documentaries. The first, a profile of the band itself, was sold to U.S. TV. This was called "Hold On, It's the Dave Clark Five" and also starred Richard Chamberlain and Lulu.

Even with the onset of the psychedelic era their records still sold - they even peaked at No. 2 in December 1967 of that year with "Everybody Knows", a ballad written by Les Reed and Barry Mason, on which Lenny Davidson sang lead. A couple of years later their medley, "Good Old Rock'n'Roll" Parts 1 & 2 put them back in the Top 10 again. It featured rock oldies like "Blue Suede Shoes",

"Lucille" and "Long Tall Sally". Their last U.K. Top 10 hit was "Everybody Get Together", a cover of The Youngbloods' U.S. hippie anthem, "Get Together". One of their most interesting latterday releases was the 45, "Southern Man", a cover of the Neil Young composition treated very differently which although credited to the Dave Clark Five, was actually Dave Clark & Friends.

When the band broke up in September 1970, Rick Huxley went on to join The Barron Knights for a short time and also played in the groups "Cascade" and "Ridge". He also recorded a version of "Glad All Over" with Cindy Jackson.

Clark continued to record with Mike Smith as Dave Clark and Friends and he also went to drama school and produced the musical 'Time'. In April 1986 it was premiered at London's Dominion Theatre with Cliff Richard in the lead role. It had a long and successful run with David Cassidy later taking over the lead.

Interestingly Clark ensured he owned the rights to all the band's songs. This enabled him to compile the 1978 "25 Thumping Hits" compilation himself and CD compilations, "Glad All Over Again" and "History of The Dave Clark Five" in 1993.

Ever the astute businessman Clark also purchased the rights to the 'Ready, Steady, Go!' TV shows back in the late sixties when the IBA gave Thames and London Weekend the London TV franchise and all the old Rediffusion shows were canned. Later in the eighties he sold some of the shows to the Japanese video market and he also sold a limited number to Channel 4 and to the Disney Channel. place in the annals of rock history is assured as one of Britain's top beat groups - indeed for two or three years they were among the biggest pop bands in the world.

Clark is still actively involved with his various business ventures.

Smith had emigrated to Spain where he unfortunately suffered a serious spinal injury. He is now hospitalised in England.

Denis Payton unfortunately passed away in December 2006 he had been a successful estate agent and wrote songs and played in his own group, "Formula 1".

Huxley is involved in electronics wholesaling and still "guests" on guitar with local bands.

Lenny Davidson is a guitar teacher who plays Flamenco guitar as a solo artist and is also part of a the "Cambridge Guitar Orchestra".

Dave Clark and Friends

Personnel- DAVE CLARK, MIKE SMITH, ERIC FORD, MADELINE BELL, ALAN PARKER

After the demise of the Dave Clark Five, Clark and Smith recorded under this name to fulfill contractual obligations.They were joined by session player Eric Ford who had played bass on many Dave Clark Five tracks and from "Blue Mink",Madeline Bell (who had sung on DC5 records) and Alan Parker.They released five singles , most of which were cover versions and one LP which included some DC5 tracks.

Later Mike Smith became involved in promotional work and wrote commercial jingles. He also figured briefly in a duo with ex-Manfred Mann vocalist Mike d'Abo.They sang together on the soundtrack to the musical "Evita", also recorded a solo album and a number of singles and undertook a U.K. Tour supporting the group "Sailor".Later while living in Spain he formed the group "Mike Smith's Rock Engine" . The group had two succesful tours of the USA and looked to be on the road to success when Mike had his terrible accident.

A comprehensive Smith & d'Abo discography can be found on Herman Hamerpagt's site by clicking this button