History The Dave Clark Five

the ed sullivan show in 1966. left: denis payton, dave clark, mike smith, rick huxley , lenny davidson.

the band started out dave clark quintet in 1957, clark on drums, dave sanford on lead guitar, chris walls on bass, roger smedley on piano. in 1958, sanford replaced rick huxley , people confused meaning of word quintet, band renamed dave clark five, stan saxon on lead vocals, huxley on rhythm guitar, roger smedley on piano , johnny johnson on lead guitar. mick ryan replaced johnson in 1958 , jim spencer joined on saxophone, while smedley left. walls left in 1959 , huxley became bass player. mike smith joined on piano in 1960, , lenny davidson replaced ryan in 1961. in 1962, band changed name dave clark 5 when saxon left. group clark on drums, huxley on bass, smith on organ , lead vocals, , davidson on lead guitar, adding denny payton on tenor , baritone saxophone, harmonica , guitar.

originating in north london, band promoted vanguard of tottenham sound , response mersey beat stable managed brian epstein. dave clark, formed group, placed drum kit @ front of stage, guitarists , organ rear , sides, , struck business deals allowed him produce band s recordings , gave him control of master recordings. songwriting credits went clark, clark , smith, clark , davidson , clark , payton.

the dave clark 5 had 17 records in top 40 of billboard chart , 12 top 40 hits in native uk between 1964 , 1967. song on , on went number 1 in on billboard hot 100 on christmas day 1965, despite less impressive sales in uk (it peaked @ number 45 on uk singles chart), , played sell-out crowds on tours of u.s. dave clark 5 first british band of british invasion tour us, , made 18 appearances on ed sullivan show – of british invasion group.

after success of beatles film hard day s night in 1964, band released own film, catch if can (directed john boorman) in 1965. starred barbara ferris, , released in united states having wild weekend. short film hits in action highlighted series of dave clark 5 hits.

after initial success, included film , television special, major hits dried in after 1967 s got takes , although band had several substantial hits in uk in 1967–1970 period. other songs inside , out , maze of love , live in sky (the latter quotes directly beatles need love ), band did not follow trend of psychedelic music. dc5 disbanded in 1970, having placed 3 singles on uk chart year, 2 of reached top ten. in 1970, davidson, huxley , payton left , alan parker , eric ford joined on lead guitar , bass. line-up, renamed dave clark & friends , lasted until 1973.

between 1978 , 1993, none of music available purchased in commercial format, rights-holder clark declined licence band s recordings. in 1993, single cd glad on again produced dave himself , released emi in britain. after 1989 deal disney channel rebroadcast 1960s itv show ready steady go! (which clark owned), made deal disney-owned hollywood records issue in 1993 double cd history of dave clark 5 . no dc5 material legally available until 2008, when hits compilation released universal music in uk. in 2009 selections band s catalogue released on itunes.