5 Career-Defining Songs Of Dave Clark Five

5 Career-Defining Songs Of Dave Clark Five | Society Of Rock Videos

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Legends

The Dave Clark Five formed in 1957 but it wasn’t until January 1964 when they got their first UK top ten single, “Glad All Over”. After toppling the Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” on the #1 spot, they also became the second rock act from the British Invasion to appear and perform on The Ed Sullivan Show and they would go on to have more than a dozen appearances on the show. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

Here are their five best songs.

1. Glad All Over

It was a huge hit for them. Used several times by football and rugby teams, the Crystal Palace Football Club made it their anthem back in the ’60s. According to lead singer Mike Smith, “We had lost out on ‘Do You Love Me’ to Brian Poole and so Dave (Clark) thought we should do an original. He asked me to come up with something and I looked through my record collection for a suitable title.” It famously knocked The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” off the top spot and before they made it big with this song, The Dave Clark Five was actually at a crossroads.

2. Bits and Pieces

Written by Smith, it’s in an antiphonal style. It’s catchy and infectious. Back then, venue owners didn’t want them to play this live for fear that concertgoers might jump up and down thereby ruining the place. Dave Clark shared to Uncut: “At a lot of gigs, we used to do some instrumentals because it was a long stint, three and a half hours. We often started with The Routers’ ‘Half Time,’ and we’d stop, carry on with just the drums going, with everybody in the band stomping – all the audience would start to stamp, and you can imagine what it was like when it got 106,000 people. The guy on the lights at the Tottenham Royal had no lighting board, but I got him to switch the lights on and off from the mains, in time with the music. It got amazing reactions, and that’s how Mike and I got the idea for Bits and Pieces and Glad All Over.”

3. Catch Us If You Can

Released when they were at the peak of their career, it served as an inspiration to future rock acts including The Monkees. It’s an absolute earworm and a feature film was named after it which served as a promotion for the band. Unlike The Beatles in their own movies though, Dave Clark Five did not play themselves. Instead, they were stuntmen/extras led by Steve (Dave Clark).

4. Over and Over

Originally recorded by Bobby Day, but it was Dave Clark Five’s version that became the most successful. Infused with their signature sound, it became the last #1 hit of 1965. It was a chart-topper in the US but only peaked at #45 in their native United Kingdom. Still, it has become a well-loved classic.

5. Can’t You See That She’s Mine

It’s the band’s fourth Gold Record and one of those that stood the test of time. It’s still fun and entertaining to listen to even after all these years. Part of the lyrics were inspired by Ray Charles’ 1960 song “Sticks And Stones”.

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