Dave Clark

For a brief moment, ever so fleetingly, this man's band challenged the Beatles' leadership of the 1964 British Invasion. They are, however, less remembered than many acts of that era that had less success. So, we have to search for the answer as to why this happened. Also, we have to answer the question as to why this man belongs to our narrative. Both questions will be answered in time.

Dave Clark was a working-class north London lad, born in 1942 (or 1939) and raised in the rubble and opportunity of the post-war years, an amateur sportsman (a Black Belt in mixed martial arts) and movie obsessive. At 15, he left school to work as an extra at Elstree Studio, appearing in more than 40 films, including Richard Burton's Beckett and Elizabeth Taylor's The VIPs, eventually graduating to stunt man. "I knew how to tumble, 'cos I'd done unarmed combat. I was fighting on horseback, sword fights, explosions, car crashes. It was all fun. You were young, confident, if you wanted to do something, you'd do it."

The Dave Clark Five formed as a Skiffle group at his local gym in 1957, a group of friends and Tottenham Hotspur supporters. The line-up was settled by 1960, with the ambitious, perfectionist Clark ruling the roost. "Right at the beginning I said to them, 'It's a bit like a football team, you have to have one captain.'" The line-up featured Mike Smith, an incredible Rock & Roll singer and classically trained organ player, guitarist Lenny Davidson, bassist Rick Huxley, and saxophonist Denis Payton, with Clark's drum kit to the fore. "I never professed to be a great drummer but I was a very heavy drummer. It was simple but powerful."

By 1963, as Beatlemania gripped Britain, the DC5 were the top-rated live act on the Mecca Ballroom circuit, packing 6,000 people a night into the Royal Tottenham. But when record companies came calling, Clark turned them down because producers wanted to control the material and sound. "I thought f--- it, I'm not going to be put into that bag." So he came up with the audacious proposal that he would make DC5 records independently and lease them to EMI.

His unorthodox methods contributed to the dynamism of the DC5 sound. "There were rules in recording. You weren't allowed to play past where the needle goes into the red. Well, that's bull---, as long as it's not distorting, you can do it. So our records were very, very loud."

They were also very popular, among teenage girls in particular.

"I did fear for my life sometimes," he says with a smile. "We did a gig in Cleveland where a girl jumped out of the dress circle onto the stage and broke both her legs. And still crawled forward to ask for my autograph. It was mayhem."

It wasn't instant success however: their first four singles failed to chart at all. Their first ever single was released in August 1962 and was called Chaquita:

The first hit single was their fifth overall, their version of the R&B classic Do You Love Me?. It made #30 in the UK (October 1963) and 6 months later, when they had already broken out in the US, it made #11 there:

It was their next single that sealed the deal for them: Glad All Over, written by Dave Clark and Mike Smith, replaced I Want To Hold Your Hand at #1 in the UK. It also went to #1 in Ireland, #2 in Canada and Sweden, #3 in Australia and #4 in the Netherlands. It was their first Top 10 in the US, peaking at #6. By the end of 1964 the single had sold more than 1,000,000 units in the UK alone.

The follow-up, Bits And Pieces, made #2 in the UK and #4 in the US:

They spent more time in the US than in Europe in 1964, so eventually they were more popular there: Can't You See That She's Mine made #4 in the US and only #10 in the UK.

Because made #3 in the US:

Come Home, their first single for 1965 made #14 in the US and #16 in the UK:

In 1965, they made a sharp movie, shot with kinetic energy by a young John Boorman (Deliverance), a director Clark discovered and championed, indicative of his true area of interest. The title song, Catch Us If You Can, returned them to the Top 10 (#4 US, #5 UK):

Their only #1 in the US was their follow-up single: Over And Over, however, flopped in the UK, peaking at #45.

They wouldn't have another Top 10 hit, either in the US or in the UK, till 1967. The reason: by answering this we will also answer the first question that we posed in the introduction.

Despite their Beatlelike popularity, the DC5 were constrained in a way the Fab Four were not. Dave Clark later said:

"[The Beatles] weren't getting the royalties they should have, but they were given the luxury of a studio for 24 hours for as long as they wanted. As an independent, I couldn't work that way. Unless we got it in three takes I would stop and we'd go down the pub and have a beer."

It's a no-nonsense attitude that might explain why the DC5 never really progressed musically. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, The Hollies, Manfred Mann, The Animals and others were moving to more a complicated sound (towards Rock rather than Pop) and to more mature lyrics. The DC5 failed to do so. That was one of the reasons that the hits didn't keep coming at the same rate that they used to. It's also part of the reason that they were less remembered (especially in the 80s, 90s and 00s) than the other aforementioned groups.

The other reason was a miscalculation on Dave's part. In a prescient move, Dave had retained ownership of the group’s master recordings, but he hadn’t made a deal in the US since the mid-1970s. He thought that by keeping them off the market, especially when interest was heightened with the advent of CDs, he could command a bigger royalty advance. Rhino and other companies were keenly interested, but Dave kept turning them down.

In 1989, Dave made a deal with the Disney Channel to program the 1960s English music show Ready, Steady, Go! during evenings to attract adult viewers to the kids cable channel. Dave had purchased the surviving shows — only a small percentage of those that were produced. With a relationship with Disney now established, in 1992 he made a deal with Disney’s Hollywood Records to issue his group’s masters. At this point the record company was not a success, so it was with some desperation that they gave Dave the large advance he held out for.

Dave hadn’t realized that by keeping the records out of the stores for nearly twenty years, he diminished their value. Oldies radio programmed less of the hits, as they were not available to the stations. Similarly, the records did not get exposed in other media like movies, TV shows, and commercials. He also was insensitive to music fans who wanted to hear the records: some wore out their vinyl copies, others replaced their turntables with CD players. Whatever residual presence the Dave Clark Five records had, had dissipated, and much of the band’s great music faded from memory. Ultimately, sales of The History of the Dave Clark Five were disappointing and the project lost money. Soon even this collection was out of circulation.

One a personal note, I remember looking for a CD with DC5 hits from the mid 90s to the mid 00s. I finally found one in the UK, it was pressed in Hungary and I'm not quite sure if it was actually licensed. Eventually Clark got wise and his songs are easy to find during the last few years. But he had lost valuable time.

Let's get back to their hits. In 1967 their version of You Got What It Takes made #7 in the US (#28 UK):

Everybody Knows made #2 in the UK and only #43 in the US. You Got What It Takes would be their last US Top 30 hit.

A childhood favorite of mine, The Red Balloon, made #7 in the UK. A bit of a Bubble Gum hit, this is the only DC5 recording that has Dave Clark on lead vocals.

Everybody Get Together, a song originally recorded by The Kingston Trio and made a hit by The Youngbloods, was their last UK Top 10 (#8 in 1970).

A few months later they released Here Comes Summer. It only made #44 in the UK. Their time as hitmakers was past.

Without much ceremony, they disbanded. Dave said: "I always said we'd stop when the fun went out of it, that was the agreement from the start. I had other things I wanted to do."

Although Mike Smith worked as a producer, songwriter and commercial jingles maker until his death in 2008, none of the others continued in music. Saxophonist Payton became an estate agent and died in 2006. Bassist Huxley was involved in property and retail businesses and died in 2013. Guitarist Davidson dealt in antiques and taught music and is now retired. Clark gave up music to pursue his first love, studying at the Central School of Drama for four years. "I wanted to be treated like everybody else, get criticised, pulled to bits, I wanted to learn."

Clark never went on to act, but did resurface in the Eighties with his musical Time, which ran for two years in London's West End from 1986-88. Laurence Olivier appeared as a hologram in his last ever stage role. "That was quite an experience. Olivier was the greatest actor in the world and he didn't suffer fools gladly but we hit it off right away." An all-star album, featuring Freddie Mercury, Cliff Richard, Leo Sayer, Stevie Wonder and Dionne Warwick sold over two million copies and spawned four hit singles. Time with Freddie Mercury reached #32 in the UK:

Because with Julian Lennon reached #40 in the UK:

She's So Beautiful with Cliff Richard went all the way to #17:

It's in Everyone of Us, also with Cliff Richard peaked at #45 in the UK:

In My Defence, became a posthumous hit (#8, UK) for Freddie Mercury in 1992:

Finally, here's Sir Laurence Olivier with Beauty, Truth, Love, Freedom, Peace:

But Clark admits he found the film and theatre worlds frustrating. "Being independent and having success, all the committees and compromises involved in that system, it doesn't work."

Today, he runs a publishing company, overseeing the rights of his own music and other artists, including television footage of the Beatles, Stones, Otis Redding and many other Sixties legends. He's a very successful entrepreneur. "I miss going out on stage, physically playing in front of an audience; it's like being heavyweight champion of the world for that moment. But everything else that goes with it: the interviews, the travelling, being locked away, I don't miss that at all.", he says.

What about the second question that we posed in the introduction? Why are we talking about Dave Clark here today?

Well, there are persistent rumors that Dave Clark is gay. No British newspaper would come out and say it in so many words, because he's rich and powerful enough to sue the hell out of them, if he so chooses. But the newspapers have ways of getting their message through. The following passages are all from an interview to a British paper in 2015. Notice the sly way they signal that DC is gay, without actually saying so, just by using stereotypes and standard assumptions that may or may not be valid:

"Back in the white heat of the Sixties, just the mention of Dave Clark's name could send teenage girls into paroxysms of screaming hysteria. His band, the Dave Clark Five, had a succession of hit singles between 1964 and 1970, sold more than 100 million records, and starred in a hit film.

In America, they were the first band of the British Invasion to tour the country and rivalled the Beatles for popularity. But, unlike Paul McCartney and countless other stars of that era, Clark has been conspicuous by his absence ever since. Apart from a brief flurry of publicity surrounding the hi-tech musical Time, which he co-wrote, produced and directed in the Eighties, Clark has stayed away from the limelight.

A lot - it turns out - has changed in the intervening years. The figure who greets me at his luxurious home in London barely resembles the athletic pin up of the Sixties. There is a sense of collapse about his features, once thick hair wispily recedes over a stretched pate, a sinking jawline is disguised by a goatee beard. His eyebrows exhibit a curious arch, although he persistently, if not very persuasively, denies suggestions of Botox or facelifts. "Not a thing!" he insists.

His home is suitably fabulous, cosy yet opulent, comprising several terraced houses knocked through into one and extensively remodelled. It is just the kind of place you would like to imagine a vintage Pop star occupying, like Austin Powers with better taste. The décor is cool whites, a mix of antique and modern furnishings, soothing contemporary oil paintings, with all kinds of nooks and crannies displaying golden Buddhas, lush greenery and scented candles.

There are bronze busts Clark commissioned from Czech sculptor Irena Sedlecká of Laurence Olivier ("I've willed it to the National Theatre when I kick the bucket") and Freddie Mercury, who Clark worked with on Time.

"We were total opposites, Freddie was so flamboyant, but we just hit it off," he says, in the same modulated, subdued tone he discusses everything else. "I was the last one with him when he died. It wasn't planned that way, it was just a small team looking after him, to keep his motivation up. The doctor had left 20 minutes before. I was with Freddie, all of a sudden he just sat up in bed, seemed to smile, and that was it." Clark clicks his fingers. "It was so sad. It made you realise, he could have had anything, but he didn't have his health."

A lifelong bachelor with no children and no known romantic liaisons, Clark's friendship with Mercury has led to speculation about his sexuality. There are photos of Mercury throughout the house, and oil paintings of naked male torsos. But Clark insists he is not gay.

"People make assumptions when you're not married," he says. "I've been best man at five weddings and I said I'd never do it again 'cos everyone got divorced." He seems unperturbed by questions about his personal life. "I've always had a philosophy: it doesn't matter who you love or how you love, the most important thing in life is that you love."

And has he loved? "Oh yes. You've gotta love. Love is the key."

The DC5 never reunited and have slowly faded from Pop memory. Yet their mastermind remains a fascinating, slightly inscrutable figure. As Elton John says in a current documentary, "Dave's a man of many mysteries."

"You've got to know when to stop. My greatest example is Muhammed Ali. We were good mates. It's a shame he didn't retire when he was champ. In the end, he went on fighting and got brain damage."

Photos of Ali with Clark adorn a mantelpiece, along with old pictures of his parents and smiling snapshots of Clark and Mercury. Clark may be out of the public eye, but he insists he is not reclusive, with many close friends including Elton John and Ian McKellen. An attentive female housekeeper pours red wine in what appear to be some slightly fancy beer glasses. A black labrador dozes at Clark's feet. "I was devastated when the boys died. We were young kids and it was exciting what we went through together. It makes you realise how important living life well is, because none of us know when we're going to go.""

As a fitting epilogue to this piece, here's a joint interview of Clark and Mercury in 1986: