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Abrahams,
Mick Marmalade |
Dave Clark, born December 1942, and bassist Chris Walls advertised in Melody Maker for musicians to form a band. This London based band, Dave Clark Five was formed in 1958 when Dave Clark on drums, who earlier was a film stuntman, joined forces with bass guitarist Chris Walls, Rick Huxley on rhythm guitar, Mick Ryan on lead and singer Stan Saxon, but by 1961, after several personnel changes they were joined by Lenny Davidson on guitar and vocals, Denny Payton on sax and Mike Smith on keyboards (replacing Walls, Ryan and Saxon). Their first 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 a few weeks later, but meanwhile the band had signed to Pye's Piccadilly label. Another instrumental, First Love, was released, but made little impression. It preceded the release of Chaquita by a couple of months. When their next single, I Know It All The Time, which featured a vocal also failed to make the charts, the Piccadilly deal was terminated. Whilst playing a gig at the Tottenham Royal, an EMI A&R man spotted them and signed them up to the Columbia label. Their first record, 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 simultaneous with this, the version by Brian Poole & The Tremeloes 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 toppled The Beatles I Want To Hold Your Hand from the top of the charts and prompted speculation in the press that London, with the success of Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, 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 and reached No. 2 in the UK charts. 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. On May 30th they appeared at New York's Carnegie Hall, followed by a slot on the Ed Sullivan Show the following day. The tour was a phenomenal success. Indeed they went on to enjoy 24 US hits over the next three years and for the first two of these rivalled The Beatles for popularity. In 1965, partly inspired by The Beatles' successes, they made a film, Catch Us If You Can. It was a success with the title track reaching No. 5 in the U.K. In 1967 the band formed its own film company, Big Five Films, to make low-budget features and documentaries. When the band broke up in 1970 Clark continued to record with Mike Smith as Dave Clark and Friends. He also went to drama school and spent six years writing 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. Dave ensured he owned the rights to all the band's songs. This enabled him to compile the 1978 25 Thumping Hits compilation himself and a CD compilation, Glad All Over Again 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. Clark has resisted all pressure, including several lucrative offers, to reform the band. |
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