Beatles & The Dave Clark Five

mikestop · Post by **mikestop** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 9:53 am

Was wondering if the Beatles ever commented on the DC5, since in the very early days '64 into '65 both groups spent a lot of time in the Top Ten. Also has anyone ever seen any photos of the 2 groups together?
Just curious!!

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 11:42 am

The DC5 cannot be compared to The Beatles. I didn't like their stage act (foot stomping and synchronized movements) and any 60's band with a sax player is just wrong!

karl_teten · Post by **karl_teten** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 4:43 pm

Sorry Mike Love. LOL

mikestop · Post by **mikestop** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:43 am

I WASN'T comparing the two band's talent! There is NO question the Beatles were in another Universe altogether. Was just curious about what opinions or comments the Beatles might have had or made about them when they were the top 2 bands during the invasion.

wolfgang · Post by **wolfgang** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:51 am

I loved "Glad all over" and "I know you"

geschwader · Post by **geschwader** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 8:04 am

Remember the scene in A Hard Day's Night where George gets pulled into a room and asked to comment on current fashion trends? Notice the shirt he trashed. Looks exactly like the collarless ones that the DC5 always wore on stage. Always thought that was a funny send-up of the DC5.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 10:03 am

I suppose this has already been discussed somewhere else on this forum.

Dave Clark Five's Denis Payton Dies
December 18, 2006
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003522988

lyle_from_minneapolis · Tue Jan 09, 2007 10:17 am

I am reading Hunter Davies' authorized biography of the Beatles. He was the one who spent over a year with all of them. It mentions that when "Glad All Over" came out a great deal of press was speculating that the Beatles were about to be supplanted by the DC5, and the Beatles themselves were worried about it. Although Beatlemania had struck, they all believed it could fall apart in a matter of weeks.

But I guess it didn't.

teeder · Post by **teeder** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 10:20 am

Still hasn't!

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 12:11 pm

Funny... I guess the Beatles didn't realize just how great their songwriting really was. The DC5 aren't even in the same league.

brianc · Post by **brianc** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 6:11 pm

I saw the DC5 in July '66 at nearby Cherry Hill NJ, and next month, saw the Beatles at JFK staduim in Philly. The DC5 show was in a tent music fair setting, they sounded 'muddy', the bass player showed up without his bass, used a 6 string...The Beatles smoked them easily...

lyle_from_minneapolis · Tue Jan 09, 2007 7:00 pm

The Hunter Davies biography ("The Beatles") is a great read---highly recommended, especially since he's updated it in the intro and outro.

At that moment in time when they were actually concerned about the Dave Clark Five, as a reader you understand why...up until this point they had had a very difficult time being taken seriously. Yes, they were big hits in Liverpool and Hamburg, and yes, they were conquering America. But pop groups came and went, and they did not yet have a grasp of their own destiny. Did they think they were as big as Elvis? Hell no. Not at that point. Just months before, Ringo was shut out of a recording session in favor of Andy White because he was deemed not good enough...and what could they do about that? Even more recently they were touring as second or third fiddles to a headliner whose name I can't even remember without looking at the book...that hottie French singer, no idea what she sounded like... So they were just a band crossing the threshold of super-stardom, but with no trust that it would really last. A whim of fate threw them into sudden fame, but it probably seemed easily as possible that the same fate could toss them out just as quickly.

I do think they had an excellent opinion of their own songwriting greatness---the fact that they battled George Martin about not recording "How Do You Do It" in favor of "Please Please Me" proves that---pretty cheeky for four rookies without a number one---but at this early point in their career just months later, they were still unaware of their own power to drive events.

Well, they sure caught on eventually.

One of my favorite parts of this read is to find out how UNDER THE GUN they wrote their best work. Rubber Soul was absolutely tossed together at the last second while the production people were freaking out about deadlines. Rubber Soul!!! And about one week before the first live global satellite broadcast in 1967, Lennon says something like, "I suppose we'd better get on with writing a song for this thing..." And like pouring a glass of water, "All You Need Is Love" springs into being, on time, with all the vocals, bass, lead guitar and orchestra recorded LIVE, in front of the whole world. I don't know about you, but I always thought that was a pretty good piece...even better that Madonna, really...or Kanye West for that matter...

Wonders never cease with that 60's "Pop Group".

jcb1100 · Post by **jcb1100** » Tue Jan 09, 2007 7:31 pm

Hey, not everybody can be the Beatles. DC5 had some great songs. "Bits and Pieces" being my favorite.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 11:52 am

Supposedly DC5's Lenny Davidson played a Ric at one point. I cant find any photos of him with one but I do see this from (where else?):
http://www.rickresource.com/rrp/sixartists.html

very cool DC5 video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sehYnUVAcZM

admin · Post by **admin** » Wed Jan 10, 2007 11:59 am

Here you go Kent.