When I came across The Dave Clark Five on the “forgotten artists” list, I was sure I’d featured them on the blog already. And I assumed I knew at least some of their music.
I think maybe I was confusing this act with jazz musician Dave Brubeck, who has a famous song called ‘Take Five,’ because I realized pretty quickly that Dave Clark and company are completely new to me.
The Dave Clark Five were a British rock band that formed in the late 50s and had a lot of hits in both the UK and the U.S. during the 60s. Their first UK #1, ‘Glad All Over,’ has the distinction of bumping The Beatles’ ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ from the top of that chart.
They were part of the British Invasion, following in The Beatles footsteps by appearing on Ed Sullivan a week after the Fab Four. Eventually they landed 17 Top 40 hits in the States over a four-year period.
Unlike The Beatles, they didn’t expand their sound outside of the beat pop style you hear on today’s SOTD. The band broke up in 1970.
One of the reasons the DC5 is lesser known today is that Dave Clark refused to license their music for sale for 15 years between the late 70s and mid 90s. And it didn’t show up on streaming platforms until five years ago.
The band did manage to earn induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2008 class. They were inducted by Tom Hanks, whose movie That Thing You Do! followed a fictional American band in the mold of The Dave Clark Five.
Whoa, can’t you see that she’s mine?
We’ve been together for a long, long time
And yet they’re tryin’ so very hard to pull us apart
But we don’t care what they say
We’re gonna keep on lovin’ this way
But if they break us up, you know it’ll only break my heart
[Verse 2]
Now, don’t you know I love her so?
And I’ll never, never let her go
No matter what the people may say or try to do
‘Cause can’t you see that she’s mine?
We’ve been together for a long, long time
And it’ll stay that way, because I know she loves me, too
[Bridge]
People talk, try to break us up
When we know they don’t understand
I don’t care what the people may say
I’m gonna keep on holdin’ her hand
[Verse 1]
Can’t you see that she’s mine?
We’ve been together for a long, long time
And yet they’re tryin’ so very hard to pull us apart
But we don’t care what they say
We’re gonna keep on lovin’ this way
But if they break us up, you know it’ll only break my heart
[Verse 2]
Don’t you know I love her so?
And I’ll never, never let her go
No matter what the people may say or try to do
‘Cause can’t you see that she’s mine?
We’ve been together for a long, long time
And it’ll stay that way, because I know she loves me, too
And it’ll stay that way, because I know she loves me, too
Meet Me In Montauk 
I’ve certainly heard of the band, but I too am generally unfamiliar with their music. In looking at their hits, only “Because” is vaguely familiar to me.
I remember the name and the Tom Hanks movie but never really listened to their music