DAVE CLARK FIVE - "Any Way You Want It" (1964)

 

Rich here, paying tribute to a band that tends to get overlooked when we remember the British Invasion of 1964 -- the era when The Beatles crashed down the doors of the American music industry, opening them to other British bands that we still remember 60-some years later, like The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who, The Yardbirds, and The Animals.

 

But for a brief time, the Dave Clark Five sold more records than all those other bands except for The Beatles. In fact, their debut smash hit "Glad All Over" knocked The Beatles off the top of the charts to become the second British band to have a Number One hit on the American record charts. 

 

Now never mind that Dave Clark himself was kind of a jerk although he certainly was a highly successful promoter of the band. Despite the images on their record covers and TV appearances, Dave Clark never played drums on the DC5's records, nor did he really write the songs he took credit for composing. Even in their live appearances, the band most often simply sang to a pre-recorded background, and because Dave Clark simply put the band on a salary, he was the only one who profited from their significant royalties, publishing, and appearances, while the band members struggled financially after the band broke up.

 

Having said all that, there is no denying that those early Dave Clark Five records were catchy as hell, and the Wall of Sound production gave the band a pounding Roar (referred to as the "Tottenham Sound") that was unequaled by their British contemporaries in those early days of British rock recordings, including The Beatles. 

And so, at least for the first year or so of The British Invasion, the Dave Clark Five turned out one hit after another until they just couldn't keep up with the creative progression of the other British bands who all were competing with each other to make artistic statements with each new record.

 

But -- for a time, the DC5 had the most powerful sounding records on the charts and on the jukeboxes, as manifest in these two singles, the stomping "Bits & Pieces" and "Any Way You Want It." Turn these songs

up loud when you play them!
DAVE CLARK FIVE - "Bits And Pieces"

DAVE CLARK FIVE - "Any Way You Want It"