Dave Clark | |
|---|---|
 Clark in a 1965 US television appearance with the Dave Clark Five | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | David Clark |
| Born | 15 December 1939 Tottenham, Middlesex, England |
| Genres | Beat music |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, record producer |
| Instrument(s) |
|
| Years active | 1957–present |
David Clark (born 15 December 1939)[1] is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and entrepreneur. Clark was the leader, drummer and manager of the 1960s beat group the Dave Clark Five, the first British Invasion band to follow the Beatles to the United States in 1964. In 2008, Clark and his band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[2]
Clark was born in Tottenham, then lived in Middlesex. He left school without qualifications at the age of 15 and claims to have become a film stuntman, performing in over 40 films (although IMDB only gives him four pre-fame film credits).[3][4][5] In the late 1950s he bought a set of drums, taught himself how to play them, and formed a skiffle band to raise funds so that his football team could travel to the Netherlands. The skiffle band grew into the Dave Clark Five, with Clark their leader, co-songwriter, manager and producer.[5][6]
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Main article: The Dave Clark Five |
The Dave Clark Five grew in popularity in the UK. They unseated the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" from its number one spot in the UK singles charts in January 1964 with "Glad All Over". The British press, briefly, called them the Beatles' "most serious threat".[7] The Dave Clark Five were the first British Invasion band to follow the Beatles to the United States in 1964,[7] where they achieved 14 top 20 hits, eight of which were consecutive.[8] They also appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show more times than any other English group.[7] Dave Clark became a popular name for babies in the 1960s.[9]
Andrew Loog Oldham, former manager of the Rolling Stones, said of the band's early success as rivals to the Beatles: If the Beatles ever looked over their shoulders, it was not the Stones they saw. They saw the Dave Clark 5 or Herman's Hermits.[10]
The band broke up in 1970, and Clark stopped drumming in 1972 after he broke four knuckles in a tobogganing accident.[3]
He later wrote a science fiction stage musical, Time, which debuted in 1986. It played for two years in London's West End, starring Cliff Richard (replaced later by David Cassidy).[5] The musical also launched a concept album, likewise titled Time, which featured Richard, Freddie Mercury, Leo Sayer, Stevie Wonder and Dionne Warwick. Two million copies were sold and it spun off several hit singles.[11]
Clark is an entrepreneur and a multi-millionaire. He owns a £12 million house in West London.[3][12] From the outset, Clark owned the rights to all the Dave Clark Five music masters.[5] It is claimed that other songwriters in the band were required to give copyright ownership of their tunes to Clark, even if he did not co-write them.[13] In the late 1960s, in addition to managing his band, Clark began directing and producing for television. In 1968 he made a television production, Hold On, It's the Dave Clark Five.[5] In the 1980s he acquired the rights to the 1960s UK music show Ready Steady Go!.[14]
On the release of a (DC5) British hits album in the mid-1970s, Clark resided in the US for a year, thus avoiding paying UK taxes in Britain on the proceeds of that release. The British government challenged this but lost the case in court.[15]
In 1993, Clark released remastered versions of all the Dave Clark Five singles on a CD, Glad All Over Again.[5]
Companies House lists him as director of several companies.[16]
Clark was a close friend of Freddie Mercury, whom he had known since 1976. He was by Mercury's bedside when the Queen singer died on 24 November 1991.
In 2008, marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the band, the Dave Clark Five were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[2][17] Clark, making a rare public appearance, and the two other surviving band members at the time accepted the award on behalf of the group.[citation needed]
In 2014, Clark wrote, produced, appeared in, and partly presented, the 115-minute documentary The Dave Clark Five and Beyond: Glad All Over.[18]
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Main article: The Dave Clark Five discography |
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| A Session with the Dave Clark Five | |
| Catch Us If You Can |
|
| Everybody Knows |
|
| 5 by 5 |
|
| If Somebody Loves You |
|
| Title | EP details |
|---|---|
| The Dave Clark Five |
|
| Hits of the Dave Clark Five |
|
| Wild Weekend |
|
| Title | Year |
|---|---|
| "I Knew It All the Time"
b/w "That's What I Said" |
1962 |
| "Chaquita"
b/w "In Your Heart" | |
| "First Love"
b/w "I Walk the Line" | |
| "The Mulberry Bush"
b/w "Chaquita" |
1963 |
| "Do You Love Me"
b/w "Doo-Dah" | |
| "Glad All Over"
b/w "I Know You" | |
| "Bits and Pieces"
b/w "All of the Time" |
1964 |
| "Can't You See That She's Mine"
b/w "Because" (UK); "No Time to Lose" (US) | |
| "Thinking of You Baby"
b/w "Whenever You're Around" | |
| "Because"
b/w "Can't You See That She's Mine" | |
| "Everybody Knows (I Still Love You)"
b/w "Say You Want Me" (UK); "Ol' Sol" (US) | |
| "Any Way You Want It"
b/w "Crying Over You" | |
| "Come Home"
b/w "Mighty Good Loving" (UK); "Your Turn to Cry" (US) |
1965 |
| "Reelin' and Rockin'"
b/w "Little Bitty Pretty One" (UK); "I'm Thinking" (US) | |
| "I Like It Like That"
b/w "Hurting Inside" | |
| "Catch Us If You Can"
b/w "Move On" (UK); "On the Move" (US) | |
| "Over and Over"
b/w "I'll Be Yours (My Love)" | |
| "Having a Wild Weekend"
b/w "No Stopping" | |
| "At the Scene"
b/w "I Miss You" |
1966 |
| "Try Too Hard"
b/w "All Night Long" | |
| "Look Before You Leap"
b/w "Please Tell Me Why" | |
| "Satisfied with You"
b/w "Don't Let Me Down" | |
| "Nineteen Days"
b/w "I Need Love" (UK); "Sitting Here Baby" (US) | |
| "I've Got to Have a Reason"
b/w "Good Time Woman" | |
| "You Got What It Takes"
b/w "Sitting Here Baby" (UK); "Doctor Rhythm" (US) |
1967 |
| "Tabatha Twitchit"
b/w "Man in a Pin-Striped Suit" | |
| "You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby"
b/w "Man in a Pin Striped Suit" | |
| "A Little Bit Now"
b/w "You Don't Play Me Around" | |
| "Red and Blue"
b/w "Concentration Baby" | |
| "Everybody Knows"
b/w "Concentration Baby" (UK); "Inside and Out" (US) | |
| "No One Can Break a Heart Like You"
b/w "You Don't Want My Lovin'" |
1968 |
| "Please Stay"
b/w "Forget" | |
| "The Red Balloon"
b/w "Maze of Love" | |
| "Live in the Sky"
b/w "Children" | |
| "The Mulberry Tree"
b/w "Small Talk" |
1969 |
| "Paradise (Is Half as Nice)"
b/w "34-06" | |
| "If Somebody Loves You"
b/w "Best Day's Work" | |
| "Put a Little Love in Your Heart"
b/w "34-06" | |
| "Good Old Rock 'n' Roll"
b/w "Good Old Rock 'n' Roll (Part 2)" | |
| "Bring It On Home to Me"
b/w "Darling, I Love You" | |
| "Everybody Get Together"
b/w "Darling I Love You" |
1970 |
| "Julia"
b/w "Five by Five" | |
| "Here Comes Summer"
b/w "Break Down and Cry" | |
| "More Good Old Rock 'n' Roll"
b/w "More Good Old Rock 'n' Roll (Part 2)" | |
| "Southern Man"
b/w "If You Wanna See Me Cry" |
1971 |
| "Won't You Be My Lady"
b/w "Into Your Life" |
