Backround Info

The DaveClark5.com website was setup in honor of the rock & roll band from Tottenham, London, that along with the Beatles, spearheaded the British Rock & Roll invasion in the USA. 

Part of the reason that I started the website was that I missed the music.  Another reason was that I wanted to show my son (who is into the drums) how well Dave Clark did, not simply as a music pioneer, but also as a producer and a business pioneer, all from the drummer's seat.

All music and video of the Dave Clark Five is streamed from other sources. The images, lyrics and music used on this site all remain Copyright Dave Clark or the respective contributing Copyright owners.  All Dave Clark Five band images are promotional publicity shots or news items and therefore do not require permission to be reused or shared.

The DC5 logo used for the website was inspired by the DC5 designation insignia on the band's private plane (as seen on the plane's nose & tail). Although my version of that designation is not an extremely close representative of that insignia, it was created with the intent to positively reflect that same DC5 spirit.

Should you take exception to any of the material used on this website, you are welcome to contact me, Doug Peters, the site administrator, through the website contact form.

Dave Clark started the band, originally as the Dave Clark Quintet, in 1957.  

1. Dave Clark - Drums
2. Dave Sanford - Lead Guitar
3. Chris Walls - Bass
4. Don Vale - Piano

In 1958 the members were:

1. Dave Clark - Drums
2. Stan Saxon - Lead Vocals
3. Johnny Johnson - Lead Guitar
4. Rick Huxley - Rythm Guitar
5. Roger Smedley - Piano

Later in 1958, Mick Ryan replaced Johnson, Jim Spencer joined in on Saxophone, and Smedley left.  In 1959 Walls left and Huxley went to bass. In 1960 Mike Smith joined on piano.

1. Dave Clark - Drums
2. Stan Saxon -Lead Vocals
3. Mike Ryan - Lead Guitar
4. Jim Spencer - Saxophone
5. Mike Smith - Piano

 1961 saw Lenny Davidson replace Mike Ryan. In 1962 Saxon left the band and they became known as the Dave Clark Five with:

1. Dave Clark - Drums
2. Mike Smith - Keyboard & Lead Vocals
3. Lenny Davidson - Lead Guitar
4. Rick Huxley - Bass
5. Denny Payton - Tenor & Baritone Sax, Harmonica & Guitar

The band, being from Tottenham, North London, was promoted as "the Tottenham Sound" in response to the Beatles' "Mersey Beat".  

Dave Clark was sometimes a featured player, taking the center stage.  Dave was also the business manager and retained rights to all of the band's songs.  He often wrote the songs or helped Smith, Davidson and Payton write them.

The Dave Clark Five had 17 albums in the Billboard Top 40, scored 15 consecutive Top 40 hit singles, all in the US market.  In their UK home, they had 12 Top 40 hits.  They played to sell-out crowds all over the US and appeared on the Ed Sulivan Show a record 18 times.

They released a movie, "Catch Us If You Can", directed by John Boorman in 1965, which was rereleased in the US as "Having a Wild Weekend" and went on to a TV special.

Dave Clark Five released a new movie, "You Got What It Takes" in 1967, but the US market soured.  The band continued with success in the UK until 1970.

In 1970, Davidson, Huxley and Payton left the group.  Alan Parker (lead guitar) and Eric Ford (bass) joined and the group became Dave Clark and Friends from 1970 until 1973.

As Dave Clark held the rights to the song catalog and refused to sell, with all the albums sold the DC5 music wasn't commercially available after 1978, until Dave Clark produced and released a single CD in 1993, "Glad All Over Again".

Clark also owned the rights to a sixties TV show called "Ready Set Go!" and in a deal with Disney it was rebroadcast in 1989.  This lead to another deal with Disney to have its Hollywood Records label release a double CD in 1993, "The History of the Dave Clark Five".

There was another lapse in the availability of the band's material until 2008 when the "Hits" compilation was released in the UK by Universal Music.

The band was also inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in on March 10th, 2008.

In 2008 twenty-eight tracks were selected from the Dave Clark Five catalog and published on Apple iTunes, "The Dave Clark Five: The Hits".

Now you can even find some selections on Google Play, including singles...

• Glad All Over
• Catch Us If You Can
• Do You Love Me
• Chicken Fat
• Any Time You Want Love

...and the albums...

• Catch Us If You Can
• The Dave Clark Five and the Playbacks

Another good source for Dave Clark Five material is the official website at DaveClarkFive.com, which features an awesome selection of DC5 music in their jukebox, as well as YouTube for music videos.

There was also a Public Broadcasting special that is still available, "Dave Clark Five & Beyond: Glad All Over" pressed in both Blu-ray (high-definition video) & DVD formats.