#The Dave Clark Five

[fancycolours]

THE DAVE CLARK FIVE

[janwasopimeja]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63624568/

Random thing I made.

It's called I Can't Explain, it's about the '60s and '60s music through the eyes of a teenager from the Beatlemania days to hippie stuff, through Woodstock and beyond.

I've written a chapter, and they'll be many more to come.

(chapter 1 only has stuff about the Beatles, but they'll be stuff about other bands later)

[guessimdumb]

The Dave Clark Five - Anyway You Want It (1965)

It’s funny that at one time the Dave Clark Five were second only to the Beatles.  They don’t get much respect, but this tune is an absolute stonker!

[shadowland]

Muhammad Ali and Sam Cooke with the Dave Clark Five in New York, 1964

[myost]

[now-playing] - ost - the dave clark five - having a wild weekend - 1965

[myimaginaryradio]

Bits & Pieces - The Dave Clark Five

[gregorygalloway]

The Dave Clark Five Return! was released on 22 May 1964, which is the US version of their debut album released in the UK as A Session with the Dave Clark Five.

A mix of originals and covers (including "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" from the 1946 film Song of the South), the album peaked at #5 in the US.

[fancycolours]

THE DAVE CLARK FIVE

[randommusicvid]

Bits and Pieces - The Dave Clark Five

[yakkolicious]

77 for the ask game !! :]

ARTHUR, YOU LEGEND, THANK YOU- /gen

#77 on my Spotify Wrapped was Catch Us If You Can by the Dave Clark Five!

[duranduratulsa]

On the turntable today...

Big Daddy by John Mellencamp (1989)

Return! by The Dave Clark Five (1964)

Firestone Tires Presents Your Favorite Christmas Music Volume 4 (1965)

So Red The Rose by Arcadia (1985)

#johncougarmellancamp #Bigdaddy #thedaveclarkfive #thedaveclarkfivereturn #firestone #firestonepresentsyourfavoritechristmasmusicvolume4 #arcadia #soredtherose #SimonLeBon #nickrhodes #rogertaylor #rogertaylorduranduran #duranduran #60s #80s #records #album #LP #vinyl #vinylrecords

[someenchantedevening2]

The Dave Clark Five were an English rock and roll band formed in 1958 in Tottenham, London. Drummer Dave Clark was the group's leader, producer and co-songwriter. They were one of the most commercially successful acts of the British invasion.

L to R: Mike Smith (lead vocals, keyboards), Lenny Davidson (lead guitar), Dave Clark (drums), Denis Payton (saxophone, harmonica, rhythm guitar), and Rick Huxley (bass).

[allthemusic]

Week ending: 1st July

Very nearly back in real time, with a trio of Merseybeat hits that I'd never heard of until now, but all of which bring an enjoyably different energy to the table.

Ramona - The Bachelors (peaked at Number 4)

I haven't massively rated the Bachelors' previous hits, and this looks alarmingly similar to the frankly forgettable Diane - a hit named after a girl with a stylish name. And indeed, we open here in a slow, sappy mood, with an admittedly cool set of opening chords, but then a dreadfully slow opening Ramona, Ramona, you're mine. At which point we do pick up the pace and settle into a sort of walking-pace country feel. There's a guitar keeping the whole thing moving, and lines about how I hear the mission bells above, for example. You can absolutely imagine this being set somewhere in the US south.

(Incidentally, I think my favourite thing here is the backing singers here going bong, bong, bong after the "mission bell" lines. It's very endearing)

It's a pretty standard romantic ballad, all of this aside, with lines about how I press you, caress you / And bless the day you taught me to care. The Bachelors think of the flowers Ramona wore in her hair, worry about losing her, and arrange romantic trysts with her, singing Ramona, when day is done, you'll hear my call / Ramona, we'll meet beside the waterfall. All of which is, admittedly, fairly romantic, and I don't mind the harmonies. They're quite a lot, but in a way that's still pleasant to listen to.

It makes the whole song sound quite old-fashioned, though. Which is why I wasn't hugely surprised to discover that this is indeed an older song, and not a Bachelors original. Originally dating back to 1928, it was written for a feature film, also called Ramona, and it was apparently one of the first ever theme songs written for a film. Heck, the film is old enough that it only had soundtrack, no audible dialogue - that's how early on we're talking! For all that, the film does sound quite depressing - it's all about the problems faced by Ramona, a half-Native American, half-Mexican girl who embraces her Native heritage in order to marry her love, only to lose her infant child and her husband in short order. What follows is a romance with a childhood friend, Felipe, who I assume sings this song to win her over, all about his fond memories of her. Which is, in theory sweet. But man, weepy much?

You're No Good - The Swinging Blue Jeans (3)

On the other end of the spectrum from the frankly besotted Felipe, meanwhile, we've got the Swinging Blue Jeans, who are determined to break up with their girl. No fond childhood memories for them, we're immediately on the attack, and pretty savage about it, coming out the gates with lines about how the Blue Jeans are feeling better, now that we're through / Feeling better cause I'm over you. Yikes! I've learned my lesson / It left a scar, they sing, and now I see how you really are / You're no good, you're no good, you're no good / Baby, you're not good. The message here, I think, is clear, and risks feeling a little harsh, honestly - except the Blue Jeans don't sound all that angry, more just regretful?

And the reason for this might just be explained in the next verse, where you get lines about how the Blue Jeans broke a heart who's gentle and true / I left a girl for someone like you. So the problem, here, isn't just the girl that the Blue Jeans are singing to. Sure, she took them away from the girl they should have stayed with. But the Blue Jeans bear just as much responsibility for what's happened. And it's nice to see them shift away from just slating the interloper and towards a more rueful tone, with lines about how I'll beg her forgiveness on bended knee. And what about the lines about how I wouldn't blame her if she said to me / You're no good, you're no good, you're no good. The script has been flipped, and it's the Blue Jeans themselves who are at fault. And then, at some point, we shift away even from that to just a despairing it's no good. Which really suggests a sort of miserable despair to the whole thing, a sense that it's a hopeless situation.

And then, for the ending, we shift back into savage mode again, with a glimmer of hope. If she'll have me, we'll start anew, they decide. It'll be easy forgetting you. Ouch! And what about the line about how I'm going away / Forget about you, baby / I'm leaving today. Talk about not pulling your punches? It works for me, though - sure, the Blue Jeans have recognised their own part in what happened, have taken ownership of the mistakes made. But at the end of the day, it takes two to tango, and it's a lot more fun to finish on the you're no good line!

I also think the whole thing just sounds really cool? It's another cover of an R&B song, flipped from being a girl singing about a guy to a guy singing about a girl, and the whole thing just has this nonchalant, slinky sound to it, built as it is on a steady back and forth between guitar and bass and a tune that sticks in your head like nobody's business. Add in some R&B hand claps near the end, a shimmery distorted little guitar fill near the end, and a quiet, bluesy delivery that's too cool for school, and you've got the perfect brush-off track. It's low-key, not making a big show out of anything. They're leaving their girlfriend, but they're casual about it, you know? Which, of course, is almost worse than if they'd pitched a fit about it.

Can't You See That She's Mine - The Dave Clark Five (10)

And then, something rowdier. As you'd at this point expect from the Dave Clark Five, whose previous hits have all been big, crowd-pleasingly stompy rockers. There's something almost glam rock about them, as a band, and this track, thankfully, is no exception. It's maximalist, and it's busy, with thumping drums, a quick-paced repeated bass riff that's almost funky, an organ peeping through periodically, a saxophone going nuts over the second half, some chugging rockabilly guitar underneath. And of course, Dave and co, all singing the tune with great gusto and absolutely no attempt at harmonies. It's great, a very likeable mix of things.

Lyrically, it's a very straightforward song. Oh, can't you see that she's mine, the band ask? We've been together for a long, long time / And it will stay that way / Because I know she loves me too. This is a song about having confidence in the relationship you're in. Unlike Felipe trying to win over the terribly unfortunate Ramona with childhood memories, and unlike the Blue Jeans blowing up their own love lives, Dave and co seem to have a stable relationship going on, and are determined to hang onto it. The line about staying together no matter what the people may say or try to do, and the line about how people talk and try to break us up suggest that Dave and his girl have faced some tough times, sure. But at the end of the day, they're together, and very happy together. Which is cute, I like it.

I do think that the energy that this song brings is the main attraction though, more than the lyrics. It's just very high-paced, and very energetic. The bass and guitar part propel it forward really effectively, as do the drums, and there are also all these little barely perceptible adlibs, these whoos and whoah nows. Which I think does a lot to get the listeners on board. The band sound like they're having a whale of a time, and when that happens, you can't help but feel it too, just a little. I found myself bopping my head, listening to this one, and I suspect I'm not the only one!

I think the deciding factor here, more than quality, will just be which song fits my current mood better. Ramona, sadly, is out of the running for being kind of unremarkable. But do I want the cool, deadpan R&B cover, or the rockabilly knees-up? I think it might be the former, today. (I also realised halfway through that I may be biased, because I do actually know and quite like the Linda Ronstadt cover of it?)

Favourite song of the bunch: You're No Good

[canadianstud]

I BET YOU DON'T OWN ANY OF THESE ALBUMS!

[musicmags]