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Post by Liam Joseph on Mar 14, 2014 16:39:52 GMT
Just saw the story below about a PBS special on the Dave Clark Five to air on April 8 with a subsequent DVD/Blu-Ray issue. Mr Clark isn't too popular for his attitude in not making rare material like Ready Steady Go available, but does this mean we might get to see some of it?
PBS's “Great Performances” announced in a press release March 5 it will air “The Dave Clark Five and Beyond - Glad All Over,” a two-hour special on the music of the '60s beginning in April. The program features newly filmed interviews with Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt of The E Street Band, Stevie Wonder, Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne, Gene Simmons of Kiss, Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg, Dionne Warwick, Twiggy and Sir Ian McKellen all sharing their memories of the music of the '60s and the cultural revolution of 1964.
Included in the film are the Dave Clark Five's performances on "The Ed Sullivan Show," along with rare live concert footage and many of their appearances on television. Much of this material, preserved on 35mm film, has not been seen in decades, either on television or home video.
The film also features never-before-seen footage from Clark's personal archives together with performances by the Beatles,the Rolling Stones, the Who, Dusty Springfield, Stevie Wonder, the Supremes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, Freddie Mercury of Queen and Sir Laurence Olivier.
Besides touring America in May 1964, the Dave Clark Five had 15 consecutive Top 20 U.S. hit singles within a two-year period, which was better than any other group in the world except the Beatles. They appeared 18 times on "The Ed Sullivan Show," more than any other rock, pop or R&B artist.
“The Dave Clark Five and Beyond” also features scenes from their feature film “Catch Us If You Can” (called “Having a Wild Weekend” in the U.S.). The group is also seen with Lucille Ball on her "Lucy in London" special where they guest-starred with Richard Chamberlain and Lulu. The film also traces the group's s working-class roots and how the group met while training in the gym.
Clark was drummer and manager of the group. He later acquired the rights to the British rock/pop series "Ready Steady Go!," which was released on TV and video and shown in the United States on the Disney Channel. In 2008, Tom Hanks inducted the DC5 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2010, a number of albums with unreleased Dave Clark Five tracks were released on iTunes.
The two-hour special premieres nationally on PBS on from 8 to 10 p.m. ET April 8 and repeats at 10 p.. April 11 ET. (Check local listings since PBS air times vary from city to city.) “The Dave Clark Five and Beyond - Glad All Over” will be released on DVD and Blu-ray by PBS Home Video in conjunction with the broadcast. The program is a production of Dave Clark International and THIRTEEN Productions LLC in association with WNET.
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Post by John Green on Mar 14, 2014 17:27:33 GMT
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Post by Rich Cornock on Mar 14, 2014 17:44:34 GMT
Have i missed something, was Freddie Mercury part of the 60's music scene
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2014 10:17:36 GMT
As interesting as this sounds, I can imagine any clips utilised will be incomplete and cropped / letterboxed etc. (if the doc itself is produced that way). I fear it won't be the definitive collection of DC5 archive material correctly presented that we want to see. I don't know if that will ever happen, although there is more than enough interesting stuff to do them justice. It would be nice if the DVD release had options to view the clips complete and in the correct ratio (as with e.g. the Hollies British Invasion set) but we shall have to wait and see, I suppose.
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Post by John Green on Mar 15, 2014 10:49:03 GMT
The cover of the DVD says "Four hours of star-studded performances",though it's listed @ 2 hours. |
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Post by Patrick Coles on Mar 15, 2014 11:42:03 GMT
The DC5 have virtually been 'airbrushed out' of Music history...largely it seems by Dave Clark himself !!
they were always loathed by the generally hideously 'snooty' UK music press...
It's not easy to hear much of their wider back catalogue now - with only a sporadic issue of a few 'best of...' CD's released over a VERY long time...and just the odd 'Twenty Five Thumping Great Hits' circa 1977 Polydor LP (which was a big seller) plus if you can find them the odd MFP or Starline budget LP put out by EMI records (themselves not easy to track down now)...let alone the scarce sixties Columbia albums (only a handful and all except the last album;
'If Somebody Loves You' in 1970 were released in mono only)
I've heard Dave Clark disliked the compact disc format - hence no proper CD issue of the back catalogue (?)
the British albums (& any still unissued stereo masters of the tracks ) with EP & 'B' sides as 'bonus' tracks should make up a series of CD releases....then the USA only albums, plus a 'Rarities' collection - in a perfect world !
For a Group who had MORE UK Chart entries (if not consistantly bigger hits) than The Rolling Stones between 1963 and 1970 - and more UK hits than The Kinks, The Who, The Small Faces, The Troggs, The Animals, The Searchers, The Yardbirds & The Pretty Things (all held in far higher esteem by the 'jumped up' music press)...who did the 1965 Royal Variety Show, some 18 'Ed Sullivan Shows' (supposedly - tho' some claim it was actually 12 shows with a few repeated - tho' still no mean feat even if 12 shows) and made a critically lauded film in 1965 (Directed by John Boorman) plus a successful TV special 'Hold On...' and were invited to play for President Lyndon B.Johnson & guests at the White House (as his daughter was a big fan) - an invite only American artists normally get - The DC5 have since been virtually 'forgotten' by many Rock & pop writers/historians and at best often are dismissed as being mere 'pop' hit makers like Freddie, Gerry, and Herman (an insult to all...!)
In fact The Rolling Stones actually only had about 15 UK hits in the sixties (admittedly a few number ones) & The Who surprisingly only had about 12 chart hits (some quite minor) in the sixties years before 1970...MUCH of the two bands mega success, certainly re acclaimed albums and concerts worldwide, came later in the seventies onwards
...and The DC5 had as many sixties chart singles as The Beatles, Hollies, Shadows, etc...about 22 UK chart singles I believe (without any re-issues later) up to and including 1970 with some very big UK hits in; 'Glad All Over', 'Bits & Pieces', 'Catch Us if You Can', 'Everybody Knows' 'The Red Balloon' (the latter hit sung by & apparently loathed by Dave Clark himself)....they made the UK charts as late as 1970 with 'Here Comes Summer' and 'Everybody Get Together'
plus The DC5 had a most impressive run of USA chart hit singles (about 18 or so USA chart singles I think), something many so-called 'classic bands' could only dream of (then...and NOW !!)
The Dave Clark Five (who are in the USA Rock & Roll Hall of Fame - arguable how much that means I grant you) at least deserve some respect & far more attention given to their back catalogue both on CD & on DVD re their many TV & film performances...they broke Epic Records (USA) 'record' in selling a million copies more quickly than any other artist plus were an admitted influence on many others - notably Berry Gordy re the Motown records he was producing (The Supremes covered a few DC5 songs such as; 'Because')
A band who broke up the same year as The Beatles way back in 1970, and who never ever reformed - yet in 1977 their lone ' 20 hits collection' sliced effortlessly through punk's supposed domination & other contemporary acts to shoot up the UK album charts minus any active group promotion at all ...really OUGHT to be taken more seriously by the critics....
- and by Dave Clark himself I believe !
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Post by Richard Marple on Mar 15, 2014 12:13:30 GMT
Did he take advice from Allen Klein about CD reissues?
One of my Dad's bugbears for many years was the lack of Cameo Parkway material on CD.
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Post by Patrick Coles on Mar 15, 2014 12:40:20 GMT
maybe Dave Clark came to feel The DC5 couldn't win here in Britain - they took alot of flak in the music press (as would bands like The Moody Blues, Jethro Tull, etc) both re their music and releasing non UK records in the USA...
certainly after the initial London press OTT absurd 'hype' re the non existant 'Tottenham sound' supposedly crushing The Beatles (done by the mainstream London press not the music press, & certainly not by The DC5 themselves ) when 'Glad All Over' knocked the Beatles off number one spot in 1963 there was therafter a feeling here among some that The DC5 concentrated too much on the USA and gave America preference over Britain (The Beatles & Cream were accused of that too - The Beatles of putting London over Liverpool too !)
whatever, The DC5 seldom got good reviews, even when they were scoring a bit UK hit - like 'Everybody Knows' making no.2 in 1967
There might well have been some simmering jealousy against Dave Clark & his band from within the music business too (a London bunch when a number of the 'Beat Boom' groups came from up north...) - maybe from the other bands' members themselves as Clark was in 1963-64 the only artist producing himself then in the UK (only Brian Wilson with The Beach Boys in the USA springs to mind as doing likewise at that time) and Clark was given virtually a 'free hand' at the quality Lansdowne Studios (where Acker Bilk, Roger Whittaker etc all recorded not pop groups) to work on his records (while others were firmly guided & often dictated to over at Abbey Road studios etc), plus Clark had a better publishing deal re his 'Spurs Music' than many others, possibly causing some resentment from his peers...(?)
They were seen as being far too 'commercial' by the often hostile UK music press re making hits, at a point where albums were suddenly deemed all important (1967 onwards) and even took flak over doing the 'Good old Rock & Roll' hit medley single (which charted), despite that tieing in with the R & R revival circa 1969....
mind you the abyssmal 'Tabatha Twitchet' (1967) didn't help.....yet some of their best singles such as; 'Nineteen Days' and 'Try Too Hard' (both 1966) were surprising flops - possibly due to them being out of the UK to 'plug' them (being over in the USA), and they failed to properly update their image until circa 1969 leaving them looking very 'dated' as a group over 1966-68.
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Post by Chris Barratt on Mar 15, 2014 16:20:41 GMT
Dave Clark, bless him. The DC5 did concentrate on the US market once they did their first Ed Sullivan appearance and enjoyed 3 years of big success over there. That, alas, coincided with their stock declining over here - and much of that was down to the ruthless reputation Clark carved himself. Just as they hit big he stabbed principle songwriter & group mentor Ron Ryan in the back which sent ripples through the industry. Many of the 60's bands enjoyed a competitive camaraderie and mutual friendships - the DC5 were all employed by Clark, and kept their own counsel - couple this with the reputation of Clark himself, and a lot of the goodwill they had built up during their first 3 or 4 hits was lost quickly. One of their greatest singles, Anyway You Want It, petered out here at a lowly #25, just ten months after Glad All Over had been at #1, but by then Ron Ryan was jettisoned and Clark - though still based in London - concentrating on America. They made a string a of great singles between 64 & 67 but only had a couple of UK Top Twenty hits in that time. Yet many of those singles are as good as any UK singles at the time. A good manager - Harold Davidson - kept their profile just high enough, but singles like Try Too Hard should have been huge hits.
Strange how their career trajectory was mirrored by Herman's Hermits - both huge in the US until mid-67, and then scored a load of (often pretty MOR) UK hits until they both split at the end of 1970.
I welcome this release, but the hyperbole surrounding the band did for their UK reputation a long time ago - primarily because the talent that made their records great: be it Mike Smith's vocals, the songwriting of Mike, Lenny Davidson & Ron Ryan, the musicianship of Lenny, Mike, Denny Payton and drummer Bobby Graham, or the fantastic production of Joe Meek protege Adrian Kerridge was always claimed by Clark as his own 'genius'. Nobody likes a charlatan, but many of the records are indeed great.
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Post by Patrick Coles on Mar 16, 2014 12:36:57 GMT
It's not unusual for a group to 'employ' members - The Hollies Ltd 'employed' Bassist Bernie Calvert, then Terry Sylvester, Mike Rickfors, etc...and today messrs Hicks & Elliott employ the rest of the current version of the band.
Rick Huxley once said being in The DC5 paid off his mortgage and gave his family a holiday abroad each year....hence they all stuck with Dave Clark.
I've been told Ron Ryan & Mike Smith did the songwriting & that Clark's songwriting 'credit' was a business thing as he contributed nothing - how accurate that really might be is open to question... Ryan claims that he wrote alot of the DC5 songs (assuming that's true then why doesn't he/ or didn't he yonks ago take legal action to get his name on HIS songs & get the overdue royalties....?)
on another forum I've read him & others pour endless scorn and derision on Dave Clark - but then speak up for DC....which leaves you scratching your head....!
In some case people (often with an 'agenda' or axe to grind) love to give certain media figures a 'good kicking', while it may be justified (or not) we should bear in mind we very likely don't know the full story & thus what goes around by way of gossip could be a put up job or embellished by some - not saying that is the case particularly re Dave Clark but a general thing (I've read some postings on forums that were positively insulting about some pop artists - and some that I know are not accurate)
whatever people's views are re Dave Clark - re 'who played what', 'who wrote what' or 'who should be given all the credit for everything' etc...the fact is the four group members were happy to remain in his employ, and EMI DID give him pretty much a free hand at Lansdowne studios working with recording engineer Adrian Kerridge - at a time when no other pop artists had that kind of freedom (certainly not even The Beatles themselves in 1963/64...or even The long established Shadows ) which says something for the stature Clark had whether justified in terms of any musical ability or not.
And even while concentrating firmly on the USA (where The Who, The Kinks & The Hollies were only enjoying sporadic success in the sixties) The Dave Clark Five still notched up MORE UK chart singles up to 1970 (achieving a total of 22 UK chart singles, plus also a chart placed EP, and two top ten LPs) than The Rolling Stones, Who, Kinks, Animals, Small Faces etc...which is no bad achievement
while the much belittled Hermans Hermits between 1964 and 1972 had some 20 UK chart singles with The Who as their support group on a sixties USA tour.
some music press writers are loathe to admit facts like that...but it is true
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Post by nicadare on Mar 16, 2014 14:34:42 GMT
I will be interested to see the bluray version, should be far superior to the DVD version which will be in the awful NTSC format, at least the bluray will be 1080p and if much of the material is sourced from 35mm it should look good. I hope they keep everything in the right aspect ratio (which I doubt).
Wonder if the disc will include the 1970 TOTP 'Everybody Get Together' performance, about time that was given clearance.  |
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Post by John Green on Mar 16, 2014 16:52:46 GMT
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Post by Sal Mohammed on Apr 4, 2014 8:37:18 GMT
For those outside the US who couldn't view the trailer
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Post by Jeff Haynes on Apr 5, 2014 17:25:43 GMT
Have i missed something, was Freddie Mercury part of the 60's music scene Personal life Clark has never married but he was once romantically linked with television presenter Cathy McGowan. He was a close friend of Queen singer Freddie Mercury whom he had known since 1975. Clark had taken over the bedside vigil of Mercury when he died in November 1991. Wikipedia |
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Post by Richard Marple on Apr 5, 2014 21:18:00 GMT
Have i missed something, was Freddie Mercury part of the 60's music scene Personal life Clark has never married but he was once romantically linked with television presenter Cathy McGowan. He was a close friend of Queen singer Freddie Mercury whom he had known since 1975. Clark had taken over the bedside vigil of Mercury when he died in November 1991. Wikipedia I never knew that, & I read a very good biography of Queen a few years ago! |
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