The Dave Clark Five The History Of The Dave Clark Five 1993

The Dave Clark Five were super-hot in their day. From 1963-1965 they were competing in the charts, and doing quite well, thank you, with the Beatles and Stones. They continued chart success in the US through 1967, and in the UK until 1970, the year they disbanded.

Dave Clark played the drums, and he beat the crap out of them. Mike Smith on organ and lead vocals, the star of the show, had the biggest voice of nearly any singer ever in Rock and Roll. A big, booming voice to accompany the raw baritone sax by Dennis Payton. These guys rocked with a vengeance.

This 2-CD set, currently out of print but available nonetheless, is a pretty complete picture of the band, and includes an informative 32-page booklet. Admittedly a bit of overkill, all the great hits fit on one CD. The second CD, which covers '66-'70, contains some gems and minor chart hits, and both CDs contain B-sides and album tracks that help to flesh out the big picture.

You can't really find a place for them in the top echelons, but they deserve more recognition than they have received over the years. Part of that is due to Clark's own resistance to licensing the original material, which has kept them out of the reissue market and off the various sixties compilations that would have at least reminded us of their existence.

There is a more recent single disc available (The Hits, 2008) that is also out of print, but The History Of from 1993 is really the bomb. Yes, there are some weak ones from the late sixties as they tried in vain to stay relevant, but the B-sides and album tracks are treasures. Discover the London sound, big and brash, that rivaled the early Beatles for chart dominance.