By Dr. Bruce Smith ——Bio and Archives--April 30, 2023
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Dave Clark’s band came on strong as part of the British Invasion of the early 1960s. For a while, there was speculation about whether they or the Beatles would be the bigger act. Their first big hit, Glad All Over, took over the Number One spot on the British charts from The Beatles’ I Want To Hold Your Hand when it came out in 1964. Because was originally released in Britain as the B side of Can’t You See That She’s Mine? in 1964. Clark insisted that it be released as the A side of a single in the US that year. It peaked at No. 3 on the US charts in September and also reached No. 3 in Canada. It was the band’s fifth single to sell over a million copies in the US.
They appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show just a month after The Beatles debuted there, and they played for Ed Sullivan a total of eighteen times, more than any other British band.
No band could hope to out produce The Beatles, as it turned out, but there will always be a legacy of their music and performances. Dave Clark wrote their great songs with other members of the band. They had talent. Clark was the drummer, but all five sang and harmonized beautifully on their records. You’ll hear guitars, organ, saxophone, and drums on their hit records. Clark was also the producer, securing deals giving him control of the band and its music. That means he was very smart, too.
Because uses the second person singular throughout, so that either sex can sing it to the other. That makes it more universal. Songs like He’s so fine, and I Saw Her Standing There seem to be written for singing by one sex to the other. One can change the pronouns as needed, but it’s better to just have second person singular in the original.
Written in the key of G Major with occasional minor chords, it has beautiful harmonies and transitions and satisfying resolutions. There are long holds on notes at the ends of phrases that allow the listener to savor the pitch and the message at the same time. It’s upbeat and positive, but not sorrowful or whiny. Sing the melody one time and sing harmony the next. It’s all there when you want it.
It has remarkable lyrics. It uses simple low-key language with no superlatives.
“It’s right that I should care about you
and try to make you happy when you’re blue. . . .”
There’s the organ to provide the sustaining pitch and power. It’s smooth but it flows and has continuity. When I sing it, every word is from the heart. It’s remarkable.
Put on the headphones and let it make you smile. Sing it with someone you love. It’s musical perfection from the Dave Clark Five.
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Dr. Bruce Smith (Inkwell, Hearth and Plow) is a retired professor of history and a lifelong observer of politics and world events. He holds degrees from Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame. In addition to writing, he works as a caretaker and handyman. His non-fiction book The War Comes to Plum Street, about daily life in the 1930s and during World War II, may be ordered from Indiana University Press.