204 Goodbye Dave Clark Five - More Good Old Rock And Roll

Chart  entered : 7  November  1970

Chart  peak : 34

The  cull  of  the  Beat  Groups  continues  apace  as  the  sound  of   young  Tottenham   came  to  its  last  note  in  the  charts

If  anyone  in  the  sixties  was  going  to  resist  the  temptation  of  drugs  it  was  Dave  Clark. When  the  psychedelic  era  changed  the  US  music  scene  and  ended  the  dominance  of  British  groups, the  DC5   returned  to  England  ( where  their  chart  positions  had  generally  been  low  in  their  absence )  and  carried  on  where  they  left  off  with  a  number  two  hit, "Everybody  Knows",  in  November  1967. By  the  end  of  1969  however, a  string  of  low  peakers  and  misses  convinced  Clark   that  they  had  to  try  a  different  tack. Noting  early  a  resurgence  of  interest  in  the  original  rock  and  roll  records,  the  band  released  a  medley  of  50s  rock  n  roll  hits  stretched  across  both  sides  in  December  1969  "Good  Old  Rock 'n'  Roll"  which  placed  them  back  in  the  Top  10  at  number  7. After  one  more  big  hit  with  a  cover  of  The  Youngbloods' US  hit  "Get  Together" , a  self-written  flop , "Julia " and  a  pisspoor  cover  of  "Here  Comes  Summer"  which  scraped   to  number  44   they  decided  to  try  and  repeat  the  trick  with  a  part  two.

"More  Good  Old  Rock 'n' Roll"  sounds  so  like  Status  Quo  ( who  had  exactly  the  same  idea  twenty  years  later )  and  Chas  and  Dave  that  it's  only  fair  to  reiterate  that  Dave  and  the  boys   got  there  first.  It's   difficult  to  know  what  else  to  say  about  such  a  disposable  party  record; it's  difficult  to  imagine  anyone  still  playing  their  copy  today. Of  course  lightning  didn't  strike  twice  and  the  sardonically  depicted   hippies  on  the  cover  had  the  last  laugh. The  single  stopped  in  the  thirties  and  probably  did  them  more  harm  than  good  in  reinforcing  the  perception  that  they  were  an  act  whose  time  had  passed.

By  some  accounts  guitarist  Lenny Davidson, bassist  Rick  Huxley  and  saxophonist Dennis Payton  had  already  been  given  their  cards  by   Dave  at  this  point  with  the  former  two  being  replaced  by  Alan  Parker  and  Eric  Ford  respectively.  Some form  of  the  band  limped  into  the  following  year.  In  January  1971  they  put  out  a  Chicago- influenced  noisy  version  of  Neil  Young's  "Southern  Man"  with  the  guitarist  laying  down  some  meaty  licks   and  Mike  Smith  hollering  Young's  poisonous  lyrics  with  little  obvious  clue  that  he  knows  what  he's  singing  about.  They  had  one  more  shot   in  May  with  "Won't  You  Be  My  Lady" , a  Clark/Smith  composition  which  sounds  like  Badfinger  and  isn't  that  bad  actually.

Dave  Clark  then  determined  that  he  and  Mike  would  fulfil  the  original  recording  contract  with  Columbia  as  Dave  Clark  And  Friends  although  it  has  been  suggested  that  much  of  their  output  was  actually  comprised  of  DC5  outtakes ( hence  the  necessity  to  retain  Mike ).  I  must  say  that  claim's  not  supported  by  their  singles  output. The  first  single  was  a  cover  of  Tommy  James's  recent   "Draggin  The  Line"   which  rumbles  along  in  a  reasonably  pleasant  fashion  although  I  don't  know  the  original.  "Think  Of  Me"  from  February  1972  sounds  like  Rod  Stewart  which  also  suggests  a  recent  vintage. "Rub It In "  is  an  ode  to  sun  cream  written  by  someone  called  "Martine"  and  later  covered  by  Billy  Crash  Craddock  and  contains  a  dodgy  spoken  section; surely  someone  from  The  Stranglers  must  have  heard  this  one. At  Christmas  time  1972  there  was  an  "All  Time  Greats  Medley"  compiled  from  the  DC5's  biggest  hits. In  March  1973  they  released  a  cover  of  The  Stampeders'  US  hit  " Sweet  City  Woman"   which  is  pretty  good  (  I  don't  know  the  original )  but  has  great  banjo  and  guitar  work. Dave  closed  off  his  account  with  a  routine  cover  of  the  Steam  hit  "Sha  Na  Na  Hey  Kiss  Him  Goodbye".  The  contract  with  Columbia  was  now fulfilled  and  under  the  terms  of  the  original  deal  ownership  of  the  masters  reverted  to  Dave  and  have  been  jealously  guarded  ever  since. There  have  been  long  periods  when  their  music  simply  hasn't  been  available  at  all  - financially  very  unhelpful  to  the  other  members - as  Dave  waited  for  the  right  deal  to  come  along. Perhaps  he  waits  for  an  Abba-style  re-evaluation  of  their  music  which  is  never  going  to  happen.

As  far  as  I'm  aware  Dave  has  never  recorded  a  note  of  music  since , concentrating  solely  on his  business  interests. In  the  early  eighties  he  acquired  the  rights  to  the  footage  from  Ready Steady  Go  which  he  treated  in  cavalier  fashion, inserting  DC5  material  not  from  the  show implying  that  they  were  more  popular  than  was  actually  the  case. He  also  failed  to  pay  any broadcasting  royalties  to  the  other  artists  when  it  ran  on Channel  4  until  Sandie  Shaw  ran him  to  ground. His  only  musical  project  was  the musical  Time  in  1986  where  he  was  credited as  executive producer  and  co-lyricist  although  this  may  have  been  on  the  same  basis  as  his  co-writing  credits in  the  group  (i.e fictional ). He  was  apparently  - no  one  has  contradicted  the  claim - with  Freddie  Mercury  when  he  died.

As  we  know  Mike  eventually  re-emerged in  partnership  with  Mike  D'Abo  ( covered  in Manfred  Mann's  Goodbye  post ). When  D'Abo  decided  to  emigrate  Mike  moved  into  writing advertising  jingles  and  producing, his  most  notable  clients  being  Shirley Bassey  and  Michael Ball. At  some  point  he  emigrated  to  Spain. In  1990  he  released  a  solo  album  "It's  Only  Rock And  Roll"  which  was  nearly  all  rock  and  roll  covers  and  only  released  on  a  tiny label.  In the  late  nineties  he  returned  to  performing  live  with  the  band  Mike  Smith's  Rock  Engine  and  a  friendly  warning  from  his  old  bandmate  that  their  old  band  could  not  be  mentioned  in  any  promotional  material. Despite  this  handicap  Mike's  band  were  becoming  a  popular  live  draw  when  he  suffered  a  serious  fall  climbing  over  a  locked  gate  near  his  Spanish  home  in  September  2003  and  was  paralysed  from  the  waist  down. After  four  years  in  hospital  he  regained  enough  functionality  in  his  left  arm  to  operate  an  electric  wheelchair  and  move  into  a  bungalow  in  Aylesbury.  He  attended  a  Bruce  Springsteen  concert  in  December  2007  but  died  from  pneumonia  just  two  months  later  having  planned  to  attend the  DC5's  induction  into  the  Hall  of  Fame  which  took  place  less  than  a  fortnight  after  his  death.

By  that  time  Dennis  Payton  was  already  dead,  having  succumbed  to  cancer  in  2006. Since the band  split  up  he  had  been  working  as  an  estate  agent  in  Bournemouth , occasionally  playing in  pub  bands.

Rick  Huxley  stayed  in  the  music  business  of  a  sort  working  for  Vox  amplifiers, then  in  1973 set  up  his  own   Music  Equipment  business  which  lasted  until  1987. He  then  worked  in electrical  wholesaling. There  are  vague  hints  that  he  had  property  interests  as  well. He  died last  year  after  a  long  battle  with  emphysema  due  to  heavy  smoking.

Lenny  Davidson  became   a  music  teacher  in  Cambridgeshire  and  also  had  a company  for  the repair  and  maintenance  for  church  organs. I  guess  if  he  survives  Dave,  the  band's  history might  be  re-written, especially  as  the  latter  has  no  family  to  protect  his  reputation , although   it  has  to  be  said  there's  little  evidence  that  any  of   the  other  members  bore  their  leader  any ill  will in  the  subsequent  decades.