By john dixon (152.163.189.235) on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - 11:47 am:

Paul Schafer hosted the show Monday night as Dave's shingles-induced absence continues. Leading the band while Paul sat in Dave's chair was Mike Smith of the Dave Clark 5. Paul actually said that it was Mike and his Vox organ from the British Invasion days that inspired him to become a musician and the reason why, to this day, Paul still plays keyboards standing up.

Mike apparently lives in Spain now but is currently touring the US fronting Mike Smith's Rock Engine, which Paul had seen and raved about.
Although it was frustrating only seeing/hearing Mike begin or finish a song as they segued in and out of commercials, it reminded me of just how good those singles were, primarily because of Mike's gruff, soulful lead vocals.

Since the DC5 didn't have the staying power of the Beatles, Stones, Who, Kinks, etc., it's been easy to overlook their overall contributions but they had a slew of great songs, most of which were co-written by Mike Smith:
Glad All Over
Bits And Pieces
Because
Any Way You Want It
Catch Us If You Can
Try Too Hard
Can't You See That She's Mine
And blasphemous as it may be to state on this forum, I've always preferred the DC5 cover of "Do You Love Me" over the Contours' original, and that surprizes me since I usually favor the originals over any covers. But, again, it was Mike Smith's vocal that made me prefer it. Anyway it was a nice unexpected pleasure to see him looking trim and fit and sounding robust.

Peace y'all.

By R&B (138.238.41.118) on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - 11:53 am:

THE DAVE CLARK 5,NOW THAT'S A NAME THAT I HAVEN'T HEARD IN AGES.

By KevGo (64.115.26.80) on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - 12:06 pm:

John Dixon:
I'm 36 years old and I've been a Dave Clark 5 fan since I started listening to classic rock & oldies as a youngster.
What I always liked about the DC5 was their energy & how compact their music was (and still is). Their arrangements are concise, Mike's vocals were always front & center, and the band packed a damn good punch! Dave Clark also had the distinction of producing the band's music (via Eros Productions)and later gaining ownership of their masters.
I wish Sir Adrian "Dave" Clark would reissue the DC5 on CD here in the USA (there was a wonderful double CD Hollywood Records released in 1993 - all in mono and sounding great). Fortunately, I have their Epic/CBS albums and singles that I enjoy playing when I'm in the mood to be "Glad All Over"!
By the way, according to sources the Dave Clark Five made more appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show than any other rock band or artist (including the Beatles).
Kevin Goins - KevGo
(PS - I also dig their version of Marv Johnson's "You Got What It Takes" from 1967).

By john dixon (205.188.209.38) on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - 02:02 pm:

Kevin, Mike Smith mentioned on Letterman that the DC 5 appeared 15 times on the Sullivan show; as you said, a record for a rock and roll group. Monday night's guest gig had to be nostalgic for Mike since those appearances were on that very same stage.

By LTLFTC (12.210.76.205) on Wednesday, March 26, 2003 - 02:20 pm:

There's a nice new interview with Mike Smith in this month's Cosmik Debris webzine ; www.cosmik.com

steveK

By john dixon (64.12.97.7) on Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 09:25 am:

steveK, thanks for the cool link; that's the first in-depth interview that I've ever read with Mike Smith. He stated that this is the first time he's been back in the US to perform in 35 years! The other night on Letterman, Paul S. was was visibly jazzed to have Mike guesting with the band and specifically asked him to sing "Because" for his wife as that was the song that they fell in love to(awwww!).

By Mark Speck (65.56.222.187) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 12:07 am:

I saw him yesterday here in Cleveland. He was featured in this year's Moondog Coronation Ball, along with the Spinners, Peter Noone, and the headliner, Jay Black and the Americans.

What really blew me away was that he played the one song I wanted to hear but wasn't expecting to as the first song, no less: "Try Too Hard". Then after that, all the stuff you would expect plus one you wouldn't have expected: the theme from their movie "Having a Wild Weekend". Great stuff.

I may as well share my impressions of the other acts, while I'm at it. The Spinners--I have always wanted to see them in person, and I was not disappointed. They looked, moved and sounded great. I was very surprised that they did "Sadie"--I was moved to tears by that song right there! Also, "Love Don't Love Nobody" was another surprise. The rest were all the songs you'd expect, done the way you like 'em. Who is this Frank Washington that is doing the lead vocals? He sounded eerily like Phillipe 'Soul' Wynne!

Herman's Hermits/Peter Noone--VERY entertaining, indeed! Peter just doesn't sing, he does hilarious, dead-on impressions of the likes of Johnny Cash, Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan. I was thrown for a loop by him performing "Leaning on the Lamppost" and "The End of the World", but was disappointed by the omission of "Dandy" and "No Milk Today".

Jay Black--I almost walked out. No disrespect intended, but he did virtually the same act two years ago when I saw him, right down to the same jokes, stories, etc. But I didn't dare leave until he did that one very special thing he did. I think we all know what that is--the high note he holds for what seems like an eternity during "Cara Mia". That is so amazing that Jay can still do that at his age! There wasn't much more to go after that, so I didn't walk out. If you haven't seen him, he's very entertaining--I was just disappointed in the sameness of his act (although he did "Pretty Woman" and "She Cried"--not really his song, but that of the ORIGINAL Jay, Jay Traynor--both of which he didn't do last time).

Best,

Mark

By john dixon (205.188.209.38) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 09:52 am:

Mark, thanks for the post and review of the show; wish I could have been there. "Try Too Hard" is also my favorite Dave Clark 5 song. How did Mike and his band sound? As I mentioned in my initial post, I only heard a couple of seconds going in and coming out of commercial breaks so I couldn't really tell...

By mhc (172.140.193.217) on Monday, March 31, 2003 - 10:14 am:

I think that the DC5 have had a lasting impact on Rock; if you think of Slade records, with the stomping beats and the football crowd choruses and the gruff vocals, they're kind of like the DC5 on helium. I also think of Kiss as having a post-DC5
sound. BTW, I think that the production credit "Adrian Clark" on DC5 records is a co-credit for Adrian Kerridge and Dave Clark; I don't know if Dave's real first name is Adiran or not. Kerridge was a staff engineer at Landsdowne Studios, where all those records were done.

By Mark Speck (65.57.20.39) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 12:33 am:

John--Mike and his band sounded great, as did the other musician's bands.

Best,

Mark

By stephanie (64.63.221.13) on Tuesday, April 01, 2003 - 06:31 pm:

Im a BIG fan of the DC5. I used to stomp on the floor as a child to Glad All Over!!! Jay Black has an incredible voice but his stage patter leaves a lot to be desired. I would love to see him sing Living Above Your Head but the man can blow....Peter Noone is one of the best live oldies acts I have ever seen other than Little Anthony and the Imperials you would think you might be bored with him but get ready for a great show., He is really fun and blacks and whites love this man.

I was so impressed with his show and I would see him 10 times if I could. I freaked out when he did Listen People. He is one of those acts that will do some songs you dont expect.
Stephanie

By Mark Speck (65.58.50.124) on Wednesday, April 02, 2003 - 08:49 pm:

I wish Jay would've done "Livin' Above Your Head". He supposedly took requests on his web site.

Best,

Mark