News

At last, the long-unavailable albums of The Dave Clark Five will be coming to CD…sort of.  BMG has announced a three-volume set reissuing the Five’s core North American album catalogue, beginning with the October 23 release of Glad All Over the World: The Hits and Albums Volume 1 (1964-1965).  Five DC5 albums are presented on five CDs in this volume, with the discs housed in a ten-panel fold-out digipak also containing a 24-page booklet.  However, the track listings mirror the 2019 digital remasters which were substantially altered and resequenced; they do not reflect what American listeners first heard on Epic Records during the British Invasion.  The albums are as follows:

• Glad All Over (1964);
• The Dave Clark Five Return! (1964);
• American Tour (1964);
• Coast to Coast (1964); and
• Weekend in London (1965).

The DC5’s American debut Glad All Over reached No. 3 on the Billboard Top LPs chart (today the Billboard 200), propelled by the success of a whopping three hit singles: “Glad All Over” (No. 6), “Do You Love Me” (No. 11), and “Bits and Pieces” (No. 4). All three demonstrated the power of the group consisting of Mike Smith (lead vocals/piano), Dave Clark (drums), Lenny Davidson (guitar), Rick Huxley (bass), Denis Payton (saxophone), reportedly bolstered by uncredited session drummer Bobby Graham.  In this iteration, Glad All Over loses “No Time to Lose,” “Doo Dah,” and “She’s All Mine,” and those cuts are replaced by “Crying Over You,” “3406,” and “Who Do You Think You’re Talking To.”  (“Crying Over You” was the U.S. B-side of “Any Way You Want It,” while “3406” and “Who Do You Think…” appeared on the 1968 U.K. version of Five by Five.)

The appropriately-titled The Dave Clark Five Return! (No. 5 U.S.) was anchored by the single “Can’t You See That She’s Mine,” a U.S. No. 4 hit.  The current edition drops Clark and Payton’s “Funny” and adds the same duo’s 1966 B-side “I Miss You” and Clark and Smith’s 1964 U.K. A-side “Thinking of You Baby,” for a total of eleven songs vs. the original’s ten.  Despite its title, American Tour (No. 11 U.S.) was not a live album but rather another studio set.  It yielded Clark’s lush ballad “Because,” a No. 3 hit, which opens the LP.  Once again, the original album sequence has been altered.  The Clark/Smith co-write “Who Does He Think He Is” and Clark and Lenny Davidson’s “Come On Over” are absent, replaced by the 1966 single “At the Scene” (making for an 11-track album rather than the original twelve).

The band’s final U.S. album of 1964, Coast to Coast, was driven by the success of another hit, Ron Ryan’s “Any Way You Want It” (No. 14) which found the group experimenting in the studio with echo and reverb effects.  Other songs on the LP including “When” and “I Can’t Stand It” appeared in the DC5’s John Boorman-directed film Catch Us If You Can, known in the U.S. as Having a Wild Weekend.  (A “Who’s Who” of U.K. talent appeared alongside the band in the film, including Barbara Ferris (Coronation Street, All in Good Faith), Clive Swift (Keeping Up Appearances, Doctor Who), Yootha Joyce (Man About the House, George and Mildred), David Lodge (Carry On, The Return of The Pink Panther), and Julian Holloway (Doctor Who, The Sweeney).  As a rejiggered version of the soundtrack was released to digital services in 2019, perhaps it will appear on the next volume of this CD series.)  Here, Coast to Coast drops “Don’t You Know” and “It’s Not True,” replacing them with “Forget” (the 1968 flipside of the DC5’s cover of Burt Bacharach and Bob Hiilliard’s “Don’t Go (Please Stay)”) and the 1966 flip of “I’ve Got to Have a Reason,” “Good Time Woman.”

The final disc and final album of this box, Weekend in London, once again blended original songs with covers, DC5-style.  The LP reached No. 24 on the Albums chart with the single “Come Home” peaking at No. 14 on the Hot 100.  The presentation here follows the original track listing with one bonus track at the album’s end, the 1965 A-side cover of Chuck Berry’s “Reelin’ and Rockin’.”  (The B-side was Weekend in London track “I’m Thinking.”)

Two more volumes are promised by BMG to follow.  In the meantime, this first set of the early Dave Clark Five is due on October 23 at a budget price, perhaps reflecting the short length of the individual discs/albums.  You’ll find the track listings and pre-order links below.

Dave Clark Five, Glad All Over the World: The Hits and Albums Volume 1 (1964-1965) (BMG, 2026) (Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab))

CD 1: Glad All Over (Original Album: Epic BN 26093, 1964)

1. Glad All Over
2. All Of The Time
3. Crying Over You
4. Stay
5. Chaquita
6. Do You Love Me
7. Bits And Pieces
8. I Know You
9. 3406
10. Time
11. Who Do You Think You’re Talking To

CD 2: The Dave Clark Five Return! (Original Album: Epic BN 26104, 1964)

1. Can’t You See That She’s Mine
2. I Need You I Love You
3. I Love You No More
4. Rumble
5. I Miss You
6. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
7. Can I Trust You
8. Forever And A Day
9. Theme Without A Name
10. On Broadway
11. Thinking Of You Baby

CD 3: American Tour (Original Album: Epic BN 26117, 1964)

1. Because
2. Move On
3. Whenever You’re Around
4. I Want You Still
5. Long Ago
6. Blue Monday
7. Sometimes
8. Any Time You Want Love
9. I Cried Over You
10. Ol’ Sol
11. At The Scene

CD 4: Coast To Coast (Original Album: Epic BN 26128, 1964)

1. Any Way You Want It
2. I Can’t Stop Loving You
3. I Can’t Stand It
4. What Is There To Say
5. Everybody Knows (I Still Love You)
6. Crying Over You
7. Say You Want Me
8. When
9. Forget
10. To Me
11. Good Time Woman

CD 5: Weekend In London (Original Album: Epic BN 26139, 1965)

1. Come Home
2. We’ll Be Running
3. Blue Suede Shoes
4. Hurting Inside
5. I’ll Never Know
6. ‘Til The Right One Comes Along
7. I’m Thinking
8. Your Turn To Cry
9. Little Bitty Pretty One
10. Remember It’s Me
11. Mighty Good Loving
12. Reelin’ And Rockin’